i'm mariko oi in singapore. the headlines: coronavirus fears hit asian stock markets after wall street has its worst one—day points fall ever. and, on the coronavirus front line, a doctor in wuhan tells the bbc the world can't afford to underestimate the threat. in one night, i lost five lives. i should warn the rest of the world that you guys should take care. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. also in the programme: dozens of turkish soldiers killed in idlib. turkey says it will retaliate against syrian government forces. and, in the philippines, we return to the volcanic island devastated by

last month's eruption. the roof has collapsed in on itself under the weight, and here, a sign of its former life, this satellite dish is caked in ash. good morning. it's 9:00am in singapore and 1:00am in london, and around the world, countries are battling to deal with the spread of coronavirus. the world health organization has warned that no country should assume it will be spared. in the united states, markets have plunged sharply, and japan has said it will close all public schools from monday. more on all that in a few minutes.

but we start this edition of newsday with the personal story of a doctor who has been working on the virus front line in china. he has helped to save dozens of lives, with his own personal health at risk each time. our china correspondent john sudworth has the story. at the end of a tough shift fighting the virus, a doctor steps out onto the streets of a deserted city. wuhan is still in total lockdown. ringing hello, dr xie. hey. how are you? in a rare officially approved interview with dr xie jiang, as well as in videos provided to us, the bbc has been given unique access to a man on the front line of a war, one he says is being won. i came to wuhan one month ago.

patients were pouring into the hospital like a tide. and we cannot — we do not have enough beds available for everyone. i think things are holding up better right now. wuhan shows what the virus can do to a health system. the thousands of extra beds have begun to make a difference, but there are still major challenges. i'm not satisfactory with the mortality. i still thing the mortality is really too high. for patients with severe symptoms, it is even — the mortality is even higher than sars. that's the thing we should address right now. this is dr xie dealing with one of those severe cases. with the virus attacking the lungs, no city in the world, he says, would have enough specialist ventilators to keep thousands of such patients alive. even doctors have died, including li wenliang,

one of the first to try to warn about the dangers of the virus, only to be silenced by the police. you know, i was very sad when i heard this kind of news. it was really a big blow for us, for the whole medical staff. do you think china should learn lessons as a result of his death? absolutely. information disclosure is really important. i lost five patients in one night. can you imagine that? in one night, i lost five lives. i should warn the rest of the world that you guys should take care. don't neglect — neglect this disease. singing at the end of another night shift, this time, dr xie sings a patriotic song. he believes china will win this fight, but it is one the rest of the world may have onlyjust begun. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. lots more on the coronavirus outbreak to come. before that, a developing story this hour: an air strike by syrian government forces in syria's north—western idlib region has killed at least 33 turkish soldiers.

that is according to the regional governor. idlib is the last region with strong rebel forces in syria. turkey has a border with idlib and previously warned syrian forces to withdraw from the area. our international correspondent orla guerin reports. in the warscape of syria, rebel fighters may be making their last stand. they have retaken this wounded, empty town in idlib province, but the assad regime and its russian backers are determined to retake all of idlib. not if turkey can help it. its troops are supposed to be observing a ceasefire in idlib. instead, its losses are growing. turkey's defence minister told us his battle plans are ready if talks fail

to stop the regime. translation: hospitals are being hit, schools and civilian areas. it's notjust the bodies of children under the rubble. it's the conscience of the international community. you want a ceasefire and you want a negotiated settlement. but are you really saying, sitting here today, that turkey is ready for all—out war with syria, which would drag in russia? first of all, we want these negotiations to come to an end and reach a result. that is what we want, and what we are working for. so the deadline is no longer this weekend? if this is not fulfilled, starting at the weekend, you will see our actions. and, as the clock counts down, this is the only refuge for some in idlib. they had to clear out the livestock and the cockroaches before bringing

their children in. nine families live here now. this woman says the only mercy they receive is from god. like many in idlib, she feels forgotten by the world. orla guerin on the escalating situation in syria's idlib. also making news today: there are calls for calm in india following the deaths of 30 people in religious violence since sunday. at least 200 others from both hindu and muslim families were injured in clashes in delhi. tension follows months of protests over india's new citizenship law, that critics say is anti—muslim. more than 1,000 people have rallied on the greek island of lesbos to protest against new migrant camps. it comes a day after 60 people were hurt in violent clashes, mostly police officers. some 40,000 asylum seekers

are currently living in poor conditions in the camps, which were built to hold only around 6,000 people. controversial plans for a third runway at london's heathrow airport have been thrown into doubt after a court ruling. judges said the expansion would go against the government's commitment to the paris climate change agreement. it is a major victory for environmental campaigners. flood warnings remain in place across much of the uk. homes and businesses in central and northern england have been evacuated or completely submerged. england has now received more than twice the average rainfall for february, some areas seeing a months worth of rain injust21i hours. more flooding is expected with the arrival on storm jorge over the weekend. returning now to our top story, the coronavirus is having a growing impact on the global

financial system. stock markets continue to fall around the world. in the last hour, japan's nikkei has opened sharply lower, now extending its loss even further. australia is also down by more than 3%. it has been a tough week for investors here in asia. that is after the main indexes on wall street finished in the red for the sixth successive day. the dowjones lost another 1,200 points today and is having the worst week since the financial crisis. 0ur correspondent in washington chris buckler has more. wall street has been watching washington very carefully. despite that press conference

we brought you on newsday yesterday of president trump saying they were managing this, watching this, and they were going to be extremely careful about how they dealt with the problem or potential problem of the coronavirus in america, it's very clear that some investors feel he is not doing enough. and we have seen the stock market react to that, certainly big falls, and that will concern the president, who is always concerned about the stock market, because he sees it as a big indicator the economy. beyond that, it is very clear companies are now becoming concerned. the coronavirus, which they always thought would hit short—term profits, could have a longer term effects, and we are starting to see companies talk about that and the stock markets are reflecting that. during that press conference, chris, he announced vice president mike pence will be in charge of the coronavirus strategy. but there has been some backlash because of his record ?

yeah, so mike pence is the us vice president. he said in terms of the task force, it will be the health secretary, alex azar, who acts as the chairman of that. in the us media, there has been some backlash against mike pence because of his background in handling a crisis in indiana when he was governor there. he blocked for a short time the introduction clean needle programmes during the aids crisis. the argument coming back from the white house is clear. he will be surrounded by experts and making sure the rating is done. but they have talking about the coronavirus. president trump wants to appoint someone within the administration, and mike pence has been given thejob, but there is no doubt there is a lot of work to do. looking at california,

they are talking about having more than 8,500 people being tested for symptoms that might indicate coronavirus. at the moment, the state only has 200 test kits. it is very clear that america is going to have to invest resources if it is going to tackle the potential problem of this virus. let's turn to the situation injapan now. the government has asked all schools to close from the start of next week to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. the closure, thought to affect 13 million students, will continue until the school year ends in late march. more than 200 people have been infected with the virus. 0ur correspondentjenny hill has the latest from tokyo. in what will be widely interpreted as a measure of just how concerned they are, the prime minister, shinzo abe, has called for the closure of all public schools from monday. is growing at the number of cases continues to rise. some local governments have already cancelled classes in their areas. as a nation, the next week or two are crucial. the and well—being of children is

of utmost concern. we would like to reduce major risks of infection that school environments could close, as places that may pose, as places where a large number of stu d e nts where a large number of students and teachers will spend long hours together. for some time, focus was very much on the diamond princess cruise ship, which is morejust down the coast in the port of yokohama. 0f the coast in the port of yokohama. of the 900 or more cases of infection is here in japan, some 700 originated on that ship, but what the authorities are really worried about other separate cases. nearly 200 of them springing up in clusters all over the country. many of them concentrated in the northern region of hokkaido. 0ne concentrated in the northern region of hokkaido. one of the most troubling cases for the japanese authorities is that of a woman in her 40s who was treated for the virus and discharge from hospital at the very beginning of february. it has now emerged that she has tested positive, again, for the virus. so that is of huge concern, and all of this of

course happening just five months before tokyo is due to host the 2020 olympics. now, the authorities insist that their preparations are continuing as planned. but we have heard from the chief executive of tokyo's organising committee who says that the torch relay which is due to begin injusta torch relay which is due to begin injust a few torch relay which is due to begin in just a few weeks' time and then travel all over the country may well have to be scaled down. jenny hill reporting from tokyo, and as she just mentioned at the end there, a scaling down of the olympic torch relay could be among the measures being put in place in response to the virus outbreak. the relay is due to start on 26 march in fukushima, and usually attracts huge crowds. we're expecting a news conference about this shortly. 0ne ioc member said japan has until the end of may to decide whether or not the tokyo olympics will go ahead at all in light of the crisis.

you're watching newday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: after a week of political turmoil, malaysia finds itself without a government. will mahathir outsmart anwar again? also on the programme: coming to terms with the devastation caused by the taal volcano eruption in the philippines. 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. our top stories. there've been significant falls in global stock markets as concerns over the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak grow. 33 turkish soldiers have been killed by syrian government airstrikes in idlib province. turkey has vowed to retaliate.

let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the impact of coronavirus dominates, yet again. the financial times highlights the slump in us and european stocks as we were talking to chris a little earlier. it also shows muslim pilgrims, wearing protective face masks, in the holy city of mecca. singapore's straits times reports on the closure of a top independent school — the raffles institution — after a student tested positive for the virus. there is also a report on the latest political twist in neighbouring malaysia where the interim prime minister confirms that a "snap election" may take place after no—one candidate got a majority backing to lead the country. the arab news is leading on coronavirus alongside a bold image of some enthusiastic

wrestlers at a wwe super show down in riyadh. the paper also has an update on syria — with opposition fighters retaking a strategic town in the north—west, from regime forces. now, lewis, what stories are sparking discussions online? yes, let's looks at what is trending right now. it's a new music video. can you guess who this is? it's taylor swift as you've never seen her before. she's playing a pretty unpleasant male media executive. # i'm so sick of them coming up # i'm so sick of them coming up # i'm so sick of them coming up #iam the # i'm so sick of them coming up # i am the man. seemingly references her running dispute with american record

executive scooter braun who bought the rights to her back catalogue of albums. after a week of political turmoil, malaysia currently finds itself without a government. following the shock resignation of prime minister mahathir mohammad on monday, attempts to form a new coalition have failed and the king has called a special session of parliament for monday to try and choose a new prime minister. 0ur south east asia correspondent, jonathan head reports from kuala lumpur. it has been a week of excessive coming and going at the royal palace in kuala lumpur, as the various options for a new government were aired. and, at the headquarters of the party whose leader thought he would be taking over, some impatience that mahathir mohamad hadn't yet stepped aside. he's the father of the people in malaysia, so of course

we don't forget about his value in this country. but it's time for him to hand over. sure. well, everybody here is waiting for anwar ibrahim to arrive, who until a week ago was presumed to be the next prime minister. he believes he can pull a coalition government together. 0therfactions think they can do the same. meanwhile, 94—year—old mahathir mohamad is running what is in effect a one—man government. nobody yet knows how the script for this drama is going to play out. they all stopped to listen as the veteran prime minister gave his first speech since resigning. he said he would try to lead a government of national unity. anwar ibrahim isn't buying that. he was promised the top job, and says that time has come.

but his party is divided, the popularity it had in the last election eroded by malaysia's economic troubles. you have economic growth, but we just haven't caught up with cost of living, and so you have a great degree of discontent, that... particularly among the malay population. particularly among the malay population, particularly among the young. the economy is not generating enough jobs that pay well. drive out on the capital's futuristic highways and you reach humbler neighbourhoods inhabited by ethnic malays. many, like mohammed, are disappointed by unfulfilled economic promises. right now, the government isn't looking out for ordinary people, for the malays, he told me. a lot of them are on very low incomes. there isn't enough to cover daily expenses. yet there were other promises from that election, of a cleaner, multiracial government, that these younger malaysians fear are being lost

in all the political intrigue. it's just utter betrayal. you know, people didn't vote for this, and yet the leaders, they are betraying people's trust, and i don't know if democracy is going to be possible in this country. perhaps the hopes of a new era were pitched too high. it is, all the same, a cruel disappointment to see them dashed so soon. let's take you to the philippines now, where people living around the taal volcano are slowly returning to their homes after it erupted earlier this year. 0ur correspondent howard johnson went with some of them, you may find parts of his report distressing. this is how taal island looked before the volcanic eruption, and here is how it looks now, the once—verdant philippine jungle now so heavily laden with volcanic ash that it resembles the surface

of the moon. we are travelling across taal lake towards the island here. you can see some gusts in the background emanating from the main crater. the alert level has been reduced here, which means some residents are returning to the island to see the damage caused by this eruption. and this is what we saw. here, a once vibrant community church now looks like an archaeological site, building after building buried under sulphurous ash. you see this house is completely covered in ash. the roof has collapsed in on itself under the weight. and here, another sign of everyday life before the eruption, a satellite dish completely ca ked in volcanic ash.

nearby, we meet a group of neighbours digging out ash from a buried house. they returned to the island to look for a man who has been missing since the volcano erupted. translation: please reveal yourself. fighting back tears, the man's wife says she won't rest until she has found him. we saw his mosquito net and mattress. nothing. we dug in the living room area. we also saw our dog here, dead. more than 4,000 people like gloria remain in evacuation centres away from taal. the island itself has been declared a permanent danger zone, with residents forbidden to return to their homes. islanders once made a living from tourism, fishing and farming. but many, like renz greco, have lost crucial livestock. translation: the boats were buried, the fishes died. our plastic sack business all gone. the total damage is $us20,000.

both renz and gloria said they have received food and shelter from authorities, but as yet are not sure they will receive aid to rebuild their lives. you have been watching newsday. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. and i'm mariko oi in singapore. don't go away, because i'll be back with business news. and we'll have more on how the us markets fell sharply due to the coronavirus outbreak. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with this update on the australian boy whose heart—breaking clip about being bullied was seen around the world. quaden bayles, who has dwarfism, had been targeted by bullies at school. an online campaign to take him on a trip to disneyland raised more than $308,000.

the nine—year—old's aunt says the family has been touched by the gesture, but will now donate the money to charity instead. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello once again. just as i was beginning to think about climatological spring at the end of the week, so thursday brought a taste of winter to some areas, and yet much of the rest of february is going to be all about some really quite heavy rain, some very strong winds. details, of course, on all of the warnings associated with this weather are to be found on the bbc weather website. friday itself starts off dry enough across eastern spots. it's a complete contrast, though, to fortunes towards the west. because here, having had a fairly cool start to the night, so with the cloud pushing in, relatively speaking, i think it will hold up the temperatures. five or six degrees to start off your day. but you've got the cloud and the wind and the rain right from the word go, and it's that regime that wins out across those drier sections in the east,

because the movement of that frontjust drags that cloud and rain ever further towards the north and east during the course of the day. an increasingly mild day for central and southern spots. it stays pretty chilly, though, across much of scotland. and that's not the whole story, because what is driving our weather through the course of the weekend isjorge, a named storm, throwing another weather front during the course of saturday across many parts of the british isles, quite early on across the greater part of england and wales. it lingers with intent across the north of scotland, and then another portion of that weather front just peps up the showers. so long spells of rain, which of course is across the high ground across northern britain. so that's a miserable day. four, five, six degrees, something of that order, and the strength of the wind a real concern from about midday on saturday right through sunday. we're looking at gusts of wind 60—70 mph. when i show you the pressure chart, that's no great surprise, because you see the squeeze on those isobars there widely across the british isles. this is notjust a feature

for the north of scotland, but i think somewhere across the north could well in exposure see 70 mph. further south, it's going to be a blustery day, with some sunshine. it's not all doom and gloom by any means at all, but the feeling of the day will be tempered by the strength of that wind, which persists on sunday, simply becausejorge is very close by to the north of scotland. so you may not feel every bit of that eight or nine or ten, if you're not stuck closer to five or six or seven further north, where the showers will be wintry. and it's not really until monday that we begin to see the ease in the winds, and there will be some sunshine, fewer showers, a relief after the weekend. keep an eye on the forecast. take care, bye—bye.

you are watching bbc world news.

our top story: asian stock markets have opened sharply down because of fears that coronavirus will hit economies around the world. earlier, in new york, the dowjones, s&p 500 and nasdaq indices all lost more than 4% of their value. the international monetary fund says it is likely to downgrade its global economic forecast because of the outbreak. at least 33 turkish soldiers have been killed and many more injured in the syrian province of idlib, reportedly by government forces. turkey has vowed to retaliate. and this video is trending on bbc.com. taylor swift has transformed herself into a man in the video for her latest song, called simply the man. she appears to use the song to air her grievances against some parts of the music industry. that's all, stay with bbc world news. more on our website,

bbc.co.uk/news, and the news app.