this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the un warns of intentionally huge human cost is fighting in syria's last rebel strong hold draws close —— close to densely populated civilian areas. he says they fled their village because of bombing. but the war keeps catching up wherever they go. ready for his close-up. michael bloomberg is making his big tv debut in the race for the us presidency. as the coronavirus reds, criticism of how japan handled the cruise ship with the infection on board.

the conflict in syria is on the verge of a dangerous escalation according to a senior united nations official. he want the cost to civilians could be insta nt cost to civilians could be instant and huge. cost to civilians could be instantand huge. he cost to civilians could be instant and huge. he made those comments as turkey threatened to launch a new offensive. talks are yet to succeed. this report from istanbul has distressing images. explosion ducking for cover... even if you can barely stand, it's time to run. with bombs falling nearby, the abdulaziz family are trying to pack up and go for the fourth time.

take the children inside, says ebrahim, a parent's instinct. but he knows they aren't safe there either. he 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 camps 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's battling terrorists in idlib. explain that to this seven—year—old and her brothers. dazed and frightened after surviving a recent air strike. 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 the failure to deal with this is shameful. it is a terrible indictment on the state of the 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 an offensive of his own to stop the syrian advance in its tracks. translation: turkey has completed all the preparations to carry out its own operation in idlib. as in the past, we could come suddenly one night. an 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 one million of his own people to run for their lives in the past two months. one aid worker 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 in a shisha bar in the town, that's where it seems the first people were killed. after that, eyewitnesses say that one or more, possibly, gunmen, escaped the scene in a dark vehicle. they have driven to another shisha bar in another part of the town, where according to eyewitnesses a gunman started shooting people inside. police, as you say, have now confirmed that a people —— 8 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 arrests. 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's behind the shooting and what the motivation of the gunman or gunmen was, so, really, until we know what the reason for the shooting incident was, it's very hard to say what 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. the democrats are heading west. tonight in nevada the battle to be the one taking on president trump in november opens up a new front. on stage for the first time is michael bloomberg, former mayor of new york, who spent $400 million

on his campaign so far and isn't even on the ballot here. he enters the race on march 3, super tuesday. but he's polling in double digits. and front runner, bernie sanders, is attacking the big spender. we're going to win this election not because we are buying the airwaves, as mr bloomberg is, we're going to win this election because we are putting together the strongest grassroots movement that this country has ever seen. cheering. and former vice president joe biden, who desperately needs a good debate in vegas to reset his campaign, is mocking mr bloomberg for trying to link himself to president obama. obama did basically nothing. nevada is home to the casino industry. with a growing hispanic population, it's the most diverse state to vote yet in the democratic contest. nevada looks like america. if we want to know how america's going to vote, watch the nevada results.

and early voting has begun in nevada's caucus. after iowa where issues with the technology caused chaos, party organisers hoped to avoid a similar fate on saturday when the votes are counted. and it looks like the king himself is worried about the process. i'm hoping that we have success with the caucus. knowing the people that are running the caucus i expect it to be screwed up. all the candidates hope to void that and to create momentum for themselves with tonight's debate. but it's the performance of the onstage newbie, michael bloomberg, which will be most closely scrutinised. laura trevelyan with that report. let's go live to the bbc‘s chris buckler in washington. this is a weird situation. you have a guy who has not even had his name on a ballot. has not been physically present on the campaign. suddenly the one to beat. boy, has he fired up this debate. previously we have had a number of these debate stages when democrats have been standing there and, frankly, we have come away from them saying they have in pretty dull.

it is not dull in this debate, let me assure you. make bloomberg has a right on that stage and he has a target on his back as far as the other candidate are concerned! —— has arrived. and they attacked him from the very first moment he arrived on that stage. for example, bernie sanders has been attacking some of his old policies when he was mayor of new york. he supported, for example, stop and frisk a social policy that impacted particularly african—americans and bernie sanders has been saying it is that kind of issue which michael bloomberg has in his background that will mean black voters will not support him. that is bernie sanders's own argument there. it is an important one, because the democrats believe they have to get the black vote out if they are going to be —— beat donald trump in november. perhaps some of the most vicious attacks actually came from senator elizabeth warren who at one stage said what they don't need in america is to trade one arrogant billionaire for another. of course a reference to donald trump but also a reference to michael bloomberg who has considerably more wealth than donald trump and is finding his own

campaign, which has seen ad after ad on television just night after night. but i think the most damaging whole element for mike bloomberg so far is a suggestion about him making offensive comments about women. there are suggestions that a number of women who previously worked for michael bloomberg have signed nondisclosure agreements because they were offended by some things he said. tonight he was challenged by both senator elizabeth warren and former us vice president joe biden to do away with those ndas, to basically let those women speak. mike bloomberg wouldn't commit to doing that. he said that the ndas would stay in place and at one stage was actually booed by the audience for saying that. gives it you a sense that all of these candidates are vying for position, but also now really vying against each other in very, very aggressive terms. just briefly, among those candidates, all eyes onjoe biden, his campaign in serious trouble.

here. he has just lacked fire and momentum. he has been doing better tonight. he had a couple of hits against mike bloomberg which will be important to him. but he is going to find the next few days particularly testing. he has to do better in the nevada caucus which takes place on saturday and also in south carolina a week after. there is a sense that he believes his campaign will do better with black and latino voters. he has to prove that in the coming weeks. chris, thank you so much. iran says two of its nationals have died from the new coronavirus — the first deaths reported in the middle east. 25 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 e—mails 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 july 2016, just months before the us presidential elections. they were hugely embarrassing and seen as massively damaging to the democratic presidential nominee, hillary clinton. russia was widely suspected of hacking the dnc, stealing the e—mails, and passing them on to wikileaks. julian assange has denied russian involvement and russia denies any responsibility. but that didn't stop the us justice department charging i2 russian intelligence officers over the hacking. the accusation being it was all part of a wider plot to interfere with the election. julian assange is currently here, london's belmarsh prison, but faces extradition 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'll present a witness who will testify that while mr assange was staying at the ecuadorian embassy he had a visit from a former us congressman. this man — dana rohrabacher — and that he came with a message. prove that russia wasn't behind the dnc e—mail leak and you'll be pardoned. the white house says that the claim byjulian assange's lawyer is a complete fabrication and a total lie. 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're expected to last several months. so it won't be until later in the year before find out who it is this making these allegations about a supposed deal by the trump administration. rich preston, 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. for more on the situation in idlib, i'mjoined by dr zaher sahloul, president of medglobal, which provides aid

in disaster zones. thank you very much for your time. he's a syrian—american doctor, based in chicago who has recently returned from idlib. war is a terrible business, always has been, or is it your position that there are uniquely terrible things happening now in syria which do not need to be happening, which could be stopped from happening? definitely. i think the most important thing that we used to pay attention to humanitarian catastrophes, like what is happening right now in syria and idlib and we're not paying attention. we're not paying enough attention as an international community, as united nations, as a secretary general of the united nations. this war in syria which has been going on the past nine years, all the rules of war have been broken. chemical weapons have been used more than 200 times. the population has been under siege. hospitals and medical centres have been targeted, more than 580 hospitals were bombed

according to physicians for human rights. more than 910 doctors and nurses were killed. populations, civilians, children are being killed. more than 28,000 children have been killed in syria in the last... in the last few days, we've had stories from a child of four—months—old he was frozen to death. and also another story of an 18—month—old girl who had frozen to death and the international community is not paying attention. we can make a difference in the lives of the 3 million people who are trapped in idlib who don't have any other place to go. turkey has sealed the border because they have 4 million syrian refugees and these people, this 3 million people, half of them have been displaced. in the last few weeks, 1 million people have been displaced and from their villages and cities and they have no shelter. according to the united nations, 85,000 of them do not have any shelter in freezing temperatures, below —8 degrees in idlib. we can make a difference in the lives of these people

who are now living in a concentration camp called idlib. dr sahloul, that is a terrible list of course and it does seem incredible that one of the world's superpowers bombing hospitals and bombing refugee camps are nothing is being done about and yes, russia has a veto at the un and we they know will use it. what actually can be done? several things can be done. president trump can make a difference. he is friends with putin, he can pick up the phone and tell him to stop bombing syrian children in hospitals. the secretary general of the united nations, antonio guterres, can go to idlib because this is the worst disaster area according to his assistance. his assistant said this was the biggest horror humanitarian story in the 21st century. in a disaster like this, the secretary—general is usually there. he went to mozambique, the bahamas, libya, bangladesh. he has to go to idlib and see

and check on the children who are freezing to death and he can make a difference. europe and the uk can make a difference by pressuring russia and putin to stop bombing hospitals and civilians in syria. i know you'll be giving a press conference on capitol hill on thursday with a whole number bunch of concerned groups and individuals. we'll hear more about that later. thank you so much for your time. thank you. 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. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonnel has been out and about in a very different beijing. this is what's keeping china going at the moment, these delivery guys, because even though the coronavirus fears are everywhere, they're keeping everybody fed, they're still delivering stuff to people's houses. they're parked here,

you can't go into the compound. so 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's 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. nobody here.

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. stephen mcdonald for us there. a woman has successfully had a brain tumour removed, while playing her violin during surgery.

just take a look at this incredible footage of the operation — and a warning if you're a bit squeamish you might want to turn away. dagmar turner is a professional musician and was diagnosed with a tumour in 2013. she had this surgery at the end of last month at king's college hospital in london. mrs turner was brought round from the anaesthetic during the operation to play her instrument, helping the surgeons specifically avoid the area of the brain 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. thank i'm @bbcmikeembley. you for watching.

hello there. we have a number of severe flood warnings still in force across parts of the country, 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 force for 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 — we've got another system moving in, lots of isobars on the charts. but an even windier day and it will be quite wet across the north. in fact, 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 to 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 some issues to the east and 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. throught 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 fighting in north—west syria are at great risk from imminent escalation in the conflict. almost1 million people have fled and the conflict is now approaching heavily populated areas where many have sought shelter. eight people are dead in two shootings at shisha bars in the german city of hanau. police are searching for the suspects who are still at large. michael bloomberg has joined five other democratic presidential hopefuls and the latest televised debate in nevada. the former mayor of new york is a latecomer to the race his standing has soared in recent