how easily this virus can spread?” should stress that the containment conditions and self isolation, even if it does spread widely, it can this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. slow the progression of it anyway. the headlines at three. this is the kind of thing we are the most senior civil used to doing during the flu season, servant in the home office, sir phillip rutnam, resigns and says he'll sue and it can be difficult. with flu, i the government for constructive dismissal after a public dispute don't think people even attempt to with home secretary priti patel. track individual contacts in that i have been the target of a vicious case, and the big problem is it is a respiratory illness and in water and orchestrated briefing campaign. droplets in the air. you don't have it has been alleged that i have briefed the media to have actual touching contact which you would probably be able to against the home secretary. remember or be aware of, so it could this, along with many other claims, is completely false. be that it is never traced. it the first case of coronavirus contracted in the uk doesn't mean no effort should be confirmed in surrey, made to try and stop the and this afternoon, three more positive tests, transmission. from what you were bringing the total to 23. saying, we are getting this advice in france, the government bans all that we use to get when we were events with more than 5,000 people, kids, but suddenly it is much more as they announce 16 new cases. significant again with sneezing into a tissue, and if you can't sneeze in

more than 80 flood warnings in place your tissue, sneeze into the crook across england and wales, of yourarm, as many already struggling your tissue, sneeze into the crook of your arm, reduce the risk of communities brace getting their water droplets out in themselves for storm jorge. the airand getting their water droplets out in the air and infecting someone. this is the kind of thing i was told when and in half an hour, the newest mobile phone technology i was is the kind of thing i was told when iwasa is the kind of thing i was told when i was a child of costs and diseases announced at a major conference via big—screen, with most spread —— costs coughs and sneezes companies choosing not to travel due to coronavirus. that's in click at 3.30. spread —— costs coughs and sneezes spread diseases. it is a matter of etiquette. it is a very sensible precaution of just etiquette. it is a very sensible precaution ofjust hygiene, washing your hands, not sneezing over people oi’ your hands, not sneezing over people or coughing without any kind of... your hand, or if you haven't got anything, a tissue. it is that kind in the last hour, it's been revealed of thing that can interrupt or reduce the rate of spread. it is not by the department of health that three more people in england have tested positive for coronavirus. an infallible method. finally, i they had all recently returned from abroad — wonder what your view is of the two from italy, and one from asia. that brings the total number french who have announced they are of cases in the uk to 23. meanwhile, public health officials banning large gatherings of people, are trying to establish how a man from surrey became the first — 5000 or more. is that the sort of and so far only known thing we are going to have to person — to contract consider? i think we will have to

coronavirus within the uk. that patient is being treated consider? i think we will have to consider it. it is interesting, some at a specialist nhs infection centre in london. demonstration of the speed of this helena wilkinson reports. story. the actual information changed on my walk from home to the this is what health officials were potentially worried about, studio here. it was an update as it the first transmission of the virus occurred, so things are just within the uk. changing all the time. i imagine we know the man went into this health centre in surrey thatis changing all the time. i imagine that is under active consideration, andi that is under active consideration, and i saw this morning that the after feeling unwell to see a doctor. government is looking at having he tested positive for the virus. powers to enforce certain immediate the surgery has now reopened after being deep cleaned. powers to enforce certain immediate powers to enforce certain immediate powers to close places or stop i think they're doing what they can, really. i mean, obviously, it was a bit gatherings of people without having to go through a long legal unusual to think that haslemere could be the first place it's been transmitted without procedure. thank you very much for an obvious cause. my husband has got a poor immune being with us this afternoon. let me system and respiratory problems. so perhaps i'm a bit more concerned just mention. than others might be, but just be sensible. and on monday on bbc one in the evening. today, efforts have been made to try we have a special programme on the outbreak — and find out who infected that's coronavirus: the man from surrey and, everything you need to know at 7.30 on monday. also, has that person infected others? if you haven't got the bbc news app, any responsible government, it is probably a good time to think and this is a responsible government

that plans for all eventualities about downloading it because those updates will appear as soon as we does that, consider all get them, as soon as we verify them, eventualities and have they are out there. they will keep contingency planning for them. you in touch with what is being said but we are very, very clear. at the moment, we are entirely officially, what's the latest word focused on making containment is on those issues with numbers and work, as it has done, and that is the clinical where cases are, and any additional advice we are taking and updated advice that comes from from the chief medical officer and his team. the chief medical officer. abroad in tenerife, the us and the taliban have signed at the coronavirus—hit hotel, more tourists have been an historic deal which could see able to leave. all american troops withdraw from afghanistan in the next 14 after days of being stuck, months, provided the militants british guests got this letter uphold their commitments. from the foreign office. the deal was signed in the qatari capital doha by us special envoy it says plans have been made to test them for the virus. if the result is negative, and they can reassure their carrier, zalmay khalilzad and taliban political chief mullah they should be able to fly home. abdul ghani baradar. in south korea, they've brought as part of the accord, in the army to disinfect areas. the taliban have promised to prevent it's got the highest number afghanistan from again becoming of cases outside china, a haven for extremist groups. they have also committed with nearly 3,000 people to attend future talks with the government in kabul. (read having been infected. the world health organization has upgraded the global risk with the government in kabul. the us secretary of state mike of the outbreak to its highest level pompeo was in doha to witness and, as more cases are confirmed, the signing of the deal. he said the us would closely there is uncertainty about the future scale monitor the taliban's of this outbreak. commitment to its terms.

helena wilkinson, bbc news. the agreement that we will sign today is the true test of this effort. our correspondent, we will closely watch the taliban's helena wilkinson, is here. compliance with the commitments and calibrate the pace what more do we know about these of our withdrawal to their actions. three additional cases that were this is how we will ensure that afghanistan never only announced within the last hour? again serves as a base for international terrorists. these cases have been confirmed to the negotiation process in doha, us, so we these cases have been confirmed to us, so we now these cases have been confirmed to us, so we now know there are three with all of its twists and turns, new cases of coronavirus in england. has shown it is possible for us i think what is important to stress with these cases is that all of to take this step together. these people had recently travelled from abroad, so we have had our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in doha, and says the significance of today's confirmation from meeting is enormous. the symbol of today's ceremony here in doha is absolutely extraordinary, to see senior us officials and senior members of the taliban movement on the same stage, both talking about the same deal, then signing this agreement in front of dozens of envoys and foreign ministers from around the world,

from abroad, so we have had confir tested, rom from abroad, so we have had confir tested, and as of nine o'clock these same sides fought each other on the battlefield being tested, and as of nine o'clock this morning, 10,483 people have for nearly two decades. been tested in the uk to see if they it is very significant. truly history. but the significance of it will only have the coronavirus. these three new cases that we have learnt off in be judged in the months to come and afghans are watching the last half hour or so bring the this so closely. total number of people in the uk to many of them with real fear about what kind of taliban are looking to come back to kabul, 23 that has now contracted the what do they mean when they talk virus. of course, as we heard they about a government which is acceptable to the majority of are, that man in surrey who felt afg ha ns ? what about the speech by the head unwell, went to see a gp and was of the taliban delegation here which talked about an islamic confirmed as having the coronavirus, well, the difference with him is system, islamic values, which got cheers, and islamic that he didn't travel abroad recently, so the problem is they chanting from the room? have got to find who it was within is this the kind of islamic the uk who infected him and whether system which is acceptable to afghanistan in 2020? this person has also infected anyone there is still a lot of big questions being asked else, so i think they are very and no answers yet. frantically trying to work out how one absentee or not this man in particular has been mentioned in the coverage, infected. on the one side, they are the afghan government itself. having to do the detective work, and it's spent years trying to establish on the other side the medical work. its authority around the country, backed by the united states we have also seen in brighton and and other allies, like the uk.

elsewhere, because he went to the what is its view of this agreement? gp, they had to shut the gp and clea n gp, they had to shut the gp and clean every gp, they had to shut the gp and clea n every su rfa ce gp, they had to shut the gp and clean every surface they can see to it is interesting how today's events were carefully choreographed. ensure there is no danger of, there was this moment here in doha however low level risk might be, of which of course the taliban the virus hanging around to infect anyone else. it was very swift. we are publicising for all its worth saw last night at this medical to boost their legitimacy. centre in surrey where this man had but, at the same time, gone to that they closed that health the americans made sure centre very quickly, they did what there was a ceremony in kabul, is called a deep clean of the area, attended by the us secretary of defence with a law agreement as you say, and it has now reopened. signed with the afghan government. we have seen patients going in this for the united states to send morning, but the crucial thing they a very strong message as well as the rest of nato forces are trying to do now is try to that they are still working contact trace. they are trying to hand—in—hand with the afghan find out exactly who has been in government to protect the security of afghanistan and to ensure contact with this man who has been the details of this agreement confirmed as having the coronavirus. are kept by the taliban. he is from surrey, and that i think was the worry for officials, health but the taliban have always said first we will talk to what they described as the foreign occupiers officials, that this is the first person to have contracted the of afghanistan, and then we will meet with an afghan delegation. coronavirus within the uk. there is we repeatedly asked taliban a difference with this man compared leaders today before

to all the other cases we have seen. and after the ceremony will you now thank you very much. european talk to the afghan government? they don't mention the word, but they do say everyone should be governments are heard, we will talk to all afghans. trying to... one of those guests at the ceremony in kabul isjens stoltenberg, the nato secretary general. european governments are taking action to try to contain the epidemic. he has just told troops in italy, schools and universities there that the reason it has been will stay closed for a second consecutive week. possible to get to this stage meanwhile, the french government has is because of you, because of ordered the cancellation of any gatherings of more than 5,000 the international presence. people, including the paris half—marathon, which was there might be those watching scheduled for this sunday. who will wonder what that here in the uk as the number international presence has achieved of cases increase, the government is still working on containing any outbreaks. professor george lomonossoff because it was about initially is a virologist at thejohn innes centre research institute getting osama bin laden, and joins me now from norwich. then it was about getting rid of the taliban, then what do you make of the progression it was about democracy, and education for girls, we are seeing, we could talk around and all kinds of other things. the world, but particularly in the where does all that stand uk. is it following the path predicted? i think it is. once if the international presence goes? uk. is it following the path predicted? ithink it is. once we had outbreaks in europe and it wasn't confined to china or yes, i think if you go back over southeast asia, this was always a year after year since the fall

likely to happen, and of course the of the taliban in 2001, the international community kept big change this time is the shifting the goalposts, shifting the goals and just remember u nfortu nate what the mantra was in 2001 big change this time is the unfortunate gentleman who appears to when the then prime minister, have caught coronavirus or who has tony blair, stood next to the then cut coronavirus without actually afghan leader, hamid karzai, travelling, and there may be, they in addition to other leaders, may be able to trace particular and said we are standing shoulder to shoulder, we are with contacts with friends who had travelled, but it is also possible you for the long run. and afghans questioned then, that he just picked it up through travelling on a bus or train or some what is the long run? such. in which case, it is going to well, remember, at the height be very difficult to track it back. of the foreign troop presence, it was more than 100,000. ido be very difficult to track it back. i do not know the person's situation of course. because of patient now it's about 16,000. mainly us but also nato forces, confidentiality, it is unlikely we will learn anything unless he with nato forces they will also draw chooses to say anything publicly, down as the us forces drawdown. but hopefully he is recovering. it jens stoltenberg may be seeing in kabul that this is your victory. highlights two things, i suppose. here in doha, the taliban have been number one is the issue that has making it absolutely clear that they won the war and this been mentioned before, people often go to the gp without knowing what is is the only reason why all of this is happening. wrong with him, and this is one of the situations where we are being encouraged to call in rather than going, and it is a difficult call,

isn't it, for patients particularly, say if someone has an elderly relative or a young relative who worries about, and they seem to be the headlines on bbc news... less well than they would expect with the flu we are used to having, the first case of coronavirus contracted in the uk whether or not to actually go and confirmed in surrey — and — this afternoon, see a whether or not to actually go and three more positive tests, seea gp. whether or not to actually go and see a gp. that is an issue. obviously, in terms of preventing bringing the total to 23. spread, ideally it would be nice and the most senior civil servant in the home office — sir phillip rutnam — resigns and says he'll sue i optimal to do it by calling 111, the government for constructive but if you are unsure about what is dismissal after a public dispute causing the condition, diagnosis with home secretary priti patel. could actually be quite difficult just at a distance like that, and presumably the kind of advice you nearly 90 flood warnings in place across england and wales, as many already struggling might get is to self—isolate, but communities brace themselves for storm jorge. you may need more treatment than that, so it is a very difficult call to make. this is especially if you and in sport... crystal palace move may not even think it has anything 00:09:47,193 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 to do with a step closer to safety after beating brighton 1—0 in the day's other premier league west ham v soton. leeds thrash hull 4—0 to move to within a point of the championship leaders west brom. and ben ainslie leads britain to victory in his first sydney sail gp,

beating old rivals australia into second place. i'll be back with more on those stories later. the most senior civil servant at the home office, sir philip rutnam, has resigned, saying it's because of what he describes as a vicious, orchestrated campaign against him. sir philip says he intends to sue the government for constructive dismissal. his decision follows reports of tensions between him and the home secretary priti patel, over allegations she mistreated officials. she's denied those claims. sir philip explained his decision to reporters in london this morning. i have this morning resigned as permanent secretary of the home office. i take this decision with great regret after a career of 33 years. i am making this statement now because i will be issuing a claim against the home office

for constructive dismissal. in the last ten days, i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. it has been alleged that i briefed the media against the home secretary. this, along with many other claims, is completely false. the home secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the cabinet office. i regret i do not believe her. she has not made the efforts i would expect to dissociate herself from the comments. even despite this campaign, i was willing to effect a reconciliation with the home secretary, as requested by the cabinet secretary on behalf of the prime minister. but despite my efforts to engage with her, priti patel has made no effort to engage with me

to discuss this. i believe that these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal and i will be pursuing that claim in the courts. this means that some of the allegations he referred to in his statements, including those against priti patel which she denied, of shouting and swearing at officials and creating a climate of fear in the home office, those are now at risk for the governments point of view of being aired in public at an impure limit tribunal. i spoke to dominic the historian sir anthony seldon has written biographies of our last has written biographies of our last five prime ministers, and he gave me his thoughts on sir philip rutnam's resignation a little earlier. this is the very last moment that any stable government is going to want to take on the civil service.

to have lost a chancellor of the exchequer and now the civil service head of one of the very major departments of state and at a time when the country is trying to come out of the eu, negotiate a new trade deal, has a major crisis with coronavirus, it is really an odd way to show that you are working with those people who are going to have to carry out the will of the government, namely the civil service. so by any measure, this is unprecedented, but i think it is also unwise. i think the prime minister has to get a grip now. the prime minister is the chief executive of this country, in charge of the whole of the civil service and has to say that this kind of intimidation and hectoring and also constant briefing

of civil service. there was briefing a week ago about the so—called ship list of top permanent secretaries that went unchallenged. the prime minister has to stand up as the head of the executive branch and say no more. now, this is not saying that the civil service doesn't need to be significantly reformed. of course it does. many institutions in britain need reform as we come out of the eu, and in the light of ai and many other changes, but you are not going to get reform, you're not going to get the goodwill of the people if you carry on like this, and this mightjust be the tip of the iceberg, sir philip rutnam's resignation. britain continues to be battered by yet another winter storm. following storm ciara and storm dennis — this time it's storm jorge.

residents in east yorkshire evacuated from their homes following ongoing flooding, and police declared a "critical incident" in south wales overnight as river levels rose there, too. wind warnings are now in place across much of the uk until tomorrow. this month has become the wetttest february on record, with a uk average of 202mm, beating february 1990 when 193mm fell. that extra 70 millimetres makes all the difference if you are at the sharp end of it. our correspondent olivia richwald is in snaith, in the east riding of yorkshire which has been badly flooded. it isa it is a bright day but very cold and windy now. snaith started flooding on tuesday, and as you can see, the flood water is still here. that is the problem, it is not receiving very fast at all. to give you more context, where i am standing is about half a mile from the river. there is so much water here, so what is the ongoing situation and can we expect it to get any better? joining me is adam from the environment

agency. is there any signs of improvement in the area? river levels in the area is starting to fall, which is good news. the wash lands are very full around snaith and east catholic, especially where we are operating our pumps. we know that 75 homes have been flooded in this area, and there has been a huge response. do you know how many staff are working for you at the minute? we have a lot of stuff from the yorkshire area and around the country working for the environment agency providing mutual aid, but it isa agency providing mutual aid, but it is a much bigger operation than that when you include all of the local services, the fire, the police, the internal drainage board and even the canal trust helping us with pumping at the moment. this area is called the wash lands, this is what it is designed to do it. this is much worse at the minute. any idea how long the water will be around? worse at the minute. any idea how long the water will be around ?m you look at the coverage, it is

about 80% of lake windermere, and although it is not as deep, it is a lot of water that needs to be drained from the wash lands and help the water go away. thank you very much, i will let you get back to the work you are doing. adam has been working for weekends in a row covering flooding. there are some good news. last night, the situation in south wales from critical has been downgraded, and it is hoped the floodwater will recede. in worcestershire, they have shored up the defences. this is a head of the strong winds that are forecast, the weather warnings that covers much of the uk, and a yellow weather warning in scotland, but it is hoped there will be some reprieve from the weather. one of the nice things about covering stories like this is that it always amazes me, the community response that comes out at times like this, and just around the corner from times like this, and just around the cornerfrom here, times like this, and just around the corner from here, there times like this, and just around the cornerfrom here, there is a church thatis cornerfrom here, there is a church that is full of donations that people have brought in, and a team of volu nteers people have brought in, and a team of volunteers bringing in hot meals

and cups of tea to helping people get through this situation. there have been further clashes at one of greece's land border crossings with turkey, where hundreds of migrants — including syrians and afghans — have gathered to try to cross into europe. the turkish president, tayyip erdogan, has said his country can no longer handle the number of people fleeing syria. this morning, greek police again fired tear gas at people seeking to force their way across the border. around 4,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived at the border, a day after turkish officials said it would let refugees head towards europe because of the worsening situation in syria. the greek government is holding an emergency meeting in athens, as it seeks to reinforce border security. turkey hosts nearly four million people in camps, and is concerned the fighting in and around the syrian city of idlib may lead to many more fleeing. our correspondentjonah fisher is in greece — on the kastanies border crossing.

so we've been brought right to the middle of no man's land. we are still on the greek side. you can see the flag there. and about 30 metres beyond that, that is controlled by the turkish authorities, and just behind the barbed wire, you can see the several thousand migrants and refugees who are now in that turkish—controlled part of no man's land. they have effectively been encouraged, given the green light to come right up to that barbed wire by the turkish authorities over the last 2a hours or so. the number in that area, we understand, is growing. there have also been clashes there. tear gas has been fired as they try and make their way into greece and into the european union. the greeks have been continuously reinforcing their presence here. you can see some of the riot police, who are right along the front there. we have seen lots of military security vehicles being brought into the area as they try to increase their presence along the border.

it has not been entirely effective in the 2a hours or so that we have been in this part of greece. we have seen several groups of afghan migrants on the road here, who have made their way across through unofficial, illegal crossing points. so although there is this formal confrontation, if you like, here, it is clear that there are other ways for migrants to get round the border post, and some are certainly making their way into greece and into the european union. that is jeanette that isjeanette fisher at that is jeanette fisher at the turkey greek border.