this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the queen has tested positive for covid—19. buckingham palace says she is experiencing mild cold—like symptoms but does expect to continue light duties at windsor this week. britain warns russia is planning the biggest conflict in europe since world war two. it's as russia and belarus take part in huge military exercises near the border with ukraine. the legal requirement to self—isolate after catching covid in england is expected to be dropped from next week. the shadow health secretary says the move would be premature. the key thing is that people have access to free testing, they know their status, and they do the right thing by staying at home. which means they also need access to the right level of sick pay to do the right thing.

and, frankly, it's negligent the government haven't acted already. borisjohnson refuses to say whether he will resign if police find he broke lockdown laws. any answer would be interpreted as a point of commentary about the process. i've got to leave it. it's a matter of principle, surely, it's not a point of commentary? i i've got to leave it. you must forgive me, i can't comment about a process that's currently under way, and i won't. great britain have won the olympic title! team gb finally win gold with victory in the women's curling on the last day of the winter olympics, as the games officially come to an end with a spectacular closing ceremony in beijing.

good afternoon, welcome to bbc news. buckingham palace has confirmed that the queen has today tested positive for covid. the monarch is experiencing mild cold—like symptoms but expects to continue light duties. at windsor over the coming week, she will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all appropriate guidelines. the queen, who is 95, had been in contact with her eldest son, the prince of wales, who tested positive last week. the prime minister borisjohnson has sent her best wishes, saying in a tweet that he wished her a "swift recovery and a rapid return to vibrant good health." with the latest, here's our royal correspondent nick witchell. this is all how buckingham palace is framing it. as you've reported, she tested positive for covid this morning at windsor castle,

which is where she is based. mild, cold—like symptoms is how the palace are describing it. she expects to continue with light duties at windsor over the coming week. "expects to continue." the imponderable in all of this is her age. the fact she is 95, she's nine weeks short of her 96th birthday. she is ratherfrailer, physically, than she was six months ago. that much we know, we've seen the images, the people who met her and saw her at sandringham at the anniversary of her succession said she is frailer now and walking with a stick. we last saw her at windsor castle, in images on wednesday when she was meeting two officials from the mod. she said herself, "i can't move," there is a mobility issue. we don't quite know what's causing that, but she is as engaged and mentally as sharp as ever. clearly, she will now be receiving the full medical attention that would be appropriate for someone with mild, cold—like covid symptoms. the medical household,

that's the name given to the royal doctors led by professor sir hugh thomas, i'm sure they will have worked out over the months what they would do. a protocol of procedure. they've had two years to think about this, so they will be monitoring the situation carefully. this is alljust common sense, isn't it? it's interesting, really, that over the two years of the pandemic, they have successfully managed to keep the virus out of windsor castle — this bubble was formed around the queen in the early months, and that was very successful. there was a rota of royal officials who were with her, and everyone who comes near her would normally be tested to make sure they were covid—free. my understanding is in recent days there have been cases within windsor castle, so the virus has got into the castle and has now reached the queen. there had been speculation she might have caught it

from the prince of wales, whom she met on the 8th of february. a couple of days after that, we learned he had that, we learned he had contracted covid, but he's now made a full recovery. the duchess of cornwall has also contracted covid. i think the virus has got into the castle and the queen has contracted it. that is the situation as far as we know it. the big thing that has changed is the virus has got in but, presumably, the queen is fully vaccinated. absolutely. again, that's not confirmed. buckingham palace confirmed when she had the first vaccination, but i think we can be 100% certain that she's had all the vaccines and booster doses, whether it's three or whatever. so, she will have the protection that one would assume would come from a full programme of vaccination. but again you come back to this fact

that she is within that age bracket that is considered to be vulnerable, because she is 95. so, quite apart from who she is, because of her age, i think they will be paying close attention to the symptoms and monitoring whether these mild symptoms, as the palace describes them, get worse. it's the difficulty of predicting the path of any individual who develops covid. and the added complication of age. if anyone is going to be monitored very carefully, it's the queen. indeed. generally, over the years, there has been a change, certainly, in this mobility issue, since october the 20th when she had to cancel a trip to belfast and was brought into hospital and stayed overnight for preliminary tests. something happened that day, something changed. but i think we can take comfort from the fact that over the years,

her health has been very good. she's been shown to be resilient and strong in terms of health. but it is the age that is the unknown factor in all of this. and in terms of the other members of the royalfamily, you were talking about the arrangements for covid in place for two years, have those been pretty much maintained? has the palace been quite careful about how many members of her family are around her? how many people get to spend time with her? i'm sure they have. it touches on the privacy of the family. they will not go into that. but i think it's just common sense that when you're dealing with the health of a 95—year—old who happens to be the head of state, you will be very, careful. if any of us were coming into contact with any royal event, you have to take a lateral flow test and show it's been negative. yes, they have deployed the sort of precautions you would deem to be sensible and prudent in

the situation they find themselves. one final thought. this statement came out, we weren't expecting it, we never do when we get statements of this kind, but we shouldn't expect further statements, should we? they would say that if we've got something to tell you, we will tell you, but if we haven't, we won't. they are absolutely in the business of not giving a running commentary. the endless habit that sometimes occurs on programmes such as this, what's the latest, which people like me get asked every hour, the answer is, well, there isn't any. that is the situation, and if there's any further change or any further detail that they want to share, they will do so. but they won't just give you bulletins for the sake of it. thank you. let's go to our correspondent at windsor castle — frances reed. dealing with the weather and also with the public. what is the

atmosphere down there like? it is atmosphere down there like? it is ve wet atmosphere down there like? it is very wet and _ atmosphere down there like? it 3 very wet and windy down here at windsor, and it is here that the queen has been told to carry out those light duties. we had people from right across the country today, people from birmingham, manchester, who are their way down to windsor for a day trip and actually heard the news about the queen on the way down. they have been really wishing her well. so many people across the country over the last couple of years have been impacted by covid, and many of them recently have had these mild symptoms that has been described that the queen is also having. i think they are just really wishing her all the best. there is a quick listen to what some of them have had to say. we've come from manchester today, and honestly we found out and obviously we found out that she was ill on the way here. it's quite upsetting, i hope she's all right. as long as she's ok, that's all that matters really, isn't it, at the end of the day? obviously with her platinum jubilee, i think we want her to _ recover very quickly. and we want to see her back to herself again i

as soon as possible. this afternoon just really wishing the queen a speedy recovery. we have also had a tweet from the leader of the opposition, keir starmer, saying "on behalf of myself and the whole of uk labour party, wishing her majesty the queen good health and a speedy recovery. get well soon." i think that is really reflected across all of windsor here this afternoon. no words from the younger royals at the moment, often a post on to integral any messages of support. —— on instagram. no word from them at the moment. at the moment, those specialist doctors, specialist medical team is looking after the queen, as they normally would, in any kind of routine medical situation involving the royal family. medical situation involving the royalfamily. at medical situation involving the royal family. at windsor, medical situation involving the royalfamily. at windsor, really resting, taking care of herself. frances reid at windsor castle, we will check in with you later in the afternoon. thanks very much. in

fact, i don't know if this counts as light duties, the queen has tweeted in the last hour her congratulations to the olympic curling team, the men and women. she said "my warmest congratulations to the gb women's curling team for your outstanding performance in winning the gold medal at the 2022 olympic winter games. following the silver medal from the men yesterday. let's move on to talk about the situation in ukraine. unchanged but continuing to cause grave concern. borisjohnson has warned that evidence from russia and ukraine points to vladimir putin planning what could be the biggest conflict in europe since the second world war. in a bbc interview, the prime minister also repeatedly refused to comment on downing street parties currently being investigated by the police. our political correspondent,

peter saull reports. borisjohnson has spent the weekend with other world leaders in munich. his attention firmly focused on ukraine. and this morning, a stark prediction about what might unfold on this man's territory. the plan that we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in europe since 1945 in terms of sheer scale. you are looking at notjust an invasion through the east, through the donbas, but, according to intelligence we are seeing, coming down from the north, down from belarus and encircling kyiv itself. russian forces are continuing to carry out exercises, but moscow describes talk of an invasion as western hysteria. if it does happen, an incursion would prompt what the prime minister calls the toughest possible sanctions. we will stop russian companies raising money on uk markets.

and with our american friends, we are even going to stop them trading in pounds and dollars. that will hit very, very hard. while borisjohnson tackles matters of global importance, there is no escaping problems back home. a questionnaire about his attendance at parties on downing street has been returned to the metropolitan police. so, if he is fined, will he resign? you are just going to have to wait until the process is complete. there is literally not a bean i can tell you about that, as much as i would like to. time and time again the prime minister refused to go there. do you not think you are just burying your head in the sand? i am fortunate to live in a democracy. be the prime minister of a free, independent democratic country where people can take that sort of decision, where i do face that kind of pressure. that is a wonderful thing.

the growing tensions in eastern europe have given borisjohnson a chance to show leadership. but the fight for his own political future is far from over. peter saull, bbc news. let me bring you some breaking news, more on that phone call between president macron and president putin, it took place a couple of hours ago. the latest live to come out of it has come again, it has come from the lycee palace. the first we had were from the official news agencies in russia quoting the kremlin. according to the elysee, home of the french president, president macron along with president macron along with president putin agreed to try to hold working group meetings in the coming hours on the aim of reaching a ceasefire on the contact line. that is the point at which the rebels in the east and the ukrainian authorities meet, touch really. and thatis

authorities meet, touch really. and that is what they mean by the ceasefire, reaching a ceasefire on the contact line, the point at which the contact line, the point at which the two parts of ukraine, or rather eastern ukraine and russia are divided. and the key thing is that mine, the contact line between eastern ukraine and the main part of the country, from which the two rebel republics claim to have broken. and they are looking to moscow to support him, of course there has been support. we will bring you more on that phone call and the other diplomatic efforts taking place continuously over the last few days as soon as we get it. the legal requirement for people in england who test positive for covid to isolate is due to end in the coming days. the government will outline its "living with covid" plan tomorrow, saying that a combination of vaccines, treatments and testing are now enough to keep people safe. our health correspondent jim reed reports. living with covid has meant living with some strict life—changing restrictions, but with vaccines keeping

people out of hospital, the government says those last remaining laws will be lifted in england. the legal requirement to self—isolate if you have the virus will be replaced by guidance. i'm not saying you can totally throw caution to the winds. covid remains dangerous if you are vulnerable and if you are not vaccinated. but we need people to be much more confident and get back to work. the move is part of the government's living with covid plan published tomorrow. there is speculation that free access to pcr and rapid lateral flow tests could start to be scaled back, something that has worried labour. the key thing is people have access to free testing, they know their status and do the right thing by staying at home, which means they also need access to the right level of sick pay to do the right thing. the world health organization and groups representing doctors have described the move as premature. and for people like piers rankin,

a cancer patient, there is danger still in lifting the last remaining restrictions. taking a step into the unknown. i am a high—risk individual to covid, and my family have to make sacrifices to keep me safe. how much risk can we bear without essentially shielding again for an indefinite period of time? the changes expected this week will apply to england only. other parts of the uk are moving at their own speed as the latest omicron wave passes. jim reed, bbc news. been a lot happening even outside of the winter olympics. how are you? i'm very well, thankfully i didn't stay up until 3am. ., ., �* thankfully i didn't stay up until 3am. ., “ thankfully i didn't stay up until 3am. ., ~ 3am. you don't look like you did either! there _ 3am. you don't look like you did either! there is _ 3am. you don't look like you did either! there is a _ 3am. you don't look like you did either! there is a lot _ sam. you don't look like you did either! there is a lot of- 3am. you don't look like you did| either! there is a lot of concealer auoin on either! there is a lot of concealer going on here. — either! there is a lot of concealer going on here. i _ either! there is a lot of concealer going on here, i can _ either! there is a lot of concealer going on here, i can tell- either! there is a lot of concealer going on here, i can tell you - either! there is a lot of concealer| going on here, i can tell you that!

a fantastic result for team gb with that gold medal. but we are bidding farewell to beijing, the closing ceremony of the winter olympics has now taken place. the procession at the bird's nest stadium mark the end of what has been 19 days of action. you can see there is eve muirhead and her gold medal— winning team right there in the celebrations. although it is norway who topped the medal table, winning a record 16 golds over the past two weeks. hosts china also won their highest ever winter olympic medal tally. you saw a little glimpse of them there, the most successful british athletes at these games after team gb won gold in the final day in the women's curling. the skipper, eve muirhead, who won bronze in the last olympics is now an olympic champion. the team winning gold at their first attempt.

then croucher was watching. it took until the final day, but good things come to those who wait. that's it! it's a gold medal! great britain have won the olympic title! eve muirhead and her team on the biggest of stages, as cool as ice. this was the olympic final, absent of tension and drama. from the moment muirhead put britain two up at the very first end, the rest went rather smoothly. this could be the most important stone of the match. the team underwent an overhaul last year, but in finding the winning formula left no stone unturned. the game forjapan was all but up after the seventh end. it's four for great britain! two more followed. the golden moment. it's curling gold! eve muirhead has finally done it at the fourth time of asking! for muirhead, twice a losing semifinalist and a bronze in sochi, finally on top of the world.

it is a dream come true for myself and for the rest of the girls as well. it's been a journey to get here. and here we are, we're olympic champions and what a five we are! yeah, it's such a special, special moment. the final day maybe, but this one was worth the wait in gold. ben croucher, bbc news. if you want drama, we've got plenty more of it. to elland road then, where manchester united are the visitors this afternoon taking on leeds united. the score is currently 2—2 — harry maguire broke the deadlock before bruno fernandes doubled their lead just before the break. but in the last few moments, rodrigo has scored a stunner for leeds and just seconds later raphina has added the equaliser. 2—2 then at elland road. the other premier league

game of the afternoon is a midlands derby — leicester going to wolves for a 4.30 kick—off. a two games as well in the scottish premiership. leaders celtic are currently taking on dundee, that game about quarter of an hour in, where its currently goalless. earlier, rangers missed the chance to go top after they were held to a one all draw at dundee united. dortmund and back to domestic duties for rangers, after one of the best european nights in their history. that 4—2 win in germany caused a lot of noise back home, and here they had a big shout for a penalty. no var in scotland, something rangers will rue. because the man involved in strong—arm himself into position and headed home. not a himself into position and headed home. nota bad himself into position and headed home. not a bad birthday present. if he wished for good luck when he blew out his candles, then that is what he was getting, again, no penalty.

but his and dundee united's luck eventually ran out, the rangers pressure told. the champion is puffed and puffed in search of another, but twice found the tannadice would work in the way. here first and then left so nearly fashionably late. in the end, it wasn't to be. craig templeton, bbc news. plenty of drama them. that's all the sport for now. more from me in the next hour. holly hamilton there in salford. there has been a bit of drama in terms of the weather of course this weekend. 83,000 homes are still without power today following storm eunice, so far 1.3 million households have been reconnected after damage caused by the storm. there are further weather warnings for wind covering much of the uk and heavy rain in northern england, with the met office issuing an amber

warning for high winds in northern ireland from midnight tonight. as the third named storm of the week — storm franklin — is expected to bring more rain and gale force winds across the uk. here is alice key. sweeping away in sussex, chopping through trees in the capital, and picking up the pieces in somerset. all part of the clean—up operation following one of the worst storms to hit the uk in decades. it was just absolutely brutal, nonstop. just devastation everywhere, as you can see, really. hopefully we'll never get it again, ever. many communities are still without power, including this holiday park in brean. we have made the decision to close the park until monday. having to turn families away during half—term. we've all had a rough couple of years, and it's the first opportunity for people to come down

and stay in their caravan or come on holiday for the year. so it couldn't have been a worse situation or a worse start off to the season. in newport, these houses were badly damaged by flying debris. we've got probably, i'd say, just about a third of our roof missing. whereas the other two properties next door, they weren't so lucky, they have taken substantial damage and their properties are probably going to be condemned. and they've had to, sort of, everyone has had to relocate as a result of what's happening. in london, rapper dave's upcoming o2 arena concerts have been postponed, after part of the venue's roof was ripped off. but there's more bad weather on the way. met office warnings are in place for heavy rain and gusts of up to 70mph predicted in the next two days. 0n the trains, delays and cancellations are set to continue. passengers at preston shared their frustration. it was absolutely awful, carnage. we got on at the first stop, we got a seat and everything,

but it was standing for a lot of people all the way down. people lost their lives in thesel winds and because we stood up on a train, we were just grateful to get home _ the worst of storm eunice might be over, but insurers say that clean—up costs could rise above £300 million, so its impact could be felt for a long time to come. alice key, bbc news. with thousands of homes still without power, ross easton, director of the energy networks association, which looks after power across the uk and ireland, explained some of the challenges providers are facing reconnecting homes. we had already spoken to him once this weekend and he came onto the programme again. we've reconnected 1.3 million properties, so that is a heck of a storm that has come in, basically. we have seen two very rare red warnings, and that is what has

caused such destruction. we've seen the pictures on our tv screens of houses being crushed as well, and that sort of damage is what we are seeing on the electricity network. we've got 8,000 people outjust now working to reconnect supplies as quickly as they safely can. but safety is the key, because we don't want friends and family out there in such weather conditions, and our colleagues are having to work in those conditions and having to be very careful about doing that. so we couldn't quite get out at the very start of the storm because of the amount of damage and the danger that was posed to our engineers, but we are out there now, being slightly hampered now by storm franklin which is coming in. we are working flat out to reconnect people as quickly as we safely can. well, one of those still without power is david shepherd in newbury. he's had no electricity or heating since friday morning. no electricity or heating since friday morning, david, how have you been hoping? you haven't been sleeping in the car, have you? hot sleeping in the car, have you? not et, that sleeping in the car, have you? not yet. that is — sleeping in the car, have you? not yet. that is for— sleeping in the car, have you? ijrrt yet, that is for tomorrow night probably! a little cold, i think in the circumstances, you do what you have to do. clearly this was a

pretty special storm. i have to say, our understanding of why certain things happened, i'm a little bit hazy on. for us, we are in the m4 corridor, this is the fourth major power cut we have had this winter. so, because there has been a series of storms, it is the same thing been happening, is it? the storm triggered it, this power goes, then on each occasion has it been more than 2041 as you have been without? 0ne than 2041 as you have been without? one of them was less, but, yes, thousands of other people in a similar position. but my feeling about it is notjust to do with maintenance on the overheads, cutting trees down that are overlapping. the problem we are faced with today is a tree that sse did work on back in december when we were last cut off, they were said to be coming back and finishing that work and never did. and that tree fell on the line and broke the line.

sit on your point of view, that was a preventable consequence? titer? a preventable consequence? very much. a preventable consequence? very much- and _ a preventable consequence? very much. and while, _ a preventable consequence? very much. and while, they _ a preventable consequence? - much. and while, they have not yet got to our property, but while they are working on our property, they couldn't work on anybody else's. i understand that these things happen, but the electricity network around us in all the small villages around newbury, the infrastructure is so old and so badly maintained, it is a case of when and not if. that old and so badly maintained, it is a case of when and not if.— case of when and not if. that is a depressing _ case of when and not if. that is a depressing thought. _ case of when and not if. that is a depressing thought. very - case of when and not if. that is a j depressing thought. very briefly, case of when and not if. that is a i depressing thought. very briefly, no idea yet when it will come back on? no promises yet on when it will be back? indie no promises yet on when it will be back? ~ ~ , ., no promises yet on when it will be back? ~ ~' , ., , back? we keep getting told times, but now we — back? we keep getting told times, but now we are _ back? we keep getting told times, but now we are not _ back? we keep getting told times, but now we are not even _ back? we keep getting told times, but now we are not even looking. i back? we keep getting told times, i but now we are not even looking. we are told may monday evening. dagid are told may monday evening. david she - herd, are told may monday evening. david shepherd. we _ are told may monday evening. david shepherd, we feel _ are told may monday evening. david shepherd, we feel for _ are told may monday evening. david shepherd, we feel for you. - are told may monday evening. david shepherd, we feelforyou. keep are told may monday evening. david shepherd, we feel for you. keep as one as you possibly can. i hope after those last few occasions you have a few candles for the night. quite right, some questions that need to be answered about resilience and whether we are prepared in the

way we should be. david shepherd they're talking to us from his car in newbury. now it's time for a look at the rest of the weather, and get a full forecast from louise lear. good afternoon. it's miserable out there for many, spells of heavy rain moving their way across england and wales. blustery showers and gusts of winds in excess of 60—70mph once again on exposed coasts. so, temperatures fairly academic, but it's mild cross england and wales, noticeably cooler for scotland and northern ireland. but as we go through the night tonight, we need to draw your attention to some rain that's arriving in the far northwest. the winds will strengthen once again, and the met office has issued an amber weather warning for the strength of the winds across the north coast of northern ireland. a chillier start to monday, but all eyes will be focused on this amber warning, which will remain in force during the early hours of monday morning. storm franklin, potential for damaging gusts of wind in excess of 80mph. the showers will fade away, though, and monday will be an improving picture as we go through the afternoon — we'll be drier and brighter with top temperatures of 6—13 celsius.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the queen has tested positive for covid—19. buckingham palace says she is experiencing mild cold—like symptoms, but does expect to continue light duties at windsor this week. president putin and his french counterpart emmanuel macron agree to "intensify" diplomatic efforts over ukraine. it's as the country's president calls for an immediate ceasefire between government forces and pro—russian separatists in the east. the legal requirement to self—isolate after catching covid in england is expected to be dropped from next week — the shadow health secretary says the move would be premature. the key thing is that people have access to free testing, they know their status,

and they do the right thing by staying at home.