it's. markets plunge again asian stocks slide further on the back of heavy losses in the u.s. and europe of the threats posed by the corona virus pandemic. alarm given al this is all just there live from doha also coming up growing concern in the u.s. over inadequate testing facilities as more than 40 die from coated 19. top english premier team chelsea goes into self isolation after a player tests positive sporting events worldwide take a hit. and life on the lockdown we take a look at how europeans are coping is more cities

a quarantine. volatility is gripping the world's major stock markets is the crowd a virus pandemics and share values plummeting tokyo's nikkei index closed friday down 6 percent that's after it plunged more than 10 percent opening along with markets in thailand and india it follows wall street's biggest drop since the black monday crash of 1987 there's another concern in the u.s. to delay in testing for the virus the top health official says the current situation is failing but that more testing kits will be made available in the coming week meanwhile over in europe schools across much of the continent have been closed for towns and spain have gone into lockdown and the country is rolling out economic protection mischa's let's take a look now at the johns hopkins university tracker for the global picture here it is these live numbers as you can see the total number of confirmed cases there has

surpassed 128000 over here we have the total number of deaths at 4720 and the total number of people who have recovered there in the green more than 68000 people have recovered from a bride joins us now live from seoul with more rob let's talk about the markets how have they reacted in asia. there has been an incredible day of. selling going on across the markets of asia extending further their heavy losses from yesterday thursday that dropped by the nikkei of more than 10 percent in early trading there haven't had a drop like that in japan for 30 years there was some recovery in the nikkei and the other markets but everything ending firmly in the red the nikkei and did trading 6 percent down the cost b. that's the index here in south korea down a full 3 and a half percent it's had various central bank officials and different finance

ministry officials in many asian countries are having meetings working out how to support the markets in their own countries about buying bonds possibly or cutting interest rates but of course with interest rates from the central banks being at historically low levels anyway there's not that much room for maneuver and in fact there's 0 in japan and also we've had not only all of this selling going on and turmoil in volatility in the financial markets but also a reminder of just how the coronavirus is affecting the real economies of all the asian countries single pour taking the remarkable decision this friday to suspend until further notice all visits by cruise ships so one of the greatest of transport hubs in the world taking a very painful but in its view probably a very necessary decision in order to protect itself. and rob i'm saying that the

city of new chiang in china to their province is easing those travel curbs is the situation returning to normal in what was the epicenter. we are getting encouraging signs it's far too early of course given the dislocation especially in the epicenter province for it to say it's a return to normal but we are seeing encouraging signs more travel being allowed in parts of that province also outside of who we're being told by ministry officials in beijing that around 95 percent of all of larger companies in china are now returning to work so very slowly the wheels beginning to turn once more in the world's 2nd biggest economy and the numbers for new infections continue to be encouraging only 8 new cases across china have been recorded that's the 1st time that new cases on a national level have been in single digits it's allowed to china to have the confidence now to lend

a helping hand reach out to countries such as italy we're seeing that a team has been sent from china of nurses and doctors who are now very experienced in dealing with infectious diseases to share some of that knowledge and also to share some of their stuff because of course china has vast stockpiles now of much needed medical kit and equipment such as ventilators they have also taken with them to italy which is in great demand of those things also in south korea we're seeing a continuing trend downwards of new cases $110.00 cases reported here and like china now looking people visitors from other parts of the world are putting in preventative measures extra screening from this weekend here in seoul like china it doesn't want to see reinfection and is very wary now of people coming from other parts of the world that are now considered to be more contagious. friday with the latest from south thank you. u.s.

restrictions on european travel as they said to begin later on friday new measures on just having economic impacts there are also straining already richelle diplomatic relations between washington and brussels and the trumpet ministration is also under fire for the inadequate testing facilities and rising cases of covert 19 mike hanna reports. the irish prime minister arrives at the white house his bilateral meeting with the u.s. president one of the few events going ahead as should jeweled island along with the united kingdom 2 countries exempt from the sweeping travel ban which appears focused on the 26 european union members of the shingle alliance giving rise to claims that the ban has been haphazardly applied when you think of what happened to europe because it was very fast and very furious and what happened is a lot of people went from china into europe and europe suffered tremendously see what's going on and so i just wanted to stop as it pertains to the united states or

public access to the u.s. capital has been suspended but lawmakers in the house are continuing to discuss the bill to counter the economic and social impact of the coronavirus and also pacing questions about whether lawmakers should stay at home let's get this bill passed 1st and then we'll see where they're from there because the fact is the house is on fire people are concerned about their of course the house and the health of their challenger democratic presidential candidate joe biden added his voice to the discussion about how best to deal with this ongoing crisis and was harshly critical of the efforts by the trumpet ministration public fears a big compounded or pervasive like interest in this president if you are why adversarial relationship with the truth that he continues to have this stall public concern about the slow rollout of testing kits this despite claims by the trumpet ministration that anyone who needs a test can get one the web site of the center for disease control records said it

has not conducted any tests over the past 4 days and the number of tests conducted by public health lads has dropped dramatically over the same period yesterday for example across the entire united states only 8 tests are reported. president trump maintains he is in no need of submitting to a test but this may change following reports that a man he met during talks with the brazilian leader at mar a lago last week has tested positive for the virus brazil's communication minister pictured here on the president's lift is awaiting the results of a 2nd test my kind of al-jazeera washington a top u.s. official who deals with infectious diseases has bluntly described the situation with respect to testing for corona virus as a failing and they found he made the comments to members of congress at a briefing on thursday the system does not is not really geared

to what we need right now what you are asking for that is a failing and. it is a failing there let's admit it the fact is the way the system was set up is that the public health component that dr that dr redfield was talking about was a system where you put it out there in the public and a physician asks for it and you get it there i hear of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it we're not set up for that do i think we should be yes but we're not. across the world sporting events are being hit premier league team chelsea has gone into self isolation that's after 4 to calum hudson tested positive an emergency meeting is due in the coming hours to decide the future of premier league games this season earlier arsenal manager. tested positive for the virus in spain the law has been suspended after the real madrid

team was placed in quarantine all north american sports to have been either canceled or postponed that includes the national hockey league major league baseball and the n.b.a. college basketball championships have also been called off. and the organizers of formula one have cancelled the australian grand prix of a coronavirus concerns the event was due to be held in melbourne this weekend with about 100000 spectators a member of the mclaren team tested positive for the virus on thursday and is now being treated by local health authorities. and it's not just the f one the one day cricket series between australia and new zealand will be played to empty stadiums australia's prime minister scott morrison is urging people not to gather in groups of more than 500 the country has recorded 156 cases there has more from city. a striker is slowly catching up to other parts of the world where sporting and

public events are being held behind closed doors or being completely cancelled here at the sydney cricket ground a stroll you will take on new zealand in the one day international in front of an empty stadium cricket australia announced that it would not be letting any spectators inside to prevent the spread of corona virus in melbourne australia has grown pretty has been cancelled just hours before races were set to hit the track to start training mclaren had earlier pulled out after one of its team members tested positive. but there have been some mixed messages in all the sporting events still going ahead there's lots of confusion and i think there's lots of confusion around what is best practice and what should people be doing should there be a sporting event should there be cultural events should be open to the public the number of coronavirus cases in a stroller is continuing to rise and no surprise it is hitting the economy as well as the share market we have stocks plummeting the australian government has

announced a 7 tane $1000000000.00 stimulus package handing out $750.00 payments to some to try and prevent a recession for the 1st time in 29 years. still ahead on al-jazeera responding to a deadly rocket attack on a coalition base u.s. launches a new realm of air strikes in iraq. remembering christchurch memorials held ahead of the one year anniversary of the new zealand most. hello and welcome to the weather forecast we start across europe where we've got conditions. across france or into germany at the moment while there's generally a bit quieter over these areas and indeed into their beer and into the weather's

looking pretty decent madrid they're at $22.00 degrees $1.00 to $2.00 showers around but generally here is to draw in fine account so the same for the u.k. or for all and an area of low pressure bringing us from fairly heavy rain into southern parts of ireland during the course of friday still largely dry across the u.k. out that stage there's a move the forecast into the weekend here more unsettled across the u.k. generally another area of low pressure pushing in towards arlit fine weather across much of portugal spain france germany not looking too bad here still warm across easterners bucharest 15 and care moscow temperatures still above average into north africa the cold air which has pushed a long way towards the south still in evidence with khartoum at only 29 degrees celsius will find a slow recovery in temperatures across this region so we head in through to saturday may want to cross western parts of africa we've got some showers around the gulf of guinea extending towards freetown there in sierra leone may want to cross southern portions of africa we've got to find conditions across namibia for

cape town let's see some sunshine and highs of 25. franc assessments the one good thing about these bushfires is it's really working out the politics of climate change informed opinions economy i think is actually what's keeping donald trump afloat right now critical debate sequel almost to school to even know what the law is all about this argument is astonishingly patronize an in-depth analysis of the day's headlines this is the beginning of a new iraq of a new conscious and aware use of that struggle against an ethnic sectarian kotor inside story on al-jazeera.

you're watching are just there a reminder of our top stories this hour global stock markets plunged further due to the coronavirus pandemic major asian indices fell by around 8 percent within minutes of opening turkey its nikkei index has just closed down 6 percent that's up to wall street suffered its worst single day losses since $987.00. a top u.s. health official says the government is failing to account for what could be thousands of infections because the testing system isn't working more testing kits are expected to be made available in the coming weeks. and the virus is forcing sporting events around the world to be either perspired or canceled in north america the national hockey league major league baseball and the n.b.a. have been affected and the formula one grand prix due to be held in a stray this weekend has been called off. the philippines president would be good to turn to has announced the capital manila will go into lockdown for

a month to stop the corona virus from spreading from sunday the city's $13000000.00 residents will be prohibited from leaving large gatherings are also banned 2 people have died from the virus in the philippines the country has more than 50 confirmed cases but there are concerns about how the government will implement the sweeping measures to mainland dog and has more from manila. much of the presentation of president will be good at that and his cabinet late thursday night was focused on metro manila in manila and the greater metropolis they talked about community quarantine where if a certain city in metro manila has 2 or more cases then the the city should itself . be under community quarantine but it remains to be seen how that is possible and what is the difference between a community quarantine and a lockdown school scam of or also been postponed and canceled up until april middle of april next month operations of the government remain to be skeletal those in the

private sector are also expected to minimise their interactions basically the focus of the government at this point is social distancing isolation and quarantine but several cabinet officials admit that they still have to finalize the implementing rules and regulations 13000000 people in the metropolis are actually meant 1000000 people are actually living in the metropolis not to mention those who travel to the metropolis on a daily basis to work here there are concerns about food supply chance cretaceous and about that commute public transport of people here but in the coming days up until sunday we're expecting a more clear view and guidelines as to how the government is exactly going to implement this. brazil's president diable sanaa took a virus test after as we said earlier his communications minister was found to be positive the brazilian leader says he expects the results in the coming hours. the

government is very eager to make sure that control is exerted continuously and that we forsee that although cases will increase panic should not ensue mark. the coronavirus pandemic is a big test for latin america's ailing economy the impact is expected on several fronts including the devaluation of currencies the decline in terrorism and the slump and demand for exports there is a ball reports from argentina's capital when i say this. exports are crucial for argentina's economy these days following currency generated by crops the fund other products are what could help this country they are following debt. but the covert 19 is already having an impact here too you know. main market but may start to recover we're now seeing many of our european clients cancel the orders because nobody knows who will buy the beef and know they're already freezing some of it it's a huge problem for us because we depend on exports. this plant sells mostly premium

beef to china europe and the united states and finding clients it's not easy these days as the cold feet 19 spreads around the world shows and public events are being suspended in argentina in an attempt to contain the virus. flights are also being canceled in a country that is already struggling with capital controls double digit inflation and this restructuring foreign debt the government have imposed mandatory isolations on people arriving from you rob china and even the united states they're also considering fining those who do not respect the law and pose a threat to public health but even though many believe that argentina could succeed in containing the virus the spread of the virus in this country. it is the economic situation that has a many people worried here. in the past 2 years most administrations have pinned down their hopes of economic recovery on back on one of one of the largest oil and

gas reserves in the world but as the local economy deteriorates and worldwide markets tumble investments are being rerouted outside the country we have a common characteristic that is that lead in american countries especially south american ones we export commodities right we export of copper and minerals in. the. world order business we're. in brazil origin the you know why but i why it's soybeans it's other types of food so i think we are going to feel the same but we are feeling it right now with the cline the price of commodities saw i believe this is a regional problem but it's going to be more important in the countries who need foreign help us for example the case of origin. help that could prevent a default like the one in 2001 that devastated this country's economy people view are wary of the spread of the covert 19 virus but the faltering is what he's

warning the government the most serious i will. say this. canada's prime minister justin trudeau says he's going to sell for until after his wife tested positive for corona virus so he trudeau had been experiencing flu like symptoms following a visit to the u.k. the prime minister says he doesn't have signs of the infection that will stay in isolation for 14 days. actor tom hanks is the people for their support after he and his actress wife were diagnosed with corona virus you posted this picture of himself and his wife rita wilson on instagram with a message saying that they are in isolation so that they don't spread the virus but announce that they had the virus on thursday straightly where hanks is working on a film. disneyland is closing down in the u.s. and europe after this weekend it's parks in florida california and paris. until at least the end of march as well it's cruise line disney's already shut down its asian parks for 2 months creating estimated losses of $175000000.00

and in an unprecedented move the vatican has ordered the closure of rome's catholic churches until early april in response to the coronavirus pandemic that follows cancellations of public engagements by the pope who's been live streaming pres to avoid big crowds european governments are asking companies to show leniency with sick leave and other benefits so employees don't struggle financially if they fall ill but this won't help people who are on part time contractual work it's on the gago reports empty streets closed shops and warning signs to keep their distance roam a shadow of its usual self low bustling crowds of visitors to help sustain its vital tourism sector richly impacting the economy and workers. the government has to help us you have to pay rent or mortgage bills you have never ending expenses just you know we're all in the same boat but for some it's worse if

we don't work i don't know how we will survive. exempt from the nationwide closures grocery stores and pharmacies remaining open to provide a vital service for country under quarantine to one preparing itself for the worst in spain's capital madrid public transport remains open but buses trains and metro carriages are being disinfected every night and the threat of an impending lockdown has already affected small businesses here the record. we have recently noticed that there are fewer and fewer customers in the stall not only in the morning or afternoon but also in the evening people are more inclined to stay at home they are kind of struck by conic. in london one of the largest cities in europe and a crucial financial hub the focus has been primarily to protect any economic fallout from the pandemic new government measures to protect staff employees with

immediate changes to sick leave have offered protection but it is the small business owners those on temporary contracts and freelances with no access to those benefits who are at risk of losing everything such as this self-employed cab driver . of earnings ready. just because it's my only source of stuff like mortgages and just what i'm. really kind of career would be because you haven't got. one country after the other school and children's daycare centers are being closed and attempt to stem the spread of the virus but it's also affecting working parents with childcare responsibilities but those in the public and health care sectors facing the dilemma of how they can go about their work at a time when hospitals are facing unprecedented strains are going to try to work from home. computers to work with them but i don't think you can get the

same amount of work done. the fear of what is happening in italy may be galvanizing other countries to attempt to get ahead of the pandemic but this is a waiting game with many wondering whether these measures are simply delaying the damage wrought by covert 19 egoless exceeded containing the virus as much as possible. turning to other news now the u.s. has launched retaliatory air strikes in iraq in response to a rocket attack that left 3 people dead on wednesday. 2 americans at a british soldier was killed on wednesday when almost 20 rockets were fired at a military base northwest of baghdad the head of the u.s. central command suggested the attack was carried out by an iran backed group simona faultiness in baghdad she says the u.s. targeted several locations across the country. we understand and several positions

were hit across iraq at around 1 am local time including areas in south of baghdad which is considered a stronghold of the iranian backed popular mobilisation forces we often understand the positions were held in the southern city of karbala airport as well as in. now what appears to have happened is that the u.s. targeted primarily weapons drawn in the facilities of the popular mobilization forces including groups from hezbollah which is one of the groups that is very close to iran in which the u.s. accused of conducting the strikes against the base in perjury which resulted in the killing of 2 u.s. personnel as well as a u.k. soldier stationed there we also understand that another group. was targeted as well as another group. these are groups that are generally referred to as the islamic

resistance they're part of the popular mobilization force which is officially integrated into the states. but which is very close to iran now we understand that the intention was not to target specific people or commanders but rather the weapons facilities despite that we are hearing reports from one of the pm after the 7 people were injured injured of us are also getting reports at once a very and may have been killed in as a result of the strikes. of course in malawi has granted beltre 3 activists accused of planning anti-government protests of a month of demonstrations against president facing was a record disputed re-election last year back up to reports. these scenes are guaranteed to pile more pressure on the levees president. of the country's leading human rights activists are released from jail granted bail after they were arrested for trying to organize protests outside homes of top government officials including

the president. they've been leading anti-government demonstrations since may's disputed presidential election. in the middle east and probably should be prepared. malawi's coming in the new beginnings coming and it's no. precedent darley won last year's election but claims of whites between regularities have led to the should by protests last month a constitutional court ordered to rerun with it $150.00 days parliament wants a vote it may but which reka has yet to sign the bills into law to make it happen and that's a good activists and opposition politicians. needs to comply with what the courts say is he is a maori and citizen just like the rest of us nobody is a back to law. rico has begun his own legal challenge against

a ruling that overturned his reelection he's sworn to gives any demonstrations challenging his authority plunging into one of its biggest constitutional crisis since it gained independence from britain in 163. 0. special friday prayers have been held in new zealand to remember the 51 people killed in shootings at 2 mosques a year ago hundreds of people gathered in an arena in christchurch not far from one of the mosques where $43.00 people died and now the service is due to go ahead on sunday despite the corona virus outbreak a stray or national brenton tyrant is due to stand trial in june on charges of terrorism murder and attempted murder some of the attack was streamed live resales prime minister said efforts to reform gun laws and change the way social media platforms deal with attacks have been successful. in those events we social media platforms have been used to broadcast to texts to secure lation of those videos

have been. diminished my recollection is of a recent take in europe the numbers were in the thousands as opposed to what we experienced here in new zealand. result is there are these at the top stories global stock markets plunged further due to the crowd a virus pandemic on friday major asian indices fell by around 8 percent within minutes of opening care's nikkei index has just closed down 6 percent that's after wall street suffered its worst single day losses since $987.00. a top u.s. health official says the government is failing to account for what could be thousands of infections because the testing system is not working more testing kits are expected to be made available in the coming week. it's not really geared to what we need right now what you are asking for that is

a failing and yes it is a failing there let's admit it the fact is the way the system was set up is that the public health component that dr that dr redfield was talking about was a system where you put it out there in the public and a physician asks for it and you get it the i hear of anybody getting it easily the way people who know the country are doing it we're not set up for that do i think we should be yes but we're not across the world sporting events of being his english premier league team chelsea has gone into self isolation after a player tested positive an emergency meeting is true in the coming hours to decide the future of premier league games this season in spain the league has been suspended after the real madrid team was placed in quarantine. and in north america the national hockey league major league baseball and the n.b.a. have been affected by the formula one grand prix e.g.

to be held to a straight here this weekend has been called off and turning to other news the u.s. says launch for telling a tree airstrikes in iraq. it was in response to a rocket attack that left 2 americans and a british soldier dead on wednesday u.s. defense secretary mark esp a said he was given the green light to do so by president donald trump special friday prayers have been held in new zealand to remember the 51 people killed in shootings at 2 mosques a year ago hundreds of people gathered in an arena in christ church not far from one of the mosques where 43 people died. but as the headlines news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story. when a prime minister takes a lump of coal into his own parliament that call means a lot to the country's fortunes we bring you the stories and developments that i'm rapidly changing the world we live in get a break sit down that was

a slogan that one of the prime minister boris johnson counting the cost on al-jazeera. counting the coronavirus pandemic the stop the world health organization because the outbreak of pandemic and donald trump finally joins all the countries in taking draconian measures to stop the spread but all travel bans enough this is inside story. hello again i'm jane spays what started in a single chinese city is now a pandemic so far infecting at least 120000 people in more than 100 countries world leaders a warning the coronavirus crisis is going to get worse but is not on stoppable the measures to limit this.