this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: china sacks officials at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak, and drastically increases the official number of infected people. italy's ex— interior minister matteo salvini reacts with defiance after a vote that could see him face trial. president putin's opponents launch a campaign to stop him rewriting the russian constitution. coming up in the business briefing: leading the charge. car firms invest billions in an electric future, as a ban on combustion engines looms nearer. but are they going fast enough?

a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. tell us what what you think about the stories we are covering, or what you are spotting where you are. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. two officials in the chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus epidemic have been removed from their posts by the ruling communist party. the news was announced a short time ago after a huge spike in the number of deaths and confirmed cases were revealed after changing its methods of diagnosis. the death toll has risen by almost 250 to 1,355, with new cases in hubei soaring by nearly 15,000. 0ur correspondent nick beake

joins me now from hong kong. are joins me now from hong kong. you able to tell us | detail are you able to tell us more detail about these officials who have been fired, as it were, that are at the centre of the coronavirus epidemic? yes, ican, and the coronavirus epidemic? yes, i can, and i think this is shaping up to be a pretty significant day both in terms of the politics and the people affect that by this coronavirus. we have heard already this morning that three very senior officials have been relieved of their duties. that's the top party official in hubei, the province at the heart of this outbreak, his deputy, and also the top deputy in wuhan, the city where they are in wuhan, the city where they a re really, really in wuhan, the city where they are really, really struggling to contain this. we know that the top official on the

provincial level has been replaced by someone in shanghai, someone who is said to bea shanghai, someone who is said to be a key ally of president xi of china, someone who has worked with the president in the past. so that is the politics, and as you say, it comes on the same morning that we got a lot of information about the number of cases, and it seems that many more people have been getting the coronavirus than we thought. and the explanation we're getting the chinese state media and also the officials is that what they are now doing is they are including the number of people who have got coronavirus, it is thought, without an official test. so in other words, they have been to see the doctor, the doctor has done an x—ray or look at their symptoms, and said yes, this is coronavirus. all of those cases are now being included. so for example, the daily number of deaths lept from something like 103 to 242. so a very considerable rise. and of course, this means the perspective on what is happening next changes completely, doesn't it, with

this new spike in numbers, because prior to that it was looking like things were levelling off, if not going in the right direction. you are absolutely right. i mean, for seven 01’ absolutely right. i mean, for seven or eight days now the chinese authorities have been saying, look, you've got to look at the bigger picture. the number of new cases has been steadily declining. and i mean, this makes us look once again at the broader picture. and of course, the world health organization yesterday was talking about the global picture, saying that by and large we haven't seen more countries report cases, and they were talking about a stabilisation, that was their word, of the coronavirus on a global level. but if you look at hubei province, it looks like it is really, really grim there. and we know, people have told the bbc over the last few weeks that some of their loved ones have died without being able to get a hospital bed, and the reason for that is a p pa re ntly the reason for that is apparently that there was no official confirmation that they had the coronavirus. so i think this means that we have to look

again at the extent of this. we have to look again at the mortality rate that is being bandied about. and of course, it raises the possibility that many more people have died with the coronavirus, but they simply will not be included in the finalfigures. simply will not be included in the final figures. all right, thank you very much indeed. just to say, we will have a lot more on that later on in the programme as well, in our news briefing and in business. the italian far—right leader matteo salvini has responded with defiance after the senate voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution. mr salvini is now facing a trial on charges of illegally detaining migrants at sea when he was interior minister last year. he insisted he had acted to protect italy, and would do the same again if he returns to power. rich preston reports. italian lawmakers are immune from prosecution for actions taken whilst in office. wednesday's decision in italy's senate removes that

immunity from matteo salvini. members of his own league party left the chamber, refusing to take part in the vote. for his part, matteo salvini says he wants to go to court, saying he is proud of what he did, and that he would defend his actions. translation: my children have the right to know that their father is away from home not because he is spending time kidnapping human beings, but because he is defending the borders and security of his country. that was his precise duty — not his right, his duty. he compared himself to the us president, donald trump, saying like mrtrump, his opponents were trying to use the courts to undermine his political success. matteo salvini's hardline anti—immigrant policies have made him a success with voters. as interior minister, he routinely blocked rescue boats from docking in italian ports, forcing many to stay at sea for days. in 2019, an italian coastguard boat, the gregoretti,

picked up about 140 migrants trying to cross the mediterranean. whilst some were allowed off for medical attention, more than 100 were forced to stay on board for nearly a week. prosecutors accused mr salvini of effectively kidnapping the people. and this isn't the only potential prosecution facing matteo salvini. later this month, he faces losing his immunity over another similar case. if he is convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison. if he is acquitted, it is almost certain he will be back in the political game, buoyed by his victory, and his supporters reinvigorated by the failure of the courts to get the guy who, for them, is out to save italy. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: germany will mark 75 years since the destruction of dresden in world war ii on thursday. tens of thousands of people are expected to gather in the german city to pay tribute to the victims of allied air raids in 1945. nearly 4,000 tons of bombs were dropped in the assault, killing 25,000 people.

a 52—year—old man is expected to appear in court later charged with the murder of lyra mckee, thejournalist shot dead during rioting in londonderry last april. as well as the murder charge, he is accused of possessing a firearm and membership of an illegal organisation. at the time, the new ira claimed responsibility for the killing of the 29—year—old in derry. emmanuel macron has pledge to protect mont blanc. he will deliver a speech in chamonix on his vision of what is needed to protect biodiversity and better police europe's highest alp.

80% of the glacier could be lost by the end of the 21st century. scientists in south america have unearthed fossils that shed new life on one of the world's largest ever turtles. stupendemys geographicus, or the stupendous turtle, could grow up to four metres in length and weigh more than a ton. it lived between 13 and 7 million years ago. iam going i am going to have to learn that official name, aren't i? i will get it right next time. let's turn to our top business story now, the rise of electric vehicles, after britain's transport minister suggested a ban on new petrol and diesel cars could bejust 12 years away. some chinese cities want to do it by 2030, and norway has set a deadline of 2025. but is the auto industry moving fast enough? electric cars made up barely more than 2% of global auto sales last year. andrew tuck is editor of monocle, a global news

and business magazine. good to see you. good to see you. so ev cars and us switching to electric vehicles, of course, the pressure is now on with governments setting deadlines. well, are they setting the deadline? that is the first problem. i think the industry is a bit concerned that this is a moving target, and even now when grant shapps spoke, he said 2035 but maybe 2032. so do we have to do it all in12 2032. so do we have to do it all in 12 years or have we still got the 15 years we thought? so i think especially for car manufacturers when you think of the tooling up on the changes in processes that have to happen, they just changes in processes that have to happen, theyjust want to know first of all, what is the date so that they can prepare and be ready for it? there is still a little bit of kind of messed around that date. but also it is notjust around electric vehicles in the car industry being ready —— mist around that date. it is about charging points, range anxiety, all sorts of other issues that have to be in place as well. so

already we are seeing and building regulations people are being encouraged to put in charging points for new houses, but when you come to a city like london, when you walk around, where would you logo vehicle in today? there are charging points but not enough for the kinds of vehicles they are talking about. at the moment only 3% of vehicles are these low, low emission electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles. if you are going to move to everybody having one, where is that infrastructure going to come from? it is not just the car industry. what the government has to do is persuade councils, authorities and city planners to think differently about infrastructure. and even if there are a number of charging points available, there is this whole issue of certainly commuters who come into london, they might plug their car in and leave it there all day, which means it is not available to others. there is this whole sort of charging etiquette, a brand—new world we will have to get used to, isn't there?” get used to, isn't there?|j have get used to, isn't there?” have seen a few people who are anxious because there are only anxious because there are only a few charging places and they wa nt to a few charging places and they want to get onto the charging

point, and also, which is illegal in london, people running a cable across the kitchen to their car, people tripping over cables. so unless we get that infrastructure part right, there is no pointjust blaming the car industry for this. thank you, for now. andrew is back later and we have plenty to discuss in the news briefing. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: bringing new meaning to a mouldy old mattress, the revolutionary technique being used to grow food in a camp for syrian refugees. there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'ba by doc' duvalier.

because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special, secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: china has sacked two top communist party officials in the province at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, hours after it reported a huge increase in cases and deaths. the italian far—right leader matteo salvini has responded with defiance after the senate voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity

from prosecution. in russia, opponents of president putin have launched a campaign to stop him rewriting the russian constitution. the kremlin leader has proposed a number of amendments he says will make russia stronger, but his critics claim the real aim of the changes is to allow mr putin to hold onto power indefinitely. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg travelled 1,000 miles from moscow, to the industrial heartland of russia, to see how russians view the prospect of mr putin governing for as long as he wants. it feels like a world away from moscow. an industrial dystopia of slack, steam, smoke. this town was built by a dictator who called himself a man of

steel, stalin. the idea of a strong ruler, an iron hand, is still attractive here. in her tiny flat, this woman is raising four of her grandchildren by herself. but, as tough as things are, she remains up beat about the future, and about russia's current leader. translation: vladimir putin is my favourite. he can sing, he can do politics, everything. he has boosted our country. russia gets noticed now. i want him to be president forever. the suspicion is he does as well. vladimir putin is in a hurry to rewrite russia's constitution. it is for the good of the country, he says. but critics claim his realaim is to

country, he says. but critics claim his real aim is to stay in power indefinitely, if not as president, then in some other role. if vladimir putin's plan is to stick around on the political stage, it is clear that many russians will accept that, either because they believe there is no alternative to putin or because they feel they don't have the power a nyway to they don't have the power anyway to influence the key decisions russia's future taken at the top. but some russians are trying. across the urals, in ekaterinburg, these protesters are accusing prison ofa protesters are accusing prison of a constitutional coup. translation: the authorities are treating the constitution like toilet paper. they are using them to wipe their bottoms, which have got stuck to the throne. by the turnout is tiny. tatiana still believes in the power of protest. but sadly, she says, the russian

people are sleeping. and that means that, if a russian leader wa nts to means that, if a russian leader wants to stay in power, to rule for ever, like now, there is little to stand on their way. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. in the coming hours, here in london, borisjohnson's expected to rearrange the names around his top table in a post—brexit cabinet reshuffle. also in london, later, barclays will announce its 2019 results and in new york city, closing arguments are expected in the sex abuse trial of film mogul harvey weinstein. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm marc edwards and here is your thursday sport briefing. organisers of the shanghai grand prix — scheduled for the 19th april in shanghai — have had their request for the postponement of the race approved by f1's governing body.

this comes as chinese officials continue their efforts to bring the coronavirus under control. the formula 1 race joins among others, the chinese super league, the world athletics indoor championships and a world cup alpine skiing event to be cancelled or delayed. the asian champions league has also been affected by the coronavirus outbreak with this week's matches involving chinese clubs re—scheduled for april. but two games did go ahead on wednesday with vissel kobe making a fairytale debut in the competition as they thrashed malaysia's johor darul ta'zim 5—1. keijiro ogawa will get all the plaudits with the japanese forward plundering a hattrick of goals but a big mention to 35—year—old andres iniesta who ran the show with two assists. tiger woods is among the 120 players taking part in the genesis invitational tournament which gets underway in california later on thursday. woods is seeking

a record—breaking 83rd pga tour win, but last year could only finish tied 15th, and he admits that his record at the riviera country club is poor i have historically never parted well here. i've played so parted well here. i've played so many rounds here and it suits a natural cutter of the golf ball and i figure that is what i have done my entire career. when you come down to it you need to hit the ball well here because the greens are so well here because the greens are so small but for some reason everything breaks forward and i have not yet figured it out. defending champion gael monfils is safely through to the second round of the rotterdam open meaning a head to head with his french compatriot on thursday for a place in the quarter—finals. monfils, who's the number three seed, eased past portugal's joao sousa in straight sets. the frenchman has enjoyed plenty of success on the hard courts with the highlight

being his run to the semi finals of the us open in 2016. he's bidding for back—to back tour titles now on the surface, following his victory in montpellier last week, — and he tookjust an hour and 10 minutes to win 6—3, 6—2. now how about this? an egyptian man is attempting to become the world's oldest professional footballer and at the same time putting all septuagenarians to shame! ! that's right he's doing this at the grand old age of...drumroll please... you won't believe this... 75. this is ezzeldine bahader. he started playing football in the streets of cairo at the age of six. he abandoned his dream of playing professionally to became a civil engineering consultant. he also admits he smoked for many years. but he decided to reignite his footballing dream and successfully signed for a club in egypt's third division.

to qualify as the world's oldest professional player, bahader needs to play two 90—minute matches, something he hopes to accomplish in march. ijust hope im half as fit as he is at 75. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, that's your thursday sport briefing. can old mattresses be used to grow food? well, scientists in a syrian refugee camp in thejordanian desert are using mattress foam instead of soil to grow hundreds of plants. they're not just growing food for the camps, but are recycling piles of discarded mattresses and are providing a hobby for the people living there, many of whom were farmers back in syria. our science correspondent, victoria gill investigates. gardening in the confines of a refugee camp. mohammad's family lost their home and their farm when they fled

the war in syria. now, here in thejordanian desert, he's able to teach his children how to grow vegetables in a very unconventional way, using old mattress foam. it sounds like the garden has made this more of a real home. is that fair to say? translation: yes, absolutely, it makes me feel like i'm in my home village back in syria. about 80,000 people live here. this is essentially a city that sprung up in a very short period of time. most of the people that live here used to farm in syria and now there is very limited space. the soil is extremely poor. enabling people to grow their own food is a vital step towards making this a sustainable place to live. everything gets reused, repurposed. nothing gets thrown away. on their sustainability mission to the camp, these scientists found that what was thought to be a problem here was actually the way to give everyone a garden. there was a warehouse full. and it was, "oh, we don't know

what to do with these." there was no disposal mechanism. i'd been to a landfill site and seen a tomato plant growing on an old sofa. really? yeah, yeah, yeah. and that's why i knew it would work. this is hydroponics. the foam supports the plants, so there's no need for soil and this method requires much less water because it's kept where it's needed, rather than draining away. in zaatari, this whole system is made from recycled materials. this is just one of the plants. there's a whole, i don't even know how many are here, hundreds. old coffee cup, bit of foam, there's the old mattress, and thatjust pops in there so it can get all its nutrients. it's amazing. everything is recycled. so far, more than 1000 people have signed up for demonstration sessions like this. everybody gets a starter kit. yeah. they get the starter kit and they take it back with them

to home so they can start their own. right. it is spreading so fast and everybody is invested. what is your favourite thing about this project? people having their own greens again. growing nutritious food in a place with limited water and limited space could provide lessons for urban environments all round the world. as climate change plays out we could all end up living like this. who knows what will happen. translation: my whole family works with me on this. mohammed now dedicates hours every day to his garden. translation: we can share this knowledge with our children so one day they can benefit from it and share it with their own children. here, this was an idea borne from necessity. but it could help generations grow nutritious food in the most challenging environments. victoria gill,

bbc news, jordan. a fascinating way of using resources where you are full stop. —— where you are. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. we are looking at the race to get electric vehicles on the road not only in britain but around the world. can the various deadlines be met? and later a news briefing, we will look at the events that have been postponed or cancelled because of coronavirus. the mobile world congress taking place in barcelona, that is no longer happening and the chinese grand prix that was scheduled to take place in mid april has been postponed as well. more details on those

stories in a moment and i will see you very soon. very cold in scotland. the weather is changing again because we are getting strong wind coming in from the south—west bringing in cloud over many parts of the country rain. with the cold air further north it is notjust rain here but also some sleet and snow especially in the hills, milder further south. heading north into scotland where there could be some snow in the central belt for the rush hour. central and southern scotland, for north of england seeing most of the snow over the drying off across northern ireland through the morning stop further south some heavy showers drawn in on some heavy showers drawn in on

some gale force winds with the southernmost parts of england through the channel and into the channel islands. those winds will ease down a bit in the afternoon as michelle was pushed into eastern parts of england. furthermore, an improving story. many places are drierand improving story. many places are drier and brighter but still dull damp and cold. an area of low pressure bringing all that weather is going to move away through during thursday evening and by the time we get to friday the next area of low pressure and weather fronts are on the doorstep at overnight a little ridge of high pressure means there will be clear skies, frosty for many areas and there may well be some mist and fog touches and icy patches as well. northern ireland will be milder with wind and rain and quickly they will strengthen and the cloud will increase on friday and the rain will topple down from the north—west. snow in the mountains of scotland and elsewhere we will see the snow melting. not a lot of rain for eastern parts of england but turning much milder

everywhere with temperatures 8— 12 degrees in those south south—westerly winds did more wild weather over the weekend but increasingly windy weather as well because of the deepening area of low pressure heading up towards iceland. that is storm dennis and dennis will be a menace through the weekend and into monday. two elements to the weather, firstly the strength of the wind. wind gusts of 50—60 mph and higher than that around exposed coasts. and the amount of rain, wet in england and wales over the hills of wales and the south—west and a good four inches or more threatening some flooding.

this is the business briefing, i'm sally bundock. leading the charge. car firms invest billions in an electric future, as a ban on combustion engines looms nearer. but are they going fast enough? plus: it doesn't come from bat soup, and it isn't cured by garlic. battling the infodemic of fake news about the coronavirus. and on the markets, new record closes for all three major us stock indexes on hopes the coronavirus outbreak could be running out of steam, but news of a spike in cases