this is bbc news. welcome if you are watching here in the uk, on pbs in america, or around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: after two weeks of quarantine over coronavirus, hundreds of passengers on the diamond princess cruise ship are leaving. new york's former mayor michael bloomberg surges in the polls, qualifying for his first democratic presidential debate. thejudge in harvey weinstein‘s rape trial has warned his defence lawyer not to court publicity until the jury reaches its verdict. malaysia's battle against terrorism. tough police tactics and an emphasis on deradicalisation programmes in prison. # black is beautiful, black is excellent. # black is pain, black is joy, black is evident.

music and politics at the brit awards. we will have a full round—up of the winners and the reaction. hello. more than 2,000 people have now died in china from the coronavirus outbreak. authorities have confirmed a total of more than 7a,000 cases and announced new measures, including incentives for healthcare staff and the building of another ten temporary hospitals. injapan, around 500 cruise passengers from the diamond princess are finally free to leave the ship, but likely heading forfurther quarantine. they have been quarantined on board for more than two weeks as those on board grappled with the biggest outbreak of the virus outside mainland china.

this has become the most serious cluster of infection outside the main centre of the outbreak in wuhan. yes, and i think has been a source of contention both here and one the japanese authorities are now grappling with because they are coming under increasing scrutiny with regard to the quarantine measures that may have been on that ship. 0ne professor from kobe university, who has worked on many contagious diseases around the world, managed to make it on the ship, and he has been heavily critical of all the measures on board. and he said it has been a major mistake. now, one in seven it has been a major mistake. now, one in seven passengers on board over the last two weeks have been infected with coronavirus. 0nly have been infected with coronavirus. only those who have tested negative are going to be allowed to leave the cruise ship. the first few have managed to set foot, they are being bussed out on yellow

buses, with special measures taken within the bus to separate them from the driver. some, however, isimply separate them from the driver. some, however, i simply taking taxis home, and this is raising concerns. already south korea has decided that it will ban entry to all foreigners from the cruise ship to their country. 0ther the cruise ship to their country. other countries, for insta nce country. other countries, for instance the united states, canada, the uk, australia, have decided that when these passengers take a charter home, they will be subject to a further 14 days' quarantine. now, 88 people just further 14 days' quarantine. now, 88 peoplejust yesterday tested positive for the virus on the cruise ship, so it is raising serious concerns about possible contagion once these passengers leave. but they are being allowed to leave, they are being allowed to head home, if they are testing negative. the other over 540 passengers who have tested positive are being treated at nearby hospitals. thank you very much indeed for that. let's speak to our correspondent nick bea ke in hong kong.

we will talk more generally about where the outbreak has reached in just a about where the outbreak has reached injust a moment, but in hong kong there, you have i think a second death from the coronavirus. you think a second death from the coronavirus. you are think a second death from the coronavirus. you are right, mike, this was confirmed this morning by hospital officials. they say a 70—year—old man who did have underlying health issues died in hospital, and this was reported this morning. as you say, this was the second confirmed death in hong kong. 62 cases in all. we don't know the severity of those various individuals, how they are faring, yes, as you say, the second person to have died from the new coronavirus here in hong kong. and what has been made of the new... at least the official figures made of the new... at least the officialfigures coming made of the new... at least the official figures coming out of china. more than 2000 people, officials say, have now died. they have confirmed a total of more than 74,000 cases. what is the feeling about how it has been dealt with? the rate of increase has slowed, there is

no doubt about that, is there? you are absolutely right. all along we have been going on the word of the chinese officials, but it does seem that for quite a few weeks now, certainly outside hubei province, the epicentre, the number of cases has been falling, but outside hubei province, and wuhan, the city of ii hubei province, and wuhan, the city of 11 million people, the numbers appear to be going on the right direction. that said, state media in mainland china is reporting that officials in hubei province will be carrying out even more stringent measures. and apparently what they are going to be doing is going to find out the records of people who have either bought cough medicine or drugs over the counter, or online, and they are going to be following up on their details to make sure that there are not lots of other people who have, you know, locked themselves away feeling ill, possibly with the coronavirus, but they haven't declared their illness to the authorities. so once again the chinese using

extremely tough tactics. it has to be said, the world health organization has praised beijing for the way it has been dealing with this, particularly in the last few days, mike. and just briefly, authorities in china say they are going to be building another ten temporary hospitals, but also this announcement of incentives, various incentives for healthcare staff. what does that tell us about the measures to deal with the disease? well, i think we know for sure that the risk is considerable to people on the front line, the doctors and nurses who have been trying to treat people and trying to curb this outbreak. more than 1700 frontline health officials have been affected by this. they have contracted the virus in some way, and yesterday we had, of course, that the man who ran one of the big hospitals in the city of wuhan, the medical director, he himself had contracted the virus and died. so a vivid illustration of what people are facing as they try and battle this disease, and so you would imagine this is one of the

reasons why the authorities are coming forward with an incentive, trying to get people not only to do their duty, as the communist party would say, but also they are rewarding them in financial terms for taking such a risk. thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news: president trump has commuted the 14—year prison sentence of a former democratic governor of illinois, rod blagojevich. he was convicted for trying to sell the senate seat vacated by barack obama when he won the presidential election 12 years ago. authorities in mexico city have offered a $100,000 reward for information about a suspect connected to the murder of a seven—year—old girl. the body of fatima aldrighett was discovered in a plastic bin bag over the weekend. her death and that of a 25—year—old woman, have sparked angry protests. low—skilled workers will not be granted uk visas under the british government's post—brexit immigration rules. ministers have announced their plans and urged businesses to move away from relying on cheap labourfrom europe.

the opposition has attacked the proposals. the boy scouts of america, one of the largest non—profit youth organisations in the us, has filed for bankruptcy protection. they face a surge in lawsuits over claims of sexual abuse spanning decades. the group, with more than 2 million members, says the move will allow it to build a compensation fund for victims. with hundreds of thousands in a desperate situation in north—west syria, and conditions getting worse, a senior united nations official is calling for safe corridors to be set up to give people a chance to escape the fighting. president assad's forces, backed by russia, launched a new offensive last december in idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold. government airstrikes have recently hit hospitals and refugee camps. the bbc‘s orla guerin gave us the latest from across the border in turkey. even by the long and brutal standards of syria's war,

this is an agonising chapter, and possibly the final one. president assad is talking about pushing on to complete victory. now, what that means on the ground is that a ferocious offensive is taking place in idlib province. civilians have been fleeing from shelling, from air raids, from barrel bombs being dropped by the syrian regime and their russian allies. the numbers in all of this are staggering. the un is talking about almost a million people on the move, since1 december. half of those are children. now, in recent days, they have not been safe even as they fled. they were shelled in areas where they were trying to find temporary shelter. tonight, we've managed to speak to some new arrivals at the largest camp, just across the turkish border inside syria. they say conditions are dire. the camp is overflowing. many people are sheltering

under trees. if you want a tent, you have to pay for it. they have no heating, they have no fuel, they have no medical assistance. and more and more people are cramming into that area, up against the turkish border, which remains closed. turkey already has 3 million syrian refugees, and says it cannot afford another influx. and there is a terrible human cost in all of this, clive. there have been sub—zero temperatures in the region in the past few days, and aid workers have been reporting that children have been freezing to death. orla guerin with the latest from across the border in turkey. the former mayor of new york city michael bloomberg has qualified for the democratic presidential debate in nevada on wednesday. so far in the campaign to choose who will be the pa rty‘s candidate to fight donald trump, the billionaire has not been tested live on a debate stage alongside his rivals for the nomination. our north america correspondent peter bowes has more on the campaign and mike bloomberg's financial influence.

money is going to be a huge issue. he has reportedly spent some $400 million already on national television advertising. it's very difficult to sit down in front of your tv for an evening and not see a commercial by michael bloomberg, supporting his candidacy. and that in part is why he has managed to qualify for the debate on wednesday night in nevada, going up for the first time against his main opponents for the democratic nomination to challenge donald trump. bernie sanders is in the lead in that race so far. he's done, so far, very well in the caucus and the primary election that we've had to date. but what hasn't been tested is who would come off better in terms of the two of them arguing about policy, and inevitably that question, is he buying himself into the presidency? it's something bernie sanders feel very, very strongly about.

interestingly, donald trump has also been tweeting about that, and these two have been involved, mike bloomberg and the president, in a war of words already on social media. it will be fascinating to see how he fits into the campaign which of course has a long way to go. interestingly, he has not had his name on a ballot paper yet. that will not happen until super tuesday, and that's when 14 states around the country, including california, will have their say, and he will be one of the candidates. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: shaken but not stirred, billie eilish debuts the new james bond theme, and picks up the award for best international female artist.

nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect on the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under way, there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being. it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their new—generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they called it mir, the russian for peace.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: hundreds of passengers are leaving the diamond princess cruise ship after a two—week long quarantine. and new york's former mayor michael bloomberg qualifies for the democratic presidential debate on wednesday, his first appearance with his rivals. the lawyer defending harvey weinstein in his rape case has been warned by the judge not to talk to the press until the jury's reached a verdict. an opinion piece by donna rotunno, written as if she was addressing the jury in the first person, was published at the weekend by newsweek magazine. the five women and seven men have now begun deliberating on their verdict. nada tawfik is in new york with the latest. mr weinstein's lawyers have really hit at, not only

the credibility of the women, trying to poke holes in their story, but also the whole public interest in this case, and its connection to the #metoo movement. so when it comes to the women, they have produced e—mails that they say shows that the relationships were consensual, showing that the women wanted to stay in touch with harvey weinstein. and from their perspective, they're hoping that that convinces the jury these were loving relationships, or at the very least that these women thought they could use harvey weinstein to get ahead in their careers. now, donna rotunno, the lawyer, during cross examination was very tough on the women. jessica mann, the one who has accused him of rape, actually started sobbing and broke down on the stand, because of how tough that was, having to read a letter she had written to weinstein, speaking to him in glowing terms. but from her perspective, she said it had been a degrading relationship, that he held the power in, and so that's certianly what prosecutors tried to refocus jurors toward, during this whole back

and forth cross—examination with these women. is it possible to reintroduce former extremists safely back into society? malaysia has been battling islamist terrorism for many years, and police claim a 97% success rate for a deradicalisation programme carried out in prisons. but, as anna foster reports, the programme is very controversial. don't move, don't move, hey! moving in against islamic state. the group is malaysia's biggest threat, and these anti—terror forces have foiled 25 attacks so far, many planned and organised from syria. but now, police want to bring members of the failed caliphate home, to keep people safe. if we abandon them in syria, they will travel to other countries. what if they conduct attacks in other countries?

so, for us, it's better to bring them back. at least 116 malaysians lived under the caliphate in syria and iraq, leaving destruction in their wake and terrorising their homeland from thousands of miles away. from here, they were free to wage war, groom new members over social media, and plan attacks. lydia was married to two islamic state fighters. now, she wants to return from syria with her three children. people in malaysia would worry that if they bring somebody like you back to malaysia... that we would do something... ..that they would not be safe, that you would attack them, that your boys would grow up and attack them. do you understand that?

there is little public sympathy for malaysians who travel to syria. those who return home will face detention under laws which human rights groups have criticised as harsh. but the government says it has decades of experience at rehabilitating prisoners with extreme ideologies. since 2001, only 3% of those convicted of terror crimes have returned to violence after deradicalisation. the debate here in malaysia is the same in countries right around the world. which is the best and safest option, to leave people in syria, or to bring them home and try to combat the violent ideology that sent them there? suleiman recruited new members of islamic state and channelled funds to syria. now, he works as a taxi driver, after spending two years in prison on the programme.

dr ahmad el—muhammady worked to deradicalise suleiman while he was imprison, and he says continuing is necessary to keep the country safe. in my capacity as the person involved in rehabilitation, i regularly meet with him, try to talk with him — is there any way i can help, in terms of connecting him with a certain individual, agencies, finding a job? things like this. go, go, go, go! malaysia's plan to bring people home is a bold one, and not without its critics. but, as police prepare to tackle the dangers that lie ahead, it proves that inaction is not the only option. anna foster, bbc news, kuala lumpur.

a single mother in russia is facing six years in prison for her political activism. for more than a year, anastasia shevchenko has been under strict house arrest awaiting trial — banned from communicating with anyone other than officials and her relatives. those conditions have just been eased slightly, allowing her to talk about her case to the bbc for the first time. she's accused of links to a pro—democracy group, open russia uk, which has been banned in russia as "undesirable" and a "threat to state security." sarah rainsford went to meet her. walking the dog is a big deal for anastasia, and for bailey. under house arrest for over a year, the opposition activist has just been allowed out for a daily walk. that means meeting her eight—year—old at the school gates again. misha's missed this. his mum has missed a lot.

it's not only the sun and fresh air, it's also how wind touches your skin even, because you don't feel it at home. the new rules mean we can talk too, for the first time. it's like a nightmare, you know, but if you are a political activist in russia you just have to be prepared somehow for it. for prison. the single mum is accused of links to a pro—democracy group based in the uk that is banned here as undesirable. she now has this electronic tag. that's how they control me. the case is based on a political debate and protest with a banner against vladimir putin. translation: i think they want to frighten activists, to show that if people are politically active, they will end up like me, in custody and suffering. the family has been trying to keep life as normal

as possible under house arrest, although misha has been having nightmares. and while vlada's happy her mum a gets two—hour walk now, she wants to go shopping with her again, and to restaurants like they used to. and despite the housework and homework as usual, times tables over the ironing board, they have all been on edge since they discovered investigators installed a spy cam in the aircon unit of their last flat. translation: i saw the photos and realised there had been a camera. i was there in my pyjamas. it was clearly by my bed, for six months. what did they think i do? plan a coup in my bed? there has been tragedy too. her eldest daughter lived in care, she had brain damage. when she fell sick, her mother wasn't allowed to visit until it was too late.

she wants to scatter her ashes at sea, but that's impossible under arrest. anastasia is making the most of her new, limited freedom. the trail is due soon, and the activist could be facing up to six years behind bars. sarah rainsford, bbc news. the biggest names in the music industry have been out in force, in london, for the 40th brit awards. billie eilish, lewis capaldi, and stormzy were among the winners, but the night will be remembered for some political performances, notably by the rapper dave — who won best album. in his song black he paid tribute to the grenfell tower victims, criticised the media's treatment of the duchess of sussex, and called the british prime minister a racist. david sillito reports. voiceover: welcome to the brit awards 2020. # i'm overyou, and i don't need your lies no more, welcome to the 40th brit awards.

the big winner tonight, lewis capaldi! ..lewis capaldi. popular, but his brief speech lead to a swift pressing of the mute button. but others were here to be heard, such as the mercury prize—winning artist dave, in a performance that was impassioned, angry and political. # the truth is our prime minister's a real racist. downing street says it won't be commenting. # i say the least racist is still racist. # and if somebody hasn't said it, equality‘s a right. # it doesn't deserve credit. # now, if you don't want to get it, # then you're never gonna get it. # how the news treats kate versus how they treated meghan. meanwhile, five years ago, tyler the creator was prevented from entering britain because of what was said to be unacceptable behaviour, by making statements that could foster hatred. tonight, not only was he here, he had a brit and a statement. someone who i hold dear to my heart, who, who —

who made it why i couldn't come to this country five years ago. i know she's at home, kissed off. thank you, theresa may. # hair toss. # check my nails... this 40th anniversary show something of a contrast with how it all began, as a musical tribute to the queen's silverjubilee. and the list of winners in that first show in 1977 included the beatles, procol harum, benjamin britten. # there's just no time to die... these days, the artists are rather more contemporary and increasingly, speaking out. i felt very hated recently. 18—year—old billie eilish — 54 million followers on instagram, and her welcome here a relief from the online hate. it genuinely made me want to cry, and i want to cry right now, so thank you. david sillito, bbc news, the brits.

that's it for now and much more any time on the bbc website. thanks for watching. hello there. the weather doesn't look like it's going to be settling down anytime soon, u nfortu nately. we have more rainfall in the forecast, which could exacerbate already existing flooding problems. we still have several severe flood warnings in force. we saw record river levels monday and tuesday across southern and western areas, although those levels have subsided somewhat. however, with more rain in the forecast, piling in during wednesday and thursday, we're likely to see those river levels rising again, and we could be looking at more flooding issues. and the heavy rain over the next few days will be focused more across north—western parts of england and north wales, northern and western wales. now, today it starts off fine and dry, quite chilly, little bit of ice around, but some sunshine, before the cloud thickens up ahead of this weather system which will arrive, bringing outbreaks of fairly persistent rain for northern ireland, western scotland into north—west england,

northern and western wales. further south and east, some dry interludes, although it will be rather cloudy, and temperatures generally nine or 10 degrees in the south, cooler across the north. now, it continues to stay wet through wednesday night, and this weather front continues to bring rain particularly into northern and north—west england, northern and western wales. this is where we'll start to see problems arising again. it will be quite a mild night for england and wales. something colder, though, across certainly the northern half of scotland. so the weather fronts then still with us as we head on through thursday. the good news is, as it starts to move through fairly quickly, it will allow for a little bit of sunshine through the day on thursday. but quite a temperature contrast from thursday morning to what we will expect later on as the colder air moves through. now, the good news is this weather front will move through fairly quickly across the country through the day, eventually clearing the south—east, with some sunshine returning behind it. so a dry afternoon,

with some sunshine. that should help issues there. but there will be lots of showers across the north. these will be wintry on the hills, as it will be chilly, but even a chillier day for the south as that front moves through. notice the isobars increase as we head on into friday. it's going to turn windy and there will be more weather fronts piling in. we're thinking areas to the north of north wales seeing most of the rainfall. particularly northern ireland and western scotland could be very wet, but again, into north—west england and north wales. to the south, should see some sunny spells, but the wind gusts mean it's going to be a very blustery day, 40—50 mph winds. on the plus side, temperatures in double figures for most, 11 or 12 degrees in the south—east. so that's how it's looking up until friday, into the weekend. u nfortu nately it stays unsettled, more windy weather with showers, but also longer spells of rain for some.

this is bbc news, the headlines: this is bbc news. the headlines: hundreds of passengers are leaving the diamond princess cruise ship. they have been quarantined on board for more than two weeks as the vessel grappled with the biggest outbreak of coronavirus outside of mainland china. so far, 542 passengers have been infected. the former mayor of new york city michael bloomberg has qualified for the democratic presidential debate in nevada on wednesday. it is the first time the billionaire will appear on stage alongside his rivals. a national opinion poll has placed him in second, behind bernie sanders. the jury in the trial of harvey weinstein has begun its deliberations, after the judge delivered a warning to the hollywood producer's lawyer following a magazine article in which she wrote jurors should do what they know is right.