this is bbc news. the headlines: 273 people in the uk have tested positive for coronavirus — that's up from 209 yesterday — according to latest figures. 16 million people in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of the virus. the official death toll in italy's worst affected area jumps 100 and stands at 257. here, new emergency laws — including court cases over video link or phone — to help tackle the virus — are announced. the prime minister meets victims of flooding,

announces a doubling in flood defences funding and defends not turning up when bewdely was under water. it is all too easy for a prime minister to come to a place in the middle of an emergency. it is not so easy for the emergency services because what they have to do is then break off. meghan uses one of her last appearances as a senior royal to urge men to do more to respect women. value and appreciate the women in your lives, and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way. and scotland cause a big upset in the six nations rugby as they beat france at murrayfield 28-17. more on that and a full sports round up in half an hour here on bbc news.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. it's been confirmed that the number of cases of coronavirus in the uk has risen to 273. that's up from 209 yesterday. 23,500 people have been tested for the virus — the vast majority have been given the all—clear. there have been two deaths. gps will — of course — be at the front line of health care providers dealing with the spread of this virus. dr amir khan works at a practice in leeds. he said he wasn't surprised at today's jump in the number of people contracting the virus. we are moving on from the containment phase to the delay phase, and it is really important that people adhere to the hygiene measures that the government are putting out there. you mentioned those two phases because we are still in that containment phase now, but clearly it is only a matter of time before we move on. yes, and i don't think there's

much time before we move on and the whole purpose of the delay phase is to stop a massive peak of people being infected all at the same time and overwhelming our nhs services, so we know that people are going to be infected and we know it will be a lot of people but we want that number to climb slowly and that is the purpose of the delay phase, so we are not overwhelmed as health professionals ourselves by the demand. the chancellor has said the government is ready to deliver "whatever action is required" to deal with the coronavirus crisis. rishi sunak — who delivers his first budget on wednesday — said a range of options were being looked at to help businesses survive the impact of employees going sick. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, reports. the effects of the coronavirus outbreak are clear to see, a country taking steps to cope, unsure what the ultimate impact will be. and in the midst of the crisis, the chancellor is preparing a budget.

the economy is strong, he claims, but there will be measures to ease the impact, and some help for businesses feeling the strain. we are looking very hard at the range of scenarios and making sure that in each of those we can respond appropriately, and that means providing support for public services, and we have already done that with regard to the nhs, making sure we can support vulnerable people, and also making sure we can help businesses get through what could be an impact on their businesses that could be significant but for a temporary period of time. under new emergency laws drawn up by the government, volunteers will be able to work in the health service for up to four weeks without losing theirjobs. court cases could be held via video link to ensure the justice system can function, and recently retired health workers will be able to return to work without an impact on their pension, moves welcomed by those working in the nhs already under strain. we have been very short—staffed in the nhs and in social care in particular for a long time now and so the additional help will be very welcome indeed.

part of the reason it is going to be so helpful is it is going to help us to be able to move people out of hospital who are well but cannot go home because they need additional help at home and that isn't available very easily at the moment in the social care system. there was relief this morning forformer passengers of the diamond princess cruise ship, kept in quarantine after being flown back from japan. we are looking forward to going home, thank you. it's a relief. what has it been like in there? 0k. it's lovely. they have looked after us. empty shelves have prompted tesco to become the latest supermarket to limit the sales of some products as experts advise there is no need to panic buy. jonathan blake, bbc news. to pick up that point about panic buying, iam to pick up that point about panic buying, i am joined to pick up that point about panic buying, iamjoined by to pick up that point about panic buying, i am joined by a logistics expert at cardiff university. that last point we heard, there is no need for people to stockpile. would you echo that? indeed. supply chains

will end up filling the shelves again and there is no problem on the production side so for now i encourage people to not bother with stockpiling. i suppose one point is when you see an empty shelf in a supermarket you kind of thing you are missing something and ought to act upon it. exactly. they will be people who are genuinely feeling the need to stockpile but beyond that you then have people who just react to the fact there is an empty shelf and look at trying to stockpile themselves, which compounds the problem. they may be denying that particular item to somebody less able to get to the shops and do something about it. exactly. there area something about it. exactly. there are a lot of old people who will be dependent upon one or two shops and if they cannot get to those shops or if they cannot get to those shops or if they cannot get to those shops or if they get there and there is nothing there they potentially have a problem in terms of getting hold of products they need like toilet roll, drive past etc, while those

that are more mobile go round hoovering up the stock that is available. how nimble our supermarkets these days and responding to a sudden rush by the public to buy particular things? responding to a sudden rush by the public to buy particular thing57m depends. 0bviously for seasonal products you can protect they are very responsive to that. they get a lot of information and to be aware of what's going to happen. in this case with the coronavirus the panic buying has started perhaps a little more unexpectedly but they will very quickly have picked up that demand has increased and from that they will be looking to try to get products through to the supply chain as quick as possible, so it might ta ke as quick as possible, so it might take five days to a week for the shells to really get back to where they are but at that point they should start to refill and people shouldn't need to worry about products being available. the computer systems these days as you put something through the tail or the bar code is notjust to charge

you the money, it goes back to a system that tells the shop whether they need to buy more of these items. exactly. every time you buy something the bar code goes off to a central computer and the forecasting that goes on is at store level, product level and effectively at a uk wide level so they have very good idea, the retailers, as to how much demand is being placed across all the stores. they can cope with times when there is no stock in actual shelves themselves and then obviously bring the products through their supply chains as best they can. and that applies to shops of all shapes and sizes in theory? in theory. the big retailers have the computing power behind that. like your cornershop will be slightly more reliable on wholesalers to have that product in stock as well but other than that it should be generally working pretty well. good to have your thoughts. thank you

very much. italy has imposed sweeping restrictions on the movement and activities of more than a quarter of its population in areas of the north and east of the country. some 16 million people are affected by the virtual lockdown — as the government tries to limit the spread of coronavirus. the restriction applies to the entire lombardy region — italy's wealthiest — and 1a other provinces. all travel not deemed essential is banned — and this afternoon it's been announced that the number of those killed in italy has risen by over 130 in the past day. jon donnison reports. in central milan this morning, an uneasy quiet. a quarter of italy's population, some 16 million people, including those living in the country's second biggest city, now in quarantine.

translation: we are facing an emergency, a national emergency. we have done so from the outset with exceptional precautionary measures, and we are facing it with great awareness, without underestimating the situation. but such a drastic measure is an admission that italy has so far failed to contain the virus, with around 6,000 cases and more than 230 deaths. it is not a complete lockdown. trains and planes will still run, but many travellers are choosing to stay home and police will be able to restrict people's movements. bars and cafes can stay open but must ensure customers can sit a metre apart. marzio toniolo — a primary school teacher — has been making a video diary with his family. he has already been in quarantine for several weeks. he says people have to cooperate with the new measures or the problem will get worse — with hospitals already overloaded.

venice — which ordinarily welcomes more than 20 million tourists a year — is also now considered a red zone. rome is not part of the quarantine area, but this morning pope francis gave his weekly address by video link rather than from the traditional balcony overlooking worshippers in st peter's square. and all top—flight football matches across the country will be played behind closed doors until at least april, but as the number of cases continues to rise rapidly the question some are asking — is this all being done too late? jon donnison, bbc news. we can show you what lockdown in milan looks like at this moment because this is the area outside the central railway station in milan

which normally on sunday evening one would one would imagine would be very busy but the streets are almost com pletely very busy but the streets are almost completely deserted with very little traffic going back milan very much the main city at the centre of the most affected by the coronavirus and it is the main financial centre of italy. one of the concerns that has been expressed about the impact of the coronavirus is notjust the medical health of people who have suffered but also the wider economic picture but this virus will have. that is no line on a sunday evening not looking quite as you would expect it to. for a second consecutive day in china, there have been fewer than 100 new cases of coronavirus in the whole country. the health authorities are reporting 44 new suspected cases in the past 2a hours. and there have been a further 27 deaths — all of them concentrated in hubei province — where the outbreak began. a little earlier we spoke to dr claire standley — an assistant research professor at georgetown university — who specialises in the public

response to infectious disease. she says it is encouraging that there has been a fall in the number of new cases in china. there are still new cases so it definitely hasn't been killed off yet. any decrease in cases is an encouraging sign. china pretend stringent control measures in january. —— put in. we are hopefully seeing some of the impact of those measures. there is a time lag. there is a relatively long incubation period and it is too early to tell it we have seen the back of it. what we are seeing is some of the countries that had the worst impact from sars seem to be coping better, particularly with respect to the testing and management of contacts, treating the patients and seeing

who they come into contact with. it shows that experience and preparedness can improve a country's response. don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the developments around the coronavirus outbreak online. you can find out about the symptoms to watch out for — and what it means for you — on the bbc news app — and on our website. that's bbc.co.uk/news. borisjohnson has been visiting the flood—affected town of bewdley in worcestershire this afternoon. the area was one of the worst affected by last month's flooding — after defences buckled — forcing many residents to be evacuated from their homes. the visit comes as the treasury revealed that funding for flood defences in england will be doubled to £5.2 billion over five years in wednesday's budget. well — speaking a little earlier — the prime minister responded to accusations that his visit had come too late for those affceted by the flooding. it is all too easy for a prime minister to come to a place in the middle of an emergency. it is not so easy for the emergency services because what they have to do is then break off.

the goal command has to find somewhere to brief news and everybody has to gather and they are diverted from their work for hours and hours. what i have been doing since the flooding began is coordinating the national response and looking at what we can do in the next months and years to ensure this country is ready to cope with the impacts of flooding — and there are very beautiful and interesting things you can do that will generate jobs for the long term and make the landscape more beautiful. we can change the way we fund agriculture — for instance — change the way we support farmers — to encourage them to plant more trees — to put in flood defences — to manage the water upstream — and all of that we will be able to look at. when these barriers came in people were reassured their houses would be safe and they have failed because of the height of the water. what reassurances can you give them?

they want to know despite the money these will protect their houses from flooding. you are absolutely right. the problem with these barriers is that they were overtopped. they are great bits of kit but when you have a big flood like that they are not going to be effective. the thing we have to look at is the rules which currently say that you cannot put in permanent defences when you only have a small number of households potentially affected — and so the case we need to make is it is notjust the number of households — it is also the economic damage — the damage to confidence and all the rest of that in the town. that is where working with the environment agency we want to make progress. the headlines on bbc news: 273 people in the uk have tested positive for coronavirus —

that's up from 209 yesterday — according to latest figures. 16 million people in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of the virus. the prime minister has received a mixed reaction when visiting victims of flooding. he has announced extra money for flood defences. the government is promising money to help struggling high streets in order to help reduce regional inequalities. retailers say business rates are one of their biggest problems — especially what's called transitional relief — this slows down the speed with which their rates bills go up and down. they say it's cost the sector hundreds of millions of pounds. emma simpson reports from blackpool. this is one of the best retail streets in blackpool and this unit is one of the best units in the street. ten or 15 years ago we would have been fighting the retailers off, the demand would have been strong. no longer.

this used to be a topshop, but it has just handed back the keys. now, paul moran's company is struggling to find somebody to fill the gap because the business rates bill is too big. the rates bill on this shop is dramatically higher than its rental value. it is the first thing they will look it, it is the first question they will ask, "what is the rate bill?" and it is deterring tenants from taking this unit. this town is feeling the impact of the huge upheaval in retail, driven by the rise in online shopping. the market is changing fast, but business rates are not keeping up. business rates are a tax based on how much a property is worth in rent. now, if rents fall, so should rates. if they go up, so will the rates bill. it sounds reasonable, but changes to rates are gradually phased in to help businesses adjust.

too gradually, though, for towns like this one — where bills are not coming down fast enough. that's the problem. take this poundland store round the corner. rents fell dramatically in 2017 when the government last revalued property. its rates bill should have gone down by 46%, but, by the end of next year, it will only have dropped in real terms by 13%. this one shop is effectively paying £167,000 in extra tax through the system known as transitional relief. i call it comic relief, in fairness. we are a business that is thriving, but transitional relief costs us millions of pounds. the boss of poundland says it needs to be scrapped. i could open more shops, i could employ more colleagues, i could create better products for existing customers. itjust holds the business back from investing and driving growth. the government is promising a fundamental review of business

rates and is halving them for small shops at the budget. but that will not be much help to the big chains which are trying to steer through turbulent times in the towns in need of the most support. emma simpson, bbc news, blackpool. today is international women's day — a worldwide event which celebrates women's achievements while also calling for gender equality. this year's theme is each for equal which aims to challenge stereotypes, fight bias and broaden perceptions. 0ur correspondent charlotte gallagher has been in central london seeing how the day was been marked there. thousands of people are at parliament square today to mark gender equality around the world. this year feminists have teamed up with climate change activists because organisers say they want women and girls to have more say

in the plans to tackle global warming in different countries across the world. they say at the moment that just isn't happening. there are lots of celebrities here today as you would expect, bianca jagger, the game of thrones actress natalie dormer, ricky wilson from the kaiser chiefs and george mackay from 1917. also people from across the uk that have come down here. i spoke to a family from ireland and they have made the journey over because they wanted to show their two young daughters the feeling that you get at these events and they have made signs saying the future is female, so there is a real strong feeling here that there is still a lot to be done. i was speaking to helen pankhurst, of course the great granddaughter and granddaughter of two key leaders in the suffragette movement. she says she thought her ancestors would say, yes there is a lot to celebrate, but isn't there still more to be done especially political representation of women around the world ? there have been events across the world. we have seen some where there have been abuse of women, in kurdistan today, dozens of women were arrested when their march was attacked by men, so still a lot to be done in different parts of

the world and in the uk. that is what organisers are saying. across pakistan, hundreds of women have been taking part in rallies marking international women's day. islamist politicians had threatened to stop the marches taking place — accusing the organisers of promoting anti islamic slogans. whilst the day passed off largely peacefully, in islamabad supporters of a hardline group threw stones at those attending a rally in the city. secunder kermani reports. this is the third year that the aurat women's march is taking place in pakistan and it is increasingly becoming a symbol for the cultural divides within society here. pakistan is overall a deeply conservative and patriarchal country and the women here are talking about issues such as so—called honour killings, sexual harassment, a lack of public space for women, but they face a lot of opposition, particularly from right wing religious groups who have threatened

to stop the marches, even at times hinting at using force to do so. they have been particularly enraged by the use of one phrase — in urdu, it's "mera jism meri marzi." it means in english, "my body, my choice." it is a fairly common feminist slogan referencing reproductive rights, but for the critics of this march they see it as having some kind of subversive sexualised connotation. those religious groups have been holding their own demonstrations today. 0ne just across the street, and as the crowds were leaving some of them it seems began throwing sticks and stones at those taking part in this rally. it is a sign of how heated debate over this day has become. the duchess of sussex has used one of her last appearances as a senior royal to urge men to do more to respect women. she was speaking during a surprise visit to a school in east london on friday. the details have been today to mark international women's day.

last night, meghan appeared with her husband prince harry at an event in london. nicholas witchell reports. take a good look because we won't be seeing much more of this for a while. the duke and duchess of sussex, last night, at the royal albert hall, still introduced as "their royal highnesses" and still very much looking the part. harry was making a final appearance as captain general of the royal marines — complete with gold braid, medals and honours. for her part, meghan is leaving formal royal life with a strong endorsement of a cause about which she feels deeply — the rights of women. a couple of days ago, she visited a school in dagenham to make a speech timed for international women's day today. these were issues — she said — which were relevant every day and to every person, and she had a particular message for men. ijust encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth — to stand for what is right — to continue to respect each other —

for you young men to continue to value and appreciate the women in your lives and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way, right? you have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life — protect them — make sure they are feeling valued and safe. the speech went down well — the speaker was appreciated. she really is beautiful, innit? tomorrow, harry and meghan will make their final appearance for now — with the queen at westminster abbey. after that, the great experiment of their new supposedly non—royal life will begin in canada. nicholas witchell, bbc news. earlier we put your questions on the coronavirus to dr chris smith — a virologist at university of cambridge. i started by asking a question

from azita noshirzad: "is it safe to go to the dentist or should i cancel my appointment?" the thread really comes from who you meet in the waiting room. if you have nothing to give to them and they have nothing to give to you in terms of infections there is no risk. if it is a routine appointment to make say why don't i do ferret? i will wait a while and i will go when things seem safer. 0n the other hand if everyone does the same thing and no one goes to the dentist then there shouldn't be any risk. janus has a slightly more complicated inquiry. she is 55 and has asked not with complications and she says when i get with complications and she says when igeta with complications and she says when i get a common cold my lungs clog up virtually immediately. she then says iama virtually immediately. she then says i am a music teacher travelling between nine different schools in close contact with about 1000 children every week. i am worried well washing hands be enough to

protect me? how will i know if i need to be in hospital? she does not have faith in their 111 service to respond quickly enough because the lines are already busy. quite a lot there. what do you pick out of that? i know quite a few schoolteachers. my i know quite a few schoolteachers. my brother is one and i think they have amongst the best immune systems in the world because you have a lot of co nta ct in the world because you have a lot of contact with a lot of kids and kids are virus factories. it does not matter what virus it is, they catch it and they are really infectious. teachers very quickly get immune to a lot of things. that is different here because no one is immune to this new virus and it is a risk. if you are contacting lots of people. that they could give you that. my advice would be because you are at slightly higher risk and anyone with asthma is at higher risk

get the teachers who are organising the rotor to say to the children if anyone has new symptoms and isn't well virus that they probably shouldn't be at school anyway and maybe steer clear and don't have contact in that time because the more symptomatic someone is more infectious pr as a rule so if someone infectious pr as a rule so if someone has a streaming cold are obvious symptoms they are probably really infectious and most capable of giving you that infection so try to avoid contact during that period but if you have survived thus far you probably have a pretty good strategy for keeping well. concerns over the 1114 number? 111 are doing a sterling task but i was looking at the graph that was purchased the other day and the demand on that service has gone through the roof. sunday days they are dealing with tens of thousands of phone calls and they are doing a really good job. the best thing to do is to keep calm and carry on. phone, you may need to

hang on, but they are doing a good job at filtering those calls and giving people right advice. job at filtering those calls and giving people right advicelj reference giving people right advice.” reference to the figures in china. if china with a population of over 20 times that of the uk seems to have contained the impact of the virus with a slower increase in cases and 3000 reported deaths, and that chimes with what we have been reporting, mighty reports in the uk predict some hundreds of thousands of deaths here? we should stress thatis of deaths here? we should stress that is very much in the worst—case scenario. that is right. the anticipated case fatality rate, in other words if you catch this your likelihood of dying of thirst, is extremely low. at the moment the va ry extremely low. at the moment the vary between about 0.5% and about 396. vary between about 0.5% and about 3%. it depends who you talk to and the numbers vary because we do not really know how many cases there really know how many cases there really have been of this disorder. we know more accurately how many

people have died but we do not know the real size of a clinical iceberg. the cases we have tested is only a tiny fraction of the real number of people who have got it and recovered u neve ntfully people who have got it and recovered uneventfully and didn't know they had it so that is why there is this big variation in the low to higher numbers being sated. what people should take away is if you catch this by and large there is about an 80% chance that you might not even know you had it or you will have very trivial symptoms. 0nly know you had it or you will have very trivial symptoms. only about one in five gets more serious symptoms and only about a fifth of that, so about 1% of people, get really serious symptoms, so wonderful most people can be reassured that it is not going to make you profoundly unwell. if not you know what to do. are you at risk of catching coronavirus by handling money? this is a good question and people are asking me this a lot and i have been seeing the best answer

is yes, we know this virus can dwell on surfaces four hours, minutes, seconds and with that in mind if you touch a surface that someone else who has the virus on their skin has touched, you could get it on your fingers and if you touch your nose and throat, touch food that you consume or rub and throat, touch food that you consume or i’ub your eyes and throat, touch food that you consume or rub your eyes you could transmit it.

the government promises the nhs whatever it needs to tackle the coronavirus as the uk sees the biggest one day to jump in confirmed cases. more than 270 people have now been diagnosed with the disease is the government urges shoppers not to panic by. a quarter of italy's population

in the north of the country is in effective lockdown as it tries to limit the spread of the virus the number of the dead is now well over 350. we will be live in northern italy, the country now worst affected outside china. also tonight... boris johnson visits flood—hit areas in worcestershire to see the ongoing efforts to tackle flooding. she really is beautiful, innit? the schoolboy who brought the house down with his comment about megan... and then gets a hug from the duchess. slips it out wide, chance again, and it will be maitland for the try! second try for the winger, second try for scotland and in the six nations, scotland end france's winning run with a powerful performance at murrayfield.

good evening. the chancellor says the nhs will be given whatever it needs to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. rishi sunak, who delivers his first budget on wednesday, was speaking as the uk saw it's biggest single one—day increase in confirmed cases so far. the department of health now says more than 270 people have been diagnosed with covid—19, the disease caused by the virus, and two people have died. more than 23,000 others have tested negative. boris johnson has urged the public to stay calm and not panic buy, as supermarkets including tesco begin rationing food and household items. some people are stockpiling despite widespread assurances they don't need to. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. how do we, as a society, take on this coronavirus? what is a rational response to a new threat? doctors say this latest increase in cases is not surprising.

i think they are going to continue to rise and we have to be realistic about that. we are moving on from the containment phase to the delay phase and it is really important that people adhere to the hygienic measures that the government are putting out there. the country's biggest supermarket, tesco, has put limits on the quantity of some items that an individual shopper can buy after some shelves were left bare. the prime minister insists there is absolutely no need to panic buy. 0n the people's responses to the news and buying in shops and so on, we have had no advice from the scientific advisers or the medical officer that there is any need for people to buy stuff. what about food, briefly? how do supermarkets cope in a situation like this? and ultimately... are we going to have food shortages? again, if people are panic buying, you are going to see some short—term shortages come

through onto the shelves. it all depends upon how quickly the retailers pick up on this and, like i say, their systems are good and they will have detected it already. again, different foods have different time they get to the shelves but give it a few days, the system will have adjusted to the new type of demand and you will start to see things improve, i'm pretty sure on that. in the midst of all this, the new chancellor will deliver his first budget on wednesday. we are looking very hard at a range of scenarios and making sure and making sure that, in each of those, we can respond appropriately and that means providing support for public services and we have already done that with regard to the nhs. making sure we can support vulnerable people. and also making sure that we can help businesses get through what could be an impact on their businesses which could be significant but for a temporary period of time. labour say that was already a crisis in health and social care before this coronavirus arrived. for the government, for society,

for each of us, covid—19 is posing big questions. chris mason, bbc news. italy there has been a sharp rise in the number of deaths from the virus. more than 360 people have now lost their lives. the government has imposed sweeping restrictions on around a quarter of the population to try to halt infections with around 16 million people affected by the quarantine in the country's wealthiest region, lombardi, and 14 at northern provinces. mark lowen is just outside the quarantined area, in bologna. until now, the biggest daily rise in coronavirus deaths hit had been 49 but in the past day, 133 people have died, taking the total number of those killed by coronavirus in italy to 366. it's clear the previous containment measures hit simply were not working and so the government

who went to the next stage, a health official calling it a war that italy would win. italy's second city, bear. milan, the financial capital, now under the most drastic restrictions italy has seen most drastic restrictions italy has seen since the second world war, virtually locked down along with 14 provinces. a quarter of the country's population quarantined in a scrabble to contain the coronavirus outbreak. this city usually teeming with life is hushed as residents are told to stay put and access in or out is severely limited. schools and universities are shut until april, cinemas, pools and nightclubs as well. the prime minister talked of a crisis. translation: we are facing an emergency, a national emergency, taking exceptional precautionary measures and facing it with great awareness. venice is part of the

restricted area, one italy's tourism jewels deserted by a mixture of quarantine and fear. as we drove north from rome, we expected tighter controls but there are none. we are coming into the start of modena now, pa rt coming into the start of modena now, part of the new exclusion zone. you can see there is no total lockdown, no police roadblocks for example, it is too big an area to control in that way but people are being asked not to leave or enter and we are going to turn around now because otherwise there is a risk of entering the new quarantine zone. and this is the urgency, cases are still soaring here. this nurse talks of exhaustion in dealing with the numbers, doctors themselves at risk, other medics say corridors are being used for intensive care units. 0ne of europe's top health systems is at breaking point. at the vatican, decades of tradition were broken as the pope made his sunday blessing by video stream rather than at the

window to eight st peter's square is usually filled with thousands. face that this will pass is sorely lacking. —— faith. there is more information about the outbreak including symptoms to watch out for on the bbc news app and website. boris johnson has been visiting the town of bewdley in worcestershire, which was badly hit by recent flooding. but while much of the crowd was good humoured, some said he should have come sooner. here's robert hall. ina in a town at risk of flooding for generations, any message of reassurance from westminster is welcome. residents are still counting the cost of the winter storms finally had a chance to put their case. the highest river levels since 1947 saw over 1000 homes and businesses flooded in the severn valley, a continuing threat while the water table at remained

saturated. mrjohnson was criticised for his failure to appear at the time. today at a residents meeting, he brought news of increased investment and a promise that things would change. i want to see some work done, so i think we are at the beginning. this visit did give the prime minister a chance to inspect the temporary flood barriers that sprung up here and in all areas most at risk point that they were largely successful but he acknowledged that with any increase in spending should come a change in tactics. the thing we have to look at is the rules which currently say that you cannot put in permanent defences when you only have a small number of households potentially affected. edward is still living in chaos after filthy river water and sewage poured through his home. he said mr johnson's but it had lifted spirits. it is positive to see the local mp

and borisjohnson, it is positive to see the local mp and boris johnson, which it is positive to see the local mp and borisjohnson, which was it is positive to see the local mp and boris johnson, which was a it is positive to see the local mp and borisjohnson, which was a real surprise, and it feels positive and the overriding slogan by the end was get bewdley done. mrjohnson's short state was accompanied by smiles and blue skies but along the banks of the uk's rivers, communities know full well that long—term plans cannot protect them from the next speu cannot protect them from the next spell of bad weather. robert hall, bbc news, bewdley. the government is promising more money for struggling high streets to help improve local communities. retailers say one of their biggest problems is the level of business rates, and that ministers need to overhaul the system, as emma simpson has been finding out in blackpool. this is one of the best retail streets in blackpool and this unit is one of the best units in the street. ten or 15 years ago we would have been fighting the retailers off, the demand would have been strong. no longer. this used to be a top shop, but it has just handed back the keys. now paul moran's company is struggling to find somebody

to fill the gap because the business rates bill is too big. the rates bill on this shop is dramatically higher than its rental value. it is the first thing they will look at, it is the first question they will ask, what is the rate bill? and it will and is deterring tenants from taking this unit. this town is feeling the impact of the huge upheaval in retail, driven by the rise in online shopping. the market is changing fast, but business rates are not keeping up. business rates are a tax based on how much a property is worth in rent. now, if rents fall, so should rates. if they go up, so will the rates bill. it sounds reasonable, but changes to rates are gradually phased in to help businesses adjust. too gradually, though, for towns like this one where bills are not coming down fast enough.

that's the problem. take this poundland store round the corner. rents fell dramatically in 2017 when the government last revalued property. its rates bill should have gone down by 46%, but by the end of next year, it will only have dropped in real terms by 13%. this one shop is effectively paying £167,000 in extra tax through the system known as transitional relief. i call it comic relief, in fairness. we are a business that is thriving, but transitional relief costs us millions of pounds. the boss of poundland says it needs to be scrapped. i could open more shops, i could employ more colleagues, i could create better products for our existing customers. itjust holds the business back from investing and driving growth. the government is promising a fundamental review of business rates and is halving them for small shops at the budget. but that will not be much help to the big chains

which are trying to steer through turbulent times in the towns in need of the most support. emma simpson, bbc news, blackpool. the duchess of sussex, in one of her last formal royal engagements, has urged men to do more to respect women. she was speaking during a surprise visit to a school in east london ahead of international women's day. this report from nicholas witchell contains flash photography from the start. cheering take a good look because we won't be seeing much more of this for a while. the duke and duchess of sussex, last night, at the royal albert hall, still introduced as "their royal highnesses" and still very much looking the part. harry was making a final appearance as captain general of the royal marines, complete with gold braid, medals and honours. for her part, meghan is leaving formal royal life with a strong endorsement of a cause about which she feels deeply — the rights of women.

a couple of days ago, she visited a school in dagenham to make a speech timed for international women's day today. these were issues, she said, which were relevant every day and to every person, and she had a particular message for men. ijust encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth, to stand for what is right, to continue to respect each other, for you young men, to continue to value and appreciate the women in your lives and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way, right? you have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life, protect them, make sure they are feeling valued and safe. the speech went down well, the speaker was appreciated. she really is beautiful, innit? cheering

tomorrow, harry and meghan will make their final appearance for now, with the queen at westminster abbey. after that, the great experiment of their new supposedly non—royal life will begin in canada. nicholas witchell, bbc news. now, with the day's sport, here's lizzi greenwood hughes at the bbc sport centre. thank you and good evening. scotland have stunned the six nations favourites france by beating them 28-17 at favourites france by beating them 28—17 at murrayfield the result keeps england's title hopes alive. bravery, that is expected at murrayfield, wherever you are standing. just a gentle breeze. but rugby requires control. france began with it, from the boot of dupont to the wing, perfect. penaud for the try! so to the broar. if you are a match official, you see everything with replays.

they don't mind grabbing, overlook pushing, but a punch? that is different. that is mohamed haouas and that is a first—half red card. with one man missing, there were gaps in the french defence, if scotland could find them. like this. johnson is there, and wide it goes! try for scotland! and now the wise heads were smiling, they were watching a confident scotland, a rampant scotland, a winning scotland. the second half brought two more scottish tries to seal the victory. remember, france had arrived in edinburgh unbeaten. who knows how or when this six nations will end? but scotland have their performance to remember. joe wilson, bbc news. manchester united have beaten their city rivals in the premier league for the second time this season. de 2-0 for the second time this season. de 2—0 victory at old trafford moves them up to 50 and means leaders liverpool are now only need six points to win the league —— to fifth place. there may only be a few short

miles between them but these neighbours remain anything but friendly. a derby that for one day divides a city, this is manchester and this will always matters. manchester city on hostile ground the first to try their luck. they could not find any, not yet. instead it was united crafting their own fortune, a clever free it was united crafting their own fortune, a cleverfree kick and anthony martial did the rest. in truth, it perhaps should not have got through. united ahead but before half time feeling aggrieved. fred was booked for diving replays suggested it could have been a penalty, finally some plug for city but going forward they were having none still as they'll found the —— phil logan went close point that united had the final word and again the city keeper played his part, this time and misplaced throw and scott mctominay took his chance to write himself into manchester legend to ponder it is that passion that matters on occasions like this and this one belongs to united. in the

early kick—off, chelsea thrashed everton 4—0 in an embarrassing return for their old manager, carlo ancelotti. williansecond—half strike was pick as manager at frank lampard was pick as manager at frank lampard was ancelotti's vice captain when they won the league cup double a decade ago. rangers have broken their run of poor form decade ago. rangers have broken their run of poorform in decade ago. rangers have broken their run of poor form in the scottish premiership, beating ross cou nty scottish premiership, beating ross county 1—0 to narrow the gap on leaders celtic to 13 points. australia at the women's t20 world champions for a fifth time after demolishing india in the final in melbourne winning by 85 runs in one of the most one—sided world cup finals ever. it was not quite a record crowd but over 86,000 people watched at the mcg. spectators will be excluded from this month's bahrain grand prix because of the coronavirus. bahrain is the second event of the new formula 1 season which starts in australia next weekend. the chinese grand prix in april is already postponed, the fia

setting up a crisis group to monitor the situation. there is more on the bbc sport website including the latest from england's women in the shi police cup where they are playing japan. —— she believes cup. that's it. i'll be back with the late news at 10pm, but now on bbc one,

hello. this is bbc news. let's return to the coronavirus outbreak and 273 people in the uk are now confirmed to have the virus. dr amir khan is a gp in leeds. he said he wasn't surprised at today's jump in the number of people contracting the virus. we are moving on from the containment phase to the delay phase, and it is really important that people adhere to the hygiene measures that the government are putting out there. you mentioned those two phases because we are still in that containment phase now, but clearly it is only a matter of time before we move on. yes, and i don't think there's much time before you move on and the whole purpose of the delay phase is to stop a massive peak of people being infected all at the same time and overwhelming our nhs services, so we know that people are going to be infected and we know it will be a lot of people but we want that number to climb slowly and that is the purpose

of the delay phase, so we are not overwhelmed as health professionals ourselves by the demand. given what you say there, how much can we usefully learn from the italian experience in all this? i think we can learn a lot, they moved fairly quickly, i know there are large numbers of people infected there, however the government have gone to great lengths to try and delay that and slow down the process, so i think this is new to all of us, i have been a doctorfor 15 years and i have not come across anything on this scale before, so yes, the nhs is prepared and the government are doing a lot to try and delay things, but this is all new territory for a lot of us on the ground, so we are learning every day as we go along. but when you look at the quarantine measures now being talked about in parts of italy, i should stress parts, to some they will look drastic, and to you do they look about right under the circumstances? i think it is easy for things to feel drastic.

i think we always have to prepare for the worst case scenario and we don't want to panic people, and i have seen the scenes of panic buying of supermarkets, it is not about panicking people, it is about preparing for the worst case scenario, because if we don't do that we will be caught off—guard and it will be even worse, so everything we are doing might sound drastic, but it is preparing for the worst which is really important, we have to be prepared. what of our own health and social care services, we are seeing this proposed emergency legislation today, registration of retired health professionals, the idea being that some would come out of retirement to help if need be. does it strike you as a sensible measure? i think so, yes. already without the coronavirus the nhs is stretched, so if you add this into the mix it is going to be really hard for those of us working every day in the nhs, so any help that we can get, be it from retired health professionals who are i am sure

willing to come out and help, be it from undergraduate medical students, nursing students, we have got to have a plan in place because the number of patients is going to increase dramatically. we have already seen just from phone calls on 111, they have gone up a third which is a huge amount and they had to draft people in to help answer the phones and that is the beginning, so i am worried as a gp seeing patients every day how we are going to cope. we have put measures in place at our practice to try and reduce the risk of infection, but we also know deep down it is just a matter of time. and that extra help we talk about is so crucial in social care as well, isn't it, where for example you have a lot of vulnerable people being looked after. yes, social care will be a real problem. we have had calls last week from nursing homes where we look after elderly or vulnerable patients, patients have had temperatures, fevers, coughs, we have been out to see them and they are low risk at the moment, but as time goes on the numbers of people infected gets higher

and higher, we are really going to have to review the way we look after our nursing home patients, because they can't go to hospital, they can't leave the nursing home because of their other illnesses but if we go out to see them, we risk infecting ourselves and then other people, so there is a lot of things that haven't quite clearly been defined yet for us, but i'm hoping that is on its way. dr amir khan in leeds. time for a look at the weather. at the best sunday was a pretty decent day byjust around the corner there are showers to be had, generating some magnificent rainbows. the forthcoming week is suitably springlike and that there is quite a variety of weather on offer over the next two or three days. many of the showers through the day will dry away overnight, the

last of them just about hanging on. the skies will clear bits, knots particularly widespread frost because we keep something a breeze going but easton sports will have some. “— going but easton sports will have some. —— easton sports. crisp start tomorrow, dried for many to start but while many in the west will lose the sunshine quite rapidly, in northern ireland by lunchtime many will seek moderate of rain and then western areas by the middle of the afternoon will see heavy rain at times. further east and north—east, dry until probably into the latter pa rt dry until probably into the latter part of the afternoon and early evening. then the weather fronts keep on coming because notjust one set of fronts, another one tuesday and that going back into the atlantic. here is choose the cockpit ofa atlantic. here is choose the cockpit of a mishmash, lots of cloud,

showery rain across northern parts, further south it is a murky day and blustery with enough about the cloud for the odd bit of rain across wales and the midlands and southern england. if the cloud should break and we get some sunshine, anywhere from the humber towards kent, possibly as high as 17 celsius, extraordinarily mild. that weather front keeps on waving a wait through wednesday across southern uk, eventually allowing somewhat brighter skies to break out across the central and southern parts. further north it is blustery, plenty of showers and a wintry mix of hailstones, sleet and snow, snow ever higher ground. at some sunshine as well. still feeling springlike across the south with highs of 14 celsius.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the government promises the nhs whatever it needs to tackle the coronavirus — as the uk sees the biggest one—day jump in confirmed cases. 273 people have tested positive here. 16 million people in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of the virus. the number of people to have died in italy has shot up to 366 — the highest figures outside china. the prime minister meets victims of flooding, announces a doubling in flood defences funding and