A very warm welcome to bbc news. My name is mike embley, our top stories President Trump tries to calm fears over the spread of coronavirus, telling people the risk remains very low. We are very, very ready for anything, whether it is going to be a breakout of larger proportions or whether or not, you know, were at that very low level. International efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak intensify. More new cases are reported outside of china than inside. Indias Prime Minister calls for calm as at least 27 people were killed in clashes over the citizenship law in delhi. And the pope urges roman catholics around the world to give up online insults for lent. Hello to you. Donald trump has appointed Vice President mike pence to respond to the coronavirus emergency. President trump said the risk to the American People is very low and he would work with congress to ensure whatever funding was required was secured. He said the 15 people diagnosed with the coronavirus and the country, in the country, only one was still in hospital. We have the best people in the world, congress is willing to give us much more than we were asking for, thats nice for a change. But we are totally ready, willing and able
angle dust is a term that we use, ready, willing and able it isa use, ready, willing and able it is a term that we use ready, willing and able. It may get bigger, it may not get bigger at all, but regardless of what happens, we are totally prepared. Mr trumps that he would hope people would be able to travel freely by the summer and he outlined why mike pence would be in charge of the response. Is really an expert in the field and what im going to be announcing, exactly right now, im going to be putting our Vice President mike pence in charge and mike will be working with the professionals and doctors and everybody else thatis and doctors and everybody else that is working, the team is brilliant, i spent a lot of time with the team over the last couple of weeks. I asked our correspondence Chris Buckler in washington what has been the response to all of this. Yes, people have said the president is not taking this seriously enough. Not taking the threat of what the coronavirus could cause if it were to spread to the United States and what that could mean for the country. We had a president showing himself to be president ial, taking control of this and doing his best to ensure the country is ready to tackle this issue. You mentioned the figure of 2. 5 billion, that is the funding that he has requested from congress, but many inside congress believe that figure that is needed is probably much greater. Theyve talked about figures like 4 billion, in fact, one democrat even talked about 8. 5 billion. What President Trump has said said is whatever money is needed, whatever needs to be done, he is prepared to do it. And it was this real attempt to show that he is in charge of this problem and he will deal with that if it becomes an issue in the United States. And, chris, is it clear why mike pence is in charge . Well, he says he wants to keep it within the administration and he says that mike pence will be surrounded by experts and they have some of the best
people working on this. But i think also whats worth pointing out is that donald trump is doing his best to tackle this because it is an election year, that is also playing into this. He is aware the democrats have been accusing him of not doing enough and he wants to ensure that he deals with this. And thats particularly after some dismissive tweets weve seen from President Trump. He attacked the American News networks for scaremongering and causing a certain amount of alarm in the stock markets, which have fallen in the us. He says he wants to deal with those issues and of course the economy, always very important to President Trump, mike, particularly when the election is approaching. Chris buckler for us there. Chris bucklerfor us there. The World Health Organization has announced the virus is running outside china, where it began, than inside. Several countries have announced their first infections, all apparently linked to the growing outbreak in italy with a number of cases have now reached 400. Fergus
walsh, our medical correspondent, has more. Northern italy has a serious coronavirus outbreak, the biggest by far in europe. Virtually all traffic is banned from entering 11 towns designated red zones. More than 50,000 people have been in quarantine since sunday, but the virus hasnt been contained. The first confirmed cases in brazil and algeria, as well as austria and switzerland, were all linked to italy. And france recorded its second death at a paris hospital, a 60 year old teacher who had no record of travel to any outbreak hotspot. Germany is bracing itself for a surge in cases after a couple with coronavirus symptoms spent ten days travelling before they were diagnosed. Both are now in hospital. Translation we are at the beginning of a corona epidemic in germany. The chain of infection is no
longer completely traceable. None of us has any immunity to this new virus, but even if we get a wide analysis from china suggests 81 of those infected only get a mild illness and so dont need medical treatment. The first symptoms are a fever and dry cough. I would have people and those with existing Health Problems are at greater risk from the coronavirus, which attacks the lungs older people, but that also applies to seasonal flu, which kills thousands of people here every year. Remarkably, china is now reporting if you are new cases than the rest of the world fewer new cases. This is wuhan, the city where the virus emerged in december. For a the virus emerged in december. Fora time, the virus emerged in december. For a time, its Health System was overwhelmed but now
patients are starting to go home. Other countries wonder, will it be their turn next . Fergus walsh, bbc news. The most violent scene in the indian capital in decades. The classes brought out over people fighting over the new citizenship law. It now looks more like communal violence. There are deaths and injuries on both sides, but Narendra Modi who had they hindu nationalist government has appealed for calm. You get on the my reports from daily. Yogita limaye. A muslim area that saw some of the worst violence. Until now, it was impossible to get inside mustafabad. This road was full of mobs of men, armed with sticks, stones and even guns. We stop when we see a stream of people hurriedly crossing our path. These are muslim families and theyre fleeing the hindu dominated
areas they live in. They dont feel safe in their own homes any more. One man tells me, hindu mobs are slaughtering us like goats and chickens. Were shown a mosque that was set on fire. Holy books, reduced to ashes. Just outside, a muslim man was stabbed to death. He was the father of these girls. His wife has covered herface in mourning. In the adjoining hindu dominated locality, too, there is fear and anger. A man shows us where he was hit by bullets. This woman tells me petrol bombs were thrown at her home. What used to be just a busy street full of shops has today almost become a boundary between a Hindu Community on one side and a Muslim Community on the other. These religious divides has been deepening in india ever since Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist Party came to power. A citizenship law passed in december was the trigger for the riots. It gives amnesty to Illegal Immigrants from three neighbouring countries, except muslims. For months, it polarised opinion. Now it has left the capital on edge. Yogita limaye, bbc news, delhi. At least five people have been
killed at a shooting in milwaukee, wins constant, according to local media. The government was also killed, the motive is unclear wisconsin. It happened at molson coors. This woman was at that scene. It happened at molson coors. This woman was at that scenelj saw two police cars running, one of them almost hit me in my carand one of them almost hit me in my car and then one of them almost hit me in my carand theni one of them almost hit me in my car and then i wisconsin another police car trying to block the street of and then i try coming home, driving home and then i wisconsin another car blocking off the street, i try to go around but the other street is blocked off as well. I come down this street and i see this down here, so then i just heard there was a shooting. 26 civilians have been killed a according to workers in 11. Aside s government backed by russia has forced almost1 Million People to flee their homes was that there have been taught in the togas capital to try to find some way out of the conflict. From there, our correspondent orla guerin, there are disturbing images in her report. In idlib, a frantic search in the rubble after another neighbourhood becomes a burial ground. The white helmet volunteers are directed by annas. This was the home his family fled to, hoping to be safe. There is the sound of a boy, he says. Annas rushes in. But they find the lifeless body of his son. Childhood in assads syria. Where regime air strikes dont spare a two year old. Then a last kiss. But there was more anguish to come. Aid workers told us annas lost everyone. His mother, his wife and his older son. Rebels, some backed by turkey, are battling the regime, trying to prevent it retaking idlib, what is left of it. Among thejihadists in control are militants who were previously linked to alqaeda. President assad and his russian backers say they are fighting terrorists. But the United Nations says syrias displaced could be caught up in a bloodbath. They have nowhere to run, trapped between the advancing regime and the border
with turkey, a nato nation. Aid agencies say at least seven children have frozen to death. President erdogan insists he cannot open the gates for another influx. So he is threatening war while trying to talk peace. Tonight here in ankara, turkish and russian officials have met without agreement. They will talk again tomorrow but president erdogan insists his troops in idlib are ready for battle if Syrian Forces do not pull back by the weekend. Stay with this if you can, much more to come, including this was the 350 year olds ecuador has been discovered in the house of commons in london. A 350 year old door. Prince charles has
chosen his bride. The prince proposed to Lady Diana Spencer three weeks ago. She accepted, she says, without hesitation. As revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. A climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcoss sanctuary, malaca nang, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. The worlds first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. Scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. Warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world that the winner of best film was la la land. The only trouble was, it wasnt. The mistake was only put right in the middle of gushing speeches by the team behind the modern musical. Not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. Some of the swarms have been ten miles long. This is the last time the public will see this pope. Very soon, for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. Welcome back, good to have you with us on bbc news. One main story dominating the headlines. President trump has been trying to calm fears over the spread of the coronavirus, erling the American People the risk remains very low. Lets stay with that story, a spokejust lets stay with that story, a spoke just now to doctor benjamin weiler, assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine, a after what he thinks. I think that this is a really important first step to stay ahead of the curve, and to mobilise resources to be prepared if we do have increasing spread of the coronavirus in the United States. Time for us to take these measures as that spread has occurred and i am encouraged to see the government is taking those steps now. How wellprepared you feel the country is . It is a big country, presumably preparations may not be as good across the whole country. |j
think there are a few steps to preparation and preventing spread. Up until now, the main step that we have taken is to limit new cases coming into the country through travel restrictions, and that becomes a lot harder once there are more countries where infections are occurring. 0nce more countries where infections are occurring. Once we start to see infections spreading in the community of the United States, we need to be very vigilant at a state and local level to be able to identify and isolate patients that have infection to slow the spread of infection. The president has accused the media of scaremongering, alarming the stock market, some of his tweets have been quite dismissive, calling coronavirus just like lou. Does he have a point . Seasonal flu does just like lou. Does he have a point . Seasonalflu does kill many people every year, doesnt it . Hello it does. There are a number of similarities stopping the way that the virus is
transmitted is primarily through respiratory droplets, these droplets can contaminate these droplets can contaminate the hands and surfaces, so the way that people have been exposed to the are very similar. In addition, the spread in the community is likely to be very similar. The main difference, and we dont really know the answer yet, is what the exact fatality rate is. Influenza, if we look at the number of people who are infected and the number of people who die, it is about 0. 1 , about one in 1000 people. In coronavirus, the estimates are about ten times that, so the potential for this to cause a lot of debts, if it spreads widely in the community, is greater than the seasonal flu, andi greater than the seasonal flu, and i would add that we dont yet have a vaccine like we do
for influenza, so there are not people who are protected by vaccine. Lets quickly rounded up vaccine. Lets quickly rounded up some vaccine. Lets quickly rounded up some more vaccine. Lets quickly rounded up some more of the main news for you. The Spanish Government has agreed to hold monthly talks with a separatist administration in catalonia to discuss its demands for independence. Spanish opposition parties have described that as a humiliation. Joe biden, who is struggling to stay in the race to become the Democratic Pa rtys to become the Democratic Partys nominee has gained the endorsement of james clyburn. The state holds its primary election this saturday. Hope francis has suggested fellow roman catholics should stop insulting people online is one of their resolutions for lent. Many christians to give up habits such as drinking alcohol
or eating sweets for 40 days to mark the season, but the pope told tens of thousands of worshippers in the vatican to consider abandoning useless chatter, rumours, and. Andrew singleton told me the pope is very similar with social media. Pope francis is considered a worldly pope, so i have no doubt he is one of the people with a good understanding of trolling and he does have a social Media Presence as well, the vatican is certainly up with the latest developments. Why do you think he has picked on it particularly . Historically, catholics, alongside other christians are supposed to give up something for lent, and the 1960s through to the 1980s they kind of became more accommodating on the list of things that catholics were invited to give
up. No longer did it have to be abstinence or fasting, you could give up coffee or cigarettes or alcohol, but i think in this instance he is speaking to more than just a catholic community, but people generally, and we have seen some of the most toxic effects of trolling online, and i think his message isjust about trying to be relevant to the world more generally and not just of the catholic community. Do you think it is likely to be effective, his plea . Do you think it is likely to be effective, his plea . Already, very committed catholics, the ones who take his message really seriously, for all intents and purposes, are already probably doing something in relation to lent, most likely giving up alcohol and perhaps meet, and i would presume they are not particularly concerned about their social Media Presence if they are in the philippines or
vietnam where there are large catholic communities taking this stuff really seriously, so they will take heed of that message, but i would suggest that they are giving up something already, think this is the message from the pope speaking to bigger social concerns which is really quite common for him to have the concern for peoples welfare generally. So you think his message is about the tone and the aggression and society generally . Absolutely, and if you look at the overall theme of his message, it isntjust give this up for lent, he was talking about peace and stepping away from the noise of contemporary society to find something a bit more contemplative, and that is a message that would ring true with buddhists, practitioners in mindfulness, this sense that we need to perhaps separate from the noise of contemporary society and some of the excesses and negative affect that that might have on people. Professor Andrew Singleton of Deakin University there. A secret doorway which is used during a 17th century royal coronation has been discovered in the house of commons stopping the entrance dates back more than 350 years and was rediscovered by dominic during work during the £4 billion restoration. For a long time we have known that there is some sort of doorway and a wall of westminster hall, because there was a park but almost nothing was known about it. And then suddenly, i was doing some research and i discovered a really intriguing photograph of the interior of what looked like a chamber in the wall, and ive realised that it was just behind this doorway, so id became tremendously excited. This is the way that charles ii came on the way that charles ii came on the way that charles ii came on the way to his coronation, and
also james ii, the way to his coronation, and alsojames ii, and it the way to his coronation, and also james ii, and it was also the main way through to the house of commons which was at the time, with Saint Stephens hall now is, so this because of the house of commons will have come this way, many, many mps over the centuries, so it is a really historic route. We realised the architects had been restoring and early 1950s said he was thinking of putting an open panel and at, so we came and looked very carefully in detail at the panelling and we suddenly dotted this tiny keyhole and so the panel swung back and we went in and we think, for the First Time Since about 1952, i was awestruck because it shows the palace of westminster still has so many wonderful secrets to give up,
and also the contents of this rather unassuming looking space are absolutely fascinating. For example, there is some graffiti on the wall which was put there by masons when they were walling it up and 1851 that showed that they had had a party with old ale, gives all their names and declares them to be true democrat. History was lost and now it is found in the fact that we have found it i think is quite amazing, the fa ct i think is quite amazing, the fact that we have got graffiti, the builders have come in, has dominic had a bit of a jug of ale and it is about weve had some beer and a ale and it is about weve had some beerand a bit ale and it is about weve had some beer and a bit of history about themselves, and the fact that they decide to leave their mark, it is a mark of history that i really appreciate. There is always something new in this house. But if it has been
secret for more than 350 years, how come they had a key . Snowfall in tasmania has added a final chapter to australias some of dramatic weather. Snowfall can happen all year round on tasmanias mountains, but the forecasters dont expect it in summer. This season has in australia ravaged by bushfires, floods, hailstorms and dust tsunamis. Just finally, there is a lot of plant based just finally, there is a lot of pla nt based meat around, just finally, there is a lot of plant based meat around, but how about this for the ultimate Convenience Food . This is a big and steak made from plant based ingredients and buy a 3d printer. Its creators say the process gives the end product not just the case process gives the end product notjust the case dominic based ofa notjust the case dominic based of a cut of beef but the same consistency. Just the ingredients for a kilo of this meet cost 30, the shift and barcelona say it is their dream for every shift to create customised food in the kitchen. There is more for you on all the news any time on the bbc website. Thanks for watching. This next area of low pressure moving into the south of the uk is likely to bring a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow to parts of england and wales and it could be the most significant wintry blast we have seen of the season so far across southern areas, could see some tricky driving conditions for the thursday morning commute, so stay tuned to the forecast. Here it is, a area of low pressure. This is where is coming in with the cold air with a mixture of sleet and snow, mainly to the south but the Northern Hills and for the cotswolds, a cold start across northern areas, further wintry showers
here. Further north, clear and cold, a couple of wintry showers and an early risk of ice. Through the morning then that area of rain sleet and snow will push eastwards through the morning seeing some slushy deposits or some sleetiness across parts of the midlands, the Northern Home counties, over the chilterns and into east anglia but the whole thing clear away by about lunchtime in the skies will brighten up with plenty of sunshine around so any light snow will be short lived. Wintry showers across the north and it will be breezy and another chilly day temperatures ranging 6 9 degrees in the south. Through thursday night, a few wintry showers continuing across scotland but a ridge of High Pressure builds in and for many of us it should be dry with clear skies and turning cold with frost and some ice in places. You will see the temperature is beginning to rise across the south west. That is because we have the next weather system moving in for friday and that will produce mild air
to southern areas, quite a bit of rain and strengthening wind. Starting cold and bright across the north and the east and then that rain will spell up from the south west and some snow on its leading edge across Northern England to scotland and some settling snow on the hills but further south mainly rain and the temperature 10 11 degrees. Any more rain here is very unwelcome. Moving out of friday and into the weekend it looks like it remains unsettled. Next front will spread a band of rain across the country and we could see a swathe of gales or severe gales, northern ireland, Northern England and scotland late on saturday into sunday this next feature moves up from the south west bringing more rain. It looks unsettled this weekend, quite windy at times particularly on saturday and we will see further rain in areas where we really dont need it so stay tuned to the forecast and head online to see all the latest weather warnings. The latest headlines from bbc news President Donald Trump has been trying to calm fears over the spread of the coronavirus, telling the American People the risk remains very low. Hes put Vice President mike pence in charge, and says the 15 people diagnosed of the action, only one has remained ill. More new cases are outside china than inside. In italy, the number of cases has reached 400 and the virus has been detected in almost 40 countries. The World Health Organization says its deeply concerned. The indian Prime Minister has called for calm as at least 27 people are killed in communal violence in delhi. The clashes first broke out over a controversial new citizenship law. Crowds of mostly hindu men have been beating and burning, sending muslim men fleeing businesses. There are dead and injured on both sides. Its