this is bbc news. a very warm welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the coronavirus spreads across the globe, as countries from iran to italy try to contain the cases, and american officials are braced for the impact. global markets have tumbled for the second day in a row as fears of the economic fall out from covid—19 grows. it's been a heated show down for the democratic presidential candidates as they went head to head in a live television debate. more than a dozen people are killed in the indian capital — it's the worst rioting between hindus and muslims for decades. and why shutting down the internet is the new weapon of choice for governments wanting to crack down

on protest and rebellion a senior officialfrom the world health organisation has warned countries around the globe to prepare immediately for the further spread of the coronavirus. there's particular concern about the number of cases in iran. the deputy health minister there, who's been at the forefront of efforts to control the spread of infection, has now tested positive for the virus. our correspondent rana rahimpour, from bbc persian, has the latest. here in tehran the authorities spray disinfectant outside the home of a man who has died from the coronavirus. officially, 16 people have died and 95 are infected, but many believe the real figures to be far higher.

on monday, iran's deputy health minister, here on the left, publicly denied a cover—up, while he himself looked unwell. 2a hours later, he took to twitter to reveal he had been diagnosed with the virus. translation: i would like to inform you that i also have got corona. i had fever from yesterday. my primary test results came up positive last night and since then i have isolated myself. in the capital, tehran, shoppers have been panic—buying. pharmacies are overcrowded and low on stock. this chemist admits they're short of supplies. so far, at least seven countries in the region have reported confirmed cases — all can be traced back to iran. suffering from economic sanctions and mismanagement, the country is ill—equipped to cope, and its refusal to impose a mass lockdown,

like in italy and china, will fuel the crisis. rana rahimpour, bbc news. several european countries have announced their first cases, all apparently linked to the outbreak in italy. in recent days, italy has become europe's worst—affected country, with more than 300 cases and 11 deaths. austria, croatia and switzerland all report cases involving people who've recently been to italy. mark lowen is there. from island haven to health scare lockdown, italy's coronavirus outbreak has spread to tenerife. the costa adeje palace hotel now shut off after an italian guest, a doctor, tested positive. they woke up to this, ordered to stay put. hundreds stuck inside. we've just got to stay in the hotel.

we can't leave the hotel. we can walk round the grounds, sit on the sun loungers, but there's a cordon around the hotel with police. in italy itself, cases are still rising. it's europe's worst—affected country and in milan they're not taking any chances. pharmacies across the city have the same sign — "we've run out of masks and sanitising gel." among the places closed, la scala opera has been silenced, a blow for alan and mary spencer who came from somerset to enjoy a verdi classic. well, we were disappointed because we had made plans to visit so many places in milan for the first time and all of them are closed. under new british government rules, if they show symptoms after going home, they'd have to self—isolate for two weeks. we feel we're most at threat, perhaps, during our return journey when we will be in contact with other people travelling by train and by plane. until then, we feel

comfortable and safe here. one of italy's key concerns now is the economic impact of the virus. with sites closed, tourists cancelling and businesses suffering, there's talk of it tipping into recession. and until they can stem the outbreak, the eu's third largest economy will feel the shock. prime people—watching spots are virtually people free. cafes count their losses. gabrielle gerosa says it's the worst he's seen in years, "milan is suffering a psychosis. people are scared and aren't going out." a world of easy travel has met a virus that knows no borders. italy's battle is proving heavier than most, but the front line of the fight keeps moving. mark lowen, bbc news, milan. for the second day running, the outbreak has sparked sharp falls on stock markets in europe and the us.

in new york, the dowjones index has slumped more than 6% since opening on monday. let's get the latest from the bbc‘s mariko oi, in singapore, who's following the market reaction in asia for us. it is not looking too good at all in asia. many markets in the red. it is not as sharp as wall street but that is because asian markets have been reacting to the coronavirus outbreak for almost a month now, unlike wall street. they are extending their losses from tuesday. the nikkei fell by 3% yesterday. the japanese currency is yesterday. the japanese currency is seen as yesterday. the japanese currency is seen as a yesterday. the japanese currency is seen as a safe currency is seen as a safe currency by traders so, at a time of crisis and uncertainty, it gets stronger and that is

bad news for the country's exporters because it makes them less competitive. and that is why the nikkei has been hit quite high. the australian all odds are down 2.5% at this hour. mainly all the resources shares have been hit hard because lower global economy means because lower global economy m ea ns less because lower global economy means less demand for those resources . means less demand for those resources. on wall street, the dow lost nearly 2000 points in just two days. practically wiping off all of this year's game. wall street has been somewhat slow to react to the outbreak but now investors are growing increasingly concerned about this virus spreading well beyond china or in asia, and possibly spreading into the us after we heard from the cdc warning that the spread of the virus within the us is somewhat inevitable and that is why wall

street reacted rather badly to that warning, seeing a sharp fall that we saw overnight. let's get some of the day's other news: nineteen civilians, including a number of children, are reported to have been killed in attacks targetting rebel—held territory in northern syria. earlier there was fierce fighting around the town of nairab, as russian—backed syrian government forces wage an offensive to seize idlib — the final major territory in syria still controlled by opposition fighters. preparations are under way in egypt for a military funeral for the former president, hosni mubarak. he died on tuesday morning at the age of 91 — nine years after he was overthrown during the arab spring protests. lawyers for harvey weinstein say he will put together a team of very brilliant lawyers to lead his appeal against conviction for sexual offences. he was found guilty on monday of a criminal sexual act, and rape in the third degree, and was then taken to this hospital under guard

after reportedly falling ill. one of the biggest names in corporate america, bob iger, is standing down as chief executive of the walt disney company. he's overseen huge changes at disney during his 15 years there, including major takeovers such as that of twenty—first century fox. it's been a heated showdown for the candidates trying to win the democratic party's nomination to take on president trump in november's presidential election. they went head to head in charleston in a live of south carolina's primary cbs news tv debate, ahead of south carolina's primary on saturday. senator bernie sanders came under particular attack, as the current front—runner. he was repeatedly criticised over his plan for universal health care and his stance on gun control. the bbc‘s barbara plett usher was at the debate in charleston. he came under pressure 3s he came under pressure as he is now the clear frontrunner.

bloomberg led the attack saying russia wanted to get him elected. also criticise on his record on gun control and it went from there. vladimir putin thinks that donald trump should be president of the united states and that is why russia is helping you get elected to lose to him. let me tell you mr putin, i lose to him. let me tell you mr putin, lam lose to him. let me tell you mr putin, i am not a good friend of president xi of china. i think he is an authoritarian leader and let me tell you mr perton who interfered in the 2016 election trying to bring americans against american, trust me, if i'm president, you're not going to interfere in any more elections. a lot of the candidates, even the more progressive ones, say they agreed with mr sanders on his

analysis but thought his programme was too ambitious and they were the ones to get the job done. they said the progress in conjunction and comparison to him. mr biden had his strongest debate performance so far and he really needed to do so because he has been sleeping in the deposit he needs a strong showing in south carolina because this is where he has traditionally had loyal support from black voters which make up the majority here. mr sanders had been making a dent on that. it was on his shoulders to put a good performance here, mr biden. candidates have set out their last debate now before their last debate now before the big vote next week here in south carolina and then super

tuesday next week when there is a vote in 14 different states. i really had to come out fighting today and if they really did. what is your sense of how this plays with the voters 7 of how this plays with the voters? you would think that having the democrats tearing chunks out of each other could only give ammunition to mr trump? yes, that point was made by somebody on the debate stage. there is that you but there is also another view which that it was a substantive debate, it was rancorous but substantive and they were able to spell out the different policy positions. delhi has seen its worst violence in decades as rioting between opponents and supporters of the controversial citizenship law has spread to new parts of india's capital. at least 13 people have been killed and hundreds injured — many of them police. the riots have coincided with president trump's first official visit to india. our correspondent, yogita limaye, sent this. for a second day, parts of delhi have descended

into chaos. areas where hindus and muslims have for centuries lived side—by—side, have erupted in anger. this is the worst religious violence india's capital has seen in decades. this is a tyre market that has been set on fire. most of the shops here were owned by muslims. we have seen signs of arson all day, while we have been on the road. and we are just a few hundred metres from a place where there were violent mobs carrying sticks and stones. it all began as clashes over india's new citizenship law, which grants amnesty to non—muslim illegal immigrants from three neighbouring countries. but we are seeing now is a religious riot, and it has left people scared and angry. this is a muslim home that was burnt down. this man can barely hold back tears as he recounts how he and his family escaped angry hindu mobs.

"we had to jump from roof to roof," he says. less than a mile away, some hindu men come running towards us. "muslims are shooting bullets, they are throwing stones," they shouted. rahul solanki died after he was shot in the head. the grief of losing sons, husbands, brothers, shared by both hindu and muslim families today. and, with each hour that goes by, the number of casualties rises. at the hospital, a night ago, we stretcher after stretcher being brought in. a woman whose husband was injured, collapsed into the arms of a bystander. a sister whose brother was shot in the head, wheeled him into an ambulance.

the government says the situation is under control. the streets tell a different story. yogita limaye, bbc news, delhi. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the arctic global seed vault reaches the milestone of having i million varieties stored in its deep freeze. 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 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." this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a senior officialfrom the world health organization has warned countries around the globe to prepare immediately for the further spread of the coronavirus. the us democrats' latest tv debate has taken place in south carolina. frontrunner bernie sanders and billionaire michael bloomberg both faced personal attacks from their rivals. more now on our top story.

eswar prasad is senior professor of trade policy at cornell university. he was previously at the international monetary fund. this is his take on the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. what looked like an outbreak that had the potential to be contained and have limited damage is now certainly spreading into something that looks like it could be much more virulent for the world economy as well. i think disruptions both in terms of demand, because travel and tourism are being hit, and supply disruptions as well, because supply chains around the world are being affected and investment plans will be put on hold because of the uncertainty created by the spread of this virus and the lack of clarity about when exactly it is going to be contained. so there could be fairly significant damage both in the short term

and in the long term economic growth prospects. if it is possible to quantify, what causes the most economic damage? the quarantine, the shutdown or the death or the nervousness and the panic on the market, the reaction from the market? financial markets seem to be taking this in a sanguine manner until about a few days ago, when the us markets, for instance, tumbled, taking many of the world markets along with them. there is a concern that what is particularly going to hurt long—term growth is the fact that businesses are putting investment plans on hold. now, they're going to think about restructuring their supply chains to be less dependent on a country like china. that in the long run that could lead to more problems as businesses wait to see how this plays out. it's going to feed into more uncertainty, less investment, and therefore less productivity and growth. professor, it seems to be a particular worry for many

people that china is at the centre of this, and yet china did recover well from the sars outbreak, did it not? it did. my concern about china this round is what is happening in terms of the disruption on the ground, especially for the small businesses, which have a much smaller financial cushion than the large state—owned enterprises. this means that, if the shutdown continues you will have restaurants and small businesses, which are very important for productivity and employment growth and which are crucial for the dynamism of the chinese economy, taking a big hit that could last for a while. so this outbreak and the fact that this is playing out across china and is now spilling over into the rest of the world could have it significant impact on the world economy as a consequence of what is happening on the ground in china. in a nutshell, you sound more pessimistic than domestic. at the moment, yes. given that there is no clear path to a resolution of this uncertainty, i worry a great deal.

so tens of thousands of people have been affected in more than 30 countries. you will find key maps and graphics on our website to explain what's going on where. that's all at bbc.com/news, or you can download the bbc news app. new research reveals the internet was deliberately shut down last year more than 200 times in 33 countries. the highest number of blackouts was in india, authorities claiming they were trying to stop the spread of fake news. across the world, internet shutdowns increasingly look like a tool of government repression. our cyber security reporterjoe tidy reports. the internet has revolutionised democracy, by giving every phone, every computer, a more equal chance to speak and share information. and during a big event, be it a celebration or a crisis, many of us look to social media

as our primary source of news. however, this network, which is built around bringing us closer together, is now under threat. human rights groups say turning off the internet is now becoming a defining tool of government repression around the world. using the very latest data, this video will reveal the true scale of the internet blackout around the world, and show how and when the plug is pulled. take a look at this map. as we move through 2019, watch as the internet is turned off more than 200 times in more than 30 countries. sometimes an entire nation will be switched off, but often it is localised to a city or a region. and our analysis shows these blackouts often occur during times of political instability or civil unrest. governments often say it is to help ensure public safety and stop the spread of fake news. but critics say the shutdowns stifle the flow of information

online and crack down on any potential dissent offline. the data shows that in 2019, the internet was switched off during more than 60 protests and a dozen elections. however, nowhere experiences more shutdowns than india. in 2019, indians experienced over 100 blackouts. hardest hit by far was kashmir where mobile internet services were suspended for more than half the year. with millions of people affected, forced off social media, deprived of news, and restricted in their means to contact their loved ones, kashmiris say the shutdown has been devastating. india says the move was necessary to maintain law and order, but economically it has been crippling, with many local businesses being run into the ground. with state—ordered shutdowns on the rise, the internet, a revolution built to bring us closer together, is under threat.

european commissioners have agreed on the basis of a post brexit stance. the uk government will publish its position on thursday. the first round of discussions are due next week, and they will continue through the year. the opera star placido domingo has accepted full responsibility, and apologised for causing hurt to the women who have accused him of sexual harassment. he resigned as general manager of the los angeles opera after the allegations were made last year. 20 women have accused mr domingo of harassment and inappropriate behaviour. several countries including mali, peru, sudan and israel are depositing seeds in a so—called doomsday vault in the arctic. the vault managed by norway was built to preserve seeds for rice, wheat and other staple foods in a future threatened by, say, climate change or nuclear war. freya cole reports.

tightly secured inside this box, alongside the flag of peru, seeds for the future are marched into the doomsday vault. one by one, 35 organisations deposit samples from gene banks all around the world. university of costa rica... after lodging the seed security, the researchers met the prime minister of norway, erna solberg. her government owns the seed bank as a service to the world in the future of food security. more and more countries are seeing that to safeguard their genetics and all of their seeds, but also the biodiversity of their country. it's important to make sure that you store in different places. most countries have their own gene banks, their own deposit places, but also having a copy here has proven to be important.

the facility is located in the archipelago of svalbard, halfway between norway and the north pole, on the island of spitsbergen. it is dug 120 metres into the rock, where inside, the temperature is —18 degrees, the ideal condition to preserve seeds for centuries, if not longer. 60,000 new seed samples were introduced this week, bringing the total number to overi million. some have travelled a long way, and even though they will be stored in norway, they are owned by whichever organisation made the deposit. it's from israel. the doomsday vault acts as an insurance policy against loss of food crops caused by climate change, disease or war. already the world is seeing the outcomes of failed harvests and fragile food security, making the role of the vault more vital than ever. the climate change activist greta thunberg has met

the human rights campaigner malala yousafzai on a visit to oxford university. the two women shared a picture of their encounter on social media, the nobel peace prize winner describing greta as the only friend she would skip school for. hello there. we're stuck in this colder air stream through wednesday and thursday, and that means more showers, more wintry showers as well, and we've already seen snow falling to quite low levels. now, as those showers ease off across central and eastern parts of the uk, we'll see temperatures dropping away. many areas having a touch of frost. particularly cold though, again, in the north—east of scotland. and given those showers, some icy conditions, especially for northern and western parts of the uk, where those showers keep going into the morning. in general, fewer showers, perhaps, on wednesday. a few will get across to the midlands, eastern england, and eastern scotland, but most of them, certainly during the afternoon,

towards northern ireland and western scotland. snow mainly over the hills. some heavier showers, mind you, and temperatures of 5—9 degrees once again. chilly in the breeze, but it won't be as windy in the south—west of england. here, during the evening though, cloud is thickening up. we've got some rain moving in. that's moving into the colder air. so there's the threat of some snow overnight in the brecon beacons, perhaps a centimetre or two of wet snow over the cotswolds, and later into the chilterns as well. it is mostly rain. further north, the air is colder, of course. wintry showers keep going, and there'll be some icy patches around as well. now, it's this area of low pressure that brings the threat of some wet snow across more southern parts of england and wales. that then moves away into continental europe on thursday. but it could take much of the morning before that wetter weather to clear the south—east of england. once it does, we're all into that cold north—westerly airflow. sunnier skies, showers mainly for northern ireland, northern and western scotland, and the north—west of england. but many places in the afternoon, away from here, i think will be dry. still, temperatures

struggling to 5—7 degrees. another frost, actually, on thursday night. and then we look into the atlantic to see more weather systems moving further north across the uk. it'll be a cold start, cloud will increase. we'll see outbreaks of rain moving in from the south—west. you can see how the wind direction changes. we pick up more of a south—westerly wind. we may well find some snow over the tops of the pennines, southern uplands, towards the latter part of the day. temperatures 6—7 degrees for most, but milder, perhaps double figures, for southern parts of england and wales. but that rain may well get steadier and heavier, actually, on friday night, saturday morning, before pushing away. then a few more isobars on the chart as well, and we're back into that colder, showery airstream as saturday goes on. so remaining very unsettled over the weekend. a spell of rain and some showers, wintry over the hills, more rain on sunday, and feeling chilly in the wind.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a senior official from the world health organisation has warned countries around the globe to prepare immediately for the further spread of the coronavirus. there's particular concern about the number of cases in iran. several european countries, including austria, croatia and switzerland, have just announced their first coronavirus cases, all apparently linked to the growing outbreak in italy. the outbreak has sparked sharp falls for the second day running on stock markets around the world. in new york, the dowjones index has slumped more than six per cent since monday's opening. japan's nikkei has fallen by more than 3% — hitting its lowest in 4 months. the us democrats running for president have held a bad—tempered tv debate, with the frontrunner, bernie sanders and the billionaire, michael bloomberg both coming under attack. senator sanders denied his programme was radical and that his ideas were

impact is all over the world. ——in