this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00: a hotel in tenerife is in lockdown and guests are told to stay in their rooms, after a guest from italy tests positive for coronavirus. we just have to stay in the hotel, we cannot walk around the grounds but the police is now ——

has now cordoned the hotel. eleven people have now died of the virus in northern italy, prompting new foreign office advice tonight against all but essential travel to the worst affected areas. the former liberal leader, lord steel, leaves the lib dems, after a report says he did not act on claims of sexual misconduct made against the former mp cyril smith. the city of delhi sees its worst violence in decades, sparked by deep divisions over a new citizenship law. and two severe flood warnings remain in place for the river severn amid fears that water could go overflood barriers in the early hours of tomorrow morning. and at 11:30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers, with our reviewers sonia sodha and kevin schofield. stay with us for that.

good evening. our main story is the deepening crisis surrounding the spread of coronavirus. in one of the latest developments, a hotel in tenerife, in spain's canary islands, has been locked down, after a visiting italian doctor tested positive. here in the uk, travellers who've visited northern italy have been told they must self—isolate, if they develop flu—like symptoms. the vast majority of cases still remain in china, but there are significant clusters elsewhere. there are more than 77,000 cases on the chinese mainland. more than 2,600 people have died. south korea has seen a sharp rise in cases, almost 1,000 have been infected and 10 people have died. iran is struggling to contain its outbreak, with almost 100 cases, among them the deputy health minister. while in italy, more than 320 have been infected, and 11 have died. we start tonight with our correspondent mark lowen and the latest on the situation in tenerife.

from island haven to health scare lockdown, italy's coronavirus outbreak has spread to tenerife. the costa adeje palace hotel now shut off after an italian guest, a doctor, tested positive. they woke up to this, ordered to stay put. hundreds stuck inside. we've just got to stay in the hotel. we can't leave the hotel. we can walk round the grounds, sit on the sun loungers, but there's a cordon around the hotel with police. in italy itself, cases are still rising. it is europe's worst affected country and in milan they're not taking any chances. pharmacies across the city have the same sign — "we've run out of masks and sanitising gel." among the places closed, la scala opera has been silenced, a blow for alan and mary spencer who came from somerset to enjoy a verdi

classic. well, we were disappointed because we had made plans to visit so many places in milan for the first time and all of them are closed. under new british government rules, if they show symptoms after going home, they'd have to self—isolate for two weeks. we feel we are most at threat, perhaps, during our return journey when we will be in contact with other people travelling by train and by plane. until then, we feel comfortable and safe here. one of italy's key concerns now is the economic impact of the virus. with sites closed, tourists cancelling and businesses suffering, there's talk of it tipping into recession. and until they can stem the outbreak, the eu's third largest economy will feel the shock. prime people watching spots are virtually people free. cafes count their losses. gabrielle gerosa says it's

the worst he's seen in years. "milan is suffering a psychosis. people are scared and aren't going out." a world of easy travel hazmat a virus that knows no borders. but the frontline of the fight keeps moving. in iran, the deputy health minister, who'd denied that his country had a problem with the virus has now said he's tested positive for coronavirus. it prompted an allegation from the trump administration that the iranians were covering up the full extent of the outbreak. 0ur correspondent rana rahimpour from bbc persian has the latest. here ina here in a run the authorities spray disinfectant outside the home of a man who has died from the corunna violence. ——in the capital. 16 people have died and 95 have infected but many believe the real figures to be far

higher stop on monday, the deputy minister publicly divide the cover of while he himself looked unwell. 2a hours later, he took to twitter to reveal he had been diagnosed with the virus. translation: i would like to inform you that i also have corunna virus. i had feverfrom you that i also have corunna virus. i had fever from yesterday. my primary test results came up positive and since then i have isolated myself. in the capital, shoppers have been panicked buying. pharmacies are overcrowded and low on stock stop this chemist admit they are short of supplies. so far, at least seven countries in the region have reported confirmed cases, all can be traced back to iran. suffering from economic sanctions and mismanagement, the

country is ill—equipped to cope and its refusal to impose a mass lot down, like in italy and china, will feel the crisis. here in the uk, children returning from half—term holidays in northern italy, have been sent home from several schools to try to prevent the spread of the virus. it follows the government's updated advice to travellers from italy. people returning from 11 quarantined towns in the nothern regions of lombardy and veneto, must now self—isolate at home for 1h days, even if they are well. and those who have travelled elsewhere in northern italy, that's the area north of pisa, must do the same but only if they develop symptoms. and in another development this evening, the irish health minister has said the forthcoming rugby international between ireland and italy should not go ahead. also to primary schools in spalding, lincolnshire, have been closed as

a precaution. our medical correspondent fergus walsh has more details. this morning, myself and 90 other students from my school have been sent home to be self—isolated. bethann‘s school in nantwich, cheshire should be teeming with activity, but its entire sixth form has been closed after students returned from a skiing trip in italy, which also impacts parents... i understand that this is a precautionary measure and that the school have to act upon information given to them and guidance from the government. but is it an overreaction? this private school, another with a skiing trip, has shut completely for the rest of the week. well, obviously, every school has to make choices based on the particular situations they find themselves in, but we are not advising as a blanket policy that schools should be closing based on people coming back from italy. if you're told to self—isolate, that means staying at home, not going to work, school or other public places. you shouldn't have any visitors.

if you live on your own, you can order shopping online or get friends to help, but they should leave it on the doorstep. if you live with others, then you need to stay in a well—ventilated bedroom with the door shut. if you have to share a bathroom, then use it after everyone else. don't share towels and toiletries. your waste should be double—bagged. if you test positive, it'll be separately disposed of. remember — the coronavirus causes a mild illness for four out of five people. self—isolating will help protect older people and those with underlying health problems from getting infected. travellers returning from northern italy are being advised they only need to self—isolate if they develop flu—like symptoms or they've been in one of the quarantined areas. it really can slow

disease spread. by isolating those with symptoms in healthcare settings, tracing their contacts, getting those to self—isolate until we determine that. so, that led to the control of the sars epidemic, so we're still uncertain if those will be sufficient to fully contain the pathogen that we see now, but it certainly has a great potential. nearly 7,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in the uk. just 13 have been positive. for now, it seems, the virus has yet to get a firm foothold here. fergus walsh, bbc news. helen branswell is a senior writer for infectious diseases and public health, for stat, an online website reporting from the frontiers of health and medicine. earlier i asked her how close the world is to a pandemic. iam not i am not sure how close we. a number of experts think we are already in one. the world health organization has resisted using that

term to date stop one of the things they says they really do not have experience with a coronavirus pandemic so they do not know how to predict what will happen with this one or how effective countries will be trying to beat it back so it is not clear how soon they might be ready to declare a pandemic but it certainly is in declare a pandemic but it certainly isina declare a pandemic but it certainly is in a lot of countries at this point and showing no sign of abating. in terms of the latest briefing that we are getting, is your sense that containment is still possible? i was listening to a really interesting briefing today from the world health organization by the head of the international mission that had just returned from china, looking at what they had done, and he was waxing really enthusiastically about what china has done, you know, having looked at their numbers and the measures they have taken, he said that the

mission came away convinced that china has been able to really clamp down infections both within wuhan and hubei, where most of the infections occurred, and elsewhere. these measures they said could be affected in other places but it is hard to imagine some of these measures being applicable in many other countries 01’ applicable in many other countries orfrankly applicable in many other countries or frankly any other countries having the resources to do some of the things that china has done. an official inquiry has concluded that political institutions failed to respond to historical claims of child sexual abuse, but it says there was no evidence of an organised paedophile network at westminster. the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse said there had been a significant problem of deference towards people of public prominence. following today's publication, lord steel resigned from the liberal democrats, and announced his retirement from the house of lords. the inquiry found that the former

liberal leader did not act on claims against the former mp cyril smith because he classed them as "past history". our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. do you want a man to represent you 01’ do you want a man to represent you ora do you want a man to represent you or a party robot? sarah smith was a big politicalfigure in the 60s. it was accused of abusing children but neverjudge. he then admitted to david steele that he had been investigated by police a decade earlier. last year he told the abuse enquiry he believed smith was guilty but he did nothing. he could for all you still be offending against children? i had to admit, that never occurred to me and i am not sure it would occur to me even today. but the enquiry‘s verdict was that he turned a blind eye.

lord steel hit back today, the enquiry not having secured a parliamentary scalp i fear i have been made a proxy for sarah smith. because david steele failed to act, sarah smith was able to remain in public life and he went on to abuse children in schools in the 19805. to abuse children in schools in the 1980s. this enquiry examined another big allegation. in 2012, labour's tom watson demanded an investigation into... clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network link to parliament and number10. network link to parliament and number 10. so network link to parliament and number10. so what network link to parliament and number 10. so what happened? network link to parliament and number10. so what happened? the enquiry said today it had done its investigation and found no evidence of that. but over the years, concerns have been raised about individuals like cyril smith and little has been done. this report says that is because

politics came before the safety of children. and it demands all political parties improve their child protection policy. for a hundred years, life expectancy in the uk has increased, with every generation living longer than their parents. but a new report says health inequalities in england have increased to such a degree over the past decade that ever—improving life expectancy is no longer the case. those living in the poorest communities shown here in the darkest red are most affected. but overall growth in life expectancy growth has stalled and for women living in some of the most deprived communities it's actually reversed. the north—east of england has the worst life expectancy, when compared to the national average. this report from our health correspondent dominic hughes starts in newcastle—upon—tyne. the divide in health between rich and poor is growing. the gap is particularly stark in the north—east of england. in newcastle, self—employed music

teacher lucy beckman is struggling to make ends meet, and it's having an impact on her health. all the clothes that i have are given to me by friends. i use food banks. i can't get my hair done. a coffee is a luxury, if i go out for a coffee. so the nicer things in life are just not happening. the stress is a killer, it really is. it lessens your lifespan. today's report suggests that, for the first time in a century, life expectancy for the poorest women in the north—east is falling, and the funding cuts associated with austerity the most likely because of a worsening health picture. my own view is that health and health inequalities is telling us something fundamental about the nature of society. and, if health's not improving and health inequalities are increasing, something's going wrong with society.

in some of the most deprived areas, like the north—west, life expectancy is well below average for england. but there are signs of change. what do we want to be in 20 years' time? at richmond academy primary school in oldham, pupils give voice to their dreams. a doctor, brill. a lawyer. elisha? a social worker. in one of the poorest parts of greater manchester, the school makes a point of working with the whole family. we encourage our parents to be healthy, so they can be healthy too, so they can have a healthy mindset, and a healthy body. linking education to health, housing, work and community. many of our families have gone on to achieve gcses now. they're in paid employment. it is a route not only for the children, but the families, the whole family at the centre

of our school. and, with the right approach, results can come. male life expectancy is still below the average, but in coventry, the gap between rich and poor is narrowing. the local council backing projects like this pay—what—you—can cafe in foleshill, a place for families to eat together, sharing experiences, building a community. coming here has actually helped how i feel, because obviously i was suffering from depression. it was one of the reasons i came, and ifirst started coming here, was because i didn't want to talk to other people. being on my own with three children was kind of hard, so coming here was opening me up a little bit, and actually getting me to mix with other people. the government says it is determined to narrow the health gap by levelling up access to healthcare across england. but this report says poverty now has a grip on our nation's health, and something has gone badly wrong.

dominic hughes, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: a hotel in tenerife is in lockdown and guests are told to stay in their rooms after a guest from italy tests positive for coronavirus. 11 people have now died of the virus in northern italy, prompting new foreign office advice tonight against all but essential travel to the worst affected areas. the former liberal leader lord steel leaves the lib dems after a report says he did not act on claims of sexual misconduct made against the former mp cyril smith. tesco is to cut more than 1,800 jobs as part of changes to the bakeries in its large supermarkets. the overhaul will start in may and involve 58 of its bakeries finishing pre—baked products rather than baking from scratch. i'm joined now by our reporter nina nanji. what's behind this overhaul? well, there are two main issues at

play here. the first is around changing demands, changing preferences from customers. and the second is around the need to cut costs in the face of rising competition. firstly, on the demand side, tesco basically said that people just aren't buying traditional loaves of bread anymore. the demand has changed into things like wraps and bagels and flatbread, and things like that are actually easier to buy outside and bring them into the store, rather than making them from scratch. so what they've announced today, there's a number of stores, as you said, will no longer have these in—house bakeries. they are going to buy the pre—baked goods, as it were, and then bring them in, and essentiallyjust put them in, and essentiallyjust put the finishing touches to them. other stores will continue to bake just the most popular products, and then some stores will continue to have the whole range of services, including the bakery services. so that's the sort of restructuring that's the sort of restructuring that we are seeing. but there's also a bigger picture here, and that's a familiar story we have heard before around the need cut costs for the biggest supermarkets. and that's in the face of the discounters hot on

their heels, basically trying to steal their market share. and in that context, u nfortu nately, steal their market share. and in that context, unfortunately, they are looking around and looking for places that they could potentially cut cost. and that tends to mean job cuts, and that's essentially what we have seen here. as you say, 1800 jobs potentially at risk. now, the unions have sounded a warning on this today. they have said, well, this today. they have said, well, this is going to be difficult to redeploy some of these jobs, and that's because a lot of these employees are working on a fairly specialised unit, so to go and put them into other departments may not be that simple. now, tesco has said that they are going to try their best to redeploy staff to limit the redundancies, as it were, but clearly it is going to be an uncertain time for all of their staff. thank you very much indeed. a jury at the old bailey has been shown cctv footage of salman abedi, the manchester arena suicide bomber, seconds before he detonated a device which killed 22 people and injured hundreds. he is seen carrying a large rucksack, standing in a crowd of men, women and children. his brother hashem abedi is on trial at the old bailey, accused of being jointly responsible for the attack, which took

place in 2017. the grammy award—winning singer duffy has revealed she was drugged and raped after being held captive by an attacker. the 35—year—old singer posted on instagram, breaking her silence about why she disapeared from the music industry at the peak of her fame. she told fans that her recovery has taken time and that she hadn't wanted to show the world the sadness in her eyes, but that she now feels ok and safe. the indian capital, delhi, is witnessing its worst violence in decades as fighting escalated between opponents and supporters of a new citizenship law. at least 13 people are dead, among them a policeman. from delhi, our correspondent yogita limaye reports. shouting and banging. a mosque being vandalised. eyewitnesses have told the bbc a mob

of men climbed the tower and hoisted hindu religious flags on it. for a second day, parts of delhi are burning. it's the worst religious violence india's capital has seen in decades. this is a tyre market that has been set on fire. most of the shops here were owned by muslims. we've seen signs of arson all day, while we've been on the road. and we're just a few hundred metres from a place where there were violent mobs carrying sticks and stones. it all began as clashes over india's new citizenship law, which grants amnesty to illegal immigrants from three neighbouring countries, unless they're muslim. but what we're seeing now is a religious riot. and it has left people scared and angry. this is a muslim home that was burnt out. buora khan can barely hold back

tears as he recounts how he and his family escaped angry hindu mobs. "we had to jump from roof to roof," he says. less than a mile away, some hindu men come running to us. "muslims are shooting bullets, they're throwing stones," they shouted. rahul solanki died after he was shot in the head. the grief of losing sons, husbands, brothers, shared by both hindu and muslim families today. and, with each hour that goes by, the number of casualties rises. at the hospital last night, we saw stretcher after stretcher being brought in. a woman whose husband was injured collapsed in the arms of a bystander. a man with a gunshot wound was wheeled into an ambulance by his sister.

the government says the situation is under control. the streets tell a different story. yogita limaye, bbc news, delhi. scotland is a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to make sanitary products freely available. politicians at holyrood have endorsed the general principles of the legislation, although concerns have been raised about the cost. the scottish government has estimated the annual bill would be more than £24 million. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. it has become another everyday part of life in scottish schools — free sanitary products available to anyone who needs them. at this school in glasgow, the students have led the way in making the changes. when people were on their periods, they kind of backed

down from doing some things, because they felt uncomfortable, don't they? like what? pe, for example, or doing a class presentation. when i started my period in school, i would just go home. i wouldn't even consider going into the office because i was just too embarrassed. what message is being sent today with this vote in the scottish parliament? i think it's about time. this should have been done ages ago, obviously, ‘cause girls can't afford that, and people struggle. even if you can't afford it, it should be accessible, because it's a normal thing. it's a natural thing that happens to most women. free sanitary products are already available in schools, colleges and universities in scotland, and in schools in england and wales, too. the vote at holyrood goes further, and will mean that tampons, sanitary pads and some reusable products will be available to anyone in scotland. menstruation is normal. free universal access to tampons, pads and reusable options should be normal too. period dignity for all isn't radical or extreme. it's simply the right thing to do.

the scottish government previously opposed the proposals because of concerns over deliverability and cost. its u—turn means all parties at holyrood now support the plans. in pursuit of good legislation, parliament will now need to pull out all the stops and work hard collectively, collaboratively, on this bill for it to achieve everything that i think we across the chamber want it to, and help promote and enable our country to emerge through this, to continue to set an example that the world wants to learn to follow. what do we want? end period poverty! when do we want it? now! campaigners welcomed today's vote, saying one in five women in the uk will face a struggle accessing period products at some point in their life. they hope that in scotland, that will soon be a thing of the past. lorna gordon, bbc news. in shropshire, some railway lines have closed and more people have left their homes as river levels continue to rise. two severe "danger to life" flood warnings are in place for the river severn at shrewsbury and ironbridge.

there are fears that water could go over flood barriers in the early hours of tomorrow morning, as our correspondent sian lloyd reports. no rescue needed, but there is a growing sense of urgency for people living along the banks of the river severn to leave their homes. 6.9, possibly, at midnight, aren't they?. is that what they're saying? yeah. when the water level peaks these cottages, already flooded, will face another surge. but the couple living here have decided to tough it out. i think it's the fact it is their home, isn't it? it's their life. and also, a lot of these people that have lived in this have faced this before, so it isjust a waiting game. the historic bridge spans the severn, which has now risen to a 20—year high here. temporary flood defences have been available for parts of the town since 200a.

but this will be their biggest test so far. steph is trapped, but safe, with a bird's—eye view of the flood. the water's deeper than my wellies. so i'm stuck in here, but i've got food, i've got water, and more importantly, i've got chocolate and i've got gin. for those staying put, the next few hours will be critical. it could be deep, sudden, fast—flowing, therefore very dangerous water. that's what we have been concerned about, that's why the severe flood warning is out there. tonight, the emergency services are on standby, waiting to see if the defences will hold. now it's time for the weather, with susan powell. hello. the uk is currently sitting in cold polar air. and through the course of tuesday, where we saw showers for some, we got scenes like these as snow settled across the hills and mountains. it wasn'tjust

wales that saw the wintry element to the showers, parts of northern england, scotland and northern ireland. the polar air still with us into wednesday. it will be a frosty start, could be icejust about anywhere after showers continue overnight. the wednesday daytime, still the north—westerly flow of air which will mean showers are most likely anywhere really to the north and west of the uk. certainly more to come across scotland, some drip further eastwards, some for northern ireland as well. again with that wintry element. showers across england and wales, most likely across northern england and north wales through the morning. by the afternoon i think largely clear skies and some sunshine. temperatures 5—9d as you would read them on the thermometer. factor in them on the thermometer. factor in the wind, for many it is going to feel closer to freezing, even with some sunshine stop contrast that, then, to a year ago, february 26, 2019, 21.2 degrees, the warmest february day on record. that

temperature was recorded at kew gardens. wednesday into thursday, this is our next headache. where is this is our next headache. where is this area of low pressure going to go as it heads towards the uk? just exactly how far north is quite critical. the northern edge of it could bring some snow into even south wales, the southern midlands, across the chilterns and the south downs on thursday. if it goes further north, we could see more heavy rain affecting parts of the midlands already badly hit by flooding. it does look like it will pull away into the continent quite quickly, though. that should keep the rainfall totals down a bit, and by thursday afternoon it is looking a lot drier as this little ridge of high pressure pushes into the uk. light winds, clear skies overnight thursday into friday. frosty start, but then, as you saw, coming in from the atlantic, through friday, and extent of weather fronts. and this could mean more heavy rain for many parts of the uk. and some snow transiently across the midlands, northern england, and scotland as that where the front pushes in and bumps into the cold air. windy again as well to end the week. and