a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley, oui’ news. my name is mike embley, our top stories. president trump tries to come fears of the coronavirus, telling people the coronavirus, telling people the risk remains very low. —— calm the fears. we are very, very ready for anything, whether it is going to be a breakout of larger proportions or anything. international effo rts or anything. international efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak intensify. more new cases are reported outside of china than inside. india's prime minister calls for calm as at least 87 people we re for calm as at least 87 people were killed in clashes over the citizenship law in delhi —— 27.

and the pope urges roman catholics around the world to give up online insults for lent. hello to you. as the world health organization announced for the first time that the coronavirus is spreading faster outside china, where it began, president trump as with the rest vice president mike pence in charge of the response —— the us. he said the risk to the us is very low. the 15 people —— of the 15 people diagnosed with the infection, only one is still in hospital. we have the best people in the world you see that from the study. we have the best prepared people

in the world, the best people in the world, the best people in the world, the best people in the world, congress is willing to give us much more than we are even asking for, that's nice for a change. but we are totally ready, willing and able. it's a term we use, it's ready, willing and able. it's going to be very under control. now, it may get bigger, it may get a little bit bigger, it may get a little bit bigger, it may not get bigger at all, we will see what happens. but regardless of what happens, we are totally prepared. mr drum said he hoped people would be able to travel freely by the summer. he says his working closely with congress to secure funding for the one $5 billion to do with the one $5 billion to do with the virus. and put mike pence in charge of the response to it. he is really an expert in the field and what i've done is, i'm going to be announcing exactly right now, that we are going to be putting our vice president mike pence in charge. mike will be working with the professionals and doctors and everybody else in charge who is

brilliant. i spent a lot of time with the team over the last couple of weeks. let's go live now to our correspondence, chris buckler in washington, dc. chris, what has been the response to this? yes, people have said the president is not taking this seriously enough. if the coronavirus was to spread in the united states, what that would mean. he was very much doing his best to ensure the country is ready to tackle this issue. you mention the figure of $2.5 billion, that is the finding that he has requested from congress, but many inside congress believe that figure thatis congress believe that figure that is needed is probably much greater. they have talked about figures like $4 billion, in fa ct figures like $4 billion, in fact one democrat even talked about $8.5 billion. what president trump has that is whatever money is needed, whatever money is needed, whatever needs to be done, he

is prepared to do it. and it was this real attempt to show that he's in charge of this problem he will deal with that if it becomes an issue in the united states. and, chris, is it clear why mike pence is in charge? well, he says he wants to keep it within the administration and he says that mike pence will be surrounded by experts and they have some of the best people working on this. but i think also what is worth pointing out is that donald trump is doing his best to tackle this because it is an election year, that is also playing into this. he is aware the democrats have been accusing him of not doing enough and he wants to ensure that he deals with this. and that he deals with this. and thatis that he deals with this. and that is particularly after some dismissive tweets we have seen from president trump, he attacked the american news networks for scaremongering and causing a certain amount of alarm in the stock markets, which have fallen in the us. he says he wants to deal with thoseissues says he wants to deal with those issues and of course the economy is always very important to president trump,

particularly when the election is approaching. chris, thank you for that. several more european countries have link their infections, a p pa re ntly have link their infections, apparently linked to an outbreak in italy. 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. none of us has any immunity to this new virus, but even if we get a wide spread out rate in the uk, 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 a greater risk from the coronavirus, which attacks the lungs. but that also applies to seasonal flu, which kills thousands of people here every year. remarkably, china is now reporting if you

are new cases than the rest of the world. this is wuhan, the city where the city —— virus emerged in september, for a time, its health system was overwhelmed. now, some patients are beginning to go home. other countries will wonder, is it their turn next? fergus walsh, bbc news. more on that sick i'm just a little later. in the debt violent scene in the indian capital in decades, the number of dad has risen to at least 27. —— deaths. crowds of hindu men have beat and burnt hindu men have beat and burnt hindu residents living there homes. to render who leads a hindu nationalist government has called for calm.

a muslim area that saw some of the worst violence. until now, it was impossible to get inside mustafabad. this road was full of mobs of men, armed with sticks, stones and even guns. we stop when we see a stream of people hurriedly crossing our path. these are muslim families and they're 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 goats and chickens." we're shown a mosque that was set on fire. holy books, reduced to ashes. just outside, a muslim man was stabbed to death. he was the father of these girls. his wife has covered herface in mourning.

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. yogita limaye, bbc news, delhi. another story that has been on the move in the past few hours, at least five people have been killed at a brewing company in the walkie, was constant, according to the governor. the motive for the attack is still unclear —— milwaukee. it occurred out moores and coors very. i was in the clinic and i was pulling out and i saw two police cars, one of them almost hit me in my car. then i saw another policeman trying to walk the streets and then i tried coming home, driving home and then i saw another car, another car blocking of the

street, i tried to go around, the other street is blocked off as well. they came down the street and i saw all these people down here, so ijust heard there was a shooting. 26 civilians have been killed, according to syrian rescue workers in the latest bombing in india, the last stronghold held by rebels. the offensive by president asada ‘s government backed by russia has forced nearly i million government backed by russia has forced nearlyi million people to plead their homes. there have been talking to his capital to try to find some way out of the conflict —— flee their homes. this next report by orla guerin contains disturbing images. in idlib, a frantic search in the rubble after another neighbourhood becomes a burial ground. the white helmet volunteers are directed by annas. this was the home his family fled to, hoping to be safe. "there is the sound of a boy," he says. annas rushes in. but they find the lifeless

body of his son. childhood in assad's syria. where regime air strikes don't spare a two—year—old. then a last kiss. but there was more anguish to come. aid workers told us annas lost everyone. his mother, his wife and his older son. rebels, some backed by turkey, are battling the regime, trying to prevent it retaking idlib, what is left of it. among thejihadists in control are militants who were previously linked to al-qaeda. president assad and his russian

backers say they are fighting terrorists. but the united nations says syria's displaced could be caught up in a bloodbath. they have nowhere to run, trapped between the advancing regime and the border with turkey, a nato nation. aid agencies say at least seven children have frozen to death. president erdogan insists he cannot open the gates for another influx. so he is threatening war while trying to talk peace. tonight here in ankara, turkish and russian officials have met without agreement. they will talk again tomorrow but president erdogan insists his troops in idlib are ready for battle if syrian forces do not pull back by the weekend.

stay with us if you can on bbc news. much more to come, including this: we bring you the 350—year—old secret doorway discovered in the house of commons in london. 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, very good to have you with us on bbc news. president trump has been trying to calm fears over the spread of the coronavirus, telling the american people that the risk remains very low. stay with that very now. i know you recently addressed the united nations on infection control, thank you very much indeed for your time. what do you make about the president has been saying and the of mike pence?”

think that this is a really important first step to stay ahead of the curve, and to mobilise resources to get prepared if we do have an increase in spread and coronavirus in the united states. the time for us to take these measures and i am encouraged to see the government is taking those steps. how well-prepared you feel the country is? it is a big country, preparations may not be as good across the whole country? i think there are a few steps to preparation, and to preventing spread. up until now, the main step that we have taken is to limit new cases coming into the country through travel restrictions, and that becomes a lot harder once there are more countries affected. once we start to see infections spreading in the community in the united states, we need to be very vigilant at a state and local level to be able to

identify and isolate patients that have infection to slow the spread of infection within the community and the healthcare centre. the president has accused the media of scaremongering, alarmingly stock markets, and is quite dismissive of coronavirus saying it is like flute. does he have a point? isn't blue does kill many people every year, doesn't it? it does. there are a number of similarities stopping the way that the virus is transmitted as the rest terry droplets from people coughing or sneezing. —— respiratory droplets. they can contaminate the hands and services, so that the ways that people become exposed to this are very similar between the two viruses. in addition, the, so, the spread in the community is likely to be very similar stopping them in different that we don't really know the answer

to get is what the exact cullity rate is. influenza, if you look at the number of people who are infected in the number of people that die, it is about one in 1000 people. coronavirus, the estimates are about ten times that, the potential for this to cause a lot of death if it spreads right coming widely in the community is worse than the seasonal flu and we don't have a vaccine like we do for influenza, so there are not people who are protected by vaccine. thank you so much. pope francis has suggested by fellow should stop deduct consider abandoning useless chatter, rumours, and gossip

copy let speak to professor of sociology at deakin university. thank you very much for your time, it does beg the question how much the pope knows about social media, how much time his ends on social media, what he knows about trolling in particular. pope francis is considered quite a worldly hope in relation to his predecessors so they have no doubt that he is one of the people that has a good understanding of trolling, so the vatican is certainly up with the latest development. so why do you think he has picked on it particularly? historically, catholics alongside other kinds of christians are supposed to give up christians are supposed to give up something lent, and for the 19605 up something lent, and for the 1960s through to the 1980s it became a bit more accommodating in the things that catholics we re in the things that catholics were invited to give up. no

longer did it require abstinence or fasting, you could give up cigarettes or coffee or alcohol, but in this particular instance i think he is speaking a message to more than just the catholic community, but people generally, we have seen some of the most toxic effect of trolling, and i think that his message about just trying trolling, and i think that his message aboutjust trying to be releva nt to message aboutjust trying to be relevant to the world more generally, notjust relevant to the world more generally, not just the catholic community. presumably he would like people to give up not just for lent. do he would like people to give up notjust for lent. do you think it is likely to be effective, his plea? already very committed catholics, the ones who take his message very seriously, for all intents and purposes are already probably doing something in relation to lent, most likely giving up alcohol or perhaps meet, and i presume, they are not necessarily concerned about their social media presence, if they are in the philippians or

vietnam or where these large catholic communities, taking this stuff really seriously, so they will take heed of that message, but i would suggest they are giving something up already, i think this is the messagejust already, i think this is the message just about the pope speaking to bigger social concerns, which is really quite common for him to have the concern for welfare generally. so his concern, you think, about the tone and the aggression abroad in society generally? absolutely. and if you look at the overall theme of his message, it wasn'tjust, give this up for lent, he was talking about peace and stepping away from the noise of contemporary society to find something a bit more contemplative, and that is a message that would ring true with buddhists, practitioners of mindfulness, this sense that we have two separate from the noise of contemporary society and some of the excesses and negative effects that that might have on some people. you.

! thank you. a separate doorway has been discovered in the house of commons, the entrance dates back more than 350 years and was rediscovered during recent work. let's take a look. for a long time we have known that there is some sort of doorway in the wall of westminster hall, but almost nothing was known about it. and then, suddenly, iwas nothing was known about it. and then, suddenly, i was doing some research, and i discovered, a really intriguing photograph of the interior, of what looked like a chamber in the wall, and realised it was just behind this doorway, so i became tremendously excited. this is the way that charles ii came on the way to his

coronation, and also james ii, and it was also the main way through to the house of commons which was at the time where steve nsville which was at the time where stevensville is, though the speakers of the house of commons would have come this way many many mps over the centuries so it is a historic route. i realised the architecture we have been restoring in the 1950s, so we came and looked very, very carefully, and in detail at the panelling and we suddenly spotted this tiny keyhole, and so the panel swung back and we went in and we think, for the first time since about 1952. i was awestruck because it shows that the house of westminster still has so many wonderful

secret to give up, and also the content secret to give up, and also the co nte nt of secret to give up, and also the content of office, rather an unassuming looking space, absolutely fascinating. for example, there is some graffiti on the wall which was put there by masons when they were walling it up in 1851 which showed that they had had a party with old ale and all their names and declares them to be true democrats. history was lost and now it is found. the fact that we have found it, the fact that we have got graffiti, heritage, going back, the builders have come in, had a bit ofa the builders have come in, had a bit of a jug of ale, the builders have come in, had a bit ofajug of ale, and the builders have come in, had a bit of a jug of ale, and it's about we had a beer and a bit of history about themselves. and the fact that they decided to leave their mark as a mark of history that i'd really appreciate. and all the smart

people out here may want to know how come they had a key for the store, and i don't know. a snowfall in tasmania has added a final chapter to australia's summer of dramatic weather. snowfall can happen year—round on tasmania's mountain because of cold blasts from antarctica, but forecasters don't generally expect it and some are stopping this season has seen australia ravaged by bushfires, floods, hailstorms, and dust tsunamis. just finally, how about this for the ultimate convenience food, there's a of plant—based meat around, this is a big mistake made from plant—based ingredients and made by a 3d printer. the end product has not just the cat printer. the end product has notjust the cat dominic paste ofa notjust the cat dominic paste of a cut of beef but also the consistency. it is the dream of every cook to create customised food in their own kitchen. you

can get all the news any time on the bbc website, thanks for watching. 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 across southern areas, could see some tricky driving conditions for the thursday morning commute, so stay tuned to the forecast. here it is, a area of low pressure. this is where is coming in with the cold air with a mixture of sleet and snow, mainly to the south but the northern hills and for the cotswolds, a cold start across northern areas, further wintry showers

here. through the morning, that area of snow will put its way eastward through the morning, we could see some slushy deposits 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 lunchtime the skies will brighten up with sunshine around, so any light snow will be very short lived. it is going to be another chilly day, to purchase from 6—9d in the south. as we had through thursday night, a few wintry showers across scotland but a ridge of high pressure building and, many of those should be dry clear skies and it should turn cold with some frost and ice in places but the temperatures will begin to rise across the south—west, that is because we have got the next weather system moving in friday

and that is going to introduce some milder air into southern areas but quite a bit of rain and strengthening winds, so it will start cold and bright and then that rain will spell up from the south—west, across northern england into scotland, certainly some settling snow on the hills but the self it will be mainly rain, that images 10— 11 degrees, but any more rain here is very unwelcome. as we move out of friday into the weekend it looks like it remains unsettled, this next weather front will spread a band of rain across the country, gales or severe gales northern england, northern ireland and scotland, and into saturday this next feature moving up from the south—west will bring more rain, so it looks unsettled this weekend, very windy at times particularly on saturday and we will see further rain and areas where we really don't need it, so stay tuned to the forecast and hit online to see all the latest weather warnings.

the latest headlines for you from bbc news. president trump tries to calm fears of the coronavirus, telling people the risk remains very low. he has put american vice president mike pence in charge. he says of the 15 people there diagnosed with the infection, only one is still in hospital. international efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak intensify. more new cases are reported outside of china than inside. the virus has been detected in almost 40 countries, the world health organization says it is deeply concerned. india's prime minister calls for calm as at least 27 people were killed in clashes over the citizenship law in delhi. the violence first broke out between people for and against the controversial new citizenship law. muslim residents have been falling their homes and businesses —— fleeing.