i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore, the headlines: south korea's president has put the country on the highest possible alert as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus surges past 600. india prepares for donald trump's visit by building a wall along the route of his motorcade. but can narendra modi and the us president break down trade barriers? indian officials have hinted that there could be an announcement on defence, but the trade deal president trump wants so badly looks unlikely. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. also in the programme:

idlib in syria is under ferocious attack by forces loyal to president assad. we have a special report. and we'll look at how indonesia is trying to fight flooding by spreading table salt in the clouds. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, iam in london and 10am in south korea, which is now home to some of the biggest outbreaks of the new coronavirus outside mainland china. there are now more than 600 confirmed cases in south korea, and six people have died. president moonjae—in has raised the nation's disease alert to its highest level. laura bicker reports from seoul.

this hospital should have been a safe haven from the deadly infection, but nearly 100 of its already vulnerable patients are now battling coronavirus. some are being transferred to specialist clinics, two have died on the way. nearby in daegu, the worst affected area, they've created several crisis centres. outside, the ambulances are lined up, each with a patient waiting to be admitted. the spread of this virus may be relentless, but so are the efforts to stop it. how are you coping? ah, yeah, we have to overcome this situation. do you think you can do it? yeah, but i pray. half of south korea's cases are linked to a secretive religious sect, which is accused of failing to cooperate with medical staff. it's church in daegu became a target, prompting the movement's leaders to speak out. he said his congregation were the biggest victims of the virus and urged people

to stop spreading groundless rumours. the main shopping district of south korea's fourth largest city is almost abandoned. the few who do venture out can use technology to help them stay away from infected areas. alarm sounds they're using your phone to locate where you are, and then they will send you an emergency alert if you are anywhere near where a confirmed coronavirus patient has been. south korea is now facing a race against time to trace the potentially thousands who have been infected and prevent this epidemic from getting out of control. laura bicker, bbc news, daegu. in europe, the uk has confirmed another four cases, bringing the total to 13. and in italy, a third person

has died and more than 100 people have tested positive. austria has denied entry to a train coming from italy and is halting other train services with its southern neighbour. the italian government has announced strict controls in 11 northern towns near venice and milan, with no one allowed in or out. mark lowen is near codogno, the epicentre of italy's outbreak. we've been driving around this exclusion zone and the streets have been completely deserted, the police told us earlier that if we went a bit further up this road towards the town, we would have to go into quarantine like the more than 50,000 people across 12 towns in northern italy who are now in lockdown. now, i spoke earlier to one man who is in the town, i spoke to him by phone, he said that in a town of 16,000 people, there isjust one fruit and vegetable store open. all the other shops and pharmacies are closed.

tonight, the italian government is trying to get a grip on this coronavirus outbreak, and to understand how the number of cases has risen rapidly from three on friday to more than 150 tonight. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. bernie sanders has won the latest contest in the race to choose a democratic candidate for november's us presidential election. his victory in the nevada caucuses strengthens his position as the front—runner. the former vice president joe biden came second. senator sanders is now campaigning in texas and addressed a rally in houston. for the working people and the young people of the state, latin and lit latinos, they are the nation of america. is our people stand together, come out to vote, we are going to win here in texas. also making news today: in turkey, nine people have died in an earthquake that struck near the country's border with iran. turkish tv showed rescue workers in van province searching for people. it's thought more than 1,000

buildings collapsed when the 5.8 magnitude quake hit on sunday. president trump says he would sign a peace deal with the taliban in afghanistan if the current seven—day reduction in violence holds. this agreement comes after a year of talks between the us and the taliban. the israeli military says it's carried out attacks in syria and gaza after a barrage of rockets were fired into israel. a spokesperson said the israeli defence forces had launched a series of strikes against what it called terrorist targets belonging to the islamichhad organization in southern damascus, as well as dozens of similar targets in gaza. airports in the canary islands are reopening. a saharan dust storm grounded all planes, turned the sky orange and reduced visibility.

at least 12,000 passengers were affected by the cancellations. president trump is starting a two—day visit to india, where a lavish welcome is being planned. but it's looking unlikely that mr trump and the indian prime minister, narendra modi, will finalise a long—awaited trade deal. he'll attend a rally alongside mr modi in his home city. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan looks ahead to what we can expect from the trip. as india gets ready for the arrival of president trump, no expense is being spared. his first stop, the city of ahmedabad in prime minister modi's home state, gujarat. preparations include building a wall along his planned route to conceal some of the slums in the area. residents aren't pleased. translation: when you are

spending so much money for the wall, then come and have a look inside the shanties of us poor people. you can spend 800,000 to a million rupees for the wall, then also go inside the shanty of a poor person to see how they are living, what conditions they are living in. president trump's expected to get a grand welcome when he and prime minister modi address a rally in the city to inaugurate the world's largest cricket stadium, motera. it's modelled on the howdy modi event last year in houston, texas, when the leaders stood side by side at a rally in america with thousands in attendance. both face pressure at home. president trump post—impeachment, prime minister modi in the wake of kashmir and his party's controversial citizenship bill. president trump will meet prime minister modi here in delhi for talks. indian officials have hinted that there could be an announcement on defence, but the trade deal president trump wants so badly looks unlikely. and in a us election year, the president is continuing

to talk tough about his hosts. we're doing a very big trade deal with india. we'll have it. i don't know if it'll be done before the election, but we'll have a very big deal with india. we're not treated very well by india, but i happen to like prime minister modi a lot. indian officials say they don't want to rush into a trade deal. president trump's trip to india's looks set to be heavy on ceremony, but lighter on concrete proposals. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. arunoday mukharji joins me now live from ahmedabad. what do you expect from this visit? first up, a lot of atmospherics. this is where donald trump will be beginning his first presidential trip to india. the lands here in ahmedabad and he will be shown through the streets to arrive at his first location which happens to be an ashram where mahatma gandhi had spent

several days before embarking on the freedom struggle but if i could just explain to you what it looks like here in the city of ahmedabad. you can see the light, the stadium, the world's largest cricket stadium which ronald trump is expected to inaugurate was a bit has been led all night in preparation for donald trump. it holds about 100,000 people, so we are it holds about 100,000 people, so we are expecting that many people there but along the route, there is about 100 of thousands of people there. not a single hoarding is free, it is full of posters. it is all talking about prime minister mohdee and donald trump and the special relationship that they suspect —— share. —— mohdee macro. i think modi macro and trump will be wanting their

own. what about concrete results 7 own. what about concrete results? that is the big question. many experts said this is high on ops —— optics and is, one of the issues are still an outstanding issue is that of a trade deal. both countries have failed to reach any kind of agreement in fact, any kind of agreement in fact, aus any kind of agreement in fact, a us visual trade agreement isn't part of this. donald trump has pointed out this isn't going to be attributable see any kind of a concrete trade deal but as far as tangibles are concerned, most importantly, the focus is shifting towards the field of defence. $2.6 billion dealfor helicopters with lockheed martin is expected to be signed. we are expecting some forward movement when it comes to the sector of energy and they will also be negotiations on certain other slightly uncomfortable issues for a minister modi —— prime minister modi mack.

there will also be treating about the treatment of indian muslims and highlighting religious freedom after they brought in a law which has attracted a set —— considerable controversy about discrimination to muslims. these are things that will come up these are things that will come up in the conversation between both leaders. a fascinating trip and we will have plenty of coverage here on bbc world news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: indonesia takes to the skies to try and stop flooding on land. we'll report on how table salt might be the magic ingredient. also on the programme, south africa beat england at the women's t20 world cup in perth. 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 marcos's sanctuary, malaca nang, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's 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 wasn't. 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 credibilty and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, "be hidden from the world for the rest of his life."

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm lewis vaughn jones in london. our top stories: south korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the highest level as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise. india prepares for donald trump's visit as narendra modi and the us president consider plans to break down trade barriers. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times questions the government's response to coronavirus, specifically how it isolated passengers aboard the diamond princess cruise ship. we see the stringent measures being taken in the south korean city of daegu, which is now in lockdown.

the new york times leads on president trump's claim that he'll be welcomed by ten million people when he arrives in india. nevermind that the city where he's to meet prime minister modi has a population ofjust over eight million. it also previews a new guggenheim exhibition, ‘countryside, the future', by the dutch writer—turned architect, rem koolhaas. the arab news is at the g20 summit in saudi arabia, where global finance chiefs have pledged economic inclusion and equality for women. and a young syrian girl washes her boots at a refugee camp in idlib where nearly a million people have fled violence. that brings you up to date with some of the papers.

the united nations says the greatest exodus of civilians in the syrian civil war is taking place in idlib province. the fighting in the last major rebel stronghold in the country, has left about a million people trapped. the bbc‘s middle east correspondent quentin sommerville and camera operator fred scott have been into idlib and have this special report. a darkness is closing in around idlib. the regime is creeping closer, and those who oppose it take shelter where they can. 26 families are living in this empty shell. the tarpaulin walls put up by ismail yusuf aren't enough to keep out the cold, or the sound of regime shelling. bashar al—assad's forces are less than six miles from here. translation: if the regime comes here, we will head to turkey, but they aren't letting anyone in. in the end, we will have

to go to the border, because the alternative is death. towns and villages have been emptied out. a million people have fled in the last three months. the border camps are full. abu douma has already tried to leave once. the shelling is close enough now to make the children flinch. translation: it was like judgment day. there were columns upon columns of vehicles leaving. there was nowhere to go. there were no houses left to rent, not even tents. rebel—held idlib is shrinking fast. these turkish—backed forces and armed jihadists have lost village after town. they took us closer to the front lines.

turkey has given them new weapons and vehicles. but they are outmatched by the regime and russia, and powerless to stop the advance. war has been these children's lives. here at idlib orphanage number one, they try to shut it out, but it's getting harder. war came knocking again earlier this week, when regime shells landed close by. translation: the girls were terrified. they held one another and started crying. they said this was the last safe place, after fleeing so many times. where would they go? would this be the place where they would all die? the situation here has

never been more bleak. and they can already feel the regime's grasp. it has bombed people in hospitals and markets, and earlier this week, it shelled this camp too. a ceasefire may be the only hope, but they're keeping their cars and belongings packed, just in case. it's a squalid end to syria's war. but still, people here tell us, they would much rather endure this than suffer under bashar al—assad's rule. it is now the biggest exodus of the conflict. they have fled time and time again, and now they can go no further. so they ask, now that there are so many of them, can the world continue to ignore their fate? for young and old, there is now almost no safe place in idlib. after enduring nine years of misery, the last place they want to be is left at the mercy of bashar al—assad.

hospitals and laboratories around the world have been working around the clock to develop a test kit for the coronavirus. here in singapore, a test kit has been rolled out at some public hospitals. it was developed by the government's agency for science, technology and research — known as a*star. one of the scientists behind this new test kit, dr timothy barkham, told us about the genesis of the kit. well, i had a message, i think it was new year's day, from one of three people i work with and have been since 2003 asking me whether i thought this was something important, and should we do anything about it. at the time, we had heard of cases, but we didn't know how severe it was going to be. and crucially, you mentioned 2003, that was when singapore had to deal — and of course, much of the region had to deal with the outbreak of sars. so, what's been learnt since then? how does this kit work exactly to address some of those issues? well, from our perspective, it is the design and my colleague who actually does most of the design work, he used his experience

from the sars virus, when he also produced a kit, the experience tells him where on the genome to look. so parts of the genome are likely to mutate and change, other parts are more likely to be stable. so if we look at the stable parts, then our test is likely to be more resilient. right. now, we know there is a lot of other tests being developed in the region in hong kong and other places, for instance, so how is your test different? well, in some ways, i haven't tried their tests, so i suspect they are incredibly similar. we do know some of the early tests were from a different part of the genome, so on a theoretical basis, we think ours maybe have the edge. but of course, their tests could work perfectly well and i would expect the quality of tests in many countries to be excellent. right. indonesia is still dealing with the aftermath of the worst flooding to hit the capital jakarta and surrounding areas in a quarter of a century. more than 60 people are known to have died — tens of thousands more displaced. with more rain predicted in the coming weeks,

authorities are now working to stop further disaster by using a process known as cloud seeding. resty woro yuniar reports from jakarta. used for thousands of years in the kitchen, indonesia is hoping common table salt will become the secret ingredient in fighting floods. the new decade has brought massive flooding in and around jakarta. the capital was hit by the most intense rainfall in 150 years. now, the government is sending the military into the sky armed with salt, to try and control when and where the next big rains will fall. it is a process known as cloud seeding. once the salt is loaded on board, the military fly high into storm clouds, and the salt is released. salt particles attract moisture in the cloud, creating droplets.

when those droplets group together, they become too heavy to stay in the sky, the idea being to encourage rain to fall while storm clouds are out at sea. translation: we have managed to cut 30—a0% of rainfall intensity since our operation began. that is the ideal number to prevent further flooding. once a threat is identified in the sky, crews quickly get to work. it is a simple process to artificially create rainfall over the ocean. if it works, it could help give jakarta the relief it so desperately needs. while the government is convinced cloud seeding is the best way to modify the weather, others are concerned about the long—term environmental impact. translation: the moisture in the clouds could become really acidic.

adding sodium chloride, or salt, could create acid rain. normal rain has a ph of about 5—6. if the ph reaches about three, it would have an impact on a number of plants. forecasts predict that more heavy rain is on the way, and will hit jakarta in the coming weeks. while it will take some time to say for sure whether this process has real impact, the government is pushing ahead, hoping cloud seeding will be the success they need to save homes and lives. the third day of the women's cricket t20 world cup saw south africa defeat england with the help of married teammates dane van knee kerk and marry zane cap. jo currie from bbc sport reports. day three at the t20 world cup, and it was the turn of one

of the favourites to finally get their campaign under way. 2018 runners—up england lost the toss and were put into bat by south africa. in fact, england's innings got off to a bit of a shaky start, finding themselves 43—3 until all—rounder natalie sciver made a half—century to help guide england to a total of 123. in response, south africa lost an early wicket. but then the partnership of married couple dane van niekerk and marizanne kapp saw them put on a stand to set up a thrilling finish, south africa needing nine runs from the final over, mignon du preez hitting five boundaries to secure a victory, the first time they have ever beaten england in the t20 world cup. both teams now move on to canberra, where they will face thailand in the next round of matches. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

stay with us for lots more on bbc world news. hello there. the weather looks set to cause a few more problems over the coming days. first of all, well, the risk of flooding hasn't diminished at all. we've got over 100 flood warnings currently in force, and we've also got a severe flood warning that's been issued. that's been put on a stretch of the river severn, this time in shrewsbury, in shropshire, and it's here later on this afternoon that we could see the river approach record levels. and there could be further flooding over the coming days. we have got more rain in the forecast as well. the other thing that you might encounter as we head into the first part of the morning is this. yes, there is the potential for some disruptive snow. let me explain. it's been getting chilly across northern parts of the country, whereas in the south, you can see some

mild air here. temperatures 10 degrees orso in cardiff. it's mild because it's turned wet and windy, and this band of heavy rain is moving across wales and the midlands, bumping into the cold air. it's turned into snow across the high ground of northern england, and across the hills of scotland as well. we could see the snow come down to lower elevations for a time, just in time for monday morning rush hour. so there is the potential for some disruption, and i suspect over the high ground, we could be looking at something like 5—10 cm. that's not our only problem, mind you. this band of rain sweeps its way southwards and eastwards, as it does so, could bring about 40—50 mm of rain across the high ground of wales, and that sets the scene for further flooding problems later on in the week, even as the rain clears through. blustery showers follow, a windy day everywhere, and the winds will make you feel really particular cold in scotland. a bitter feel to the weather here. now, heading into tuesday and wednesday, high pressure is to the south—west of the uk, low pressure to the north—west, north—east, and that maintains north—westerly winds across the country. and it's those north—westerly winds that will feed in showers. now, the showers will be quite

widespread, particularly across western areas, as we head into the afternoon. some of them will have some wintry flavour to them, particularly across northern areas, over the high ground. yes, there'll be some sunshine between. but it's a similar looking weather picture as we head into wednesday — again, a cold north—westerly wind feeding the showers in. the showers particular frequent across the north—west of scotland, northern ireland, running down through the irish sea to affect north wales, cheshire, merseyside, greater manchester and the north—west midlands, all the while feeling cold in the wind, as well. so quite a lot going on over the next few days alone. yes, there are concerns we could see some disruptive snow through this morning. heavy rain around as well, and that's likely to cause some further flooding problems as we go through the next few days.

i'm lewis vaughan jones

with bbc world news. our top story: south korea has declared its highest level of coronavirus alert, as confirmed cases of covid—19 continue to rise. six people have died and more than 600 have been infected. the president says the country faces a grave turning point. president trump is starting a two—day state visit to india. he'll attend a rally alongside prime minister narendra modi. the two leaders will consider ways of lifting trade barriers. and this video is trending on bbc.com: strong winds carrying sand from the sahara affected airports in the canary islands in spain. more than 100 flights were cancelled, suspended or diverted. winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour could hit the canaries until monday. that's all. stay with bbc world news.