this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: more coronavirus cases outside china — the world health organization warns of a closing window of opportunity to stop it spreading. we still have a chance to contain it but we have to prepare for any eventuality is because this outbreak could go in any direction. us intelligence agencies say russia is meddling in this year's presidential election to help donald trump get re—elected. a seven day truce begins in afghanistan, paving the way for further talks between the us and the taliban.

and a letter to liverpool football club — the schoolboy who wants the premier league leaders to stop scoring so many goals. hello and welcome to bbc world news. the world health organisation is warning the world is at a tipping point in the corona virus outbreak. the head of the who said the window of opportunity to contain the virus is narrowing. he stressed that, before it closes completely, countries around the world must act quickly. although must act quickly. the window of opportunity although the window of opportunity is narrowing to contain the outbreak was still have a chance to contain it but while doing that we have to prepare for any eventuality is because of this outbreak could

go any direction. it could even be messy. it is in our hands now. if we do well within the narrow window of opportunity, we can reverse or we can avert any serious crisis. there's also concern about cases of coronavirus that have emerged outside china that don't have any links with the country at the source of the outbreak. apart from the diamond princess cruise ship, the republic of korea has the most cases outside china and we are working closely with the government to fully understand the transmission dynamics that led to this increase. we are also concerned about the increase in cases on the islamic republic of iran where there are now 18 cases and for deaths in just the past two

days. "4. in south korea, there are a hundred new cases of the virus and the country's second death has been confirmed. meanwhile, british passengers who've been quarantined onboard the diamond princess cruise ship off japan for over two weeks, are finally on their way home. around 35 britons who tested negative for the virus have now taken off from tokyo on an evacuation flight back to the uk. rupert wingfield—hayes reports. tonight, finally, after 17 days of isolation, the british passengers began their long journey home. on-board one of these buses, elaine spencer and her husband. before they left the cabin they recorded this message. thank you to the government

for deciding to bring us home. we are coming home, we are seeing our family, and we can't wait, but also in a way it is strange, it feels like it has been our home for all that time. thank you. hopefully we are going to be home and i will see my family or ourfamilies, in the next couple of weeks. bye— bye. bye — bye. nearby in his cabin, alan sanford told me he and his wife are feeling the strain of such a long confinement. we have not stepped out of this cabin since we were quarantined on the fourth of february and it is now sort of the 21st, even though the quarantine on the ship is over, we're going to go on an aeroplane, back to the wirral, and do another 1a days of quarantine. that's going to make about 31 days altogether. we are going to have to deal with that, i mean, there's a lot of people worse off than that in the world but, wow, the thought we are only halfway through it. it may seem a little unfair that the british passengers leaving the ship tonight, are now going to have to spend another 1a days in quarantine when they get back to the uk, having spent two weeks or more

shut in their cabins on board the ship. but what we have seen with the americans, and now the australians, is that some of the passengers who tested negative for the virus when they left the ship, are now testing positive when they got back home. 164 australians flew back to darwin on wednesday. two of them have now tested positive for the virus, and been sent to hospital. as you know, we carefully screened everybody before they left the ship, before they got on the plane and during the flight but, as people also know, there has been ongoing detection of infection on the diamond princess cruise ship over the last few days, so it is not unexpected that some people might have been incubating the virus. meanwhile, in south korea, the number of cases of the virus has lept by 100 in the last 2a hours, and a second death has been reported. the outbreak is thought to have begun at this church, in the city of daegu.

the streets of the city are out empty, and the massive disinfecting operation is under way. as dawn approached the tokyo airport, the big planes sent as dawn approached the tokyo airport, the big plane sent to pick up the british evacuees were still sitting at the gate. the 35 british evacuees apparently on—board, still waiting a little longer for the last leg of their long journey long to begin. rupert wingfield—hayes reports. russia has been told to stay out of american elections by one of the frontrunners for the democratic party's presidential nomination, bernie sanders. he was responding to a washington post report that us officials were warning that russia was trying to help his campaign. earlier president trump dismissed us intelligence claims that moscow was meddling a hoax. let's go live to washington and speak to our correspondent chris buckler.

good to see you. slightly complicated but essentially russia is allegedly interfering and if the election process to try and help donald trump when and bernie sanders, is that right? the us intelligence officials have been steadfast in their belief that russia interfered end of the 2016 presidential election and now they are saying and briefing members of congress that russia is once again interfering in the 2020 election that is coming. they are saying they are helping both donald trump and bernie sanders. some people say, why would they do that if they are polar opposites? but perhaps that is it. maybe it is about to so division in a country already split by mr trump's presidency. he has dismissed this idea is a hoax and put forward by democratic party members to try and cause

real concerns about his presidency stop he says there is nothing to this and why would vladimir putin support him? however, if you take a statement from bernie sanders, he said, unlike donald trump, i do not consider vladimir putin a good friend. let's be clear, the russians want to undermine american democracy by dividing us american democracy by dividing us up and unlike the current president, i stand firmly against their efforts. you could take that as an indication that the president is not doing enough to tackle these claims and certainly he has been very vocal about it.|j have many intelligent briefings that i do not revealed to the public. mr perton is an autocratic, he may be a friend of donald trump, he is not a friend of mine. —— vladimir

putin. the american people are sick and tired of seeing russia and other countries interfering in our elections. the intelligence community has been very clear about it. whether trump recognises it or not, the intelligence community is telling us they are interfering in this campaign right now, in 2020 and when i say to vladimir putin, if elected president, trust me, you're not going to be interfering in american politics. a definitive statement from bernie sanders. what do they mean by russian interference? what kind of thing is that? it is about trying to spread misinformation, disinformation, putting things on the internet essentially to try and get involved in the election and to cause this vision. that bernie

sanders statement ahead talk specifically about the idea that essentially there is ugly stuff on the internet attributed to our campaign that may not be coming from real supporters. bernie sanders may acknowledge that there are things out there but president trump does not want to do that and all indications are he has become extremely angry at intelligence officials continuing to push this narrative. shortly after that briefing, in which they said to congress members that russia was meddling once again, he essentially got rid of his acting director of national intelligence, the individual across all 17 of the intelligence agencies enter the us and has replaced it with another, a guy who is currently the us ambassador to germany and also a donald trump loyalists. it does not have a background in military intelligence or in national security but he is seen as someone who is a very fervent supporter of donald trump and

someone who has appeared in the likes of fox news to talk about the president in a glowing terms. it perhaps gives an indication that president trump does not like this idea that russia interfering is coming out of his administration. a week long "reduction in violence" agreed by american and taliban negotiators has started in afghanistan at midnight tonight local time, according to afghan officials. if the period passes off successfully the two sides will sign the first phase in a process aimed at bringing an end to the 18 year—long conflict. our correspondent secunder kermani explains the terms of this agreement. the exact terms of this reduction in violence have not been made public but from our understanding, over the next seven days, starting from midnight tonight local time, armed forces, u.s.—led international forces, afghan

security forces, will not carry out any major offensive attacks against each other and that is what our understanding is, but if this period than passes off peacefully, what we understand will happen from us officials and afghan officials is that the us and taliban will sign an agreement next saturday and that agreement was set out a timetable for the withdrawal of international forces from afghanistan in exchange four guarantees from that they will break with groups such as al-qaeda and start separate discussions with other afghan political leaders about the future of the country and a longer lasting ceasefire which is of course what many ordinary afg ha ns wa nt is of course what many ordinary afghans want the president of afghanistan. to do. the president has described this as a useful step to achieving a

long lasting ceasefire. jurors in the sexual assault trial of the former american film producer, harvey weinstein, have ended four days of deliberations, with instructions from thejudge to resume on monday. earlier, they asked justice james burke if they could give split decisions on two of the most serious charges, but were asked to continue their deliberations. a man who was stabbed inside the central london mosque yesterday during afternoon prayers has been speaking about his ordeal. raafat maglad had just led the call to prayer when he was attacked. a 29—year—old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. mr maglad says he forgives his attacker. our religion editor martin bashir reports. morning. worshippers arrive at the london central mosque, responding to friday's call to prayer, which, on this occasion, is not delivered by the man who has been doing so for the last 25 years.

how are you feeling? nursing his wounds, 72—year—old raafat maglad arrived after worshippers had taken their places in the very hall where, just 2a hours ago, he had been attacked. a man in red, seemingly part of the congregation, pulled a knife. mr maglad joined the congregation mr maglad had joined the congregation and was following the lead of an imam. so, the imam said, "allahu akbar." he lifted up his head. i was halfway, when i felt something like somebody hitting you with a brick. it is something very... it is not the stab that i... it is very terrible, i can't even... you know, all my body shook. and i recognised that the blood started to flow. a 29—year—old man was arrested

on suspicion of attempted murder and mr maglad was taken to nearby st mary's hospital, where his injuries were assessed. they have four stitches. and he referred me to mri. and the mri detects the nerve, because it is damaged then i can't lift my arm. my arm is very heavy. the mosque's leadership team says that, while it advises all worshippers to remain vigilant, it doesn't want to turn a sacred space into a fortress. and, despite yesterday's attacks, its doors remain firmly open. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, placing their bets on the rival contenders — nevada gets its say in the democratic party presidential contest. 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: more coronavirus infections have been detected outside china, notably in the middle east. the world health organisation has warned the window of opportunity to contain the virus is narrowing. the frontrunner for the democratic party's presidential nomination, bernie sanders, has told russia to stay out of american elections. it follows reports moscow was trying to help his campaign. democratic party voters in the state of nevada are to decide on saturday who they'd prefer to be the candidate to take on donald trump in november's presidential election. and after a spirited debate this week in las vegas, the candidates are competing for every last vote, as sophie long reports. 20 years ago i sold tacos on the streets. i was looking for a better life. so you've come a long way? yeah, after 20 years,

this is my dream, you know? ratio now co—owns two restau ra nts a nd ratio now co—owns two restaurants and has created around a0 jobs. —— mauricio. but he says he and people like him get no support from the current president. what do you think about the guy who owns that tower? i want a different president to him, because we are looking for a better life not only for the mexican community, but for all the races, you know? he wants a different president but hasn't decided who that should be. ottie is unsure as well.|j don't watch too much politics, but i think the next president, he has to do a betterjob, you know, to save our country, to make a better place for everybody. the number of latin voters in las vegas, nevada and across the united states is growing significantly. about a million have turned 18 since 2016 and will have the opportunity to vote in a presidential election for the first time. the impact they

could have on november's election could be extraordinary, if candidates could get them to vote. how do they do that? well, not totally ignoring them is a good start. 2018, a3% of all eligible latino voters received no communication from a campaign 01’ communication from a campaign or political party. when campaigns and candidates elect to not communicate at all with oui’ to not communicate at all with our community, about anything, even about the things that they think we care about, it makes it harderfor us to think we care about, it makes it harder for us to evaluate which candidate to support, to show up and vote at all, right? well, this time, campaigns have spent thousands on spanish—language tv ads. bernie sanders' campaign has spent millions on its latino outreach programme in nevada alone. but are they making an impact?|j like are they making an impact?” like bernie a lot. i think he is the best, for me, the best candidate. so which candidate do you like? bernie sanders!

because? because i think he has better ideas for spanish people. saturday's caucus will be the first indication of what people think in this racially diverse state. he can't be that bad to me... he is, though! he doesn't know how to put his stuff in words the right way, he is politically incorrect, but he is about business. he is about money! at the end of the day, he is about business... there's been a lot of hype ahead of what's being billed as the most anticipated heavyweight boxing match in almost 20 years. in the early hours of sunday morning the american fighter, deontay wilder, will take on britain's tyson fury, in their long—awaited rematch. after their press conference earlier this week turned violent, they'll be weighing in separately. our sports editor dan roan has more from las vegas. cheering. it wouldn't be fight week in vegas without the posturing, the posing and the promotion. but, when push comes to shove, in a city built on hype,

there's a real sense that tyson fury‘s rematch against deontay wilder could just live up to the billing. 1a months ago, the first meeting produced an epic. fury, out—boxing his opponent and then somehow surviving a ferocious 12th round knock—down, before a controversial draw. now these two unbeaten heavyweights have got it on again. i think this is the biggest fight in the last 50 years. i've got his number, because he put me down and he couldn't keep me down. and that must be playing on his mind. because everybody else, he's knocked out, apart from the gypsy king. so, yeah, i'm coming for you, baby. but the bronze bomber is known as one of the hardest hitters in boxing history, remarkably, a1 of the american‘s a3 victories coming by way of knockout. and now wilder wants to cement his status as the dominant force in the division. this is the moment in time that we have all been waiting for. the biggest fight of both of our lives. unfinished business, as i call it. and i can't wait. not since the great lennox lewis beat evander holyfield

here in vegas, some 21 years ago, has there been such anticipation ahead of a heavyweight rematch. and now another british fighter will hope he can deliver on the grandest stage of all. i think it's going to be an unbelievable fight. i think if tyson fury comes out there and says he wants to try and knock him out in the first couple of rounds, he will probably try it. you know, he's that type of guy to do that. but if that doesn't work for him, then he will resort back to his boxing, and then we'll see, you know, tyson fury moving around, doing all kinds of different things. and may be leading with the jab a bit more. here in the boxing capital of the world, there are hopes fury—wilder 2 could break all pay—per—view records, and return this division to the status it enjoyed during its glory days. this, a rivalry breathing new life into the sport. dan roan reporting from las vegas. as liverpool continue to dominate the english premier league, one young manchester united fan has decided to take matters into his own hands. 10—year—old darragh cu rley wrote to the liverpool manager

jurgen klopp, asking if it would be possible for his team to lose a few games. emma vardy reports. dearjurgen klopp, my name is daragh. during a letter writing project, most of the daragh‘s class were composing fanmail. but his tactics were different. i support man united and the reason i'm writing is to complain. liverpool are winning too many games. channelling the frustrations of millions of fans, he had a sincere request. the next time liverpool play, please make them lose. you should just let the other team score. i hope i have convinced you to not win the league or a match, ever again. i thought if i wrote to ole gunner solskjaer, that wouldn't really make a difference. so, i thought i had a better chance of writing tojurgen klopp to stop him winning. the plea was received by liverpool boss,

jurgen klopp, a man who's transformed the club's fortunes. at his press conference today, he said he liked daragh‘s letter, even though daragh was not on his side. it wasjust nice. it was nice, it was cheeky. i was happy we had time that day. so, i read the letter and i replied. "unfortu nately, on this occasion," he wrote, "i cannot grant your request, not through choice anyway." before i opened it, i was like, "oh, might bejurgen klopp, because it had royal mail on the stamp." and mammy‘s like "no, it's not." and then i opened it and it wasjurgen klopp! but all to daragh‘s disappointment, liverpool are still on course for premier league glory. he has probably done more

interviews today than mr klopp himself which, like football, shows you how unpredictable things can be. emma vardy, bbc news. bollywood's first film featuring a gay lead character has been released in cinemas and donald trump called the news great. the president retweeted the news about the film from peter tatchell, a prominent lgbt rights campaigner, and on seeing the president's endorsement, the film's director responded "? ?wow film's director responded " ? ?wow the film's director responded "? ?wow the film, which tra nslates "? ?wow the film, which translates to "be extra careful about marriage", stars and act as an openly gay man who clashes with his conservative pa rents over clashes with his conservative parents over his boyfriend. homosexual relationships, which we re homosexual relationships, which were decriminalised by the supreme court in 2018, are still rarely represented in india. that is just about it from me.

you can get me on twitter anytime. i'm @lvaughanjones. hello there. some of us should see some sunshine this weekend but it is looking decidedly u nsettled but it is looking decidedly unsettled again stop we will have plenty of showers around and some of these will be happy. snow across the north of the country and for most of us, particularly today, it is going to be very windy, with pretty widespread gales. you can see why. the pressure chart shows lots of isobars on the child's right across the country. a couple of weather fronts working their way south across england and wales, lots of showers packing into the north and west of the uk. so it could start quite grey on saturday with the bounds of rain spreading south—east. most of them should clear away by the afternoon and we should see sunshine and showers, most of these showers across western areas, the odd heavy one, and plenty of snow showers across

scotland. the winds feature a0, 50 miles an hour quite widely, 60 miles an hourfor northern england and northern ireland, up england and northern ireland, up to 70 miles an hour and exposure in the north and west of scotland. heavy snow showers will continue to pile through significant accumulations on the hills, and they will be blizzards as well when you factor in the strength of the winter. cold in the north but mild in the south, 10—13 in the afternoon. saturday evening at overnight, we continue with the snow showers in the north. third accumulations on the hills and we see a ripple in that weather fronts which will push some rain back northwards to parts of northern ireland. quite a bit into england and wales, especially across western areas. milder in the south, cold in the north with the risk of ice. sunday, this waterfront will be slow to clear from england and wales through the day, eventually it will do, so it is a slow improvement, quite a wet morning, i think, for many parts of england and wales, slowly, though, the skies will

brighten up and cloud will home back across southern counties of england towards the channel. also, sunshine developing on further showers across scotland also began, these will be wintry over the high ground, as it will be another chilly day in the north, mild across southern counties of england. that brief ridge of high pressure which settle things down for a while later on sunday and early into monday is short lived. this next deep area of low pressure will hu rtle area of low pressure will hurtle in on monday and bring a speu hurtle in on monday and bring a spell of severe gales and snow. some snow could be disruptive across the far north of england and the central belt of scotla nd and the central belt of scotland on the monday morning rush. it will transfer north and revert back to raynaud's temperatures left a little bit, but widespread gales and severe gales in the north, further south, about a rain sweeping east across england and wales, with sunshine following on behind, maybe or two showers. temperatures 10—12 in this south, feeling cold in the north.

this is bbc news, the headlines: there's been a growing number of coronavirus infections outside china, notably in the middle east. there's been a sudden spike in cases in italy, linked to a bar. the head of the world health organization has warned that the window of opportunity to contain the virus is narrowing. the frontrunner for the democratic party's presidential nomination, bernie sanders, has told russia to stay out of american elections. earlier president trump dismissed as a hoax reports of warnings by us intelligence that moscow was helping mrsanders' campaign — in an effort to get mr trump re—elected. a tentative seven—day reduction in hostilities has come into effect in afghanistan, after an agreement between american and taliban negotiators.