this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 11pm: the prime minister confirms the whole of the high—speed rail plan — hs2 — will go ahead, despite concerns over its environmental impact and spiralling costs. this is a fantastic project for the country. it increases our capacity for the north and south and allows us for the north and south and allows us to go forward and develop northern powerhouse rail. but for those whose homes could be torn down to build the line, there's despair. i've got children. you know, i used to think they could come into the business, but obviously we don't know that now. whether, what future it holds. the british businessman who's

thought to have infected 11 others with coronovirus says he's fully recovered and thanks nhs staff. tying the knot — the first same—sex marriage in northern ireland — following a change in the law there. £21 million, thank you. sold to you. making waves — the paiting, splash, by david hockney, is sold for more than £20 million at auction. and at 11:30pm, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers — olivia utley from the sun, and the editor of labour list, sienna rodgers. good evening. welcome to bbc news. the controversial hs2 — high—speed rail link — linking london to birmingham,

leeds and manchester has been given the go—ahead by the prime minister. the first phase of the line connecting london to birmingham with an additonal spur on to crewe was due to open at the end of 2026. but the trains may not be running on the route until at least 2028. the next phase of the project — extending to manchester and leeds — is not expected to be ready before 2035. the initial cost set out in 2015 was just under £56 billion but five years on as the result of a recent review said it could now be more than £100 billion. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports on the hs2 go—ahead and the reaction to it. it was boris johnson's £100 billion dilemma, and his decision to push on with hs2. this is a fantastic project for the country. it delivers massive increase in capacity for rail up from north to south and south to north, and then it allows us to go forward

and develop northern powerhouse rail, which is exactly what is needed, we need connectivity east—west in the north. for those living along the route, the fight is over. sandra's family was forced to sell nearly half of their farm, customers at their stables driven away. it's been in the family for about 90 years. it's turned their way of life upside down. what it's doing to your health, the worry of it all, the worry on my side and my health, my family, i've got children, it'd be nice to think that they could come into the business, but obviously we don't know that now, whether it will — what future it holds. the railway will run

from london euston to west london, cutting through buckinghamshire and warwickshire to birmingham. that stretch could be ready in ten years‘ time. but the lines to leeds and manchester, where the railways are badly overcrowded, will take ten years on top of that. the government wants to review that part of the project again to improve connections and to cut costs. we've got good headlines here, but not so much detail underneath them, and there are a number of issues now that i'll be pressing the government on if we're to get a new railway for the north of england to a reasonable timescale that's on the right route. work to prepare sites on the first stretch of the railway has been going on for years. here, they've dug up the foundations of an old station. well, this area here used to be one of the platforms in the old station, dating back to the 1830s. this whole area used to be a car park. it's been cleared. but now the real construction work of the railway, the new station, with new platforms here in central birmingham, can begin. this is what that station will look like.

hs2 will reduce journey times to london by half—an—hour, to leeds from birmingham by an hour. chanting: h52, don't want you! environmental groups say hs2 will cause irreversible damage along the route. the government believes the long—term benefits for the country will be worth it. tom burridge, bbc news, in the west midlands. the government has also promised to boost spending over the next five years to improve bus services and cycling routes across england. the prime minister said an extra £5 billion would provide more frequent services and more affordable fares. labour says the measures won't be enough to reverse years of conservative cuts, which caused thousands of bus routes to be axed. 0ur north of england corrrespondent danny savage reports. darlington at lunchtime today — an abundance of bus services covering the town and many places beyond. where we live, there's a bus about every ten minutes into town, and then on the way coming back,

yes, so it's excellent. so, frequent and reasonably priced? yeah, i would say so. smashing, yeah, no problems. i'm going to catch this one. head out of darlington to barnard castle, and again there is a decent regular service linking this rural community to its bigger neighbour. but getting elsewhere is problematic. so if i wanted to get a bus over to kirkby stephen, which isn't too far away, there's one at three o'clock, that's all right. but there is a c next to it, which is... ah, wednesdays only. we headed over the snowy tops into the neighbouring county. welcome to cumbria, where rural bus services in some parts of the county are virtually nonexistent. many services have been axed over the last few years as the county council withdrew funding due to budget cuts. this bus from kirkby stephen to penrith and back is tuesdays only. the operator says it's a private company providing a public service.

we don't make money off the bus services. we make our money from our private hire. the bus services, it covers the cost for a bus, and it covers the cost for an employee. it doesn't make a profit, we do it as a community service. they also do it to tackle isolation. teenagers here are jealous of their peers in big towns and cities. they're very lucky to live somewhere where they can do stuff and they can get to places a lot easier. they can go shopping or, you know, just do what they want, really. you can rely on your mum and dad to a certain point, but then there's other people who can't, obviously, they don't have that same reliability with their parents. a report last year into bus services in england tells the wider story. bus funding is almost £400 million a year lower than it was ten years ago. more than 3,000 local authority supported services have been lost

or reduced, and 215 have gone in the past year. the government is pledging money for hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes, too. a decade ago, cumbria county council spent nearly £2 million a year on subsidising buses. now they spend nothing. will today's announcement mean that such cutbacks will be at least partially reversed 7 danny savage, bbc news, cumbria. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are 0livia utley, deputy leader writer at the sun, and the editor of labour list, sienna rodgers. in china — where the coronavirus outbreak started — the number of deaths has now passed the 1,000 mark. tonight it's been confirmed that the death toll in hubei province has risen by 94 to 1,068. the world health organization says the disease will be officially called covid—19, and warned it could be 18 months before the first vaccine becomes available. the british businessman who's thought to have infected 11 people

with coronavirus says he has fully recovered. steve walsh, from hove in east sussex, remains in isolation in hospital. 0ur correspondent catherine burns reports from brighton. steve walsh is still in hospital — he says it's just a precaution now. but brighton is dealing with the after—effects of his infection, with two gp surgeries being closed to patients. today, mr walsh has been named and has explained that he did everything by the book. he says, "i was advised to attend an isolated room at hospital, despite showing no symptoms, and subsequently self—isolated at home, as instructed." "when the diagnosis was confirmed, i was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where i remain, and as a precaution my family was also asked to isolate themselves." but in the roughly two weeks between being infected and diagnosed, it was life as normal, including a trip to the pub. it's still open — five staff have gone into isolation. but the pub says it's worked with public health england and that

there's a minimal ongoing risk of infection. the disease now has an official name — covid—19. the government rates the risk level for the public as moderate but sounded this warning. the situation will get worse before it gets better. we will be guided by the science. be in no doubt, we will do everything that is effective to tackle this virus and keep people safe. mr walsh picked up the coronavirus at a conference in singapore. on his way back to the uk, he stopped off for several days at a ski chalet in france, where he passed the virus on to 11 other people. five of those infected remain in france, and one man returned to majorca. mr walsh and the other five british people came back to the uk. two of them are gps, and two surgeries have been temporarily closed. mr walsh's neighbours are baffled by all the attention. his wife's told me on the phone that

really he's not that ill. she thinks it's a complete, basically a load of rubbish, and that it's no worse than flu, probably not as bad. but health experts are taking this seriously. this gp surgery has been closed for two days now, for what they're calling extensive cleaning. down the road, another surgery‘s been closed too. we know that one of the infected gps, katrina greenwood, used to work here. it's just five days now since steve walsh was officially diagnosed, and he says he's well recovered. that is generally true for this virus. most people tend to only get mild symptoms. catherine burns, bbc news. the broadcasting regulator 0fcom is to become britain's first internet watchdog. the bbc understands that ministers will confirm their decision tomorrow giving 0fcom the responsibility for holding online platforms to account for any illegal or harmful content. 0ur media editor amol

rajan has the story. good afternoon. if you make a habit of asking young people across the country about their digital lives, you find a generation both addicted to smartphones and alert to the dangers. we just go past the terms and conditions, just press agree, but really, no—one actually takes time to actually read it. those dangers, which evolve every week and test parents‘ tech—savviness, have led to long—awaited proposals on online harms. its centrepieces are a statutory duty of care for companies that allow user—generated content and the appointment of 0fcom as the uk's first internet regulator. but there's still no detail on what the penalties will be for companies breaking the law. why would a californian tech giant worry about a slap on the wrist from a british regulator? well, because i think there are a lot of users in britain. they've got a big footprint here. there are many platforms who ideally would not have wanted regulation, but i think that's changing. i think they understand now that, actually, regulation is coming.

we know that 9 million girls in europe have experienced cyberbullying before the age of 15. for a lot of people, this is long overdue. seyi akiwowo hosts workshops, like this one to local councillors, to help people with what she calls digital self—care. when i first suffered abuse, the response from tech companies was below par, and that's why i'm really excited about about this online harms white paper and this bill, because it's actually in our place and the duty of care on these tech companies. and it's now saying, actually, these multibillion—pound tech companies have a duty to all its users to enforce this idea of rights and responsibilities, and make sure everyone‘s safe. and one woman, whom we've called kay, described how her 13—year—old daughter was groomed by a 24—year—old man on snapchat and facebook. he then raped her. i don't think there was anything more that we could have done. and believe me, i've quizzed myself over and over and over. is there something i missed? i don't think there was. snapchat is one of the platforms he was using to message her. he admitted to the police the reason it was snapchat was because there are no chat logs.

no evidence. the internet has morphed from the utopian vision of its founders into humanity's digital echo chamber, full of dark corners. reducing online harm is a responsibility shared between citizens, companies, and governments. and these proposals could make britain a template for others to follow. the aim here is to give britain the toughest internet laws in the world, while protecting free speech and enterprise. yet, without clarity on the punishments for offenders, it's impossible to know if that's what we'll soon get. amol rajan, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: the prime minister confirms the whole of the high speed rail plan, hs2, will go ahead, despite concerns over its environmental impact and spiralling costs. the british businessman who's thought to have infected 11 others with coronavirus says he's fully recovered and thanks nhs staff. he remains in isolation. last minute protests fail to stop

a home office plane taking off as a group ofjamaican—born offenders are deported from the uk. the first same—sex marriage in northern ireland took place today. robyn peoples, from belfast, and sharni edwards, from brighton, tied the knot at a ceremony in county antrim. mps in westminster voted to change the law last year, in the absence of a functioning stormont executive. a warning first though that maria mccann‘s report contains flash photography. it isa it is a wedding! not only have they tied the knot, but they've also made history. northern ireland's first ever same—sex marriage has taken place in carrickfergus. we are equal to a man and a woman. our love is just the same, it's no different. sometimes, like, people make fun and say it's not. our love is the exact same... as everyone else's. ..and this means everything to us. just to be married, you know, now we have an opportunity to say, "this is my wife". i can finally say she is my wife,

and we have actually had our marriage. it has been a controversial issue in northern ireland, but in the end, same—sex marriage was legalized by mps in westminster, while power sharing here was collapsed. campaigners say today is a landmark moment. it's definitely a surreal experience to see the couple get married today. there have been so many blockages and barricades to equality for lgbt people for so long. for eight years, we have been taking a copy through the northern ireland assembly and then through westminster, and for sure, there were times where we thought it would never happen. so to see it happen today, it's just an incredible feeling, and i'm sure it won't feel real or for another couple of days. robyn and charlie have been together for six years and didn't expect to be the first same—sex couple to wed here. their family say they are proud to be part of the big day. for them to be able to be on tv and express that they

love each other, that they can get married being same—sex, it's, you know, it's amazing. i'm proud to be in the same family as they are, to be fair. we fought so long and hard for this opportunity to be seen as equal, and now we're here, and it's just amazing. it really is. we're living the dream, it's incredible. it's a day that not only this couple will remember, but one of the wider significance two. but one of the wider significance too. maria mccann, bbc newsline, carrickfergus. in syria, tensions have escalated as forces loyal to president bashar al—assad continue their campaign to destroy the last rebel strongholds in idlib province. they've captured a key road which links aleppo with the capital, damascus, for the first time since 2012. turkish—backed rebels responded by shooting down a helicopter. hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled idlib province, in the biggest displacement of people in syria's nine—year war. this report by our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville contains some distressing images. the long and winding death of rebel—held idlib is quickening.

another 700,000 people fleeing. among them, in the traffic heading north, this family. this is the biggest exodus since syria's war began. they fear what's behind them more than what lies ahead. translation: we are fleeing from our village towards the turkish border because we are in fear for our children and women. they've packed up everything they can carry, knowing that they will likely never be back. translation: we're leaving our house because of the army. the army executes those who stay here. bashar al—assad's forces are tearing at their heels. air strikes and artillery are redrawing the landscape here as the regime captures more and more territory. the world has stopped counting syria's dead, but in idlib, they don't

have that luxury. in the blanket, the charred corpse of another victim. here, they knew the regime warplanes were coming and ran for cover, but their homes gave them little protection. "i can't recognise him. my father or my brother? i don't know", he says. the turkish—backed rebels and islamist extremists are losing idlib, but today they had a small victory, the downing of a helicopter. "the helicopter behind me belongs to the regime," he says in turkish. "it was dropping barrel bombs on innocent civilians, women and children." there is no peace here, even for the dead. returning regime soldiers film themselves desecrating the grave of a rebel commander. the living here are running out of breathing space.

ahmed hasjust been dug out of the rubble after syrian jets attacked a market in idlib city. 17 people died around him. the pleas for a ceasefire, some respite, are ignored. girl cries. in a nearby bed, an 11—year—old screams from shrapnel wounds. she and ahmed will recover, but then what? they will likely end up here, joining many of idlib‘s other children, clinging on in the sprawling camps at the country's edge with turkey, a place where people are corralled and forgotten. once again, idlib is asking for help, but the world has left it and syria behind. quentin somerville, bbc news. tomorrow, the uk supreme court will consider the case of care workers, and how much

they should be paid for shifts, during which they're able to sleep. unions say that care staff should receive the minimum wage for these sleep—in shifts. if they win, care providers may have to pay millions of pounds in back pay, which they say they can't afford. our social affairs correspondent alison holt has the story and it contains some flashing images. emma has autism. would you like to get me one, emma? and later, when she settles down to sleep at her residential home near doncaster, it's important that she knows there's a care worker like victoria close by to help, whatever the time. they work in the nights. does it make you feel safe? yes, it does, definitely, thank you. but how much should a care worker be paid for a shift where they can sleep?

the supreme court has to decide whether they're entitled to the minimum wage, even if they aren't disturbed. the staff bedroom isjust up here. we have our service users' bedrooms on either side. while victoria will get the minimum wage for her sleep—in tonight, unions have brought this case because many other care staff get a lower flat rate. you 100% have to be on top form all the time because if something happens, you're in charge. you have to make sure you are all right to sort them out. she's adamant that they are on duty for the whole shift. you're always at work. it's not like you can get up and leave to go anywhere else. but if care workers when their argument over sleep—ins, but if care workers win their argument over sleep—ins, charities and private care providers fear that they will face a bill for back pay costing millions of pounds. philip barty runs the charity that supports emma. he says during austerity, councils and the nhs only paid them a low rate for night care.

for providers including ourselves to pay up to six years in backpay for all those years that we have paid a flat rate of £50 per night per shift, we would be facing a bill of £2.5 million. could you pay that? we don't have the resources to pay that, and nor do many others in the sector. the supreme court will hear arguments that this is an issue that could put some care providers out of business. whatever‘s decided here at the supreme court, all involved in this case say at the heart of the issue is the underfunding of the social care system, and that's a matter which can only be sorted out over there, by politicians. governments for a long time have been talking about sorting the social care crisis. this is the point where they really have to step in and help out, because we just can't have a situation where we are saying either low—paid workers don't get paid, or people don't get the vital care they need. that's not tenable. the government says care workers should be fairly rewarded

and that it will pay close attention to the court's judgement. it will be several months before that is delivered. alison holt, bbc news. a key piece of work by the artist david hockney has sold for more than £23 million at auction tonight in london. the splash was painted by the bradford—born artist in california in 1966, and immortalises a momentjust seconds after a diver breaks the surface of a swimming pool. our arts correspondent david sillito told me the splash wasn't the first piece by hockney to sell for millions. mona lisa, sunflowers onward, they are trophies and for the billionaires who are wanting to say i own billionaires who are wanting to say iowna billionaires who are wanting to say i own a painting that everyone knows so i own a painting that everyone knows so that was why there was a bit of expectation in the auction room. the last time one of these big david hockney‘s pulled with two figures it

sold for 90 million. it broke all the records for a living artist. people were wondering what is a possibility of someone getting carried away into the auction room. however sanity prevailed, given that it sold for 2.9, an eightfold increase in 13 years. what other investment would match that!m increase in 13 years. what other investment would match that! if you area investment would match that! if you are a billionaire, where do you put your money? are you going to put it in the bank with an interest rate of almost nothing. no point in doing that so art is probably a great place if you have a few spares tens of millions and if it is a name well—known and even better if it is a painting that is well known, these are little moments. everyone was holding their breath but in the end 23 million, they were a bit disappointed. extraordinary given how much more others sold for. he

painted it 50 plus years ago. with an artist like david hockney how resilient has he been? there are other artists who are fashionable and hugely popular someone like david hockney almost defies fashion. almost extraordinary. he once described himself, iwas almost extraordinary. he once described himself, i was one of the few stu d e nts described himself, i was one of the few students who managed to sell some paintings and by 1962 he had made £300 and go to america. he said he was doing fine with that. that is where he first encountered california and los angeles and said no—one else is painting this stop i might have a go. if you compare bradford in the 1960s to los angeles, you can see where this comes from. a young gay man who sees you to four people, wealth unbelievable, he would not have seen the water like that. the sun really

has to try to get water like that. and he became famous and well—known end of the 60s and it is extraordinary that he has pushed himself forward, rediscovering photography and his polaroids, right through an event, that extraordinary exhibition at the royal academy of his paintings, the beautiful trees, the spring, all of it. a man who was co nsta ntly the spring, all of it. a man who was constantly working out how do you ca ptu re constantly working out how do you capture things with paint? how do you see the world around it and prove that the best way of capturing a fleeting moment, just as it was with the splash, the walcher spring, is with pain. now it's time for the weather, with chris fawkes. we continued to see wintry conditions across northern areas of

the uk. strong winds brought drifting of the snow over the staffordshi re drifting of the snow over the staffordshire moorland. a cross into scotla nd staffordshire moorland. a cross into scotland also fraught wednesday. further snow and showers. south and west, a ridge building later in the day and that will tend to settle the weather down. still a scope for further snow and showers for a time across the high ground of northern ireland and northern england. snow coming thick and fast in scotland. strong winds in scotland knocking the edge off the temperatures, not that it would be a particularly warm day anyway. 3—4d. later in the day, we will start to see the next weather system approach and cloud and rain will begin to spell from the south—west. through wednesday night, the rain turns to snow for a time across the hills of northern england and scotland. may be down to the lower levels of scotland. we

will keep a close eye on that. another cold day for scotland on thursday. further south, another cold day for scotland on thursday. furthersouth, less chilli with temperatures rising to 9— 10 celsius. friday, a deep area of low pressure in the atlantic driving this active weather front, the cold front across the uk. this will bring a zone of heavy rain particularly to north—western areas and cause for concern because the localised flooding billing in across southern scotla nd flooding billing in across southern scotland whether has caused problems over recent days. as it pushes into eastern england, at this stage it does not look like the rain will be particularly heavy on friday. you might remember last weekend, we set a new record, the fastest plane flight a new record, the fastest plane flight for a commercial airliner from new york to london with the plane taking less than five hours. it reached very high speeds. why am i telling you about last weekend? this weekend, the jetstream

i telling you about last weekend? this weekend, thejetstream is i telling you about last weekend? this weekend, the jetstream is also going to get too similar when spread. going straight across the atla ntic spread. going straight across the atlantic and we could then set a new transatlantic flight records again and, like last weekend, this powerful jetstrea m and, like last weekend, this powerful jetstream is i and, like last weekend, this powerfuljetstream is i was going to make a powerful area of low pressure. meet storm dennis. the core of dennis stays near iceland but tightly packed i that/ ice a bus across the weekend. 60 miles an hour gustin across the weekend. 60 miles an hour gust in length. and heavy rain as well. it could bring around 50 to 70 metres. flooding issues building and as we headed through the first part of the weekend. —— isobars. it will be turning a little bit milder but thatis be turning a little bit milder but that is the list of our worries. the

jetstrea m that is the list of our worries. the jetstream stays in a powerful move and low