welcome to newsday on the bbc. i mariko oi in singapore. the headlines: president trump tries to calm fears over the spread of the coronavirus, telling the american people the risk remains very low. we are very, very ready for this, for anything, whether it's going to be a breakout of larger proportions or whether or not we are, you know, we are at that very low level. international efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak intensify as more new cases are recorded outside of china than inside. and i'm kasia madera in london. also coming up here on newsday:

india's prime minister calls for calm as more than 27 are killed in sectarian clashes in delhi. and the pope tells catholics around the world to give up online insult for lent. voiceover: live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am here in singapore, 1am in london and 8pm in washington, where president trump hasjust made a statement on the coronavirus outbreak. he announced that vice president mike pence will be in charge of the us response.

he said the risk to the american people from the virus remains very low. the president also said us government would do whatever is appropriate to combat the disease. now, what we've done is we've stop non—us citizens from coming into america from china, which was done very early on. we are screening people at a very high level, screening people coming into the country from infected areas. we have in quarantine those infected and those at risk. we have a lot of great quarantine facilities. we're rapidly developing a vaccine and they can speak to you, the professionals can speak to you about that. the vaccine is coming along well and in speaking to the doctors, we think this is something we can develop fairly rapidly — a vaccine for the future. and co—ordinate with the support of our partners. we have great relationships with all of the countries we're talking about, some fairly large

numbers of country. some countries, it's one person. many countries have no problem whatsoever. and we'll see what happens. but we are very, very ready for this, for anything, whether it's going to be a breakout of larger proportions, or whether or not, you know, that we are at that very low level. president donald trump there. the president was speaking for about an hour the president was speaking for aboutan hourand the president was speaking for about an hour and he's now finished. we can speak to chris buckler, our washington correspondent. spoke about various things, what's your reaction? there was discussion president trump was dismissive of the corona virus and in his tweets and comments he accused us networks of scaremongering and causing problems for the stock market and perhaps therefore not addressing the potential problem itself. this was a different president, someone was a different president, someone trying to show they we re someone trying to show they were taking control and standing there and saying his administration was ready, willing and able to deal with this problem. he talked about

those individuals who have already been affected and suggested most have got better and were out of hospital, but he said one person was still in hospital and at this stage was very stick. there's 15 people infected inside the us, 1a people have been brought back from the cruise ship injapan and are being treated in america. overall i got the sense he was during all he could to take control of this. at this stage, $2.5 billion seems to have been assigned to try to deal with the problem and what he said in response to some warnings from congress that that money wasn't enough, he would listen and the funding would be increased as needed. he touched on his favourite topic, the economy, he looked at the markets and he said not only was the corona virus responsible for the chaos we've been seeing on the american market as well as international markets but he also suggested that it's the democratic

candidates that could potentially end up facing him in the presidential election. and don't forget, with that election approaching in november, he wants to make sure this doesn't turn into a problem which he has not taken seriously. he wants to show he's addressing this issue at this moment. your right to point out he took shots at the democrats for criticising the response. but at the same time he was saying, they say $8.5 billion is needed, if $8.5 billion is needed, if $8.5 billion is needed, we'll address that and deal with it as it goes on. what he wants to firmly say in this election year is the coronavirus is going to be dealt with, and that's why he's appointed his vice president, mike pence, to oversee this response and certainly when you take a look at this, it's notjust about the administration but it's about dealing with different states and making sure they're prepared too. we're starting to the signs of that in america.

for example, new york today talked about how much they're investing in hospital beds, to make sure they have masks, and of course, it is cities like new york and will be important for the coronavirus because they want to make sure this doesn't spread in places where there is a high population. chris buckler, thanks very much, chris buckler talking through the press conference, that has now finished. more on the website. a gunman in the us has killed five people at a brewery in milwaukee. local media say the gunmen, a former employee, sacked earlier in the day, also died in the incident during the shooting where hundreds of people, employees, we re hundreds of people, employees, were still at work. the brewery, including nearby businesses and schools, were all placed on lockdown. us presidential containerjoe biden has been endorsed by a

democratic congressman, a lawmaker considered the key to winning support from black voters in south carolina. his name is james clyburn. they make up more than 50% of registered democrats in that state and the primary takes place this saturday. maria sharapova has announced her retirement from tennis at 32. the five time grand slam champion said her body had become a distraction after a struggle with shoulder injuries. the russian won her first grand slam at wimbledon in 2004 at the age ofjust17. pope francis has called on roman catholics around the world to make a resolution for lent to stop insulting people online. christians often give up online. christians often give up something for this 40 —day period of abstinence before easter. the pope said it would bea easter. the pope said it would be a good time to consider abandoning what he called useless chatter, rumours and gossip. how about this for the ultimate in convenience food? believe it or not this is a

vegan state, made from plant based ingredients and as you saw, it is made by a 3d printer —— stake. it gives the end product not just —— stake. it gives the end product notjust a taste of beef but the same consistency. it's not cheap, the ingredients for a kilo of this meat cost 30 us dollars but the team, based in barcelona, say it is their dream for every cook to create customised food in their own kitchen. would you try it, though? let's get more on the coronavirus outbreak, because the world health organization warns it is deeply concerned by the spread of the virus, which has now been detected in almost 40 countries. for the first time, more new cases have been recorded in the rest of the world than inside china. italy and iran have seen the sharpest increases. our medical correspondent fergus walsh

reports. northern italy has a serious coronavirus outbreak, the biggest by far in europe. virtually all traffic is banned from entering 11 towns designated red zones. more than 50,000 people have been in quarantine since sunday, but the virus hasn't been contained. the first confirmed cases in brazil and algeria, as well as austria and switzerland, were all linked to italy. and france recorded its second death at a paris hospital, a 60—year—old teacher who had no record of travel to any outbreak hotspot. germany is bracing itself for a surge in cases after a couple with coronavirus symptoms spent ten days travelling before they were diagnosed. both are now in hospital. translation: we are at the beginning of a corona epidemic in germany. the chain of infection is no

longer completely traceable. analysis from china suggests 81% of those infected only get a mild illness and so don't need medical treatment. the first symptoms are a fever and dry cough. older people and those with existing health problems are at greater risk from the coronavirus, which attacks the lungs, but that also applies to seasonalflu, which kills thousands of people here every year. the one and only diamond dave, live from hospital injapan. remarkably, china is now recording fewer cases than the rest of the world. this is wuhan, the city where the virus emerged in december. for a time, its health service was overwhelmed. but now patients are starting to go home while

other countries wonder: will either turn next? let's take aim and to consider all the medical professionals who have been treating patients in cube april ben ‘s in china. figures suggest this huge quarantine operation is slowing the spread of the virus but two medical workers who've been inside a ward in wuhan over recent weeks spoke to a medical —— cube a province in china. translation: the conditions are more difficult and extreme than imagined. there is a severe shortage of protective equipment, respirators, face shields, goals, gowns and gloves. —— goggles.

cash, according to the us centers for disease control, it's not a matter of if but when the coronavirus becomes a pandemic —— cash. there is a few things we can each do to try to control its spread. number one on the who website is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water oran frequently with soap and water or an alcohol —based hand rub, because that kills the virus and keep one metre away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing because the droplets can spread the virus. avoid

touching your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands. that's how the virus gets into the body. another good piece of advice is to cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. that's also important. then dispose of the used tissue immediately stop the interestingly, though, kasia, the who website only mentions masks once in the travel advice section. if you choose to wear a face mark arber your mouth and nose and avoid touching it onceit and nose and avoid touching it once it is on —— facemask, cover your mouth and nose and avoid touching it once it's on. check out the website for more. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has appealed for an end to violence tween hindus and muslims in the capital, delhi, where at least 27 people have been killed in recent days —— between. a number of muslims

have fled after their homes, businesses and masks came under attack. the clashes were triggered by protests against the country's new citizenship law which critics say discriminates against muslims. our correspondent, yogita limaye, reports from east delhi. a muslim area that saw some of the worst violence. intel now, it was impossible to get inside mustafabad. this it was impossible to get inside mustafa bad. this road it was impossible to get inside mustafabad. this road was filled with mobs of men, armed with sticks, stones and even guns. we stop when we see a strea m guns. we stop when we see a stream of people hurriedly crossing our path. these are muslim families and they are fleeing the hindu dominated areas they live in. they don't feel safe in their own homes any more. one man tells me, "hindu mobs are slaughtering us like oats and chickens".

we're shown a mosque that was on fire —— like goats. holy books reduced to ashes. just outside, a muslim man was stabbed to death. he was the father of these girls. his wife discovered her face in father of these girls. his wife discovered herface in mourning —— has covered. over the past few days this basic neighbourhood hospital has had to cope with hundreds of patients. until now, they we re of patients. until now, they were not able to move them out because the roads were blocked.

in the adjoining hindu—dominated locality, too, there is fear and anger. a man shows us where he was hit by bullets. this woman tells me petrol bombs were thrown at her home. what used to be just a busy street full of shops has today almost become a boundary between a hindu community on one side and a muslim community on the other. these religious divides has been deepening in india ever since prime minister narendra modi and his hindu nationalist party came to power. a citizenship law passed in december was the trigger for the riots. it gives amnesty to illegal immigrants from three neighbouring countries, except muslims. for months, it polarised opinion. now it has left the capital on edge.

this is news day on the bbc. still to come on the programme, officials in taiwan take no chances as millions of students return to school for the first time since the coronavirus first struck there. 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." welcome back. this is news day on the bbc. i am mariko oy and singapore. and i am cash madeira in london. the us president donald trump has been trying to calm fears of the spread of the coronavirus, telling the american people that the risk remains very low. meanwhile, international effo rts meanwhile, international efforts to contain the out wreck intensify as more new cases are recorded outside china than inside. that's now

ta ke china than inside. that's now take a look at some front pages from around the world and again not surprisingly, the coronavirus dominates the papers in the new york times which says the disease is poised to target liberalism's wea k poised to target liberalism's weak points and to exploit american miss government and mistrust. meanwhile, prominent friends —— actress who was abused by a film director says her country has missed the boat on hashtag me too. the times quotes officials are saying it is unlikely the olympic games will be cancelled because of the coronavirus but, of course, questions remain over whether other sporting events such as the sumo supreme tournament can go ahead. the financial times means while features an image from india. muslim wedding guests are passing security patrols in new delhi after violence leaving at least 20 people dead and over 200 injured. it also covers the

coronavirus, confirming that the number of the cases reported outside china is now higher than those reported inside, as we told you earlier. those were the papers. what stories are sparking discussion online? many people have been clicking on some very dramatic pictures of a huge explosion. this was a large crude oil refinery on america's west coast, the largest in fact. fire crews said they contained the blaze within the compound and no—one had to be evacuated. but it has certainly made for some spectacular images which has gotten many people interested. now to malaysia where its leadership is still in limbo days after mahathir‘s shock resignation. he resigned on monday amid rumours he was planning a new collision without his designated successor, anwar ibrahim. he

was immediately named by the king as interim prime minister with full powers. our correspondent is in kuala lumpurfor us. correspondent is in kuala lumpur for us. jonathan, do we know anything more about what is going to happen? no, eve ryo ne is going to happen? no, everyone is being incomplete suspense here at the moment. in effect we have i—man government, 94—year—old one man government. doctor womack is an interim prime minister with no cabinet. he is offered to lead a unity government. his former government has collapsed as a governing coalition but the man he was supposed to hand over power to around this time, anwar ibrahim, with whom he has had an extraordinarily on—off relationship has said he thinks he can form the next government even though no—one thinks he has enough seats for a majority in parliament. meanwhile, all the other parties are trying to come up with coalitions of their own. in the end it is up

to the constitutional monarch, the king, who has been centre stage in this, to call upon somebody who he thinks can control —— can control the majority in parliament. one group of party, the former ruling party and its allies say they want to re— election. so we don't know how this will play out and whether anybody at this stage can cobble together enough seats in parliament in the frantic bargaining that is going on to make this new government that malaysia needs. i think it is fair to say that many people were shocked to see his resignation on monday but this actually come out of the blue? the resignation was a real shock. it was a move that doctor mahathir made to show his disapprovalfor what doctor mahathir made to show his disapproval for what looks like an attempted to, they call ita coup, like an attempted to, they call it a coup, a shift in power, over the weekend. in many ways it is not such a surprise because it is kind of hotwired into the deal that was made

after that stunning victory two yea rs after that stunning victory two years ago when the party that are governed for 60 years was pushed out of power. that's through malaysia into new territory anyway and there was a deal where mahathir commerce to hand over to unwind ibrahim. the transition was coming up and as it did people started to manoeuvre. there were splits in anwar‘s own party. another problem was that this coalition came to power promising good things to malaysians who are sick of the corrupt old government but the economic wind has been against them and global problems with trade rows and the coronavirus and the fa ct and the coronavirus and the fact that the government ran out of money because the previous government, many malays who switch their allegiance to the opposition two years ago when the election have become quite dissatisfied and they have been switching their allegiance back. the ruling coalition has lost five by—elections in a row which has made politics much more fluid and that led to these attempts to shift the coalition over the weekend which has put us into this unprecedented position

today. thank you so much for your inside there, jonathan. now to taiwan where millions of stu d e nts now to taiwan where millions of students have returned to school for the first time since coronavirus struck the island. officials were on high alert, disinfecting the school in advance and taking the temperature of every student. from taipei, he rescinded sue. returning to school after an extra two weeks off during their winter break, these stu d e nts their winter break, these students may not all be overjoyed. they are prepared. everyone wore a facemask, even the policemen mascot. school officials were also ready to keep the virus away. armed with forehead thermometers they check the temperatures of every student arriving on campus. anyone with a fever, a symptom of coronavirus, was not allowed to attend school. the government is not taking any chances. translation: during the winter break our teachers we re

the winter break our teachers were making preparations. they we re were making preparations. they were side—by—side with us and worked in the classroom and we had to split them up as a preventive measure. we also opened our windows and our air vents. to reduce the risk of infection within us, pupils are reminded to sanitise their hands regularly. according to the government's guidelines if one child in the class has the virus the whole class will be suspended and if two people in a school get the virus, the school will have to cancel classes for all students. it is hoped that with these stringent measures, the worst case scenario, schools closing, will not happen and the students will have time to catch up on their studies. just to stress, we have a lot more on the coronavirus on our website but we will leave you with a rediscovered secret passageway in the houses of parliament here in london. this passageway dates back to 350

yea rs passageway dates back to 350 years ago, built for the coronation of king charles ii. history right there. thank you for watching newsday. this next area of low pressure moving into the south of the uk is likely to bring a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow to parts of england and wales and it could be the most significant wintry blast we have seen of the season so far likely to produce a tricky driving conditions for the morning commute, primarily crossing england and was like i mentioned, the high ground will see settling snow so stating the weather forecast into your local radio if you had out. this is the culprit in this area of low pressure moving to the south the uk on its northern flank where you encounter the cold air this is where you will see the mixture of sleet and snow. generally the m4 southwards should generally be rain but we will see some snow settling on high grounds of wales and the

malvern hills and the cotswolds. further north it will be clear, cold, a couple of wintry showers and an early risk of ice. through the morning then that area of rain and snow will push eastwards through the morning and we could see some slushy deposit or sleepiness across parts of the midlands, the northern home counties, over the chilterns and into east anglia but the whole thing will tend to clear away and by about lunchtime the sky will brighten up with plenty of sunshine around. so any light snow will be very short lived. further wintry showers across the north, breezy here, and a chilly day with temperatures ranging from 6-9d with temperatures ranging from 6—9d in the south. as we had through thursday night, a few wintry showers continue again across scotland but a ridge of high pressure builds in and in many areas it should be dry with clear skies and will turn cold with frost and icing places. you will see the temperatures getting to rise and the next weather system moving in for friday, producing

milderairto moving in for friday, producing milder air to southern areas but quite a bit of rain and strengthening wind. it will start cold and bright across the north and east and then that ram will spill up from the south—west and with snow on its leading edge across northern england and scotland, further south mainly rain with temperatures of 10— ii south mainly rain with temperatures of 10— 11 degrees. any more rain here is very welcome. as we move into the weekend it looks like it remains unsettled, the next weather front will spread a band of rain across the country on saturday, we could see a swathe of gales or severe gales in northern england, northern ireland and scotland later saturday into sunday, the mac —— next feature moving up from the south—west will bring more rain. unsettled this weekend and windy at times on saturday with further rain in areas where we do not need it. stay tuned to the forecast and head online to see all the latest weather warnings.

welcome, i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top stories: the us president has been trying to calm fears over the spread of coronavirus, telling the us people the risk is very low. for the first time, more new cases have been recorded outside china than inside. there's been a sharp rise in cases in iran. a gunman in the us has killed at least five at a mass shooting at a brewery in milwaukee. local media say the gunmen, who had earlier been sacked, also died. these images are doing well on our website, getting a lot of attention, a massive eight lotion at the largest crude oil refinery on the west coast of america. fire crews say they contained the blaze in the compound and nobody had to be evacuated, but part of the complex remains closed. that's all me, keep watching. bye— bye.

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