this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 11:00pm: three more cases of coronavirus are confirmed in the uk, including the first in northern ireland. they are all receiving specialist care. our health service in northern ireland, just to reassure the public, is well used to dealing with such infections, and i want to reassure the public that we are prepared. in china, in the city where it all started, one doctor says the world cannot afford to underestimate the coronavirus. in one night i lost five lives. that's really miserable, and i should warn the rest of the world that you guys should take care.

the government's decision to build a third runway at heathrow airport is ruled unlawful by the court of appeal. reports that at least 3a turkish soldiers have been killed by syrian airstirkes as government forces close in on the rebel—held province of idlib. ten more days of difficult conditions are predicted for parts of yorkshire and the west midlands already hit by flooding. and at 11:30pm, we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, lance price and jo—anne nadler. stay with us for that. good evening. welcome to bbc news. three more people have tested positive in the uk for coronavirus,

with northern ireland confirming its first case tonight. all of them were infected after travelling to italy or tenerife. they are now being treated at specialist nhs infection centres. to date, more than 7,500 people in the uk have been tested for the virus. 16 were positive. eight of them have now been discharged from hospital. but, with more cases expected to emerge, the government is set to launch a new public health campaign. fears about the impact the virus could have on the global economy has caused markets to plunge today. more on that in a moment. but first, here is our health editor hugh pym. another frustrating day for british tourists confined in quarantine at this tenerife hotel. an italian visitor tested positive for the coronavirus on monday. there was confusion when the local health minister said 50 britons who had arrived since monday were free to leave. they seemed to have decided not to,

as advice from their travel agent and the foreign office was to stay put. meanwhile, a parent at this school in derbyshire who had returned from tenerife tested positive. the school was closed for a deep clean. a local gp practice also asked patients to stay away because of the case, one of two diagnosed in england today. and tonight, confirmation by northern ireland health chiefs of the first case there. the patient had travelled from northern italy. public health staff here are now working rapidly to identify any contacts the patient has had, with the aim of preventing further spread. all of that has further fuelled public interest in the virus, and getting tested. the nhs is expanding the options, including this drive—through facility. we were given the first look at how it works. laura here is a member of nhs staff. she is just going to demonstrate what actually happens.

so she stays in the car, she winds down the window, and then two members of the nursing team will come out to meet her. one of them has got the full protective equipment on. her colleague stands back at a safer distance. erica, the senior nurse, shows information about the procedure... tilt your head back for me, laura. ..and then carries out nasal and throat swabs. they are sent off for testing. people are referred here by nhs iii if they don't have symptoms but need to self—isolate. they get through 12 tests a day. the aim is to roll out facilities like this across the country. one key question — how to protect yourself. the message from health leaders is that masks don't necessarily help much. they say that careful hand hygiene is the best way to slow any spread of the virus. a new public information campaign like this is set to be launched soon. it is washing your hands with soap and hot water, or using alcohol and sanitiser gels.

if you want to sneeze or cough, use a tissue and then bin it. all of these things will keep you and your family safe. so how prepared is the nhs? coronavirus pods have been created at leading hospitals to allow safe testing. the nhs iii helpline will be expanded. and, if there are a lot more cases, nhs leaders say hospitals will be able to cope. i know the nhs is busy, and we're coming out of winter, but we are well prepared to manage this sort of circumstance. we do it every winter when we know we will see high rates of influenza, for instance, so we have a blueprint to work on. but health experts are concerned by the global spread of the virus. one said tonight it was an unprecedented challenge to health systems, economies and societies. hugh pym, bbc news. well, stock markets around the world have plunged as investors get seriously worried about the coronavirus and the impact it could have on global economies. it has been the worst week on the markets since the financial crisis in 2008.

michelle fleury sent this update from new york. yes, i mean, this was not a day for the fainthearted, certainly if you ask any trader. from the city of london to wall street, we have seen yet again sharp drops in the prices of stocks, all of this being driven by investors, who are basically pretty worried about what is happening with the coronavirus. over £150 billion has been wiped off the value of the ftse in the last few days, and here on wall street, you've seen the dowjones industrial basically just suffer its you've seen the dowjones industrial basicallyjust suffer its biggest points loss in history. it also joins other markets slumping into a correction, which is a drop of more than 10% over a period of days, and the price of oil continues to fall sharply. what is happening is that investors are trying to do what eve ryo ne investors are trying to do what everyone else is, and that is to predict what will happen next, how farand predict what will happen next, how far and how fast will this virus

spread? the impact on corporate profits could be severe if you start to see offices close, people stopped travelling and people stop shopping. we've even had a warning from one of the big banks, goldman sachs, saying it could tip the us into recession. coronavirus has spread to 50 countries and reached every continent except antarctica. worldwide, there have been more than 82,000 cases and 2,800 deaths, almost all of them in china. injapan, where they are preparing for this summer's olympics, all state schools are to close for a month in a bid to stop the further spread of the virus. the vast majority of the deaths in china have been in hubei, the province where the outbreak began. our china correspondent john sudworth has been speaking to one doctor on the frontline in wuhan. at the end of a tough shift fighting the virus,

a doctor steps out onto the streets of a deserted city. wuhan is still in total lockdown. ringing hello, dr xie. hey. how are you? in an officially approved interview with dr xie jiang, as well as videos provided to us, the bbc has been given rare access to a man on the front line of a war, which, he says is being won. i came to wuhan one month ago. patients were pouring to the hospital like a tide. we cannot — we do not have enough beds available for everyone. i think things are holding up better right now. wuhan shows what the virus can do to a health system. the thousands of extra beds have begun to make a difference, but there are still

major challenges. i'm not satisfactory with the mortality. i still thing the mortality is really too high. for patients with severe symptoms, the mortality is even higher than sars. that's the thing we should address right now. this is dr xie dealing with one of those severe cases among thousands in wuhan. no city in the world, he says, would have enough specialist equipment to cope. even doctors have died, including li wenliang, one of the first to try to warn about the dangers of the virus, only to be silenced by the police. you know, i was very sad when i heard this kind of news. it was really a big blow for us, for the whole medical staff. do you think china should learn lessons as a result of his death? absolutely. information disclosure is really important. i lost five patients in one night. can you imagine that? in one night, i lost five lives.

i should warn the rest of the world that you guys should take care. don't neglect — neglect this disease. at the end of another night shift, this time, dr xie sings a patriotic song. he believes china will win this fight, but it is one the rest of the world may have onlyjust begun. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. and you can find out more about the symptoms and how to guard against coronavirus on the bbc news app and on our website. plans to build a third runway at heathrow airport have been thrown into doubt after the court of appeal ruled that they were unlawful. in a decision that has delighted environmental campaigners, the court said ministers had failed to take the uk's climate change commitments into account. the government says it won't appeal the ruling, but heathrow says it will take the case to the supreme court. our science editor

david shukman reports. the struggle over a new runway at heathrow has dragged on for more than a decade. would it cause extra pollution, or benefit the economy? the government had supported expanding the airport. but now, the courts have intervened because of climate change. in a landmark decision, the appeal court has ruled that because the uk is signed up to the paris agreement, a plan to tackle global warming, ministers should have considered that when deciding on heathrow. the secretary of state acted unlawfully in failing to take into account the paris agreement on climate change, when deciding to designate the airport's national policy statement in support of the expansion of heathrow airport. cheering. this led to jubilant scenes outside the court, campaigners delighted that thejudges had recognised the legal obligations of climate change.

this is game—changing, notjust for aviation, not just for the uk, but for everybody. the paris agreement has teeth. not everybody believed it, but today, that they know that's true. what next for heathrow? the judges didn't say that the airport could never expand, but the government has signalled that it will not appeal. that may suit the prime minister, borisjohnson. he has long opposed the third runway. i willjoin you. i will lie down with you in front of those bulldozers and stop the building — stop the construction of that third runway. his ministers are now saying it is not up to them. we do, as a government, want to see overall airport expansion. but i have to say, we're also absolutely determined to live up to our commitments on behalf of this country and the future generations to have net zero by 2050. and we can do that by having aircraft which fly much more

sustainably in the future, and that's why we're investing in them. so where does this leave the vision for a bigger heathrow? airlines say they're extremely disappointed, and it is a huge blow for the company running the airport. it will now appeal. well, we're probably going to see a delay of around six months to go through the supreme court process. i don't know how long the review will take. we will work with the government on that. but what is clear is this is urgent that we get on with this. we've just started negotiations with the european union. we are pitching ourfuture on becoming a global trading nation, but without heathrow expansion, there will be no global britain. heathrow does play a vital role in trade. a fifth of all uk exports by value are flown from the airport, and it's at full capacity. but national priorities may be shifting. this ruling has implications that reach far beyond heathrow, potentially affecting any major project that could make climate change worse. so plans to build new roads or expand other airports

will all now be scrutinised to check if they're compatible with the country's plans to go zero—carbon. in theory, there is still a chance that the expansion could happen. this saga has had many surprising twists. but, without the government fully behind the project, it looks a lot less likely. david shukman, bbc news, at heathrow. dozens of turkish soldiers are reported to have been killed in an airstrike in syria, as syrian government forces close in on the rebel—held area of idlib. turkey had already been warning that it would take military action if syrian forces, backed by russia, continued their massive offensive against the opposition stronghold in northern syria. now, in the past two months, almost a million people have fled the assault on idlib province by syrian government troops, backed by russian forces. our international correspondent orla guerin has sent this report. in the warscape of syria,

rebel fighters may be making their last stand. they have retaken this wounded, empty town in idlib province, but the assad regime and its russian backers are determined to retake all of idlib. not if turkey can help it. its troops are supposed to be observing a ceasefire in idlib. instead, its losses are growing. turkey's defence minister told us his battle plans are ready if talks fail to stop the regime. translation: hospitals are being hit, schools and civilian areas. it's notjust the bodies of children under the rubble. it's the conscience of the international community. you want a ceasefire and you want a negotiated settlement. but are you really saying, sitting here today, that turkey is ready for all—out war with syria,

which would drag in russia? first of all, we want these negotiations to come to an end and reach a result. that is what we want, and what we are working for. so the deadline is no longer this weekend? if this is not fulfilled, starting at the weekend, you will see our actions. and, as the clock counts down, this is the only refuge for some in idlib. they had to clear out the livestock and the cockroaches before bringing their children in. nine families live here now. this woman says the only mercy they receive is from god. like many in idlib, she feels forgotten by the world. the headlines on bbc news: three more cases of coronavirus

are confirmed in the uk — including the first in northern ireland. they are all receiving specialist care. the government's decision to build a third runway at heathrow airport is ruled unlawful by the court of appeal. reports that at least 3a turkish soldiers have been killed by syrian airstirkes as government forces close in on the rebel—held province of idlib. let's return to the continuning concerns over the coronavirus and around the world, authorities are taking bold actions to try and contain the outbreak. some countries where there have been confirmed cases have cancelled events and imposed travel bans — but so have other countries which have had no reported cases. kasia madera on outside source has been looking at whether panic over coronavirus could be creating its own problems — starting in europe.

italy is worried about causing unnecessary concern over the coronavirus. the prime minister says it is time to stop the panic. he asked the national broadcaster to tone down its reporting on the rising number of cases and it appears to have complied. coronavirus is no longer the top line in italian media. our correspondences in midline. italy's foreign minister said that there was what he called and info demick of misleading news about italy that was bad for its reputation and for its economy and he said while it was important to not minimise the seriousness of what was going on in terms of the virus he said it was something that was affect a tiny percentage of italy's population. the italian government is trying to avoid a situation like this. this photo was taken by a journalist and this is in romania showing a

supermarket shelf completely emptied i panicked buyers trying to stock up. that is despite the country only recording its first case of the virus today. many romanians do work in italy and the border frequently. there are also continuing reports of people of chinese descent or asian appearance facing prejudice in western countries from people fearing, andi western countries from people fearing, and i must stress, without any reason to support it, that they could have the virus. the un has spoken about that issue today. the coronavirus epidemic has set off a disturbing ways that make wave of prejudice against people of asian descent. there are some particularly concerning reports regarding the coming out of russia. the chinese embassy in moscow has complained

that chinese nationals are being targeted by police and transport workers looking for coronavirus cases in the russian capital. the embassy sent a letter to the moscow city administration saying that no other country, not even the us does anything like this special monitoring of chinese nationals on public transport. this follows reports that bus strivers in moscow have been told to report passengers that look chinese. so our governments getting the balance right between caution and conservatism? the world health organization would make the point that it organization would make the point thatitis organization would make the point that it is pleased that many countries, most countries, have been following its advice and that containment is going on at a particularly high level in countries where the highest number of cases, as you would expect. they believe that most governments are striking the right balance between concern and something that the who obviously wa nts to and something that the who obviously wants to avoid, which is panic.

some have been evacuated as flood defences were either breached or feared to be vulnerable. our environment correspondent claire marshall reports from worcester. almost two weeks after the waters rose, severn stoke is still an island village — entirely cut off by road. this is the fetid, persistent legacy of storms ciara and dennis. further up the severn, the flood barriers protecting ironbridge — warped by the force of the water — are stilljust holding. we would like to speak to you before you go over the bridge, if that's ok... many of those affected are angry that after all this time, borisjohnson hasn't made a visit. but this afternoon, the environment secretary came to the region. these events, sadly, are becoming more frequent. we're seeing more extreme weather

events, that is why we need to invest even more in flood defences. what's happening in the west midlands is described as a "once—in—100—year" event — but it's the fourth time it's happened since the year 2000. i'm standing on the balcony of a hotel in central worcester, and normally i'd be looking down at the footpath about eight feet below that then leads on down to the river. and now, this is all buried beneath a mass of water. this is what saved this hotel — these pumps were put in after the last floods. for people living beside this river, it's now about taking the initiative to adapt. this is where, in 2014, the water levels literally filled the cellar. i was here in waders, and it was up to my stomach. it's ridiculous. over the last seven months, we've lost the footpath, six, seven times. it's getting 100% worse. the misery is mirrored in sneath in yorkshire.

the river aire burst its banks on tuesday. waters are still rising, and pets and their people were still being rescued today. tonight in central worcester and across the county, emergency traffic measures are still in place. i've worked over 30 years in highways in worcestershire and we've seen some floods and some disruption, but i would say this is the worst one. it's testing our resources to get people to the right places at the right time. but we meet that challenge, and we continue to do so. but the challenge could get even harder. another major storm is approaching — and it's carrying a lot more rain. all eyes are on the forecast and it is expected that the next storm could dump 30 millimetres of rain in this region. but more importantly, 50 millimetres of rain in the mountains of wales and that will

take a couple of days to reach here. we do here tonight of the developing situation in east kallick in yorkshire and our reported there has sentin yorkshire and our reported there has sent in some pictures which we can look at now. he says that homes are at imminent risk of flooding and the fire service is deploying a boat to the area. water is cascading over one of the roads and is now also reaching homes. so the river levels are rising and in certain parts of the country looks a lot more serious, even then here and we will be hearing across the course of the programme with the heathrow expansion decision, climate change is much higher on the agenda and as you look at the weather, these sort of events are likely to become more common and the people here will have to adapt even more quickly than they we re to adapt even more quickly than they were perhaps expecting. canada says it will stop providing protection for the duke and duchess of sussex in the coming weeks. the royal canadian mounted police

have been providing assistance to the couple since their arrival in canada in november. it's not clear who will foot the security bill they formally step down as senior royals at the end of march. the government revealed its negotiating position today for trade talks with the eu — warning that it's prepared to walk away from the process injune — unless there's significant progress towards a deal. ministers say they won't accept uk laws having to keep in step with eu ones. our economics editor faisal islam reports. for decades, a car or anything made in the uk — and all the parts in it — have had full, unimpeded access to the european union, and the same for a car from, say, germany coming into the uk. all of that underpinned by common standards, regulations and laws, and once brexit takes full effect at the end of the year, this is going to change. just how much depends on the trade negotiations with the eu starting

next week, and today the uk published its strategy. there is some broad agreement. both the eu and the uk want to do a deal which would continue trade without taxes on their exports, known as tariffs, but detailed disagreement on some key areas. today's document rejects the continuation of eu rules on support for industry. and it makes clear that the uk expects a decision on guaranteed uk financial services access to the eu byjune. something already rejected. the government is trying to play hardball with this document, saying to the eu if the city's access to the european union is not guaranteed byjune — one of the least controversial issues, it says — then the uk could walk away from negotiations then, and focus solely on domestic preparations for leaving with no trade deal. we want to make sure that we get a good deal,

in fact a series of agreements with the european union. we're confident that we will be able to make progress, but of course both sides will take stock injune and that will be an opportunity for both sides to see if appropriate progress has been made. this chemicals company in the west midlands explained to us last year how it needed to continue testing everything to eu standards. the boss here now accepts that things will change, but is still concerned about not having a trade deal with the eu. having read the document, i see some very positive sights in that document and there is certainly a degree of regulatory cooperation, as i would see it, which is excellent. however, the idea of not having a deal at the end of 2020 really does frighten me. a brief response from the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, saying it would stick to all prior commitments. both sides accusing each other of rowing back from last year's deal. the government prioritising sovereignty and full control over demands of industry, which is being told to prepare

for changes that will come to its business with the rest of europe. faisal islam, bbc news. the u.k.'s entry the u. k.'s entry for the u.k.'s entry for eurovision this year is james newman. he will represent britain in rotterdam in may. he has worked with some of the biggest names in music including ed shearon. the song was selected by the bbc and record company executives after previous entries chosen by the public failed to impress eurovisionjudges. chosen by the public failed to impress eurovision judges. # chosen by the public failed to impress eurovisionjudges. # if you had nothing left # i would give you my last breath. let's have a look now at the weather. as we draw to the end of the meteorological winter at long last summer in the south had their first site of snow. but the story is about

the rain. the ground is still saturated, the rivers are still high and with more rain friday and saturday we expect further flooding with wide warnings. this is the next rainmaker on friday, original high high—pressure ahead of it leading to some chilly weather first thing, potentially ice and certainly frost on the cards and snow as this weather system works northwards. it is likely to be transient over the hills, it may hang around a little longerfor northern hills, it may hang around a little longer for northern england and scotla nd longer for northern england and scotland where it might stain cold airfor much of scotland where it might stain cold air for much of the day before most it is mild, cloudy with outbreaks of rain on and off through the day. into saturday courtesy of this deepening area of low pressure named storm jorge. we still have all this rain as well and another bout of rain as well and another bout of rain going through friday night into saturday, temporarily clearing and

then there are showers along because of rain around the periphery of the area of low pressure and hide a cold front so we will see temperatures dropping back on saturday and it will feel colder once again. that is something that will be seen throughout the coming week. the storm, as well as bringing rain could bring damaging gusts of wind and that will bring trees and power lines down. you can see how tightly packed the isobars are on saturday through to sunday and this also has a?, will it bring more rain into southern areas? for now, let us look at the wind. very windy indeed and at the wind. very windy indeed and at the wind. very windy indeed and at the same time the lower starting to pull away so we see the rain risk receiving northwards and it looks to bea receiving northwards and it looks to be a dry day for those areas significantly affected by flooding but we would keep an eye on this developing weather front of low pressure towards the south because again that will come into southern areas and again dependent on the position of storm at the time we reach saturday and sunday. on monday