this is bbc news, i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at 11. confirmation of the first death from coronavirus here in the uk — the patient was being treated at the royal berkshire hospital and had an underlying health condition. the prime minister says government scientists are examining what steps might be needed to deal with the outbreak. what they are looking at in the next few days, at in the next few days, in the near future, is what kind of measures might be necessary to retire the spread of the disease. a report from inside syria's idlib province, as a ceasefire is agreed after months of heavy bombardment. grounded — the collapse of flybe leaves passengers in the lurch and thousands of staff facing

a bleak future. does not sure what we are going to do now. i am shocked. but that we will be saved. but not this time. —— are you shocked? —— i thought we would be saved. and the duke and duchess of sussex return to the uk for one of their last official engagements before they step back as senior royals at the end of the month. and at 11.30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers giles kenningham, the political commentator and former head of press at number ten for david cameron, and the political writer and academic, maya goodfellow — stay with us for that. a woman in her 70s has become the first person with coronavirus to die in the uk. the royal berkshire hospital in reading said she had underlying

health issues but she had not been abroad. the number of people infected in the uk hasjumped again to 116 — among them some children. almost half of those who have the virus don't need hospital treatment. the uk's chief medical adviser, professor chris whitty, says authorities across the country are now mainly trying to delay — rather than contain — the spread of coronavirus. globally there are now more than 97,000 cases of coronavirus of those — more than half over 53,000 have recovered. the number of people who have died now stands at almost three and a half thousand. with the latest here's our health editor hugh pym. according to the royal berkshire trust, the patient had been in and out of hospital. she tested positive for the coronavirus last night. condolences have been expressed to her family by the trust, health leaders and the prime

minister. 0bviously our sympathies are very much with the victim and their family, but the situation is pretty much as it has been in the sense that we are still in the contained phase, though now our scientists and medical advisers are making preparations for the delay phase. the first british fatality with the coronavirus, though outside the uk, was a tourist who'd been on the diamond princess cruise ship, which had been quarantined injapan. more details of cases in the uk have emerged today. there are 45 people being treated in isolation at home. so far, 18 out of the overall total have fully recovered, but the source of infection in ten cases remains unexplained. the nhs and other global health systems are struggling to contain the virus, according to the government's chief medical adviser. delaying its spread is the next phase. he said half the cases could occur over a three—week

peak of the epidemic, his comments coming in front of a committee of mps. there will be a period, there will be a beginning, a middle and end to this. before it people will see no major impact on the nhs, some reconfiguration, and after it the nhs will be back to its normal state. but there will be a period in the middle, if this goes to the top end of the range — and it may well not — but if it does, where the nhs has huge pressure on it for a relatively short period of time. the chief medical adviser outlined what he believed the benefits of the delay phase would be. first, it would push back the peak number of cases from winter, when pressure on the nhs is greatest. it would buy time for scientists to improve their understanding of the virus and develop countermeasures, such as drugs. and the virus would possibly be less infectious in the summer. depending on when the peak comes and how many cases there are, intensive care beds will be in great demand. concerns have been raised about whether the nhs can provide

what's needed and whether too much pressure will be put on staff. i'm unbelievably proud to be a critical—ca re nurse, and i work with some fantastic staff, but we are human beings at the end of the day, and all of us have a tipping point, so it is really, really important that we look after those staff, to allow us to be able to look after patients. 0ne senior doctor told me his hospital has plans to convert other facilities into intensive—care units. it's going to be tough, but we have well rehearsed plans, and we are working together across our system and across all our staff to make sure that we do have those robust systems in place to cope with that increased demand. the warnings today have been on the basis of a worst—case scenario. case numbers may be less than expected, but health leaders feel they need to prepare hospitals, their staff and patients, for a potentially very tough time ahead. hugh pym, bbc news.

0ur correspondent met tracy is outside where the first uk death from the coronavirus was recorded. -- matt from the coronavirus was recorded. —— matt tracy. we can go live. what are they saying there? we have heard very little information come only a you short statement this evening about what actually happened but we understand that the patient was a woman who was in her 70s, had been in and out of the hospital here in the centre of writing, she was here last night for nine coronavirus reasons. but that she had a test, the test came back positive for coronavirus, and she died a short time later. the chief medical 0fficer, professor chris whitty, said that she had contracted cobit 19, the coronavirus from within the uk. 0fficials 19, the coronavirus from within the uk. officials are not trying to chase how this person might have contracted this virus. —— covid—19. where had she been? who should be made with? we understand she had a child but outside of the uk. that

mission really to try to understand how this case came to be. —— we understand that she did not travel outside. as for the hospital itself, it is open this evening and pretty much situation normal what's up i have been aside and had a look around and staff and patients coming and going as they normally went on a thursday evening from a texas coming and picking up and dropping off people as normal but this will be a site that comes under the national microscope because this is the first case of somebody dying from covid—19 in the uk and there is still a lot to understand about how it came to be that they got it especially concerning for a number of people that they seem to have contracted it here inside the uk. thank you, matt. you can find a plenty more information as one of the world on the bbc news website. 0r on the bbc

news app. dozens of routes serving the uk's regions could be left without services, after the collapse of flybe — europe's largest regional operator. it went into administration today after a bid forfresh financial support failed. flybe employs about 2,000 people — theirjobs are now at risk. the airline flies eight million passengers a year. many of them setting off from the uk's smaller airports — places like southampton, where last year flybe accounted for 95% of all flights. our business editor simonjack reports. there will be no onward journey for these planes — grounded for good, europe's largest regional airline collapsed, leaving passengers frustrated and staff distressed. yeah, i thought that we'd be saved, but not this time. sorry. there's no other airlines

from here that will fly to jersey, so, you know, we floated options like ferries or, essentially, a different airport. our flight was meant to be at 6:45 this morning to paris, for disneyland, and then i got a text at 2:03 this morning saying that all flights had been suspended, cancelled, and not to bother going to the airport. but we came anyway. i promised to get them there, so i'm going to get them there. will not be great for southampton airport... last night, in southampton, this pilot parked his plane up for the last time. we're the only real regional airline, so anybody that wants to get from southampton to manchester, they've now got to take the train, basically, and that's three times the price and takes twice as long. flybe operates 40% of all uk domestic flights, but it leased too many planes at too high a cost, flying too many unprofitable routes, leaving the airline in financial distress, finished off by an industrywide slump in bookings thanks to coronavirus.

southampton airport relies on flybe for 95% of its traffic. it employs 200 people directly and has created many more jobs across the region. southampton airport is very heavily dependent on flybe, it has been for years, so government may need to step in to give the airport some support to keep it going. regional connectivity really matters. that's not often understood by london politicians. the collapse of flybe is obviously upsetting for staff, it's confusing for passengers, and economically damaging to airports like this and surrounding areas, notjust here in southampton, but around the uk. the government insists that propping up failing businesses with £100 million of taxpayers' money is not the way to deliver better regional connectivity, but there is little doubt the collapse of flybe has seen that ambition take a massive step backwards. flybe accounted for a quarter of all traffic at cardiff and 80% out of belfast city airport. the government today said it remained committed to the future of regional airports, but there was little detail. we are undertaking a review of regional connectivity to ensure

the uk has a domestic transport connections local communities rely on, including regionalairports. other airlines, like scotland's loganair, have said they're prepared to take on some routes, but at a time when bookings are slumping around the world, most airlines are focused on survival, not being saviours. simonjack, bbc news, southampton. with less than a week until the budget, there's news tonight of a delay to some of the government's key plans for investment. it concerns the government's national infrastructure strategy, past of borisjohnson‘s plan to improve infrastructure in the regions. 0ur economics editor faisal islam explained. we expected that detail but promised that detail by the previous chance to lay three weeks ago. it is now not going to happen next week and delayed by a month or two. i understand. adamant government

sources say it in the show any less ambition and they are looking to refocus plans to help meet the climate change objective. 0pposition sources saying that this is not right. and they need to be publishing these plans and they are already well delayed. two years ago the national infrastructure commission published its ideas. another thing is going on here, there is a focus on the coronavirus and some sort of short—term plan to deal with the economic problems there. the government says killing the animals to protect cattle from bovine tuberculosis has reduced cases of the disease. but will now be replaced by a scheme to vaccinate badges and cows. this winter has been the warmest on record across europe. the warmth was evident in

the north and east of europe. the biggest numbers have been released by the copernicus climate change service which provides weather data for the eu. the headlines on bbc news... confirmation of the first death from coronavirus here in the uk. a patient was being treated at the royal berkshire hospital and had an underlying health condition. grounded, the collapse of flybe leaves passengers in the lurch and thousands of staff facing a bleak future. a report from inside syria's province as a cease—fire is agreed after months of heavy bombardment. a ceasefire in syria's idlib province has just come into effect after months of heavy bombardment by syrian government forces and their russian allies. the truce was agreed by the presidents of turkey and russia.

idlib is the last region still controlled by thejihadists and rebels — backed by turkey — who have been trying to overthrow the syrian president bashar al—assad since 2011. the un estimates almost a million people have fled their homes since december due to the fighting. in the early hours of this morning, russian air strikes killed 16 civilians sheltering in a farm in maarat misrin. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin was there. her report, filmed by gokthai koroltan, contains some upsetting images. working by flashlight, to reclaim the living from the rubble. the target here inexplicably a poultry farm which became a refuge for some of idlib‘s displaced. by day, a refuge no more. just hours before ceasefire talks began in moscow, this devastation was russia's handiwork.

last night while i slept, i slept here, here. this is my home. here. when the russian aircraft bombed... this is from the bomb? yes. civilians, civilians, we are civilians. and they were killed as they slept, though the syrian regime and its russian backers say they are targeting terrorists. when you take a look around here amongst the scattered belongings you can see that this was a home, a place where parents were trying to keep their children safe. some of the toys are still here and the dishes are smashed at my feet. what possible justification could there be for bombing a place like this full of civilians?

but in idlib this has been happening day in, day out, and as the sound now of more explosions, we have been hearing bombings in the distance since we arrived. ahmed tells me it's fine if he dies but he's worried for his children who by chance were not here last night. where do you think you and the children will sleep tonight? "i don't know", he says, wondering if any where in his broken homeland is safe. not the local hospital — it's a target, like all medicalfacilities. here, we found victims of the air strikes, like this boy, who is nine, as old as syria's war. i want to be a doctor, he says, to treat patients, so they get better and no one dies

in syria or the rest of the world. willa ceasefire bring an end to the agony here? or will this merciless multilayered war keep doing its very worst? 0rla guerin, bbc news, idlib. almost a million people have been displaced by the fighting in syria and it has been putting further pressure on turkey which already has almost 4 million syrian refugees. turkey opened its border to greece last week — accusing the european union of inaction on refugees. since then thousands of migrants have been trying to cross into the eu — as our middle east editor jeremy bowen reports. syrian refugees have learnt to be sceptical about ceasefires, and in western turkey thousands who escaped the battles before idlib

and other middle eastern wars, followed a fence to the greek border, and they went because turkey's president finally came through with his threat to pressurise the eu by creating a new refugee crisis. greece kept its gates closed. for a generation that grew up with death and war, stealing their chances of education, it was yet another blow. translation: my future has gone, that is why i think more about the future of my children. i want to have a house for them, give them a good life, where they don't need to rely on me or anybody else to support them. this family with six children had made it to greece where they said the police stole all their money and burnt their id papers before they were sent back. trying to salvage some dignity. translation: there are women here and we don't have toilets, what should they do?

we have girls ten and 11 years old, they can't go in the open in front of people. if you look at the leaders in the countries who have interfered and been involved with the war in syria, can you look at somebody and think, they are to blame? translation: the main person responsible for us is basher al—assad, as president it is a pity that you kill a child or harm a human being just to stay in power. these people are pawns in a much bigger game, and it is roots lie in the catastrophic international failure to stop the war in syria and the players in the game are the big military powers who have intervened in the syrian war in their own interests with little or no regard for the safety of millions of people. a local turkish man gave out food, let europe see this, he said,

i hope you are ashamed. it was cold, he made a fire of plastic rubbish to heat milk for his baby son. three sisters were under these blankets. no tents, no tarpaulin, no hope. jeremy bowen, bbc news, turkey. an official review into how joseph mccann was able to commit a series of rapes and sexual assaults when he should have been in prison has blamed failures by the probation service. mccann was given 33 life sentences last december for the attacks on women and children. our home affairs correspondent june kelly has been speaking to some of his victims — you may find their stories distressing. the end of a manhunt. joseph mccann is finally cornered, hiding up in a tree in cheshire, wanted for multiple rapes and kidnappings in the north

and south of england. he was taken into custody, which is where he should have been when he was committing his crimes. mccann, a career criminal with a history of violence, had been wrongly released from prison, and today we learned of the failings which meant a man described by the trialjudge as a classic psychopath was free to roam around the country, raping women and children. we brought together three of his victims aged from 17 to 71 after they had read today's report. his eldest victim, a grandmother, was punched in the face, kidnapped and raped. i knew it was avoidable. we have all suffered the consequences of that, horrifically. he raped this 17—year—old girl and her 11—year—old brother, mccann's youngest victim. i thought the law was meant to protect the public.

i used to be an independent person, but now i can't do anything on my own, i can't even sleep in my own bed. it's awful, it's absolutely awful. a hug of support from one victim to another, and on her other side, her mum, tied up in her own home by mccann as he attacked her children. if he'd been in prison, none of this would have happened. the family has just been torn apart. i lost my family home. i couldn't go back to the house. we lost everything. 0ur life has been torn apart. it was awful. it's just been really bad emotionally. the report shows that, as far back as 2003, joseph mccann was considered a possible sexual risk to teenage girls. there was repeated failure to recall mccann to prison. 0n eight occasions recall was considered and rejected. today, thejustice secretary announced a further lesson—learning review.

the system he heads exposed mccann's victims to completely unnecessary danger and has left some lives damaged forever. june kelly, bbc news. the high court has found that the ruler of dubai, sheikh mohammed al—maktoum, abducted two of his daughters, and subjected his former wife to a campaign of intimidation. in a series ofjudgments, the court also said allegations of physical abuse could be relied upon, and overruled the sheikh's efforts to keep the findings secret. here's our security correspondent, frank gardner. extraordinary and damning allegations of abduction and intimidation committed by dubai's ruler sheikh mohammed al—maktoum, published today by the high court in britain, and the details have emerged during a lengthy custody battle between the sheikh and his former

wife, princess haya ofjordan. the princess described how she fled to britain after discovering what the shake had done to two of his daughters. this court case is lifting the lid on what is alleged to have been going on one of the more secretive royal families of the middle east what the allegations that include the forced return of two princesses. 0ne that include the forced return of two princesses. one the whom was allegedly seized right here. 0ne sister, latifa, was recaptured at sea off the coast of india before trying to escape, she recorded this video her earlier treatment by her father's agents, a testament need the court ruled as credible. it was constant torture, constant torture, and even when they weren't physically beating me up they were torturing me. they would switch off the lights, i was in solitary confinement totally and there are no windows and lights on when they switch off the lights it is pitch black.

dubai is sensitive about its reputation, it is a global destination and sheikh mohammed al—maktoum is a huge figure in the horse racing world internationally and the queen paid a royal visit to the uae in 2010. his legal team has rejected many of the claims, a statement issued after referred to... the court also heard that princess haya, a former 0lympic equestrian, had begun an adulterous affair with her bodyguard. she had been subjected to a campaign of intimidation and she had been told she would never be safe in england. the duke and duchess of sussex have attended one of their last official engagements together — before they step back as senior royals at the end of the month. they attended awards in london to celebrate the sporting

achievements of wounded, sick and injured service personnel. this report from our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell contains flashing images from the start. lights, lots of them. cameras, lots of them. but when it comes to action of the formal royal variety, there won't be much more of it from these two. this was the first public appearance by meghan in this country for two months since she and harry announced their new direction, and one of the last by the couple before they begin their new life in north america. they were at the mansion house in london for the endeavour awards for service personnel and looking, by all accounts, very relaxed. it's the kind of royal duty — recognising achievement over adversity — that's expected of the royal family, the kind of thing for which harry, with his own military background, has a natural affinity. both appeared on stage, meghan to present one award. good evening, everybody.

it's very nice to be back. and harry to speak about the experience of serving. for some, the military community represents a brotherhood or sisterhood that no other organisation can provide, and for others it's a way of life which you never want to leave. for a lot of us it's both. being able to serve queen and country is something that we all are rightly proud of and it never leaves us. it was a powerful speech. harry sounded motivated and fulfilled. puzzling that in a few days he and meghan will step away to return to canada. nicholas witchell, bbc news. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers giles kenningham, the political commentator and former head of press at number ten for david cameron, and the political writer and academic, maya goodfellow. that's coming up shortly after the headlines.

now it's time for the weather with phil avery. hello. there was a pretty chilly start to the day on thursday for many parts of the british isles. the dust may well be out, but there's been a touch of frost around. and the next few days feel suitably springlike, and there will be spells of sunshine and showers, but at other times we will see longer spells of rain. thankfully, the longer spell of rain that affected many southern counties through thursday will have pulled away into the near continent as we start the day on friday. yes, there is a weather front draped none too decoratively across the western side of the british isles, but it is a pretty weak affair — by no means the potency we saw during thursday, although there will be a bit about it as it moves from northern ireland, clearing during the afternoon as it works its way to the western side of scotland. throughout the day, i think you'll find the very best of the sunshine further east of england and scotland too. temperatures at a high of around 9—11dc.

a lot of dry weather around, but waiting in the wings, we have a significant area of low pressure squeezing the isobars. the winds will be a future over the course of the weekend, and after a dry enough start, come saturday afternoon, we will be looking at quite significant rain getting into northern ireland and western parts of scotland. but it will be quite late in the day before we see that rain getting across the border to the cumbrian falls and towards the northwest of wales. elsewhere, you've got quite a bit of dry weather. and who doesn't need that at the moment? because the wind ahead of that weather front is from the south and southwest, the temperatures will be in the double figures. that weather front crosses many areas during the course of saturday night, such that it is only the southeastern quarter that starts sunday on a pretty wet note. but once that's away, we are often running into a day of sunny spells and showers, quite a blustery sort of day, notjust as windy as the night

would have been as the isobars begin to open out. it won't be overly cold, either, i think these will be early maxima, and they will gradually chip away as the day goes on down into single figures. now sunday night, still a long breeze around, we will be frost—free in many locations. the cloud spreads in ahead of the next area of low pressure. so a really unsettled start to the forthcoming week, and that is quite a bit of rain fall to come across many parts of the british isles. hill snow in scotland, and that in its own right will be quite a windy day, but not a cold one by any means at all. it really will take time on tuesday before we push the last of this weather front away from the southern counties england. quite a few isobars there, so you can be taking on a pretty breezy day. sunny spells and showers away from the southern counties of england and wales, where eventually the rain will fade away. and it is this blustery, showery bright regime that takes over. but again, those temperatures at the vestiges of the mild air,