this is bbc news. welcome if you are watching here in the uk, on pbs in america, or around the globe. 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 have 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 is 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 are preparing for this summer's 0lympics, 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 saddened 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 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 has been the worst week on the markets since the financial crisis of 2008. michelle fleury sent this update from new york. yeah, i mean this was not a day for the fainthearted,

certainly if you ask any trader. from the city of london to wall street, we've seen yet again sharp drops in the prices of stocks, all of this is being driven by investors who are basically pretty worried about what is happening with the coronavirus. over £150 billion has been wiped off the value of the ftse in the last four days, and here on wall street, you've seen the dowjones industrial basicallyjust suffer its biggest points lost in history. it also joins other markets slumping into a correction, a drop of more than 10% over a period of days, and the price of oil continues to fall sharply. what is happening is that investors are trying to do what everyone else is, and that is to predict what will happen next. how far and how fast with this virus spread? the impact on corporate profits could be severe, if you start to see offices close, people stop travelling and people stop shopping. we've even had a warning

from one of the big wall street banks, goldman sachs, saying it could tip the us into recession. and asian markets have continued those falls. a short time ago, japan's nikkei index was down almost 3.5%, and hong kong's hang seng down more than 2.5%. in california, the first person—to—person transmission of the coronavirus in the united states, that is not related to travel, has been confirmed. and the latest moves from president trump to address the outbreak have drawn criticism. this from our washington correspondent chris buckler. yeah, 2a hours ago president trump stood up and tried to take control of what could become a crisis for his presidency. that's something he seemed to acknowledge by 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 that mike pence was the indiana governor when it experienced an outbreak

of hiv, which was very concerning, the fact that at 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 want in charge for this programme to tackle the coronavirus? he's even raied questions about whether or not smoking causes various illness. you can imagine the response from president trump's opponents. he's also been accused of playing down some of the dangers, and they are saying he should be focusing on the fact and focusing on being prepared. and it's these latest comments which are really leading democrats to say, is he really taking this seriously? president trump did say earlier that this could disappear, like a miracle. we have done an incredible job. we're going to continue. it's going to disappear one day, it's like a miracle. and from our shores, it could get worse before it gets better.

it could maybe go away. we'll see what happens. nobody really knows. the fact is the greatest experts 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 she was diagnosed. yeah, what is really worrying about this woman in solano 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. and that is what is so worrying about her. and as a result, the health authorities are trying to work out exactly who out exactly authorities are trying to work out exactly who she had contact with. because of course there isa with. because of course there is a danger of community spread, and that is something thatis spread, and that is something that is really, really concerning people.

in california alone, they're looking at some 8,500 people wanting to be monitored — they want to monitor for possible contact with coronavirus. they have 200 test kits. it gives a sense of the problem and how much america has to do should this become a greater outbreak. injapan, the government has asked all schools to close from the start of next week to try to limit the spread of the virus. it will affect 13 million students and continue until the end of the school year in late march. jenny hill has the latest from tokyo. in what will be widely interpreted as a measure ofjust how concerned the japanese authorities are, the prime minister, shinzo abe, has called for the closure of all public schools as of monday. concern is really growing here as the number of cases continues to rise. translation: some local governments have already cancelled classes in their areas. as a nation, the next week or two are crucial. the health and well—being of

children is of utmost concern. we'd like to reduce major risks of infection that school environments could pose, as places where a large number of students and their teachers regularly spend long hours together. for some time, focus was very much on the diamond princess cruise ship, which is moored just down the coast in the port of yokohama. of the 900 or more cases of infections here injapan, some 700 originated on that ship. but what the authorities are really worried about are the separate cases, nearly 200 of them springing up in clusters all over the country, but many of them 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 discharged 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 injust a few weeks' time and then travel all over the country, may well have to be scaled down. staying in the region, k—pop megastars bts have cancelled four concerts in seoul because of the coronavirus outbreak in south korea. mariko oi in singapore has more. we heard that bts, a very popular south korean group, are cancelling their concerts. but it's not just bts. cancelling their concerts. but it's notjust bts. a lot of concerts in the region have been cancelled also in the past 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 with all the school closures, for example, injapan, how is that going to affect working parents? whether they can actually get to work, all of that could actually have all of that could actually have a bigger impact on the region's economies than the actual outbreak, coronavirus outbreak itself. and until recently many experts were saying, you know, after the sars outbreak of 2003, the recovery was relatively fast. but now some are questioning, because it has now become really a global problem, whether or not we can actually see such a quick recovery after this outbreak. 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 had 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. orla 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: after a landmark ruling for europe's last indigenous population, the sami of sweden get to say who can hunt on their land. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malaca nang, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep.

warren beatty and faye dunaway announced to the world that the winner of best film was la la land. the only trouble was, it wasn't. the mistake was only put right in the middle of gushing speeches by the team behind the modern musical. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope. very soon, for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, "be hidden from the world for the rest of his life." this is bbc world news, our main headline: 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 take you to the philippines now, where people living around the taal volcano are slowly returning to their homes.

it erupted earlier this year. our 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. 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. a court said they have been using this land from time immemorial and 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 of kiruna in northern sweden. the traditional reindeer herders said their way of life was being threatened by other hunting and fishing activities. it is ourland, so we must decide.

disturbing the animals. in that case we keep nature as it is not destroyed. 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 group of entrepreneurs only who get to decide over this big area. but there is a concern that the ruling will give the sami power to block economic development including train lines, wind farm or mining. 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. the family of an australian boy who was filmed crying after being bullied have turned down a crowdfunded trip to disneyland. the video of quaden bayles went viral after he was targeted at school for his dwarfism. an online campaign raised more than 308 thousand dollars.

the nine—year—old's aunt said the family was touched by the gesture, but would donate the money to charity instead. finally, a tale of strangers united by music. amanda, a musician in nashville, asked ray, a violinmaker, to create a new instrument for her — with no idea of where this would lead. not only did ray share the secrets of his craft, but the two strangers became firm friends. their story, filmed by hannah long—higgins, is part of the bbc‘s crossing divides season, which tells stories of people coming together. we have this part in creating this thing and it could be around for 100 years. picture people dancing and laughing and crying to these little wooden boxes we make. what better to honour a tree then to make an instrument from it and specifically a violin? he sings

this was never on my radar. and before this experience if we we re and before this experience if we were to sit down and say you will make a violin i would say lam not will make a violin i would say i am not that girl. a lucy is somebody who makes wooden stringed instruments. he is a master maker of this dynamic duo we have going on here. we have been on this violin making journey together for almost two years. you can fill that ridge there. the average violin takes, they say, 250 hours. it isa very takes, they say, 250 hours. it is a very exact crack is. he is a white male and i am a black female. to the outside world if you are just looking in with no dialogue or back story it seems

odd but it is really not. you are not afraid of me, right? some people may be. he is a gentle giant. a genuine soul. i grew up in nashville, tennessee. born and raised here. i started tennessee. born and raised here. istarted my tennessee. born and raised here. i started my life in chicago. i walked interpret -- i worked in corporate america for a while and wanted to start met playing the violin again. she asked me to make a violin, if she could help me. ijust wa nted if she could help me. ijust wanted to know why not make her own? i would teach you how to make your own from the beginning. i want my violin to have a rich tone. we both do. starting the violin and going through the whole process of making the violin, the skills she has learned and most important skills are not, you

know, with the hands, they are in her head and in her heart. it really is special to teacher. i am anxious to see what she does with it. that is the exciting part for me. to this day i have yet to find a black female violin maker. i would love to create a small community of peers. that representation is so important. she is one of my best friends because, you know, she is honest with me and doing the thing that i love to do. much more on the coronavirus is on oui’ more on the coronavirus is on our website including answers to any questions you may have. there is a guide on self isolation and for people with conditions such as asthma. as

well as the official health advice. that is all on our website. thank you for watching. 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.

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.