this is bbc news. the headlines. the government says everything possible is being done to limit the spread of coronavirus, after the first case contracted in the uk was confirmed in surrey. and in tenerife, a fifth case has been confirmed at the hotel that's been on lock down since tuesday morning. an emergency meeting in france, where the government has banned all events with more than 5,000 people after detecting 16 new cases. downing street says the pm has full confidence in the home secretary — following the resignation of the most senior civil servant in the home office. i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. it has been alleged that i have

briefed the media against them secretary. this, along with many other claims, is completely false. a historic moment for afghanistan — the us and the taliban sign a deal that will see the withdrawal of thousands of american troops. including a much—needed victory for west ham against southhampton. it's been revealed by the department of health that three more people — in england — have tested positive for coronavirus. they had all recently returned from abroad — two from italy, and one from asia. that means that the total number of cases in the uk has risen to 23.

public health officials are trying to establish how a man from surrey become the first — and so far only known person — to contract coronavirus within the uk. that patient is being treated at a specialist nhs infection centre in london. a pub in haslemere, in surrey, has closed as a precaution against the virus and is undergoing a deep clea n. and this afternoon following talks with the heath secretary and the chief medical officer, borisjohnon says ‘everything possible is being done to limit the spread'. 0ur correspondent helena wilkinson has been following developments here in the uk — i asked her about the three new confirmed cases. all these people that we know of have returned from abroad, two of them came back recently from italy, one of them from asia in terms of where they are in england, where the cases was gloucestershire and another in hertfordshire and another

in berkshire and they have all been investigated and when health officials will be trying to do is determine who these three confirmed cases have been in contact with and also, if we look back to that man in surrey, there is a difference there, they met was confirmed yesterday. he is the first person to have contracted coronavirus within the uk and that is much trickier to find out exactly who he has been in contact with. and that is the thing that i suppose will not alarm, it is expectations we have cases that they're going to be these kinds of crisis, we have people who have immediately picked them up and others may not even know they have it. what you get to that stage, it becomes much more difficult to control because you cannotjust isolate people if it is already out brought from abroad with them.

people trying to work out who this man has been in contact with it of course, whether that person who infected the man in surrey who he potentially has infected as well. it is each a huge challenge and containing this, spotting the case very quickly and those who are self isolating and having treatment when necessary and being quick in identifying the source. big numbers in terms of how many people have been tested so far, more than 10,000 people in the uk have been tested but that figure at the moment as you mentioned, 23 confirmed cases of coronavirus in this country and we get updates we can expect another update at two o'clock tomorrow if there are more cases.

health officials in tenerife have confirmed that a fifth man has she has said she has spoken to continuous contact as we review the situation. updating me on their work, they are ready, urgently contacting anyone that has been in close contact with the individual to provide them with advice about what to do at the to feel unwell and are to do at the to feel unwell and are to manage if there after soft isolate. a tried and tested method that insures a very able to minimise any risks to the people who may have become infected. anyone who has not been contacted directly should continue to go about their lives as normal, but take extra advice, extra ca re normal, but take extra advice, extra care on simple steps to reduce the risk of infection. i appreciate the news like this can be a cause for concern, so news like this can be a cause for concern, so i news like this can be a cause for concern, so i reassure news like this can be a cause for concern, so i reassure everyone news like this can be a cause for concern, so i reassure everyone with the nhs and public—health england

taking every measure against the virus spreading. the patient who has contracted with in the uk lives in surrey. health officials in tenerife have confirmed that a fifth man has been tested positive for coronavirus at the costa adeje palace hotel. this brings the total number in the canary islands to six. 0ur correspondent fiona trott is on the island — she sent this update a little earlier. since monday they had been confined to the rooms will be sharing now is one of those people, this man has not tested positive for coronavirus. how's that affected the rest of the guess here, because he stayed in his room. very little. what is continuing inside the hotel now is that british guests are queuing outside of a room, they're being taken in for outside of a room, they're being taken infora outside of a room, they're being

taken in for a nasal swab. there will be receiving results in 2a to 48 hours. will be receiving results in 24 to 48 hours. and that test seems to be the main barrierfor them getting home before the two week quarantine period here ended because one company said that despite official saying that people could leave, they cannot accept them on a flight in the state completed a two week quarantine here or had that test. the foreign office has told guess that if the results are negative and he remained well and did not show any symptoms at the airport, you will be able to fly home and under return, you're asked to soft isolate, even if you do not have symptoms until the 10th of march. the past five or ten minutes, we watched about six or hotel guests leave with this sick case. an irish family leave about half an hour ago.

this is gradually happening throughout the day. people leaving the hotel to go back to their home country, having one final health check are being told selflessly. soft isolate. across europe — governments are taking action to try to contain the epidemic. in italy, schools and universities will stay closed for a second consecutive week. meanwhile, the french government has ordered the cancellation of any gatherings of more than 5,000 people, including the paris half—marathon, which was scheduled for this sunday. (back in vision)michele moore dunhen has travelled to paris to take part in the marathon. i asked her when she found out it was cancelled... i found out by my in—laws. my husband and i who were both planning to run the half marathon tomorrow, they sent us a message saying that they sent us a message saying that they had heard on the news that it'd been cancelled. frustrating news,

but i suppose circumstances, you understand where they have taken this decision. i respect the decision of taking precautions and keeping participants safe they think they're expecting over 40,000 people to runa they're expecting over 40,000 people to run a marathon and i appreciate them taking concern of our health and safety into their consideration. it is disappointing. what are you going to do now? not that we have no race to do tomorrow morning, we may go out and have a lovely dinner, a drink or two to celebrate but the plan is to get up tomorrow morning and runa plan is to get up tomorrow morning and run a half marathon. you just wa nt to and run a half marathon. you just want to have a metal when it is done. zero determined to do the half marathon, even if you're on your own shallow exactly. for us, this was a lwa ys shallow exactly. for us, this was always a training run as part of our bigger marathon plans. zero going to

run 21 km tomorrow. if you encounter many others were planning to be there, are you part of a group? people that your way in? know. we we re people that your way in? know. we were going to run with some of our local friends and some of my childhood friends and obviously, we will not be able to run with them tomorrow, but we're still going to meet up and have lunch with them before we head back to london. so you are back to london and speculation about the london marathon we do not do to be part of that? i am not, but my husband is running london, so we remain optimistic so they're up look to plenty of weeks before. so we stay optimistic on that. and on bbc one, we have a special programme about the outbreak. it is called everything you need to know and it

is at half past seven. downing street says that the prime minister ‘has full confidence in his cabinet‘ following the resignation of the home office's permanent secretary. sir philip rutman, the most senior civil servant at the home office, quit saying it's because of what he described 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 effort 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. the historian sir anthony seldon 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 wa nt to ta ke any stable government is going to want to take on the civil service. to have lost a chancellor of the exchequer and now a 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 and negotiate a new trade deal is a major crisis with

current environments is really an odd way to show that you are working with those people who are trained to carry out the will of the civil service. so by any measure it is unwise. i think the prime minister has to get a grip now, which the prime minister is the chief executive of this country, and charge of the whole of the civil service and has to say that this kind of intimidation and hectoring and constant briefing of civil service, there is briefing a week ago about a list of top permanent secretaries which went unchallenged. the prime minister has to stand up as the head of the executive branch and say no more. this is not saying

that the civil service doesn't need to be significant in its reformation. of course it does. many institutions need reform as we come out of the eu and in the light of ai and many of the changes. but you are not going to get reform, the goodwill of the people if you carry on like this and it mightjust the tip of the iceberg. a couple of updates for international news. the united states president will according to the white house, hold a news conference specifically about the

coronavirus. we should be going to the white house once the briefing gets going and bring you that life. the second location with which we are getting an update is italy, the italian government to confirm the death toll of patients from coronavirus and of those who tested positive for the virus, that has risen by eight to 29. the 29 fatalities in italy confirmed by the government as a result of coronavirus and on a related point, gives the number of confirmed cases of infection that his client for the first time above 1000. some more than 1000 people infected with the coronavirus in italy and of those, the casualty rate is 29. as i say, will bring you

that news conference live from the white house at around 630 here on bbc news. the headlines on bbc news. the government says everything possible is being done to limit the spread of coronavirus, after the first case contracted in the uk was confirmed in surrey. downing street says the pm has full confidence in the home secretary — following the resignation of the most senior civil servant in the home office. a historic moment for afghanistan — the us and the taliban sign a deal that will see the withdrawal of thousands of american troops. the us and the taliban have signed an historic deal which could see all american troops withdraw from afghanistan in the next fourteen months, provided the militants uphold their commitments. the deal was signed in the qatari capital doha by us. special envoy zalmay khalilzad and taliban political chief mullah abdul ghani baradar.

as part of the accord, the taliban have promised to prevent afghanistan from again becoming a haven for extremist groups. they have also committed to attend future talks with the government in kabul. the us secretary of state mike pompeo was in doha to witness the signing of the deal. he said the us would closely monitor the taliban's commitment to its terms. the agreement was signed today is the true testament of this effort. we will closely watch their compliance with the commitments and calibrate the tense verb withdrawal to directions. this is how we ensure that they never again serve as a basis for international terrorists. the negotiation process with all of its twists and turns has shown it is possible for us to take the step together. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in doha, and says the significance of today's meeting is enormous.

the symbol of today's ceremony here is absolutely extraordinary. to see such senior us officials and senior members of the taliban movement on the same stage, both talking about the same stage, both talking about the same stage, both talking about the same deal and then signing this agreement in front of dozens of envoys and foreign ministers around the world. the same sites that have fought each other on the battlefield for nearly two decades and it is very significant. this is truly history. the significance of it will only bejudged in history. the significance of it will only be judged in the history. the significance of it will only bejudged in the months history. the significance of it will only be judged in the months to come in there watching this so closely. many of them with real fear over what kind of taliban are looking to cobble. when they talk about a government which is acceptable to the majority of afghanistan. in the head of the taliban delegation here which talked about an islamic system, islamic values which cuts

sheers, islamic chanting is this the kind of islamic system which is a cce pta ble kind of islamic system which is acceptable to afghanistan in 2022 there is still a lot of big questions that are being asked and no answers yet. not mentioned much in the speech itself, it's been yea rs in the speech itself, it's been years trying to establish its authority around the country backed by the united states and other allies like the uk. what is its view of this? it is interesting how today's events were carefully choreographed. this moment here which of course, the taliban are publicising for all of its worth to boost their legitimacy. what are the same time, the americans make sure that there was a ceremony in kabul attended by the us secretaries with attended by the us secretaries with a long agreement signed with the afg ha n a long agreement signed with the afghan government for states to sit a very strong message as message as

a very strong message as message as well as the rest of nato courses that they are still working hand—in—hand with the afghan government to protect the security of afghanistan and to ensure that the details of this agreement are kept by the taliban. at the taliban have always said that first we will talk to what they describe as the foreign occupiers of afghanistan and then we will meet with the afghan delegation. he repeatedly asked taliban leaders before and after the ceremony will you now talk to the afg ha n ceremony will you now talk to the afghan government and they do not mention the word, but they do say that everyone should be heard and we will talk to all afghans. is the nato secretary general and he has just told troops there that the reason why it is impossible to get because of the international presence and white it was

i ,it , it was initially about getting rid of 0sama bin laden, and then it was about education, where does the all stand if the international presence goes? if you go back over a year, after yea rs goes? if you go back over a year, after years since the fall of the taliban in 2001, the international community kept shifting the goalposts, shifting their goals and just remember what the mantra was in 2001 when the then prime minister stood next to the then afghan leader in addition to the leaders and said, we are standing shoulder to shoulder, we are with you for the long run. and afghans questioned what is the long run? at the height of the foreign troop presence, it was more than 100,000, those about 16,000 mainly us but also nato

forces with nato forces, they will also draw down as the us forces draw down in maybe seeing that this is your victory, here, the taliban have been making it absolutely clear that they won the war and this is the only reason why all of this is happening. britain continues to be battered by yet another winter storm. follwing 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. 0ur correspondent 0livia 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, started flooding on tuesday and as you can see, the floodwater, it is not receiving very fast at all. to give you a bit of context, where i'm standing is about half mile away from the river and there so much water here. what is there so much water here. what is the ongoing situation can be expected to get any better. joining me now is adam from the agency. it's starting to fall out which is good news for the whole area, the washington still remained very full around states and especially where we are continuing to operate. many homes have been flooded in many have been evacuated, a huge response, do you know how many members of staff are working for you at the moment? we have hundreds of staff from the area but also from all around the country working for the environment agency and providing mutual aid to see her, but is much a bigger

operation we will include all of the local services, the fire, the police, the internals, and helping us police, the internals, and helping us at the moment. this area is called the wash lentils of this what it is designed to do but this much worse and do you have worse and dfa to how long this would be around for? covered by floodwater the moment, but 80% of the coverage of the lake and so although it is not as deep, it is an awful lot of water that we need to see drained away from the water lens and then help this go away. is marking for weekends now. some good news, last night, the situation south was described as critical, that is not been downgraded and were hoping that the floodwater that the floodwater there will receipt, meanwhile in worchester sure, they have shored up the flood engines, and of strong winds and as mentioned, there some weather warning for wind don't cover much of the uk at a yellow warning

for snow in scotland but it is hoped that there will be some reprieve. let the nice things about covering stories like this is it amazes me that community response that comes out at times like this, just around the corner from here, out at times like this, just around the cornerfrom here, there's out at times like this, just around the corner from here, there's a church full of donations and there's a team of volunteers were cooking hot meals and cups of tea and trying to help people get through this horrible situation. imagine only having a birthday every four years. on 29 february, about 5 million people around the world celebrate their once—every—four—years ‘real‘ birthday. jennifer mierhans has been to meet some ‘leaplings‘ as they prepare to enjoy their actual birthday for the first time since 2016.

iv is ivisa iv is a lead playing, ivy is a ‘leapling'. she born on february 29th, so she might be four, but this will be her first birthday and she's excited. what are you going to do on your birthday? um, eat and when i play, i eat and then i have my birthday cake. celebrating her third birthday is 12—year—old lily. her parties usually requiring careful planning. i have to make the decision, like, if it's in february or march, so march the 1st of february the 28th, and i do it on february the 28th because i like to keep it in the same month. what do her friends think? they usuallyjust comment on it. like, "0h, i'd love to have a birthday like that" or "i feel so sorry for you!" or they ask like what it feels like. like, i really like it, because it makes me feel

special and different. so, how rare are leaplings? there are around 1,800 babies born each february the 29th, which is average for a day in england. but what's really rare is that for a woman born on a leap day to have a baby on a leap day, and for them both to work together here in coventry. cake's up! meet leapling cathy, who was not expecting to share her birthday with daughter amy. i was two weeks overdue, it was my birthday, paul had gone to work, there was no birthday card for me. at that point, i was quite cross, and then my waters broke and 11:07 that evening, amy was born. so, as 24—year—old amy gets ready for her sixth birthday, what has family life been like? we get the same questions every single year — how old are you really? when do you celebrate? what day? and is it annoying, sharing a birthday with your mum? annoying or not, let's hope they all have fun celebrating their birthday, as there's a four—year wait for the next one!

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's lizzie good evening. lots going—on today, starting with football and premier league leaders liverpool are playing watford in the late kick off knowing a win would mean they only need just three more victories to guarantee their first league title for 30 years. it's arguably a bigger game for watford though who are second from bottom and fighting for their lives. quite a few crucial games in the bottom half of the table today — crystal palace moved a step closer to safety winning a real six pointer at rivals brighton. rob heath reports. some fans won't know about this ivory, some will know the start of this feud like yesterday. they all

know the grudge matches can generate into when it all cost affairs. certainly unsavoury at times. but squaring up to them, the the yellow ford even comes on. there really is no love lost between these two. print and have not won a match this year at the cutting edge was painfully evident. before move, ugly finish. if a painfully evident. before move, ugly finish. ifa bright painfully evident. before move, ugly finish. if a bright and it did when on target, one of their own players michigan the way. if they do get tricked into a relegation scrap, it is the finishing that might ultimately cost them. it certainly costs them here and no side scored fewer premier league goals than them before this match, offering little until suddenly out of nothing, christian founderjordan. he founded the net. 0n brighton, he could've been even worse if their best scored

in the dying seconds, the brighton fans, if the site do not start winning, this could all end in tea rs. west ham are also perilous, so today's 3—1 home win against southampton could be huge to their survival hopes. jarrod bowen had a perfect full debut, and michail antonio was also on target at the london stadium after the london forward had levelled the opener for southampton. i'm happy because we are getting away from the bottom end of the league. i hope we can be safe shortly and then i can put into place some things which i think can help, and improve and try and make it better. but i think that's the job any manager would do. i actually think that's the work i do best, and i think if i get that opportunity, i can turn this into something special. i can't do it right away, but hopefully given a bit of time i

can do. bournemouth came very close to beating chelsea — only for the london side to equalise in the last few minutes. 2—2 it finished. a draw is not enough for bournemouth who have their lowest ever points tally at this stage of the season. a really entertaining game. i thought it was a really good advert for the premier league. good quality game, i thought we played our part, and it was a good start, we missed a couple of great chances at the beginning of the game and in the second half we showed our quality and fought our way back into the game, but we just couldn't get over the line to win it. newcastle could also be dragged into trouble so a goalless draw at home to burnley wasn't a great result today. it's the fourth game in a row that newcastle have failed to score but they're still seven points clear of the drop zone. but burnley are up to ninth. we are going to hand back early for some breaking news with shaun ley in london. lizzie, thank you very much. the

statement has been issued by the press association, and it's about the prime minister and his partner, carrie symons. they have announced that they are expecting a baby in the early summer of this year, and that as a result, they have got engaged. so prime minister boris johnson and carrie symons, you will recall she is a former press officer and that is how they met. they have been together for quite and that is how they met. they have been togetherfor quite a and that is how they met. they have been together for quite a while now, and you may remember there was a bit ofa and you may remember there was a bit of a publicity because they had a rather noisy row one evening as a lot of couples have been known to have. despite that, when he became prime minister, she moved into downing street with him. they were on holiday in the caribbean over christmas and the new year, and they've now made this announcement today that they are expecting a baby in the early summer, and that they have become engaged. now back to lizzie greenwood hughes at the sports centre. thank you,

shaun. leeds united strengthened their grip on the automatic promotion places in the championship — thrashing hull city 4—0 and closing the gap on leaders west brom to just a point. luke ayling put the visitors ahead after five minutes, with pablo hernandez adding a second just after the half time break. two goals in four minutes from tyler roberts sealed the victory for leeds who are five points clear of fulham in third. hull meanwhile are without a league win since the start of the year. so, a big win for leeds with leaders west brom slipping up at home to relegation threatened wigan. fulham stay third after an own goal from david nugent helped them on their way to a 2—0 victory over play—off rivals preston . bottom side luton scored a penalty in added time to earn a draw against stoke. the scottish cup quarter final between hearts and rangers has just kicked off in

the last few minutes. it is goalless at the moment. st mirren against aberdeen follows. hibernian reached the semi finals with victory last night. the first trophy of the women's sseaons will be awarded tonight as the league cup final is going on in nottingham. arsenal are playing chelsea. the game has been going around a minute and a half, and it is goalless at the moment at the city ground. arsenal are aiming to win the trophy for the sixth time — it's the first time chelsea have reached the final. a change to football's offside rule could be on the way after the game's rule—makers agreed to review the law in order to "foster the spirit of attacking play". the decision was made at the annual general meeting of the international football association board in belfast today. there was a very, very good discussion, because in the end we all want entertaining football and we all want goals, and we don't want new technologies to disadvantage attackers. we want attackers to have

the chances to score, so we are examining the laws of the game on the offside law to make sure that we aren't penalising attackers too much and reducing the number of goals in the game, which nobody wants to see. there was late drama in rugby union's premiership when harlequins snatched victory at home to leaders exeter. exeter had been leading going into the final quarter of an hour but after two players were sin—binned quins took advantage and just wore them down — a penalty try eventually sealing the 34 points to 30 victory. it's exeter‘s first home defeat since october and the bonus point win moves quins into the top six. in today's other games, three penalties from johnny mcphillips helped leicester edge out worcester, while ahead of the six nations match against england next weekend there was a big injury concern for wales in northampton's loss to saracens. saints fly—half dan biggar forced off with a serious—looking knee injury. there are two games ongoing in the pro 14 at the moment. munster v scarlets and dragons against cheetahs.

we will have the full—time results on those for you in sports day at half past six. moving onto tennis. heather watson is one win away from her first wta title in almost four years after reaching the mexican 0pen final. she won in straight sets against china's wang xiyu. watson — the british number two — has not won a singles tournement since march 2016. if she wins, she will break into the top 50 world rankings for the first time since that win. the day's big jumps meeting at newbury was abandoned due to wet ground — so it left doncaster‘s grimthorpe handicap to take centre stage and captain chaos won in gruelling conditions. the grimthorpe is traditionally a grand national trial although captain chaos doesn't have an entry for the famous race. but he can certainly stay — seeing off his rivals by a huge margin in the heavy ground. harry skelton was riding for his trainer brother dan. the favourite worthy farm finished second. that's all the sport for now.

now on the bbc news channel, it's time for the weather. he has nick miller. another weekend, another named storm. storm jorge has already brought heavy rain and now high winds. this area of low pressure is storm jorge, said particular across southern scotland and northern wales, northern england and northern ireland. we have seen the back of the persistent rain. this wonderful picture from the lake district, you can see the shower clouds, the snow on the hills, the ripples on the water, all of the elements of the weather at the moment combined. it is windy and showery, but the main problems yet from jorge are these strong disruptive wins in places, but also some snow as well, and there are yellow met office weather warnings in force. this is how it looks this evening, and we could be

seeing some gusts of around 70 mph or so is seeing some gusts of around 70 mph orso is an seeing some gusts of around 70 mph or so is an area of wet weather pushes through. south of the rain and hill snow, gusty wind, pushes through. south of the rain and hillsnow, gusty wind, plenty pushes through. south of the rain and hill snow, gusty wind, plenty of showers, some heavy and thundery, lots of reports of hail coming out of these showers as well. to go on through the night, it stays wet in parts of northern ireland, northern ireland and scotland. temperatures won't dip as far as they could if it wasn't so windy. we start the day tomorrow with some sunshine around, but then we get ready for more showers in places, and in scotland, further rain and hill snow, significance no developing in some of the hills. you may see up to 30 centimetres of snow drifting in the wind in places. sunshine and showers elsewhere, heavy and thundery with hail, moving through quite quickly, some places avoiding them altogether. a lot of the day could be dry with sunny spells. gusty winds again, but they will ease a little as we go deeper on through the day, and as for those temperatures, a few of us creep into

double figures, but most of us will not. and that is how much of the week ahead is looking. for the first week ahead is looking. for the first week of march, temperatures will be at or below average for the time of year, but this is showing up that our weather won't be as extreme. some showers around, it doesn't look like they will be these prolonged spells of wet weather, there will be some sunshine occasionally, it will be cold enough for frosty nights, though by the time we get to next weekend, low pressure with wind and rain could well be coming back to us.

good evening. three more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the uk, as public health officials try to establish how a man from surrey become the first person to contract the illness without travelling abroad. it brings the total number of cases here to 23. the virus — a respiratory disease, which causes pneumonia—like symptoms, has so far infected more than 85,000 people

in more than 50 countries. 0utside china, south korea is the country worst hit — with more than 3000 cases. today, american health officials also reported three unexplained cases on the west coast — raising concerns the virus is spreading within the us. in the last hour, we've heard the death toll from coronavirus in italy has risen by eight to 29. duncan kennedy reports. this is the health centre in haslemere where the man went to see a doctor after feeling unwell. the man later tested positive for the coronavirus. the centre was then closed and thoroughly cleaned yesterday before reopening this morning. this is the first transmission of the virus within the uk involving someone who hadn't travelled abroad. people at the clinic today say they are surprised by what has happened.

it was unusual to think haslemere was the first place it has been transmitted without an obvious cause. my husband has a poor immune syste m cause. my husband has a poor immune system and respiratory problems so perhaps i'm more concerned than others might be, butjust be sensible. this sign appeared outside a pub in haslemere today telling customers someone had tested positive for the coronavirus and that it was now closed for cleaning. it is not clear who this refers to. but the government says health officials are now investigating the man who has tested positive here. teams are currently doing contact tracing to understand who they met and how that transmission took place and how that transmission took place and probably it is too early to comment further while the chief medical officer and his team are looking into the details. three more cases have now been confirmed in the uk today. in hertfordshire, gloucestershire and berkshire. in tenerife a fifth italian tourist has now tested positive at this hotel where many british people are staying. some low risk guests

who arrived after the italians were able to leave today. the foreign office said plans were being made to test 200 british guests before they can return home. in south korea an army of soldiers has been on the march laying down disinfectant to cleanse public areas. the country recorded its biggest dailyjump in the country recorded its biggest daily jump in cases the country recorded its biggest dailyjump in cases on saturday reaching a critical moment according to officials in their battle against the virus. tonight the director of public health here in surrey said although there could be cause for concern about cases here in haslemere, but all the agencies involved are working flat out to try to stop the spread of the virus and they say their advice to the public remains clear. they should wash their hands thoroughly, they should self—isolate if they are feeling u nwell self—isolate if they are feeling unwell and they should ring nhs111

rather than turning up to clinics like this which could risk spreading the virus even further. duncan kennedy reporting. and you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself against it on the bbc news app and on our website bbc.co.uk/news. one of britain's most senior civil servants, sir philip rutnam, has resigned as permanent secretary at the home office. he's pursuing a claim against the government for constructive dismissal after what he called a "vicious and orchestrated" campaign against him. his dramatic resignation follows persistent reports of tensions between him and the home secretary, priti patel. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg reports. you're not meant to have heard of him. permanent secretaries are the backroom bosses of the government machine. but this rainy saturday morning became a personal

and public storm for him. in the last ten days i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. it has been alleged that i have briefed the media against the home secretary. this, along with many other claims, is completely false. i regret i do not believe her. priti patel is known as a straight talker. but denied doing anything wrong when whispers about her behaviour made their way to the press in recent days. are you a workplace bully, home secretary? but there are now demands for an enquiry, with herformer top official taking the government to court and listing the accusations against her in public. i have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands.

behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out. sir philip's time in charge was not without problems. the home office, a notoriously tricky part of government. but an exit like this is serious and highly unusual. the prime minister has to get a grip on this and not just allow this chaos to continue. you have to have a positive, functioning relationship between civil servants who work immensely hard to deliver, and also ministers who need to show leadership and be held to account. tensions between ministers and officials are nothing new. but this exit is on a different scale. there is no sense from number ten at the moment that there will be consequences for priti patel. and they have made no secret of the fact that they want to change things and they are not afraid of ruffling feathers. but there is a difference between decisiveness and dysfunction and ultimately this government, any government,

needs the civil service to get things done. this has been a very difficult decision. but i hope that my stand may help in maintaining the quality of government in our country. do you think that priti patel is fit for office? he will say no more for now. but for the government's opponents, sir philip's decision to go public speaks volumes alone. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. in the last few minutes it's been announced that the prime minister and his girlfriend carrie symonds are expecting their first child. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson is here with me. what can you tell us? well the prime minister has lost the chancellor and his home secretary is under pressure but the good news is he's about to become a father again. in the past 50 minutes it was confirmed he and his partner carrie simmons are expecting a child in the summer for have been swelling at westminster

because she is a prominent environmental campaigner in her own right and have not been seen publicly recently and boris johnson was not undertaking foreign trips. the rumour is now confirmed and interestingly she employed recently her own pr person to be paid for by the conservative party and i suspect that that person now will be earning their living. thank you very much. the united states and the taliban have signed an agreement which it's hoped can bring peace in afghanistan, after 18 years of war. the deal follows more than a year of intensive negotiations. it's based around a phased and conditional us troop withdrawal in exchange for security guarantees for the taliban. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports from doha, where the negotiations have been taking place. sworn enemies shake hands on a deal, a first step towards ending america's longest war. a glimpse of hope that afghanistan can finally move towards peace.

but, today, the us's top diplomat warns it all depends on the taliban. first, keep your promises to cut ties with al-qaeda and other terrorists. keep up the fight to defeat isis. welcome the profound relief of all afghan citizens, men and women, urban and rural, as a result of this past week's massive reduction in violence and dedicate yourselves to continued reductions. history has been made in this moment. this is not a peace deal but it is a significant step forward. and for all the uncertainty and scepticism, afghans know this is their best chance to move towards peace in a very long time. for now, taliban are celebrating this moment on the world stage. their message, we won the war and their confident step worries afghans who question

their commitment to peace. we will work together to make afghanistan, stable afghanistan, peaceful afghanistan and to make more for ourselves. the taliban, which i understand, they are not interested in continuing fighting in afghanistan. in the afghan capital, kabul, under grey skies, the us also sent a message to the afghan government and people — that their troops won't leave in haste and leave afghans on their own just yet. lyse doucet, bbc news, doha. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. we're back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one it's time for the news where you are.

hello. this is bbc news with shaun ley. 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. here's the spectator‘s political reporter, cindy yu, speaking to me earlier about the highly unusual move by sir philip. it is utterly unprecedented. when public officials have disagreements with a secretary of state, it is done behind closed doors and sorted out behind closed doors. civil —— sir philip rutnam spoke out about

this, and said that he rejected being moved to another department or a payoff, showing the depth of feeling he has about what he alleges has been done to him, and priti patel herself. but the thing i was struck by is what he went on to say about her behaviour as home secretary, which the implication is that it goes far beyond simply a breakdown in trust between two individuals, because she talks about encouraging her to change her behaviour. i have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands, behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out, he said. all of which potentially could end up being aired on an employment tribunal. absolutely, so it's not just a temporary embarrassment for the government here today. when this case goes to court it will be a

sustained embarrassment, and if priti patel really has done these things and there are written records or anything in evidence, then her job may very well be at risk here, so it really is very serious. at the same time, we don't know what exactly has happened. 0bviously same time, we don't know what exactly has happened. obviously the home office is incredibly high pressured, especially in the run—up to leaving the european union properly by the end of this year. it has to create a new immigration system, provide for the eu nationals already here, issue new passports. so there are a lot of different priorities competing at the moment in the home office, and priti patel isa in the home office, and priti patel is a favoured minister of boris johnson, so she will be really pushing very hard to get the government's agenda done, and in the process of that she may have cracked a few eggs to break an omelette. but sir philip rutnam, for him to have done something like this is quite extraordinary. you say that she is very close to the prime minister.

equally as we saw with the resignation of sajid javid just a couple of weeks ago, this is a prime minister who is not afraid to lose the sorts of ministers who in the past losing them would have been regarded as seriously destabilising the government. presumably she is safe until she becomes a liability? i think that's true. she is quite different to sajid javid. she is one of the original brexiteers, she has a lwa ys of the original brexiteers, she has always been on vote leave she is loyal and charismatic. sajid javid was a slightly different case because he was always seen as a bit ofa because he was always seen as a bit of a feat drag when it comes to brexit, and even when it comes to the negotiations last year, he was relu cta ntly the negotiations last year, he was reluctantly on—boa rd, not the negotiations last year, he was reluctantly on—board, not really doing it because he wanted to. that was the perception that number 10 had of him. pretty ben howlett something different. she has been put into the home office because she is known for her degree issues on

things like immigration and crime, and that is the attitude this government wants to get out there. soi government wants to get out there. so i think for them to lose her would be very unlikely, for them to push her, i mean, so the tribunal would have to go very badly for her to have any risk to herself. that is cindy yu at the spectator magazine. time for a look at the weather with nick miller. another weekend, another named storm. storm jorge has already brought heavy rain and now high winds. looking heavy rain and now high winds. very windy out ther this looking very windy out there through this evening and tonight. this area of low pressure is storm jorge, so particularly across southern scotland and northern wales, northern england and northern ireland. we have seen the back of the persistent rain. this wonderful picture is from the lake district, you can see the shower clouds, the snow on the hills, the ripples on the water, all of the elements of the weather at the moment combined.

it is windy and showery, but the main problems yet from jorge are these strong disruptive winds in places, but also some snow as well, and there are yellow met office weather warnings in force. this is how it looks this evening, and we could be seeing some gusts of around 70 mph or so as an area of wet weather pushes through. south of the rain and hill snow, gusty wind, plenty of showers, some heavy and thundery, lots of reports of hail coming out of these showers as well. as we go on through the night, it stays wet in parts of northern ireland, northern ireland and scotland. temperatures won't dip as far as they could if it wasn't so windy. we start the day tomorrow with some sunshine around, but then we get ready for more showers in places, and in scotland, further rain and hill snow, significant snow developing in some of the hills. you may see up to 30 centimetres of snow drifting in the wind in places. sunshine and showers elsewhere, some heavy and thundery with hail, moving through quite quickly, some places avoiding

them altogether. a lot of the day could be dry with sunny spells. gusty winds again, but they will ease a little as we go deeper on through the day, and as for those temperatures, a few of us creep into double figures, but most of us will not. and that's how much of the week ahead is looking. for the first week of march, temperatures will be at or below average for the time of year, but this is showing up that our weather won't be as extreme. some showers around, it doesn't look like they will be these prolonged spells of wet weather, there will be some sunshine occasionally, it will be cold enough for frosty nights, though by the time we get to next weekend, low pressure with wind and rain could well be coming back to us.

this is bbc news. the government says everything possible is being done to limit the spread of coronavirus, after the first case contracted in the uk was confirmed in surrey. and in tenerife, a fifth case has been confirmed at the hotel that's been on lock down since tuesday morning. an emergency meeting in france, where the government has banned all events with more than 5,000 people after detecting 16 new cases. downing street says the pm has full confidence in the home secretary — following the resignation of the most senior civil servant in the home office. i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. it has been alleged that i have briefed the media against the home

secretary. this, along with