welcome to bbc news. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the un warns of a potentially huge human cost as fighting in syria's last rebel stronghold draws close to densely—populated civilian areas. ebrahim says they fled the village in italy because of bombing. the war keeps catching up bombing. the war keeps catching up wherever they go —— idlib. a police hunt is under way in germany for gunmen who shot dead eight people. we'll bring you the latest. ready for his close up. multi—billionaire michael bloomberg is to make his big tv debut in the race for the us presidency. as the spread of the coronavirus continues, criticism of how japan has handled a cruise ship with the infection on board.

hello to you. the conflict in syria is on the verge of a dangerous escalation, according to a senior un official, who warned that the cost to civilians could be "instant and huge." he made his comments as turkey threatened to launch a new military offensive. talks between turkey and russia, which backs the syrian government, failed to reach agreement on how to calm fighting in idlib, the last mainly rebel—held region in syria. this report from our international correspondent, orla guerin in istanbul contains some distressing images. ducking for cover. even if you can barely stand it's time to run. with bombs falling nearby, this family are trying to pack

up this family are trying to pack up and go, for the fourth time. take the children inside, says ibrahim. a parent's instinct. but he knows they aren't safe there either. ibrahim says they fled their village in idlib because of bombing, but the war keeps catching up wherever they go. so they hit the road again, joining the exodus to campus at the border with turkey, which are already overflowing. small wonder when the syrian regime and its russian allies keep dropping barrel bombs. president assad says he is battling terrorists in idlib. explain that to this seven—year—old and her brothers. dazed and frightened after surviving a recent airstrike. just imagine what

his young eyes have seen. senior un officials are pleading for a ceasefire. pleading for the global community to remember its conscience. i think they failure to deal with this is shameful. it's a terrible indictment on the state of the world at the beginning of the zist world at the beginning of the 21st century that the international community cannot come together to agree that it's not ok to bomb fleeing women and children. as the bombing continues, turkey is pouring more troops into idlib, where it backs some of the rebel groups opposing the regime. today, president erdogan threatened a defence of his own to stop the syrian advance in its tracks. translation: turkey has completed all the preparations to co m plete completed all the preparations to complete its own operation

in idlib. as in the past, we could come suddenly one night. and idlib operation is a matter of time. but many fear time is running out. they pitch their tents where they may, at the mercy of the elements, at the mercy, if any could be found, of the regime. here's what president assad has already done, reducing opposition held areas to rubble, forcing almost areas to rubble, forcing almost a million of his own people to run for their lives in the past two months. one aid workers says this is syria's doomsday. orla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. reports from germany say at least eight people have been shot dead in an incident in the town of hanau. the shooting took place at two shisha bars in the town, which is 25 kilometres east of frankfurt. police and helicopters are at the scene. our correspondent damien

mcguiness has the latest. so it appears that according to german media shots were first fired ina german media shots were first fired in a shisha bar in the town, that's where it seems the first people were killed. after that, eyewitnesses say that one oi’ that, eyewitnesses say that one or more, possibly, gunman, escape the scene and a dark vehicle. they have driven to another shisha bar in another pa rt another shisha bar in another part of the doubt, we're according to eyewitnesses a gunman started shooting people inside. police, as you say, have now confirmed that a people in total have been killed in those two shooting incidents. it's thought that more could possibly be injured. there are initial reports from police of five people being injured. it's not clear whether they're included in the number of fatalities or not. and so far police haven't yet confirmed if they made any arrest. but we have seen photos ofa man arrest. but we have seen photos of a man being detained by

police. what is happening right now is that a manhunt is on for one or more perpetrators. police say they don't know who is behind the shooting and what the motivation of the gunman or gunman was, so, really, until we know what the reason for the shooting incident was, it's very difficult to say what could happen next, because this could happen next, because this could be an isolated incident, it could be something involving individual people, or it could have a wider implication. that's just not clear at this moment in time. damien mcguinness for us there. democrats vying to be their party's presidential candidate debate in nevada tonight. it's a high stakes moment in the democratic race, as polls show bernie sanders surging into the lead, and for the first time, former new york city mayor michael bloomberg joins the crowded stage. let's go live to the bbc‘s chris buckler in washington. chris, mike bloomberg, his name has not been on a ballot so far, he has not physically been

pa rt far, he has not physically been part of this race, but his ads and his money, loads of money, have been there. and that money comes with complications, doesn't it? yeah, a billionaire finding his own campaign and deliberately making an effort to be somebody who will disrupt this whole contest, just by spending the cash on those adverts. but this debated tonight in nevada isjust minutes old and already we have seen mike bloomberg attacked just for that. i'm going to quote elizabeth warren, one of the other candidates, who said as far as she was concerned" you could not trade one arrogant billionaire for another". that was her talking about michael bloomberg, a fellow democrat and somebody who wants to challenge her to win that democratic presidential nomination. and you also got a sense from bernie sanders, another one wanting to win the nomination, that he believes that mike bloomberg is somebody who has to be beaten here. he immediately went after him. suggesting, for example, that his policies as mayor of new york meant that he would turn off african—american voters, in

particular, because of his previous stop and frisk policy that he helped push in new york. it was a social policy that was very controversial. it did predominantly affect black people. and he has apologised for that in people. and he has apologised forthat in an people. and he has apologised for that in an attempt to try and get rid of it. but it is clear the other candidates are going to do what they can to attack mike bloomberg in this tonight. it is a very curious situation. he is a huge philanthropist. he has given colossal amounts of money to things dear to democrats. but there are questions about his policies and his personality. yeah, and he has talked about as being a self—made man. and when you look into his background when you watch is adverts, which make it very clear, time and time again, he is somebody who lost his job and builta is somebody who lost his job and built a business empire. but he a lot of the fact that he is somebody who can take on donald trump and beat him. that is his view. he has been saying time and time again that they need a centrist, a moderate candidate who is going to bring america together, rather than

somebody who was, perhaps, on the progressive, liberal wing who could perhaps divide america even more. but you talk about comments, that again has been mentioned by senator elizabeth warren in her opening comments. she has talked about some of the offensive, is that a p pa re ntly some of the offensive, is that apparently he has made about women alleged in a number of newspaper reports and suggested that he is not the man for america. it's going to be a fascinating debate this evening, not least because we have had this whole big democratic field slim down to a certain extent. there are six people on the stage tonight, thatis people on the stage tonight, that is an opportunity for them to challenge each other and, from the opening statements, it is very clear that they are going to do exactly that. chris, many thanks for that. let's get some of the day's other news. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has condemned china for expelling three journalists from the wall streetjournal, over an opinion piece on the epidemic. the publication has expressed regret for the upset caused by an article this month which described china as the "real sick man of asia"

colombia's president, ivan duque, has cast doubt on whether his country is ready to fully legalise abortion as the country's top court prepares to rule on the issue. campaigners are hoping the constitutional court will vote to allow abortion in the first three months of pregnancy. manchester city's chief executive ferran soriano says the team's alleged breaches of uefa's financial fair play regulations are "simply not true". the club says it will appeal against its 2—year ban from european club competitions and a $30 million fine. iran says two of its nationals have died from the new coronavirus — the first deaths reported in the middle east. twenty—five people in the same hospital are suspected of having the disease. injapan, hundreds of passengers on board the diamond princess, who've tested negative for coronavirus, have begun leaving the ship which has been quarantined in yokohama. and here the british nationals on board the ship have been told they will be flown back on friday. rupert wingfield—hayes has this report. as the news choppers hovered overhead, the first passengers released from the diamond

princess began their long walk to freedom. waving goodbye to friends still stuck on board. yesterday, these people were virtual prisoners. today, the first 500 who have tested negative were literally walking onto the street and getting onto buses. every time i heard that the number of infections had gone up, this man says, i felt really scared. even as some former passengers were getting into taxis and going home, the number of infections continues to rise. japan today announced another 79 positive cases on the ship. the japanese government says the incident on board the diamond princess is now effectively over. the virus is contained. there is nothing to worry about. but there has been a strong suspicion here, for some days, that the containment on board the ship has not been working, that the virus has continued to spread during the quarantine period, and now we have a whistle—blower, a japanese expert who has been onboard the ship and has described

conditions there as chaotic, ineffective and frightening. kentaro iwata is a professor of infectious diseases who has previously worked on the fight against ebola in africa. i felt much safer when i was in africa. because you know where the virus doesn't exist. and you know where the patient is. but inside the diamond princess, you have no idea where the virus is. we are seeing people disembarking from the ship and mixing with the general population. how concerned are you by that? very concerned. this is one reason why australia, canada, and now britain are now insisting their nationals must go through another 14 days' quarantine when they return home. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, yokohama. a lawyer forjulian assange says president trump made an offer to pardon the wikilea ks founder if he said russia was not involved in leaking emails from america's democratic national committee during the 2016 election.

the bbc‘s rich preston has this report. the e—mails were released by wikileaks injune and the e—mails were released by wikileaks in june and july 2016, just months before the us presidential elections. they we re presidential elections. they were hugely embarrassing and seen as were hugely embarrassing and seen as massively damaging to the democratic presidential nominee, hillary clinton. russell was widely suspected of hacking the dnc, stealing their e—mails, and passing them on to wikileaks. julian assange e—mails, and passing them on to wikilea ks. julian assange has denied rotten involvement and russia denies any responsibility —— rotten. that did not stop the usjostens department judging did not stop the usjostens departmentjudging 12 officers over the hacking. the accusation being it was all pa rt accusation being it was all part of a wide plot to interfere with the election. julian assange is currently here, london's belmarsh prison, but if exhibition to the us over the leaking of diplomatic cables. that extradition hearing begins next week. julian assange's lawyers say

that during the hearing they will present a witness who will testify that while mrjulian assange was staying at the ecuadorian embassy he had a visit from a former us congressman. this man. then aurora bachar, and that he came with a message. proof that —— prove that russia wasn't behind the dnc link and you will be pardoned at 22. the white house says that the claim byjulian assange's lawyer is a complete fabrication and eternal life. julian assange went into the ecuadorian embassy in london 2012 to avoid extradition to sweden on allegations of sexual offences, charges he always denied and which were later dropped. these hearings over extradition to the us may start on monday, but they are expected to last several months. so it won't be until later in the year until we find out who it is this making these allegations about his suppose a deal by the trump minnesota —— this suppose a deal. richard weston, bbc news.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a city of the past worried about its future. why tourism may be putting machu picchu in peril. 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 am terrified of the repercussions on 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, but 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 news — the latest headlines: the un warns of a potentially huge human cost — as fighting in syria's last rebel stronghold draws close to densely—populated civilian areas. a police hunt is under way in germany for gunmen who shot dead eight people in the city of hanau. the us president donald trump will be visiting india next week, and his first stop will be gujarat — the home state of indian prime minister, narendra modi. he's expected to hold a roadshow in ahmedabad. but preparations for the visit have led to controversy, because authorities have been accused of building a wall to try and hide slums in the city. the bbc‘s yogita

limaye reports. another wall for president trump. this one is not along a border but by the roadside in ahmedabad. it is part of a beautification drive ahead of the us leaders visit to india. when it's done, it will hide from view and urban slum that is home to 800 families. many of whom are opposed to this construction. translation: the president will pass through this area but this is our neighbourhood. how can they hide us? they should give us basic facilities instead of this wall. if you're building a wall for the president, build something for us to. along the streets president trump and prime minister modi will do a roadshow stop and work is under way around the clock to spruce them up. masses of people are expected to line the streets. and tens of thousands will be in this cricket stadium, believed to be the world's

largest, to listen to the two leaders. it is an event expected to be like this rally held in texas in september last year. if it was, how do you modi? it will be at namaste trump in india. preparations are expected to cost nearly $12 million and while the visit is certain to have its grand moments, it is unclear whether it will yield anything more substantial than that. the duke and duchess of sussex will formally step down as senior royals from the 31st of march. they will no longer carry out duties on behalf of the queen, and will instead be represented by their charitable foundation. their office at buckingham palace will also close. our royal correspondent jonny dymond gave more details on the couple's future plans. well, one last burst of royal engagements in march and then as you say, at the end of march it is all over for their public royal role. we know that they will come back regularly, we are told,

but when they do, they'll come back in a private capacity. they won't be serving the queen and therefore their office here at buckingham palace will close. the duke will hold onto the titles and ranks that he earned while he was in the forces, but he will give up the honorary commands like captain generalcy of the royal marines that he held. they'll still be known as the duke and duchess of sussex, they'll still have the title of his and her royal highness but they won't use it. will they still be able to call themselves royal? that's still up for discussion — we'll hear later in the year, but i suspect it's not going to happen. machu picchu is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. every year — around two million people pay a visit. but there are growing concerns that those sheer numbers could be causing damage to what is a fragile environment. the bbc‘s tim allman has more.

it is the most astonishing of sites, an ancient city hidden in the clouds. and from first thing, every morning, the tourists come. thousands of them. knows food inside machu picchu, no cellphones — mark selby sticks in your hands 0k. no umbrellas, no food please. you can hardly blame them. this isa you can hardly blame them. this is a special place but it is vulnerable too. translation: ten yea rs vulnerable too. translation: ten years ago, there were 400 tourists and now there are ones thousand per hour. imagine the feet of those tourists on any pa rt feet of those tourists on any part of the site. we can assess the stability in the face of the stability in the face of the tourist invasion. grass is trampled, stone and brick work are worn down. preserving eve ryo ne are worn down. preserving everyone is vital for so are worn down. preserving everyone is vitalfor so many people for whom it means so much. translation: it's a

sacred place to worship the various deities of our a ncestors, various deities of our ancestors, to worship the mother earth, the sun, moon, stars. a unesco world heritage site, an icon of the inca civilisation. machu picchu has a glorious past. it's future is still not assured. tim allman, bbc news. let's get more on how china is coping with the outbreak of the coronavirus and its impact on people trying to get on with their working lives. our correspondent has been out and about in beijing. this is what's keeping china going at the moment, these delivery guys, because even though the coronavirus fears are everywhere, they are keeping everybody fed, still delivering stuff to people's houses. they're parked here, you can't go into the compound. you've got to show

your id here. the other guy, he showed his id. this is a delivery, the guys at the gate are even hanging onto people's food. so someone has come with the delivery. beijing's underground train system. it normally has to deal with millions of commuters. no problem getting a seat today though, i think.

look at this. the heart of beijing. anyone who's been to beijing and has had a look around the guomao area of the city would not recognise this intersection.

you can imagine that the close confines of a bus is the type of place people would be worried in terms of coming into contact with somebody who has the coronavirus with hands—on services and the like. everybody coming in has their temperature checked. and most people we talked to, they don't seem to mind to this. they know that it's part of trying to control this emergency. and, they are cutting the government quite a bit of slack. a woman has successfully had a

brain tumour removed while playing the violin during her surgery. playing the violin during her surgery. looking at the footage of the operation here, if you're squeamish, you might wa nt to you're squeamish, you might want to turn away. she is a professional musician and was diagnosed with a tumour in 2013. she had the surgery at the end of last month at ings couege the end of last month at ings college hospital in london. she was brought round from the anaesthetic during the operation so surgeons could hear her play the instrument so that they knew they were avoiding the area of the brain are used in playing the violin. now, if you've ever wondered what a million—dollar bottle of whisky looks like — take a look at this. it's an extremely rare macallan, bottled in 1926. it's just broken all records, when it was sold to an unknown european buyer during an online auction in scotland. the bottle was part of an extensive collection amassed by a whisky connoisseur from colorado in the united states. the total price was $1,072,000. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team

on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there. we have a number of severe flood warnings still in force across parts of the country and particularly in england and we have more rain in the forecast, which is going to exacerbate this issue. the met office has yellow warnings for rain in parts of wales, north—west england and south—west scotland. these areas seeing quite a lot of rain by the time we end thursday. this is the pressure chart. you can see this weather front responsible for bringing the rain to the north and the west of the country. a slow—moving feature but as we head through the course of thursday, it will start to move south—eastwards quite quickly. so skies will be brightening up across scotland and northern ireland during the morning. this band of rain will be pushing across england and wales and some of it will be quite heavy. we could see a short—lived, very heavy spell of rain as it moves its way south—eastwards, accompanied by hail, very squally winds and some

thunder and lightning as well. temperatures will be on the mild side but behind it as it moves through, the skies will brighten up, but temperatures will drop fairly dramatically. some sun shining behind this further north in the afternoon with lots of showers. these will be falling as snow on the mountains of scotland and maybe even down to the lower levels. and if you add on the strong and gusty winds, could see some blizzard conditions on the mountain tops. that rain clears the south—east on during thursday evening and during thursday night it's going to be a breezy one. windy in the north with showers or longer spells of rain but the snow levels will rise as temperatures rise here. further south and east, could be quite chilly for a time to start friday morning. this is the picture then for friday — another system moving in, lots of isobars on the charts. but an even windier day and it will be quite wet across the north. it is looking like a north—south divide, tending to stay drier in the south with some sunshine albeit very windy. north wales, northern england and scotland and northern ireland

will see outbreaks of rain, particularly across the western hills and quite a lot of rain at that too. a very windy day, widespread gales could cause issues to the east of the pennines there. very gusty indeed and stronger than that across north—west scotland. temperature—wise on the mild side with double—figure values across the board. for friday night, stays wet across the northern half of the country and tends to be drier in the south and remains windy. into saturday, stays u nsettled u nfortu nately. we got further very windy weather on saturday and some wintry showers in the north. this feature will move in for sunday will bring parts of england and wales for more prolonged periods of rain. an unsettled weekend to come. saturday, sunshine and showers. wintry in the north, very strong winds in the northern areas and some of us could see more prolonged rain on sunday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the un's humanitarian chief has warned that hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting in northwest syria are at great risk from an imminent escalation in the conflict. almost a million people have fled and the conflict is approaching heavily populated areas where many have sought shelter. eight people are dead following two shootings at shisha bars in the western german city of hanau. at least five people were also injured after gunmen opened fire. police added that they are searching for the suspects, who fled the scene and are currently still at large. the american billionaire mike bloomberg has joined five other democratic presidential hopefuls for the latest televised debate in nevada. the former mayor of new york is a latecomer to the democratic race, but his standing has soared in recent polls. bernie sanders is the current frontrunner. communities across england

and wales, already hit by flooding