welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: 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. there've been big falls in global stock markets as concern over the economic impact of the virus grows. at least 33 turkish soldiers are killed in idlib. turkey says it will retaliate against syrian government forces, backed by russia. and we take you back to the volcanic island in the philippines devastated by last month's eruption. the roof has collapsed in on itself under the weight, and here, another sign of everyday life before the eruption, a satellite dish

completely caked in ash. the coronavirus outbreak has reached a "decisive point" and has "pandemic potential" — that's the latest assessment from the world health organization which is urging governments around the globe to act "swiftly and aggressively" against the virus. coronavirus has now spread to 50 countries. worldwide, there have been more than 82,000 cases and 2,800 deaths. almost all of those are in china, but for a second day, more cases have been reported outside china, than inside. injapan, where they're preparing for this summer's olympic games, all state schools are to close for a month to try to limit the spread of the virus.

the vast majority of the deaths in china have been in hubei, the province where the outbreak began. 0ur china correspondent, john sudworth, has been speaking to one doctor in wuhan. 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. i mean, 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. well, stock markets around the world have plunged as investors get seriously worried about the possible impact on global economies. it's been the worst week on the markets since the financial crisis of 2008. mariko 0i is in our as a business hub in singapore. the asian markets have open, what are they doing right now as well? not do -- good at all,

mike was that it has been a tough week, japan's nikkei open 2.596 tough week, japan's nikkei open 2.5% down, now 3.5% down, and hong kong's hang seng index opening down by 2.5%. asian markets actually started reacting to the coronavirus outbreak almost a month ago, initially it was more about china, how a lot of factories there are shut and how that is going to affect the global supply chain. that was initially the worry. now we are seeing the virus spread well beyond china and well beyond asia, we are starting to see the markets in the us and europe react and that has been impacting asian markets again. yes, it was messy on wall street, wasn't it, mariko? that's right, all three major indices on wall street fell,

and if you look at the dow jones industrial average, it lost another 1200 points in just one day, taking his weekly fall to 3000, that is the worst week since the global financial crisis of 2008. it didn't help that we heard from an investment bank, goldman sachs, saying any profit of american companies could be wiped off because of the coronavirus, we also heard from the former chair of the federal reserve of america's central bank, then this outbreak could push the us into a recession. so even though president trump 2a hours ago was trying to calm the situation in the united states, we saw a sharp fall on wall street. i think we captained you as head of the federal reserve , we you as head of the federal reserve, we will try not to do that again —— captioned you. and it is hitting a lot of

music tours in asia, we heard about bts, the popular kapok band. yes, they have cancelled their concerns, but notjust bts, a lot of concerts in the region have been cancelled. in the last few minutes we saw that tokyo disneyland will close as of saturday, and that is the bigger worry for many economists, because when people stop going out, when they stop eating out and withhold the school closures for example in japan, how is that going to affect working parents? can they actually get to work? could all of that have a bigger impact on the region's economy, larger than the outbreak itself? and until recently many experts were saying, you know, after the sars outbreak in 2003, the recovery was relatively fast. that is coming into question because it is now

becoming a global problem, whether or not we could see such a quick recovery after this outbreak. mariko, thank you very much indeed for that. health officials in california have confirmed the first person—to—person transmission of the coronavirus in the united states, that's not related to travel. live now to our correspondent chris buckler. first of all, some blowback against the appointment of mike pence to have this response team, partly because of his record of being dismissive of scientific opinions of scientists and his previous health record. and this latest expression by president trump? yeah, 2a hours ago president trump stood up and tried to ta ke trump stood up and tried to take control of what could become a crisis for his presidency, that is something he seemed to acknowledge they really appointing a task force and appointing his vice

president, mike pence, to oversee the response to the potential dangers of the virus. but as you say, the fact my pa nts was but as you say, the fact my pants was the indiana governor when it experienced an outbreak of hiv, which was very concerning, the fact that one stage for a time he blocked the introduction of clean needle programmes, that that a lot of people to say actually, is that necessarily the best man you wa nt necessarily the best man you want in charge for this programme to tackle the coronavirus? is even made questions about whether or not smoking causes various illness. you can imagine the response from president trump's opponents. he has also been accused of playing down some of the dangers and they are saying he should be focusing on the fa ct he should be focusing on the fact and focusing on being prepared —— facts. it is these latest comments which i really leading democrats —— which are leading democrats —— which are leading democrats —— which are leading democrats to say, is he really taking this seriously? president trump did say earlier that this could disappear like a miracle. we've done an

incredible job. we're going to continue, it is going to disappear one day, it will and from our shores it could get worse before it gets better, it could maybe go away, we'll see what happens. never he really knows. the fact is the greatest expert i have spoken to, no—one really knows. that is the president, of course. well, from people with actual medical and scientific expertise, the center for disease control confirming this first person to person transmission without travel. this woman was active for several days before her diagnosis. yeah, what is really worrying about this woman in cilantro county in california is that there was no obvious contact with someone else who had the coronavirus and therefore they don't know where this came from. that is what is so this came from. that is what is so worrying about her. it is trying to work out exactly who she had contact with because there is a danger of community

spread, and that is something thatis spread, and that is something that is really concerning people. —— in solano county. in california alone they are looking at 8500 people wanting to be monitored dost mark they wa nt to to be monitored dost mark they want to monitor for possible contact with coronavirus. they have 200 test kits. it gives of the problem and how much america has to do should this become a greater outbreak. chris, thank you for that. in a move affecting millions of muslims worldwide, saudi arabia has taken the unprecedented step of temporarily banning foreign pilgrims from entering the country. it hasn't reported any cases so far — but riyadh has expressed alarm over the spread of the virus in nearby countries. it's not clear if the hajj pilgrimage, which begins injuly this year will be affected, but many muslims also travel to mecca for pilgrimage at other times of the year, a journey known as umrah. the travel ban has been

criticised by some travel agents in east africa who say they face heavy losses. francis 0ntomwa reports from nairobi. it's not the first time saudi arabia has issued a ban on pilgrims, but this is unprecedented. most will be affected here in nairobi, it has the highest population of muslims in nairobi. some people paid three months ago. then i was told you will not go. because i had planned to go to hajj for this year... with the hajj for this year... with the hajj event on the cards, muslims here are worried, and especially travel agents who say their businesses will be badly affected should this persist. as we are the people who apply for the visas for the umrah, we do the sales for the ticket itself, really, in our business, you are doing what will affect the business itself

because we cannot issue or sell the tickets. it is the same story for tanzania and travel agents. some? any agent who wa nts to agents. some? any agent who wants to send to umrah, there will be an amount needed to pat’- will be an amount needed to pay. people will have paid deposits because of taking people to umrah. meanwhile, two pilgrims from the media created two for the pilgrims from the media created two forthe umrah, pilgrims from the media created two for the umrah, give their opinions on the study travel ban. we should see which countries are affected by the coronavirus, but countries that are clear should not be suspended. it is normal for people to feel afraid, it is the house of god, which everyone has the right to visit. god doesn't want to hurt his people, god is tender and he loves us. 33 turkish soldiers have been killed in an attack by syrian government forces, backed by russia, in the idlib region of syria. ambulances have been taking casualties to the turkish border

town of hatay. president erdogan has been holding emergency talks in ankara. he'd had already been threatening military action if syrian forces continued their offensive in idlib. the northern syrian province, the last major opposition stronghold, has been under sustained assault, which has forced almost a million people to flee their homes in the past two months. 0rla guerin sent this report. 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. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: 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 bbc news. the latest headlines: a doctor tackling the coronavirus outbreak in the chinese city of wuhan has told the bbc that no city in the world would have been

able to cope with the epidemic. let's get more on our top story now. the coronavirus outbreak has reached a "decisive point" and has "pandemic potential" — that's the latest assessment from the world health 0rganization. live now to chicago and to adia benton, cultural anthropologist at northwestern university. adia, i know you specialise in global health. do you see this outbreak having an impact on people and on society beyond illness and death? i mean, encouraging fear, prejudice, more isolation as well? yes, absolutely. what iam seeing as well? yes, absolutely. what i am seeing are a few different things. first, clinically, in the united states we are dealing with mixed messages from the government which has, i think, made some people panic, right? this is one of those moments where if the proper messages are not communicated at the top levels, including how our government is preparing for this all the way down to the local level, it is

really causing a lot of disruption and people are not sure who to trust. with so much misinformation around, you can see the need, why officials may feel the need to control the message but you do wonder though about the ethics of the white house stopping public health official speaking out, though? yeah, i mean, one of the things that prompted last night when he gave his speech was he downplayed, i think, the risk that coronavirus does pose to the united states. we have already had a community transmission in california which means that these are people who have not had contact, have not been to china, have not necessarily had known contact with people who travel to china and it means that somebody is not doing theirjob. so yes, i think misinformation is a problem, i think mixed messages are making it very difficult for people to know what it is that they can

do to change their risk, to lower their risk, how they can help others who might be sick. including our elderly and children, so that is actually an issue. we also having issues with xenophobia, racism, and he is on with xenophobia, racism, and he isona with xenophobia, racism, and he is on a phobic racism, anti— asian racism, all of these things are really affecting our communities. do you see longer term impacts of that possibly? i think there is some economic issues we are having to confront or having to face, and obviously flights to and from china are being affect good and i getting messages about going to hawaii for a conference in a few weeks and i am already hearing about whether it may affect the travel and whether it might affect conferences and i'm sure that is all kinds of commerce and trade and i hear about friends saying my favourite chinese restaurants are seeing a loss or seeing fewer people inside. i think

there are all of these other interpersonal and communal rifts that may be amplified during this kind of crisis. adia, good to talk to you. thank you. thanks! taking you to the philippines. people living around the taal volcano are slowly returning to their homes. 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 dust 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've 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.

now, a landmark court ruling for europe's last indigenous population. the sami people of northern sweden have been granted the right to decide who can hunt and fish on their land, raising questions about similar possible moves elsewhere. rich preston has the story. northern sweden. 150 kilometres above the arctic circle. home to the sami people. the court said they have been using this land from time immemorial. it is thought they arrived in the region at the end of the last ice age. the sami won their landmark court case injanuary, giving their community exclusive rights to decide who hunts and fishes on their land. it was the end of what had been a ten—year legal battle. the ruling applies to a district south of the town of kiruna. the traditional reindeer herd

assess their way of life was being threatened by other hunting fishing activities. in that case, it is a victory, of course it is. keep the nature as it is, not destroy it, not exploit it. but others are unhappy and say gives the sami people too much control over an area they must share with others. i think there is space enough for all of us. i do not think it is a little group of entrepreneurs only who get to decide over this big area. others are concerned the ruling will give the sami the opportunity to block european development. the court case has also set a precedent in europe, turning back the clock on population shifts and giving autonomy to a group who can prove it was there first, raising the question over whether similar decisions could follow elsewhere.

some good news for the sami at least and possibly other people. that is all for now. thank you so much for watching. hello. thursday was marked by the fact that some areas saw their first snow of the winter season thus far and, yet, it looks as though the rest of february will revert to type. more heavy rain so further flooding can be expected, details on the weather website. the day does not really start in that vein, but towards the eastern side of the british isles, a ridge of high pressure overnight will have cleared the skies and temperatures will have fallen. that is not the case closer by to that weather front where increasingly through the course of the night i think we will find mild air pushing in from the south—west and from the word go, i am afraid it will be cloudy, wet and windy and it's that regime rather than cold dry bright

that winds out across many parts of the british isles during the course of the day. some of the rain quite heavy and it will turn mild for england and wales as parts of northern ireland as well later on. much colder across a good part of scotland and that is not the only weather front we have to contend with. nor is it the only weather system because the spanish authorities have named this deep area of low pressure storm jorge which will dominate the weather right through the course of the weekend. saturday starts wet and windy and we need to press that weather front across all parts and then another portion following on to gang the showers up across scotland, northern ireland and the north of england as well where it will stay resolutely cold and not much warmer further south despite the presence of sunshine. throughout saturday into sunday, it will be very windy indeed. there are already met office warnings about the strength of this wind because

some of the gusts — and when i show you that chart as no surprise to see that those gusts of 50—60 mph some exposed locations could see 70 mph. that is where we could get disruption to travel plans and it could mean that there are power outages as well. sunday, away from the centre of the low and these gangs of showers and longer spells of rain or snow depending on elevation will not be a bad day. some sunshine around. a couple of passing wintry showers but it will not feel overly warm so watch out, keep an eye on the flooding and also on the forecast.

this is bbc news. the headlines: asian stock markets have opened sharply down because of fears that coronavirus will damage economies around the world. earlier, the main new york indices lost more than 4% of their value. the international monetary fund has said it is likely to downgrade its global growth forecast for the year. health officials in california have confirmed the first person—to—person transmission of coronavirus in the united states, not related to travel. according to the centers for disease control, the woman had been active for several days before diagnosis. the state has only around 200

test kits for the virus. turkey says it is retaliating against syrian government forces after at least 33 of its soldiers were killed by airstrikes in the province of idlib. the developments mark a serious escalation in the conflict between turkey, which supports rebel forces, and the syrian government, which is backed by russia. now on bbc news, panorama. ina change in a change to our schedule programme, it is