welcome to bbc news, i'm ben bland. our top stories: china defends its response to the spread of coronavirus, as people returning to beijing are ordered to put themselves in quarantine. a top us official says a seven—day truce between the us and the taliban in afghanistan will begin soon, and could lead to american troop withdrawals. the english premier league side manchester city are banned from european football for two seasons for breaking financial rules. hello and welcome to bbc news.

the authorities in beijing are asking people returning to the city to quarantine themselves for m days to prevent the spread of the covid—19 virus. state media says those who refuse will be punished. the instructions came before the confirmation of another 139 deaths in hubei province on friday, the centre of the outbreak. in all, it means the death toll has passed 1,500. the largest single outbreak outside china is on a cruise ship docked in japan, where 218 people are infected. more than 3,500 passengers are being held in quarantine on board. rupert wingfield—hayes reports. for ten days now, the giant diamond princess has been tied up at yokohama, its 3,700 passengers shut in their cabins, allowed out to exercise only once every two days. today they finally

got some good news — no new infections for the last 2a hours. and this afternoon, this bus began taking some of the most elderly and frail passengers off the boat, to be quarantined elsewhere. the japanese authorities are now finally allowing some people from the diamond princess to disembark. those over the age of 80 and with underlying health conditions are being given the choice to be quarantined elsewhere. but there are still many questions about how the japanese government has handled the outbreak on board this ship, not the least of which is why have they still not tested everyone on board. from their cabin, phil and gay courterfrom florida tell me they are in good spirits. but they say they are extremely frustrated the japanese government is taking so long to test everyone. we absolutely should have been tested. the test results could have been back. the people who tested immediately and were clear should have been off the boat. why couldn't we have

all been tested? why couldn't we be off the boat? why couldn't we be home by now? we're the second—worst cluster, after wuhan, china, in the world, and we have people here from every country. doesn't that call for at least testing us? public health experts agree. they say the cramped conditions on board the diamond princess could be allowing the virus to continue spreading. i don't think it's the best solution, for many people on the ship are infected as a result. if it's airborne infections, they might be infected via ventilation systems. but tokyo is about to host the olympic games, and japan is determined the virus will not be allowed to get loose onshore. it may already be too late, though. japan has now recorded its first death from the virus,

and today nine new infections, including a tokyo taxi driver, all had no connection either to the diamond princess or to travel from china. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in yokohama. in afghanistan, a seven—day truce agreed by the us and the taliban is expected to take effect very soon. the us defence secretary, mark esper, says it should lead to a fall in violence and could lead to more far—reaching peace talks, as well as a staggered withdrawal of american troops. the deal was announced at a security conference in munich. i'm joined now from houston by professor geoffrey 5 corn, who is an expert in the law of armed conflict at the south texas college of law. he also served for 21 years in the us army. why is the ceasefire important? well, it's important because one of the conditions that the united states placed on negotiating a broader, longer term peace agreement was a

cessation of hostilities. so this is a first step in, i think, trying to build confidence between the parties, that they are going to be able to reach something more substantive and long—term. to reach something more substantive and long-term. and what do you think are the particular challenges in this situation of implementing the ceasefire deal that has been agreed? yes, ceasefires are a lwa ys agreed? yes, ceasefires are always challenging, because it ta kes a always challenging, because it takes a lot of control over subordinate forces that are widely dispersed in different areas. i think on the us side, we should have a pretty high degree of confidence that us commanders are able to control the subordinate forces, and make sure that there are no uses make sure that there are no uses of force inconsistent with the agreement. i think that the taliban might have more of a challenge, if some of their subordinate forces with the kind of loose command and control that they have see moments of opportunity and may

choose to take them, which could make the whole thing fold apart. and the duration of it, how do they reach seven days? is there anything significant in that period of time? well, i think when you are dealing with a ceasefire, you start with something that you think and be manageable and feasible and then you use it as a confidence building measure. ceasefires are used throughout history in conflict routinely, sometimes negotiated by local commanders, sometimes at the more strategic level. so if this ceasefire holds, then it could obviously blossom into a longer term ceasefire, which would then hopefully lead to some type of peace settlement where both parties to the agreement, and including the afghan government, could have a sense of confidence that we could terminate this terribly long and unfortunate conflict and try and get afghanistan back to normal. thank you very much. thank you.

manchester city football club says it will appeal against a two—year ban from the champions league for breaching uefa's financial fair play rules. the club has been banned from the continent's biggest competition from next season. manchester city is also facing a fine of more than $30 million from european football's governing body. 0lly foster has this update from city's home ground. for all their triumphs on the pitch, the stakes have never been higher for manchester city. the champions of england stand accused of cheating the system, breaching uefa's very strict financial fair play regulations. their main accusation is that they overinflated just how much money they're making from their title sponsor, etihad airlines, that's emblazoned all around this club, on their shirts, on the stadium. the complication, the grey area that uefa have been looking at, is the fact that etihad are owned by the club's owner,

the billionaires, the ruling family from abu dhabi. now, a fine of over $30 million, they won't worry about that, the club. but what is really going to hurt is exclusion from european football, the very, very lucrative champions league. that is the one trophy in this abu dhabi revolution that they have failed to secure, and getting kicked out of the champions league for two seasons from the start of next season, that is really going to hurt. there's been a really strong, belligerent response from the club themselves. they say they're disappointed, but not surprised. why not surprised? because, well, they say there have been so many leaks coming out of uefa saying they were going to get banned, even before the investigation had been concluded. they say it's been a flawed process. what they want is an impartial, independent body to carry out such financial checks, not have uefa be thejudge, thejuror, and carry out the investigation as well. they are going to appeal this.

first up, go to the court of arbitration for sport. they say they're going to overturn this ruling by uefa. but you just know that this army of lawyers, the legal team that they're now going to throw at this, with all their might, for the future of this club, that is now so much more important in the coming months than any team they actually put on the pitch. the us department ofjustice has dropped its criminal investigation into the former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe without bringing any charges. mr mccabe was accused of lying about leaks to the media during an investigation into the clinton foundation. he has consistently denied the allegations. another storm is heading our way, bringing with it high winds, a months worth of rain, and warnings of more flooding. the met office has raised the threat level for storm dennis, including weather warnings in some parts of england and wales that flooding could cause a danger to life, as britain braces

itself for a second weekend of disruption. danny savage reports from hebden bridge in west yorkshire, which was flooded just a week ago. in hebden bridge this afternoon, they were preparing for another flood. this business is hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. we were looking to be — hopefully be back open tomorrow, but we've just put that off. we've just gone, right, let's get the defences up and wait ‘til tuesday, to see it out and see the way it goes. homes close to the river have also put their simple flood defences in place. the anxiety levels are a little high. but we've left the flood defences on the back door. we'll put them on the front door tonight. and then we'lljust wait and see, and see what happens, really, slowly move any valuables and things upstairs. these homes which were flooded last week are right next to the river here. there was a flood defence scheme planned for this area, but it has been put on hold because of costs.

that would have seen this wall built much higher. but for now, it's just a plan, and years from being reality. down the road, in mytholmroyd, they are also shoring up the partially built new flood defences, because there is huge concern that storm dennis will overwhelm this village again. it's terrifying. the impacts on the community is massive. we've lost all the shops, all the businesses. just over your shoulder there's barbers, there's hairdressers, there's sainsbury‘s. all these places were ruined. they'll be ruined for months. it's going to happen again and again. at the blue teapot cafe, there is a family effort under way to prepare. they are getting ready for the second flood in a weak. people are really frightened. people are saying i've had all this stuff donated, but actually, if we flood again, that'll go as well. so we're kind of all speaking to each other and seeing how we can help, and get things out of the village. come and have a look. 0k, come on. yeah, sure.

older people are struggling, though. flooding destroyed janet's bakery business in 2015. she is waiting for family to come and move her furniture upstairs again. it's heartbreaking, really. we have got insurance, but you're still having to pay money after money after money, and there's no offer of any compensation from anybody. has flooding ruined your life here? yes, in a word. the environment agency is concerned too. unfortunately, if we see some of the repeat totals we saw last weekend, in some of our more sensitive catchments, we could see further flooding. but it's very uncertain at the moment, and we continue to monitor that situation. across the north, this is the problem. the big rivers, like the 0use in york, are already very high. if this is the starting point, before a rain storm with an amber warning attached, then it's realistic to expect problems. flooding, power cuts and travel disruption are predicted in the worst affected areas this weekend. as the rivers are watched,

people are heading to higher ground. coastal areas are often badly affected by storms, and while severe weather causes major short—term disruption, the environment agency is also warning about the long—term safety of coastal areas due to rising seas. it comes as research suggests polar melting is accelerating and raising the height of the oceans. 0ur science editor david shukman reports. mountainous waves as storm ciara struck last weekend, battering the coastal defences. in west sussex, the barriers were overwhelmed and the sea broke through. as the world heats up, raising the level of the ocean, the threat will grow. hemsby, in norfolk, has no defences at all, and the waves have undermined many houses over the years. lance martin now lives right on the edge. he is doing what he can,

but gets no help, so he worries about every storm. i look down on the beach and i think, is that going to protect me? what else can i do to protect myself? because, at the moment, there's nobody else that's going to do myjob for me. like many villages, hemsby is too small to get government funding to keep the sea back, but local people say they deserve it. it's a real danger to us all now. we have no protection from the sea coming into the villages and flooding all our areas. there used to be a row of houses on this sand dune, but the sea kept eroding it dramatically. and, as climate change raises the level of the ocean, more and more stretches of coastline right around the uk will be put at risk. and at the moment, only key areas will be defended. it's one of the biggest flood schemes we're currently building. just come up the gantry... up the coast, boston, with many more people, is getting serious help.

the environment agency's floods director guides me round a new tidal barrier. costing more than £100 million, this great steel wall can be lifted up to block a storm surge. it was ordered after boston was badly hit seven years ago. 800 homes and businesses were flooded. when it is finished, the barrier should safeguard the town. but with big rises in sea level coming, officials want people to realise that the coastline will shift, and that some areas may have to be given up. if we don't start having those conversations now, in 50 or 100 years, the sea will take them anyway. so now‘s the time to start thinking about what the future might be. do you think people will have to move? i think, in some places, there are going to be some very serious questions we'll have to have. for the moment, for the people of boston, there is a feeling of comfort with the construction of their

new barrier. so it's quite a significant piece of kit, and i think that it will bring a lot of security and a lot of safety. the much bigger thames barrier often holds back storm surges to save london, but in a warming world, higher seas mean painful choices for our island nation. where to save, and where to retreat? a question given new focus with the next big storm this weekend. david shukman, bbc news. emily thornberry has been eliminated from the labour leadership contest after failing to secure the necessary nominations to make it into the final ballot. the shadow foreign secretary had 31 nominations from local constituency parties, just two short of the number required to go forward. the next labour leader will be sir kier starmer, lisa nandy or rebecca long—bailey. this is bbc news. the headlines: china defends its response to the spread of covid—19, as people returning to beijing are ordered to put themselves in quarantine for 1h days.

parts of yorkshire, wales and the south—west are braced for floods as stormy weather sweeps in for the second weekend in a row. there were more than 5,000 cases of mumps last year in england, that's the highest level in a decade. it's been largely driven by young adults at universities and colleges who didn't as children have the mmrjab — that's measles, mumps and rubella. public health england says the rise looks set to continue this year, and it's urging people to have both parts of the mmr vaccine for maximum protection. catherine burns reports. this is david 0rwood now, and this is him when he became ill with the mumps. as the days went by, his face became more and more swollen. it started to affect his breathing. he says the pain was excruciating. it was just indescribable. i kind of woke up and i couldn't do anything. it completely took over my body.

so, you started to feel better and then you got a complication. it then went into... ..my balls. ifelt like someone had kicked me in the balls. on my right side, it swelled up like an avocado. it was huge and really painful. mumps cases are at the highest level for a decade in england. they have dropped in northern ireland but have also risen in wales and scotland. most people get better without treatment, but it can lead on to serious complications, including meningitis, deafness and infertility for men. the mmr vaccine prevents most cases. babies have the first dose just after they turn one and it gives between 61—91% protection. a second jab before they start school boosts that level to about 95%. but in 1998, a doctor, andrew wakefield, wrongly linked the vaccine with autism.

that has been totally discredited now, but the effects of the controversy linger on. the increase in mumps is partly linked to outbreaks in universities and colleges. it's thought that some students now might have missed out on being immunised in the late 19905 and early 20005. even if you've had the vaccine, it can become less effective over time. if you do get mumps after being vaccinated, it probably won't be as severe and you're less likely to have complications. the official advice is to make sure you're fully protected. david found out he only had the first injection as a baby. he's had the second one now but wishes he'd not missed out all those years ago. catherine burns, bbc news. the high court has ruled that police acted unlawfully when they turned up at a man's workplace after he posted comments online about

transgender people. harry miller took the humberside force to court after they recorded his tweets as a hate incident, despite conceding he'd committed no crime. the judge said the force's actions were disproportionate and that britain didn't have secret police in the style of the nazi regime or communist east germany. our legal correspondent, clive coleman, reports. emerging victorious, former policeman harry miller, whose comments on social media about gender identity caused a trans woman to complain to his formerforce. he was investigated, but today, his tweets were found to be comfortably within the bounds of free speech. mrjustice knowles was very clear. we have never had a gestapo or stasi in great britain, but the actions of humberside police came way too close for comfort. women, comedians, students, even politicians, rediscover what it's like to think, then go forth and tweet without fear.

harry miller believes biologically a man cannot become a woman, and tweeted about it, sometimes using graphic language. humberside police warned him he could be prosecuted if he continued. they logged a non—crime hate incident, which can be disclosed on certain background checks. harry miller challenged police guidance and behaviour. the guidance was found to be lawful, but thejudge ruled the police acted disproportionately. he said: many people will regard the words of mrjusticejulian knowles as a robust, muscular defence of free speech. but some will fear they will be taken as a green light by people who want to direct offensive and hurtful comments

at minority groups. i think trans people will be worried that it could become open season on us, because the court didn't really define what the threshold for acceptable speech was. and i think it willjust reinforce an opinion that the courts don't really understand trans lives, and aren't there to protect trans people. harry miller's next step is to appeal the ruling the police guidance is lawful to the uk supreme court. the investigation of non—crime hate incidents faces another legal challenge. clive coleman, bbc news. scientists in argentina say they've discovered boris johnson's new borisjohnson‘s new cabinet has held its first meeting since the reshuffle yesterday, overshadowed by the shock resignation of chancellor sajid javid. the prime minister congratulated those who survive the changes and those who had

been promoted, while urging them to deliver on what he called the people's priorities. here they are, the team borisjohnson‘s going to rely on to deliver his promises. how many hospitals are we going to build? all: 40. they are certainly obedient. how many more buses? laughter and well—trained. how many more nurses are we recruiting? 50,000, exactly. the new chancellor, rishi sunak, will be keen to prove he has a mind of his own after yesterday's surprise promotion. i'm delighted to be at my fourth bromsgrove pensions fair. yesterday, he was the man preparing the budget. now backbench mp sajid javid has more time for local events like this. he resigned after the prime minister told him he had to sack his own advisers and rely on a joint team based in number10. are you running number 11 as well as number 10? many see that as a power grab by the prime minister's chief adviser, dominic cummings. he wants a more co—ordinated approach to economic policy. i've known and worked with dominic cummings for many years on a number of projects.

he's a very brilliant man. he's absolutely passionate about supporting the prime minister's vision and agenda, and i think a really great team at number 10 to drive that forward. there are more than 20 government departments in whitehall, thousands of civil servants, and more than 100 advisers who work closely with cabinet ministers. downing street wants tighter control over the way they work, especially at the treasury. it's about discipline, about loyalty to the prime minister, but will it be more effective in terms of delivering policy? tension between prime ministers and their chancellors is nothing new. meeting the demand for new roads, schools and hospitals is expensive, and the treasury doesn't approve of overspending, so will this reorganisation make a difference? i think, if it ends up that they have more joined up working together, as we had under cameron and osborne, that will be a very good thing. if it ends up in the kind of space where the treasury to some degree is being neutered, and it has a key

function, of course, being the custodian of the public finances, then i think that will be more problematic. reporter: will the budget still be going ahead? politicians often complain that it's difficult to change the way things are done. decisions are made, but the machine moves too slowly. this government is trying a different approach, and there are sure to be clashes along the way. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. scientists in argentina say they've discovered the remains of a dinosaur distantly related to the tyrannosaurus rex. the tralkasaurus lived around 90 million years ago, and although it was quite a bit smaller than many other carnivorous dinosaurs, it was still pretty formidable, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. dry, arid lands of northern patagonia, there are secrets that have been buried for millions of years. this team of palaeontologists carefully, delicately uncovering the remains of a previously unknown dinosaur. a skull, teeth, ribs and other bones of something

new and something fierce. this, an artist impression of the tralkasaurus, or thunder lizard, a carnivore part of the bella sorin family. a distant cousin of the tyrannosaurus rex, no less. short neck, muscular with razor—sharp claws. but unlike the t.rex, the tralkasaurus was a bit on the tralkasaurus was a bit on the short side. translation: this tralkasaurus would probably have reached about four metres, a size much smaller than what is known about other dinosaurs. the importance of this finding is we're getting to know the diversity and above all the size of these animals. from their research, the scientists believe the tralkasaurus probably lived on smaller plant eating dinosaurs. its discovery sheds new light on the different types of dinosaur that lived in this region. the

thunder lizard may have been a little bit diminutive but it can certainly look after itself. tim allman, bbc news. it's valentine's day, and one russian officerfound a rather novel way to propose to his girlfriend. with the help of his fellow servicemen, he set up 16 tanks in the formation of a heart at a military test site outside of moscow before his bride was taken to the centre of the formation with her eyes covered. and all the hard work was worth it. as you can see, she said yes. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @benmbland the weather now with nick miller. storm dennis is fast sending its wind and rain towards us and it's going to be a weekend of rain, messy at times and dangerous weather. dennis a very deep area of low pressure. the winds will be strong and disruptive at times but also

several spells of heavy rain coming through, particularly affecting parts of in an wales. not clearing in the south—east until late on sunday and part of... schoolie, gusty winds and in terms of the rain, the met 0ffice in terms of the rain, the met office has a few amber warnings enforce where going to flooding, particularly in parts of southern, western and northern england, wales and rain and snow in southern scotla nd rain and snow in southern scotland could bring flooding. head online to find all the details and what they mean for your area. saturday starts actually with dry weather around and outbreaks of rain for the south. it will turn wetter quite quickly. rain pushing east through the morning but in the afternoon, some areas will see dry interludes and northern ireland may brighten up a bit but there will be further heavy showers. the more persistent rain in northern and western england, some spots to the south and certainly into wales. all the while the winds are strengthening, southern and western coasts could be 60 mph in places. mild but for many,

wet and windy. into sunday, clear spells and heavy showers and for scotland and northern ireland but this area of heavy and perhaps even at times torrential rain sits on through these parts of england and wales. the when all of that during sunday is going to gradually move its way south. it will clear for someone south. it will clear for someone sunday, last to clear from the far south—east. it will brighten up behind, the rains colder, but packing in the showers in the north—west, hail, thunder and wintry on hills in scotland and with gusty, squally winds. very windy on sunday. the winds may ease a bit when you see the back of the rain to the south but could well strengthen further to end sunday, particularly in scotland. there is an indication behind the rain the temperatures are coming down and it will feel colder. to reinforce the point, while for some the end of sunday the, the wind is easing,

scotland, northern ireland, north—west wales, staying very windy with further disruptive winds that could still be around first thing on monday. met office amber warnings for rain, asi met office amber warnings for rain, as i mentioned. in these areas you could see a month or more of rain in a short space of time, rain and snowmelt in southern scotland. get across the warnings. even if you're staying up with your feet up all weekend, better to be in the know.