this is bbc news — i'm sally bunduck with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. two million deaths could have been avoided, if govenmments had been better prepared — the verdict of one of world's leading infectious disease experts. it infectious disease experts. was like every country i to it was like every country had to experience the problem before they would believe how big the problem was. there have been violent scenes at a protest in bristol, which saw a police station attacked and two offices suffering broken bones. almost 20,000 people are evacuated from homes across new south wales in australia as heavy rains continue to cause severe flooding. there is more on the way.

stuck in a cycle of elections — israelis go to the polls for the fouth time in two years. we report from the desert town of mitzpe ramon. and space rock from the dawn of the solar system visible as a major asteroid passes planet earth. hello and welcome to the programme. a year ago, the world was shutting down — in that time, some two and a half million people have died from coronavirus — but if governments had been better prepared, things could have been very different. that's the view of one of the world's leading experts in infectious diseases, professor dale fisher, who was part of a team sent by the world health organisation to the epicentre of the outbreak, in china.

in an exclusive interview with the bbc�*s panorama programme, professor fisher says that it was countries in the far east, where they'd had two outbreaks of similar viruses in the past 20 years — that were best prepared. jane corbin reports. across the world, coronavirus has given governments the same challenges, but they have responded in very different ways. in south korea, the prime minister introduced strict rules even before there was a confirmed case. good afternoon, prime minister. translation: from the very start, we put in place - prevention measures to stop the same thing happening again, to stop history repeating itself. so the government acted in a much stronger way compared to the past. track and trace teams used cctv, mobile phone and credit card data to keep tabs

on all confirmed cases and anyone they might have come into contact with. seen from outside, these methods may appear too intrusive, but they haven't had to lock down in south korea, like many other countries have. dale fisher, a specialist in infectious diseases based in singapore, says governments in the far east were by far the best prepared. if china has been brought to its knees injanuary, a country of 1.4 billion, you had to treat this virus with incredible respect. it was like every country had to experience the problem before they would believe how how big the problem was. in sweden, where the law guarantees people's freedom of movement, there were no strict rules, just advice. free from harsh restrictions, the virus spread, and it was the elderly living in care homes who were

the most vulnerable. last april, thomas aanderson, whose father, jan, was living in a care home, had a call telling him he had covid. i get into his room to say goodbye to him. they have drugged him with morphine in such a high level that he was not... i couldn't have any contact with him at all. he did... he didn't know i was there. thomas' father was being given end—of—life care rather than any treatment. it was only after he alerted the media that his father was put on a drip and started to get better. now he's doing well. he would be, uh... he would be dead if it didn't... if we didn't turn up. almost half of sweden's covid deaths have been in care homes. an investigation found that by allowing the virus to spread and denying some old people hospital care, the state had failed to protect the elderly.

one of the worst things we can do is when this is over, we just go back to normal. if you don't learn from it, then history will repeat itself. jane corbin, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news portugal will become the latest european country to start using the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine again today. it was among several european countries to suspend its rollout because of worries that it might cause blood clots. the european medicines agency has said the vaccine is safe and effective. brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, says his government has done all it can do to deal with the health emergency. he was addressing hundreds of supporters who'd gathered outside the presidential palace celebrate his birthday. his comments come amid delays in brazil's covid vaccination programme and record numbers of cases and deaths.

city officials in miami beach in florida have approved an extension to a state of emergency after thousands of tourists descended for the annual spring break holiday, risking the spread of coronavirus. the decision means that a night—time curfew will continue for at least three weeks. the us defence secretary, lloyd austin, has called for a reduction in violence in afghanistan during a brief, unannounced visit to kabul. speaking after talks with president ashraf ghani, mr austin, refused to be drawn on whether the biden administration still planned to withdraw troops from afghanistan by may. donald trump will soon return to social media "with his own platform" — that's according to his adviserjason miller. he said the platform "will be the hottest ticket in social media" and would "completely redefine the game". mr trump was suspended from twitter and facebook afterjanuary�*s deadly riots at the us capitol.

several police officers have been injured during violent protests in bristol. thousands of people had gathered to oppose the uk government's police and crime bill, which would give the police greater powers to restrict demonstrations. but then hundreds laid siege to a police station, smashing windows and setting fire to vehicles. andrew plant sent this report. in a protest against new police powers, it was soon police themselves who became the target. vans and a police car set on fire, fireworks thrown into the crowd as around 1,000 protesters gathered in bristol city centre in what has been, police say, the worst violence the city has seen in years. there's a row of police blocking off what is the central police station here in bristol, but you can see at the end of the road, they've also blocked off now the end of this city centre street, but also the side roads too, and they're doing it from behind, but there are still about 1,000 people

here and now they are being left with nowhere to go. protesters here holding banners, concerned, they say, that the uk is becoming a police state. the kill the bill march started in the early afternoon, but as night fell, the clashes began. projectiles thrown at officers in riot gear. we saw several people with head injuries being helped from the crowd. i think it's horrible, and i agree with the cause of the protesters, but i don't think this isn't going to do anybody any good. several officers have been injured, some reported to have broken bones. the chair of the avon and somerset police federation said people's right to protest had been hijacked by protesters hell—bent on violence. about 18,000 people have been evacuated from their homes across new south wales in australia as heavy rains continue to batter the east coast. days of torrential downpours have caused rivers and dams

to overflow around sydney, triggering calls for mass evacuations. officials have warned that that the rains will last for several days, with two weather systems forecast to collide on monday. let's speak to robey lawrence. he lives in the mid north coast town of kendall near port macquarie — one of the worst—affected areas. thank you forjoining us. tell us about your circumstances. in kendall we have gone through a couple of waves are flooding at the moment, the bridge is open but we do have mainly one bridge in the town that has gone under water a couple of times. that's over the last weekend. it might do it again, weekend. it might do it again, we are not sure.— we are not sure. and forecasters - we are not sure. and forecasters predict . we are not sure. and - forecasters predict more rain to come, so what are the concerns in the days ahead? i think everyone isjust concerns in the days ahead? i think everyone is just learning

from the first couple of waves and making sure they have the supplies, making sure their batteries are charged if they can. a lot of places are still without power and without phone reception and without internet, so there are quite a few people stranded and with no communication but i think everyone is coming together pretty well, trying to offer their services when they can. there are guys on jet skis delivering medication through the flood waters, fishermen are using their boats to transport emergencies. there are small earth moving businesses using their equipment to clear roads and messes, so, yeah, we don't know what is to come. find and messes, so, yeah, we don't know what is to come.— know what is to come. and the re . ion, know what is to come. and the region. this — know what is to come. and the region, this is _ know what is to come. and the region, this is the _ know what is to come. and the region, this is the part - know what is to come. and the region, this is the part of- region, this is the part of australia that was hugely damaged by wildfires a year ago. as a community, how are you impacted by all of this, this just you impacted by all of this, thisjust a year later?-

you impacted by all of this, thisjust a year later? it... i think everyone _ thisjust a year later? it... i think everyone has - thisjust a year later? it... i think everyone has just - thisjust a year later? it... i l think everyone hasjust learnt think everyone has just learnt to put their differences aside and come together and pool their resources just to help everybody pull through. everyone is affected, so everyone just has to do what they can. it everyone 'ust has to do what they can.— they can. it is obviously severe. _ they can. it is obviously severe, unusual- they can. it is obviously l severe, unusual weather, they can. it is obviously - severe, unusualweather, what severe, unusual weather, what you are experiencing now, not seen for some 50 years. what are people saying about the future in terms of managing these situations and trying to prevent this from happening going forward?— going forward? from the communication - going forward? from the communication i've - going forward? from the communication i've been going forward? from the . communication i've been in, going forward? from the - communication i've been in, i don't think people are in that headspace just don't think people are in that headspacejust yet, we don't think people are in that headspace just yet, we are just trying to deal with the current situation and as soon as we have some breathing space we will start to have those discussions, i think. will start to have those discussions, ithink. mi discussions, ithink. all ri . ht. discussions, ithink. all right- all— discussions, ithink. all right. all the _ discussions, ithink. all right. all the best, we wish you all our good wishes. robey lawrence from that north coast town of kendall near port macquarie. we have more in

detail on our website. and while the floods are devastating parts of the country, here is one piece of good news. australian emergency services have managed to rescue around 20 dogs in north west sydney. their owners had to leave them behind when evacuating but called the new south wales emergency servives for help. rescuers kept them safe in animal carriers and ferried them to safety on inflatable boats. a mammoth operation going on there as these rains continue. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... the largest asteroid to pass earth this year provides the chance to see a space rock, from the dawn of the solar system. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between

arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition. singing. streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines... one of world's leading

infectious disease experts says two million covid deaths could have been avoided, if govenmments had been better prepared. there have been violent scenes at a protest in bristol, which saw a police station attacked and two officers suffer broken bones. on tuesday, israel goes to the polls for the fourth time in two years. throughout it all, the current prime minister benjamin netanyahu has stayed in office. and he's trying his best to do so again. this time, he's coming off a damaging pandemic, but a world—beating vaccination campaign. and he's still on trial over corruption charges — which he denies. but according to the final opinion polls, nothing seems to have changed much. 0ur middle east correspondent tom bateman reports from the desert town of mitzpe ramon. it's been a rough ride in israeli politics and it's still going on. voters just can't solve

their deep split over benjamin netanyahu's leadership. and what a year it's been. tour guide boaz takes me out and tells me how trade tumbled with the pandemic. he used to vote for the party of the pm — bibi, as he's known — but lost faith years ago. today is not representing anything that is not ego power. so what can i say? no, it's a... no, no, no to bibi and his friends. i want to live in a free democratical country. this town relies on tourism, built on the edge of a crater in the desert. now, finally, things are reopening. ameet rahel thinks there's only one man to thank. only bibi. she once worked as a maid for the netanyahu family and she credits him with israel's speedy vaccine roll—out.

plus lots more. translation: no-one else has the courage to pick up _ the phone to the guy from pfizer, the guy from bahrain. whether it's peace with arab countries, countering iran, corona, or the economy, don't forget, benjamin netanyahu works day and night. but this fourth recent election is unusual. mr netanyahu is courting the arab—israeli vote. he used to warn his own base against them. huda'sjob involves speaking for the community in this bedouin town. and she doesn't trust the pm's change of tack. we all know that he is lying to people. we know very well that he was the worst one for us, for the arab community. and i think that he will he will not change himself. mr netanyahu is a political veteran, surveying the scene

now with a new opponent from his right wing. but the polls again suggest deadlock. plenty of people see all this just eroding their politics. they feel worn down by it. many israelis are asking, how many times can you keep having elections with no real winner? back at the crater, the local circus school tries new tricks, and at this election, israelis watch another uncertain outcome. tom bateman, bbc news, mitzpe ramon in the negev desert. the largest asteroid to pass by earth this year has just reached its closest point, giving astronomers an opportunity to observe a space rock that formed at the dawn of the solar system. the asteroid — which was first discovered 20 years ago — is about 900 metres in diameter. i'm joined now by aaron cavosie

who is a planetary scientist at curtin university. who is a planetary scientist welcome who is a planetary scientist to the programme. thi sounds welcome to the programme. this sounds like a close shave, was it? ., ., ., , it? thanks for having me. this was close _ it? thanks for having me. this was close but _ it? thanks for having me. this was close but not _ it? thanks for having me. this was close but not the - it? thanks for having me. this was close but not the cause i it? thanks for having me. this| was close but not the cause for alarm. this is an object that has been tracked by scientists for 20 years, and so a lot was actually known about it. if it was much closer, there would have been another plan of action. , ., , action. tell us about this asteroid. _ action. tell us about this asteroid, what _ action. tell us about this asteroid, what do - action. tell us about this asteroid, what do we - action. tell us about this - asteroid, what do we know? the nasa infrared _ asteroid, what do we know? iie: nasa infrared telescope facility in hawaii has been collecting spectral data from this rock and those data indicate it is probably a stony asteroid rather than an iron asteroid, so that is one piece thatis asteroid, so that is one piece that is interesting. during its passage near earth today, deep

space network, part of which is located in australia, will actually do some radar studies of its surface as well, and they need to think about that is they will be able to test the idea on whether or not it has a moon that orbits it, as well. we will be able to find out things that are interesting. listen, this rock has been sitting in deep freeze for 11.5 billion years, since the beginning of the solar system. when they come this close it is a real opportunity to learn some science. i’m close it is a real opportunity to learn some science. i'm sure it is fascinating. _ to learn some science. i'm sure it is fascinating. in _ to learn some science. i'm sure it is fascinating. in terms - to learn some science. i'm sure it is fascinating. in terms of - it is fascinating. in terms of use saying there would have been a plan if there were a threat to earth, what is that plan? threat to earth, what is that ian? ~ , threat to earth, what is that ian? . , ., plan? well, in terms of mitigation _ plan? well, in terms of mitigation for - plan? well, in terms of. mitigation for something plan? well, in terms of - mitigation for something headed straight at, those kind of plans are still in the works. there is a lot of mitigation strategies. i will not speak to those today but the key observation here is that this particular event was not a threat. there is no indication

that this rock will be a threat for the next several hundred years. so we are in the clear about that. the deal with this one is that the faster and asteroid travels, the more energy it creates during an impact. in this case this is actually travelling pretty fast, about 35 kilometres per second, which as far as the space rocks go is quite fast, although comets can travel even faster than that. so even when that greater speed and with its significant size of the object, this one was not a threat. at its closest it will be about 2 million kilometres from earth and that might not sound like a lot but it is still five times further away than the moon so we are in the clear. ii it further away than the moon so we are in the clear.— we are in the clear. if it were to hit the _ we are in the clear. if it were to hit the earth, _ we are in the clear. if it were to hit the earth, what - we are in the clear. if it were to hit the earth, what with i we are in the clear. if it were l to hit the earth, what with the impact be?— impact be? well, that's actually _ impact be? well, that's actually what _ impact be? well, that's actually what i - impact be? well, that's actually what i study i impact be? well, that's i actually what i study more, impact craters. earth does get hit on occasion, no doubt. if

this rock would have slammed into the earth it would have been an event felt all around the planet. to put it in perspective, this rock was only about 5% of the size of the one that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, so it was small on that scale but are still ten times larger than the one that's created a meteor crater in arizona and so it would have left a pretty significant impact. the size of the hole in the ground it would have left is something in the order of about five kilometres, which doesn't sound very big, but if you think about it, five kilometres takes out manhattan, does a good job on perth, and i hate to say it, but even london won't have a good day with the five kilometre hole in the ground quite gosh, scary stuff, but i have to call you to a halt here. we have more to do. nothing to worry about for this one. thanks for having me on. good to talk to you.

fascinating. absolutely fascinating. in the next hour the world's first commercial mission aimed at cleaning up so—called �*spacejunk�* will be launched. elsa—d will take off from kazakhstan, but is being operated from a control centre in the english midlands. 0ur science correspondent jonathon amos has more on this new technology. there are now millions of pieces of discarded metal and other materials in orbit, everything from old rocket segments to accidentally dropped astronaut tools, even flecks of paint. the fear is that unless we start taking some of the bigger litter items out of the sky, they could hit and destroy the active satellites that provide our communications and weather forecasts. the international astra scale company, with a division in the uk, will demonstrate how this can be done. it'll use one satellite to magnetically grab another, a dummy in this instance, and pull it down to earth.

the manoeuvres will be complex and the demonstration will have to take care that it doesn't itself produce unnecessary debris. the key is to capture a tumbling object. so if a satellite fails, it can quite easily start tumbling, you know, about maybe all three axes. and that makes it considerably harder to capture it, so that is our key technology. but also we kind of show a lot of autonomous control. astro scale is hoping a vibrant market will emerge this decade in which spacecraft owners contract other operators to either service and repair hardware in orbit or tow it out of harm's way. they should keep orbits free and safe for everyone to continue using. jonathan amos, bbc news. more on that story in the next hour. time now for the latest sport. hello there, i'm tulsen tollett, and this is your sports news — where we start with football, and leicester city have raised their first fa cup semifinal for 39 years

after a 3—1 defeat of manchester united. brendan rodgers' side will face southampton at wembley, with kelechi iheanacho scoring twice to send the foxes through for the first win over united since 2014. i'm obviously delighted. it was a great team performance in every aspect of the game. we were complete, pressed the game well and and then showed the calmness and the quality and the courage to play our football against a, you know, a team that are one of europe's greatest teams in manchester united. chelsea are also into the last four, where they will face favourites manchester city. hakim ziyech scoring the second in stoppage time as the blues were 2—0 winners over sheffield united at stamford bridge. tottenham rebounded from their shock europa league exit to win 2—0 at aston villa in the premier league — a result which takes them above everton and liverpool in the sixth position — while their north london rivals arsenal came from 3—0 down to draw 3—3 with west ham at london stadium. alexandre lacazette with the equaliser, the gunners boss believing they could have

had many more. when any team could collapse and they start to blame each other and have bad body language and concede four orfive or six, we did completely the opposite — we reunited. we started to do what we had to do and we got better and better. and it's a shame because i think, looking at the chances, we should have scored six or seven. in italy, ac milan kept up their chase of rivals inter with a hard—fought 3—2 win away to fiorentina. they're now six points behind their neighbours, having played a game more, whilejuventus' bid for a tenth successive serie a title appears over. cristiano ronaldo was awarded with a shirt to mark his 770 career goals, breaking pele's record. however, despite numerous chances, it was lowly benevento who won the match in turin. juve now ten points behind first—placed inter with 11 matches left to play. to golf now, where mattjones has won the honda classic

all the top business stories coming up next. i'll see you soon. hello there. it looks like our weather pattern is going to change over the week ahead. for the past few days we've had quiet, settled weather. it's been warm when the sun has been out. high pressure in charge. let me show you the upper level winds, the jet stream, that's the position of the jet stream and you can see how undulating that pattern is right now. but as we head into the week, we get more of a zonal flow. west—to—east wind coming in and bringing in air from the atlantic, and lower pressure means the weather is eventually going to turn more unsettled. fairly quiet at the moment, still. we've got a chilly start underneath those clearer skies. more cloud coming into northern ireland, north west england and especially western scotland. a little light rain or drizzle here. elsewhere it looks like it's going to be a dry day. some sunshine at times, light winds, temperatures again peaking at 13 or 1a celsius through the midlands, south east england, east anglia and the north east of scotland.

moving quickly onto tuesday, and we've got a fresher breeze picking up. south or south—westerly wind, looks like it's going to bring in a lot of cloud. maybe some dampness in the air out towards the west ahead of a band of rain that comes into northern ireland, western scotland later. temperatures again are perhaps 13 or 1a in the east where skies should be a bit brighter. we start to see the weather changing, though from midweek. that weather front bringing rain down from the north west into england and wales, not going to amount to very much at all. still dry in the south east for a while. after that band of patchy rain, we get some sunshine and then the weather turns wetter in the north west, especially into western scotland. the winds are bit stronger here. elsewhere, the winds should be fairly light which is why that band of cloud and rain isn't moving very far. temperatures not changing very much, again, on wednesday. the winds continue to pick up though, i think, during thursday and we start to see some mixture, really, of sunshine and showers. some wetter weather, though, a band of rain coming into northern ireland, into western scotland through the day. and temperatures of 12, 13, maybe 1a celsius —

near normal for this time of the year. but as we head towards the end of the week, we've got low pressure in charge. that's coming down from greenland, settling between iceland and scotland and that's going to bring colder air across the uk together with some much stronger wind. and we're looking at some bands of rain or showers and it's cold enough for those showers to be wintry over northern hills, perhaps even down into parts of wales as well. temperature wise, 7 celsius in the north, maybe making double figures in the south east.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the eurozone's biggest economy — germany — looks set to extend its lockdown. we'll live to frankfurt for the latest. the world's biggest oil company — saudi aramco — announces a sharp fall in profits as global lockdowns hit its bottom line. and turning the taps on! it's world water day, which highlights over 2 billion people still don't have access to clean water. we take a look at some of the challanges that still remain. let's start with germany,