this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: in the us election campaign, ‘mayor‘ pete buttigieg pulls out — it could be a boost forjoe biden's campaign. there are concerns the new coronavirus could have been circulating in the us for weeks — up to 1500 people may be infected. turkey sends refugees to europe to try to force backing for its campaign in syria. after the us—taliban agreement, the qatari mediator tells us that outside countries could still wreck the chances for peace in afghanistan.

pete buttigieg has dropped out of the race to be the democratic candidate to take on president trump for the us presidency. the 38—year—old former mayor enjoyed a successful start to his campaign, but it lost momentum in recent weeks. he narrowly won the iowa caucuses early last month and came in a strong second place in the new hampshire primary, but faltered badly in saturday's south carolina vote. he made the announcement a short time ago at a rally in his hometown of south bend, indiana. today is a moment of truth. after a year of going everywhere, meeting everyone, defying every expectation, seeking every vote, the truth is the path has narrowed to a close, for our candidacy if not for our cause. and another of those values is responsibility,

and we have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. our goal has always been to help unify americans, to defeat donald trump and to win the era for our values. applause i asked our correspondent peter bowes if pete buttigieg's withdrawal is unusual ahead of super tuesday. it's unusual but i think he is simply being practical. looking at the numbers, he did not do well in south carolina. 14 states across the country go to the polls on tuesday, two of the big ones, california and texas, and he and his people have clearly figured out it's perhaps unlikely that he will win over bernie sanders orjoe biden in any of those states. and for all he did well in the iowa caucuses, for all he did well in new hampshire, he doesn't see path ultimately to being the nominee for the democratic

party. that's essentially what he indicated in his speech, that the path to victory doesn't seem to be within his grasp. so what does it mean for the race now to take on president trump? interestingly he said... one of the phrases he used was there was too much at stake to stick to the sidelines, suggesting that he is still going to play a role in american politics. interestingly he did not say he was supporting any of the other candidates. maybe that will come at a later stage. what it means probably in terms of votes isjoe biden is likely to gain because he and pete buttigieg essentially occupy the same political ground in the centre of the democratic party, the great swathes of the party who believe in terms of policy similar things tojoe biden and pete buttigieg, especially when it applies to big issues like healthcare. joe biden could be the big

winner over bernie sanders, who looks like he will do well on super tuesday. looks like it is building quite slowly to a race between two or three of the key characters. the clue is in the name, it is super tuesday. what does that mean for the democratic race for the presidency? it is called super tuesday for a good reason, there are many, many delegates at stake. california has in itself a quarter of all of the delegates necessary for any of these candidates to meet the threshold to be the nominee for the democrats, so it's all down to the maths on tuesday. it's not a winner takes all system, it's a proportional system, so those democrats in the big states like texas and california will be divided between the continuing candidates and the race is simply on to garner as many as possible.

scientists in the united states say the covid—i9 virus may have been spreading undetected in washington state for the last six weeks, infecting up to 1500 people. over the weekend, a man in his fifties from the northwestern state became the first confirmed fatality from the virus in the us. a short while ago i spoke to professor peter hotez, dean of the national school of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine. i put it to him that the safety of healthcare workers is becoming a major issue. one of the things we noticed it coming out of wuhan, the chinese reported that in the epidemic in wuhan there were more than 1,000 healthcare workers infected, with six deaths, and about 16%, about 1a.8%, were seriously ill and many required icu admission so that was a wake—up call that our healthcare workforce is highly to this virus and infection.

it occurred to us here in the united states, and of course locally, that things good full down quickly if large numbers of the healthcare workforce went down and couldn't fight this infection, and the snowball effect of it becoming both demoralising and if healthcare workers feel they're not being adequately protected... we are worried things could break down and collapsed very quickly, and we've been writing and speaking about this for the last couple of days and then, of course, right on cue, within 2a hours of this, we've had two healthcare workers in california now infected according to reports. this is going to be an area of extreme vulnerability here in the united states and i would imagine globally, you can imagine in the middle east or africa, where healthcare workers don't have adequate personal protective equipment, what we call ppe, i think this is going to become a major

issue going forward. you've personally been working on a vaccine, towards a vaccine, what are your views on the vaccine? do you think we are 18 months away from one, or is it more complicated than that? i think it's really hard to predict. there's a lot of new, exciting technologies out there for advancing vaccines — rna vaccines, dna vaccines, we're using a more conventional recombinant protein protein approach and a number of these strategies are being supported by a new international global fund vaccines partly headquartered in london called cepi, coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations, that's the exciting part, but the bad news is we still have to do a lot of safety testing. typically this can require a year or two at least to show that the vaccine is both safe and effective. we also know with coronavirus vaccines and other respiratory vaccines, there's this paradoxical what we call immune enhancement where the vaccine can actually make things worse. this was a phenomenon discovered with a respiratory virus vaccine in the ‘60s, and we saw in laboratory animals with experimental vaccines after the original

sars came out in 2003. that's a long way of saying this is not going to go fast. that safety testing can't be compromised, it's very hard to compress timelines, so we're seeing a lot of biotechs and mid—sized biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies promising we'll have a vaccine in weeks. you can forget it — because of the immune enhancement phenomenon, we're looking at at least a year away before we have a vaccine, and i'm guessing probably longer. professor hotez, tell me honestly, how worried are you about the new coronavirus? it's clearly worrisome.

we saw the devastation this virus caused in wuhan, particularly amongst selected age groups, individuals over the age of 60 are especially vulnerable, pretty high fatality rates, those with underlying chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, and obviously our healthcare workforce. we're seeing case fatality rates of 2% overall. many were saying that's probably not the case, there's probably a lot of people with low—grade infectionis that we're missing, but then the world health organization gave us a very chilling statement last week saying we think the 2% fatality rate is real. the reason that significant is it is so highly contagious. on average a single individual will infect three or four people, so it's two or three times more contageous than seasonal flu and as many as ten times more serious in terms of fatalities than seasonal flu, so we'll have our hands full. this is quite a serious pathogen, and that's why the world health organization and the director—general, doctor tedros, appropriately declared an emergency of international concern a few weeks ago, especially worried about the countries that don't

have the capacity to manage complex epidemics or public health crises. in many respects the public health emergency was not declared so much for the uk or the usa, although we're certainly concerned, but you can imagine as this virus goes into sub—saharan africa, we've got 1—3 million chinese living there now through the belt and road initiative in the middle east, you get the idea. let's get some of the day's other news: iraq's prime minister—designate, mohammed allawi, has withdrawn his nomination, hours after parliament again failed to approve his proposed cabinet. in a damning tweet, mr allawi accused iraqi politicalforces, without naming them, of not being serious about reform and

protesters‘ demands. several thousand people have rallied in central prague against the czech republic's billionaire prime minister and the way his government treats public institutions. prime minister andrej babis is facing police charges over an eu subsidy fraud. the eu has also launched a probe into his dual role as a politician distributing eu subsidies — and an entrepreneur receiving them. actors and musicians from france's most prestigious theatre troupe have protested against president macron's pension reforms with a special production on the steps of the comedie francaise. performers at the state—owned theatre currently have a separate pension system, and many hung from the windows of the theatre to perform a selection of scenes from moliere‘s play ‘the miser‘.

greece says it has stopped almost 10,000 migrants crossing over the land border from turkey, which is struggling to deal with the number of people fleeing syria's civil war. the growing crisis comes after an airstrike in syria killed at least 33 turkish soldiers deployed to support the syrian opposition. turkey's president has said he will break his country's deal with brussels — to prevent migrants entering the eu — unless he gets greater support for his intervention in syria. orla guerin reports from the turkey and greece border. at first light, they joined the migrant trail from turkey. heading for the river meric, all that separates them from europe. this small group manages to cross, reaches the shores of greece, which fears a new flood of refugees. at border crossings with turkey, it's been pushing them back.

greece doesn't want a repeat of 2015. caught up in the chaos this afternoon, reza, an iranian we met who hopes to meet london. they're pushing us by water... coughs ..teargas. it's not fair. and the young have been in the firing line, like 1—year—old yeshar, whose family is from afghanistan. "the greeks a shot at us and threw tear gas at him," says his father, ziman, "he could have died." but for turkey, which has been sheltering almost 4 million syrians, the refugees are now human bargaining chips being used to put pressure on europe. well, families are still arriving here and they're not coming by accident, they're being encouraged to travel by the turkish authorities led to believe they can enter europe. instead they are stuck

here with no way to cross into greece and they and their children are having to camp out in the cold. and this is what awaits them now at the border, a battleground. greece says it won't allow a free—for—all. turkey says it's overwhelmed by refugees. it's determined that europe will share the fallout from syria's long and brutal war. orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—greece border. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the 220—year—old piano that's seen war and peace in paris, the north african desert and new york — and could fetch more than $1 million at auction. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards,

and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected even in the right to test them out, so that they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy — i know you don't want to say too much about it — but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: democratic party presidential contender pete buttigieg is pulling out of the white house race. it's expected to boost joe biden's chances. scientists in the united states say the covid—19 virus may have been spreading undetected in washington state for the last six weeks, infecting up to 1,500 people. the afghan government has started picking over the details of the deal signed by the taliban and the us on saturday. the historic deal will see thousands of american troops leave afghanistan in return for commitments from the taliban, the focus is now on how the agreement will be implemented and if promises will be kept. chief international correspondent lyse doucet has this report. the first win for afghans — a week of relative calm. what was called

a reduction in violence before the signing of a deal. what happens now? the agreement initialled on saturday isn't clear on this, at least not in the public document. but in doha, in kabul, they will keep monitoring it. i asked the qatar special envoy, will this partial truce continue? we hope it will continue. the parties and the people of afghanistan saw the result of the reduction in violence — how many lives we saved, they saved. and i think they have moral, religious and legal obligations. and if they don't respect them? again, we hope that... hope is not a strategy as the pentagon likes to say. we hope that they

respect their... their obligation in accordance with the agreement. but, i'm sure if there is a violation from one side, the other side willl have the right in self defence to act accordingly, but again, this is not a solution. what the taliban want to see next is a prisoner release. the deal says up to 5,000 of their men will be freed. but in kabul, president ghani made it clear that it's up to their government and the taliban are refusing to talk to them. we need to engage the parties to have proper discussions about the way forward. and i think they should compromise and i hope the parties will move forward. this is the beginning of the talks. it should start today. and i hope we can do something in the coming days. if you had to choose one thing that worries you that could cause this deal to unravel, what would it be? the spoilers.

the spoilers is the major obstacle in the past. i'm afraid it might be, this obstacle might remain, but i hope with this momentum and with the pressure from certain major powers, these spoilers should back off. the spoilers are in afghanistan or in neighbouring countries? mostly i would say in neighbouring countries. pakistan, iran... i'm not going to comment on this. you can ask the taliban, you can ask the afghans and they will tell you. a lasting ceasefire, a peace deal, around the agenda for afghan talks. —— are on the agenda. they're expected to start this month if all goes to plan.

lyse doucet, bbc news, doha. israelis go to the polls on monday for the third election in less than a year to try to break the country's political deadlock. a key stumbling block to forming a governing coalition has been corruption charges against prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who's due to stand trial this month. here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. on the sea of galilee, the bible says jewish fishermen who followed jesus used to debate the future. modern israeli fishermen at election time still do. on this boat, prime minister binyamin netanyahu's supporters, led by the skipper menachim lev. he values the bounty from the lake and the strength he sees in netanyahu. menachim thinks his father, who survived auschwitz, would have approved. he is from here, he is from the holocaust. and my father tell me one thing — don't trust nobody

in your life, trust only yourself and do everything that is good for you. the crew unites around fish, not politics. this man is voting for the centre—left opposition, worried that the cost—of—living is pricing young israelis out of their future. a lot of young people want to move from israel. it is something that is happening. but hopefully something will be ebetter, i don't know. amid the electoral pyrotechnics, retired general benny gantz, the opposition leader, has had to deny claims from the netanyahu camp that he made sex videos. netanyahu, he says, is trying to lie and cheat his way to victory. the prime minister is claiming credit for donald trump's so—called deal of century — an attempt to end the conflict on israel's terms. it allows israel, in defiance of international law, to annex settlements on land

palestinians want for a state. this is shilo, where they're building a new school. the settlers want two election victories this year — netanyahu and trump. it is very important for us, both elections, and we are engaged in all sorts of personalities and organisations and groups to assure both here and there that, as much as possible, we get the people in office that we want. nearby, palestinians were on a hilltop they believe settlers might grab. the old issues don't go away. and, as ever, it's come down to control of the land — that's always been at the centre of the conflict, a century ago and today. by morning, israeli forces were driving pammians palestinians off the hill. the last real chance of a negotiated peace was collapsing when these

young men were babies. the big changes, political and diplomatic and especially president trump's out—and—out support for the israeli government, is sharpening the conflict on the ground and you can see it in places like this. conflict is normal for yet another generation — the election won't change that. jeremy bowen, bbc news, on the west bank. a rare piano that's been described as immortal goes up for auction in israel this week. the piano of sienna, which is more than 220 years old, has spent its life at the world's fair in paris, in a second world war african battlefield, and has travelled from new york to tel aviv. stay ‘tuned' for this story from rich preston. with an unusually ornate design, the instrument has had quite a life.

it was made in 1799 according to the winner's auction house injerusalem by the turin—based harpsichord maker sebastian marchisio, and has been described as a visual masterpiece. he died before he could finish it, but his descendents finished for him and gave it to his granddaughter as a wedding gift. it appeared at the world's fair in paris in 1867 before being given to italy's then—prince and future king umberto the first, before falling into nazi hands. the piano surfaced again after the 1942 battle of el alamein in egypt in a crate with a mine detector. translation: when the british forces opened it, they were astonished to see a piano inside buried in the desert sand. from there, it ended up with an israeli piano merchant who fixed it up and took it to new york where it was displayed in steinway hall. translation: it was displayed

as a kind of eighth wonder in the most well—known piano shop in new york, and became a pilgrimage for pianists and enthusiasts. now its owner says it's time to let go of this beautiful creation and for the next chapter in its life to begin. it goes under the hammer on tuesday. rich preston, bbc news. before we go, some bits of information we're getting at the bbc regarding the new coronavirus. thailand reporting one new case of coronavirus, so infected in thailand is 43 and this off the back of news the moto gp in thailand, due to ta ke moto gp in thailand, due to take place on the 22nd of march, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. also news from south korea, for more people have died in south korea after contracting coronavirus —— four. all came from the

worst hit area, daegu. more on that breaking news on our website, bbc.com/news. thank you so much for watching. goodbye. hello. with rivers running high and many a field still under water, we could do with a little bit of better weather news and to a certain degree, we'll get that this week. no, not going be completely dry but certainly compared with recent weeks, won't be anywhere near as wet or as windy. the jetstream is taking a more southerly track but what that does mean is we're into slightly cooler air, so certainly chillier and by night with frost more likely. that's how we start the monday morning commute with more in the way of frost and even some ice around with showers continuing through the north and west overnight. clearing away from east anglia

and the south—east quite smartly but then brightening up. showers in the west, a mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow. few in number to begin with, becoming a bit more abundant during the afternoon, but not as many as we saw for the weekend. more of you on monday will spend the day completely dry or if not, just one or two showers passing your way. the temperatures around 7—10 degrees at their highest. winds will overall be light, not going to feel quite as cold in the afternoon as it has done, but the breeze will be picking up across the north—west later. gail's for a time for monday night into tuesday. more on the way of showers starting to develop through the night and they will push their way eastwards. a bit of snow across parts of scotland, even in the hills of northern ireland and northern england later on. temperatures will be close to freezing in many areas so frost and ice the greatest risk. the coldest of the weather first thing on tuesday morning towards the east. the set up for tuesday, that weather front taking showers eastwards initially. more rain bearing weather fronts diverted down towards france and iberia thanks to that southerly tracking jetstream. they could be close enough to produce some rain over

the southernmost counties of england and over the channel islands. more showers around tuesday morning — a wintry mix. those will clear away and it's back to sunshine and showers for many into the afternoon. showers mainly across some western areas. temperatures similar to those on monday. then, as we head into the middle part of the week, it looks like many will still stay mostly dry with showers around here and there. the chance of rain closer to the south coast on wednesday but overall, we're continuing with that largely dry story. changes a little bit towards the end of the week, thursday night to friday, we will see a weather front push its way across — bringing a spell of rain briefly. showers following on its wake and then a chance of some more wet and windy weather towards the end of the week and into next weekend. by and large, still the rivers responding to the rain we saw over the last few days and with some rain forecast towards the end of the week, never stay too far away from the flood warnings and they are there for you online.

this is bbc news, the headlines: pete buttigieg — the first openly gay us presidential candidate — is to end his bid for the white house. his decision to drop out comes just ahead of what's known as super tuesday, when 1a states hold primaries. his withdrawal is likely to benefit the campaign ofjoe biden. four more people have died in south korea after catching coronavirus. all of them come from the worst hit city of daegu. one new case of coronavirus has been announced in thailand. several thousand migrants are demanding to be allowed to cross into greece, after turkey announced it would no longer stop people trying to enter the european union. turkey is seeking western support for its operations in syria. an extraordinary meeting of eu foreign ministers has been called