this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: the world health organization raises its assessment of the coronavirus threat to the highest level. we have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of covid—19 to very high. the virus causes another frantic day on global markets, hit with their worst week since the financial crisis. nato calls for calm as turkey hits hundreds of targets in northern syria — payback for a deadly airstrike on its troops. and we speak to asia bibi — the pakistani christian who was sentenced to death for blasphemy after an argument with neighbours.

the world health organization has raised the global threat level from coronavirus to "very high" — the highest possible level of alert. they're planning to send a mission to iran next week. officials there say 3a people have died, but health sources have told the bbc the actual figure is more than 200. in south korea, where 16 people have died, there have been 1000 new cases in the past 48 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 2,300. rich preston has this update. the number of countries reporting new incidents of covid—19 continues to rise. new zealand, lithuania, and belarus are among the latest to confirm their first cases. the world health organization has upgraded the global risk of the virus. it calls for all countries to educate their populations, to expand surveillance,

to find, isolate, and care for every case, to trace every contact, and to take an all of government and all of society approach. iran is now the biggest cause for concern, with more than 200 people reported to have died. as authorities there try to get control of the situation, friday prayers in the country were cancelled for the first time in a0 years. worldwide, there have been more than 2,500 deaths from this strain of coronavirus. the united nations says each country has to do is bit. we know containment is possible, but the window of opportunity is narrowing. and so i appeal for solidarity and full global support, but with all countries fully assuming their responsibilities. italy continues to be europe's biggest cause for concern, with more than 650 cases and several towns in the north of the country

still on lockdown. the uk has reported its first case of a patient who caught the virus from within britain. in the united states, a second case of community contagion in california, as the number of infections across the country passes 50. we haven't lost anybody yet and, hopefully, we can keep that intact. there have been no deaths in the united states at all. a lot of that's attributable to the fact that we closed the border very early, otherwise it could be a different story. other countries that haven't yet had any confirmed cases of the virus are preparing, bracing themselves for what is likely the inevitable. rich preston, bbc news. more on the situation in iran where, as we've heard in that report, the bbc has learned that more than 200 people have died from the virus — that's six times as many as the officialfigure. the health ministry has accused the bbc of "spreading lies." but as bbc persian‘s kasra naji

explains, there are fears the government, unsure of how to handle the outbreak, is covering up the extent of the spread of the virus. we are getting reports that the spread of the virus is much more serious than what the government is admitting to. we have today managed to get a figure of 210 from our sources in iran, hospital sources in several cities, where they say at least 210 people have been killed or have lost their lives because of the virus. and that is almost more than six times the official figure of 3a that was given by the health minister at lunchtime today. a source of concern is that a, the government is not quite sure how to handle the situation, and b, doesn't have quite all the facilities or the kits that it needs to control it.

on top of that we have the issue of religiosity, the issue of religious figures who do not want to close down places of worship in iranfor example. oom, the holy city of oom, the centre of a serious outbreak in iran, and the religious authorities are still refusing to close down these main shrine there, saying it is the people's religious duty to visit these places of worship and we cannot close them down. so all that has added to each other to the extent that there is a lack of confidence in the government's ability to handle the situation and also the government's figures coming out from the health minister and others.

us financial markets continued to fall dramatically on friday, following sharp declines on european and asian markets. investors are expecting the central banks to cut the cost of borrowing in the us, japan and other major economies. more from our business correspondent samira hussain. us financial markets were battered in a way not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. the dow jones industrial average fell by more than 12% this week, although on friday trading was able to come back from a 1000 point loss to close only 350 points lower. wall street continues to worry about the coronavirus, and if the increasing number of cases outside china will push the deadly virus into an epidemic. ——a pandemic. the white house has been trying to calm nervous investors. the trump administration's national economic director says he does not believe the stock market plunge will have a long—term effect. and the president himself spoke

to reporters late on friday saying some of these big drops can be attributed to investor fears of the unknown. earlier in the day, the us central bank, the federal reserve, released a statement saying the us economy remains "fundamentally strong", but if there is a need for the fed to step in, it will. traders were interpreting that as a possible cut to borrowing rates, something that other major economies are also considering. and there's special section of the bbc news website dedicated to the coronavirus outbreak, including a look at all the sporting events that are likely to be disrupted over the next few weeks because of health concerns. let's get some of the day's other news. the gare de lyon station in paris was partially evacuated after a large fire was inadvertently started by demonstrators. they were protesting against a congolese singer who was giving a concert nearby. they accuse fally ipupa of being too close to the congolese government. police say nobody appears to have been hurt.

new zealand's prime minister jacinda ardern has called australia's policy of deporting foreign nationals convicted of committing crimes "corrosive". the comments were made at a heated news conference with her australian counterpart, scott morrison. australia has been deporting hundreds of people to new zealand, even though some left at a young age. crisis talks have been taking place to prevent a major international escalation of the civil war in northern syria. it comes after a surge in fighting between turkish and syrian forces. 33 turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike, and turkey has responded by targeting hundreds of syrian government sites. our international correspondent orla guerin has sent this report. payback. the turkish military hitting hard today. pounding more than 200 syrian government targets in idlib province.

it was retaliation for this — the killing of 33 turkish troops in idlib yesterday. these massive airstrikes have triggered a dangerous escalation. turkey has blamed the syrian regime, but syria's ally, russia, controls the airspace. as the fallen soldiers were given a hero's funeral, turkey's defence minister hulusi akar says moscow has no excuse. translation: even though we told russia in advance the location of our troops, the attack happened. after the first strike, we warned them again, but it continued. even ambulances were hit. the battle for idlib is continuing. the regime trying to drive the rebels from this last stronghold.

but in the past two months, the bombing campaign has also driven almost1 million people from their homes, many towards the turkish border. president putin and president erdogan, seen here meeting last year, have held urgent talks over the phone but they are backing opposite sides in idlib and so far neither appears to be backing down. as turkey struggles with the fallout in idlib, it wants the west to feel its pain. here is how — by allowing refugees to head for europe. small groups began leaving today after word went out the authorities here would no longer try to stop them. 25—year—old mohammed hit the road fast. he fled damascus four years ago. we are going to greek, on foot. but today, at least,

he could not reach europe. now we are trying to cross the river, but... greek commandos said no, no. and here in istanbul, a clamour to board a bus for the border without the risk of being detained. turkey has been coping with almost 4 million syrian refugees for years. many have built new lives here. but the threat of an exodus gives turkey leverage with the international community. orla guerin, bbc news. roman polanski has won best director at the cesars, the annual awards for france's film industry, for his film an officer and a spy. mr polanski was a controversial nominee, having been a fugitive from justice in the united states since 1978, after admitting unlawful sex with a 13—year—old girl.

he did not attend the event, saying that he feared for his safety. more than 100 women's rights activists protested at the award nomination, clashing with police near the venue. after he was announced as the winner, several actresses left the ceremony in protest. president trump has urged afghanistan to seize an opportunity for peace. an agreement is to be signed in qatar on saturday in the presence of the us secretary of state, mike pompeo. this will set out a timetable for a phased withdrawal of us troops in return for security guarantees from the taliban. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, looks ahead to the meeting. in this serene setting, history is being made. it would be wrong to call this agreement between the us and the afghan taliban a peace deal, but it is truly significant. marking the end of what has been more than a year of difficult negotiations here in qatar over

a phased and conditional pullout of us troops in exchange for taliban security guarantees. most of all, a promise that afghanistan will not be used again as a haven for extremist groups. but where there is a possibility of peace is when, if all goes as planned, two afghan delegations —— delegations sit down and talk. one from the islamic republic of afghanistan, the other from the afghan taliban. it isa other from the afghan taliban. it is a test of taliban commitments to move away from war, to seek political solutions. it is also a test of afg ha n solutions. it is also a test of afghan leaders now bitterly divided. will they be able to stand together, to protect the real gains in afghanistan since the fall of the taliban and into thousand one? most of all, this agreement is a rare glimpse of hope in, more than four decades of war. so for most afg ha ns, four decades of war. so for most afghans, it is a risk worth taking.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how an argument with her neighbours led to eight years on death row — pakistani christian asia bibi recounts her ordeal in an interview with the bbc. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected even in the right to test them out, so that they don't get their heads broken

and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy — i know you don't want to say too much about it — but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the world health organization has raised its assessment of the coronavirus threat to the highest level. there was a frantic day on the markets. they've been hit with their worst week since the financial crisis. mick mulvaney, the acting white house chief of staff, says the media is stoking a virus panic to bring down president trump. here's doctorjeanine kraybill, an expert in political science from california state university. well, donald trump is concerned by this because he's prioritizing social and economic policy over a transparent government where he's getting information out to the american people.

that's why many are arguing after his trip to india, he had the point person on the coronavirus in the united states be his vice president, mike pence, as opposed to members from various health organisations and the science council. moreover, too, doctors with the allergy and the infectious disease centre have repeatedly told the white house that we need to be more active in our preparedness. but largely, this seems to be the fact that donald trump seems to be nervous about the fact that the markets are not doing well. he has touted a healthy and robust economy and he is not wanting this to impact him electorally in any way, and so he is trying to downplay this and make it be, as, you know, package it as a way of fodder for his political opponents to be critical of him and mick mulvaney, his comments are indicative of that.

yeah, people are sort of making early comparisons about george bush and hurricane katrina in 2005. obviously, he never really got over that, the reputation of his sort of inaction and indecisiveness there. is that kind of the worst possible scenario for donald trump? it could be. i mean, that's something that definitely will never leave george w bush's legacy, his, you know, endemic response to hurricane katrina and really not having fema, our national disaster agency, up to speed to be ready to handle that, and then even the aftermath of hurricane katrina, so i think that is definitely, you know, an analogous example to compare to donald trump's response. you know, on monday, he did allocate over $2 billion to this but congress decried that that it wasn't a sufficient amount of funding. almost 3,000 people have died from the coronavirus and i believe over 80,000 have been infected or in danger of being infected and our centres for disease control

here in the united states have also told the trump administration that it's not a matter of if the coronavirus hits the united states in a wide capacity, but when. and so many are concerned that like china, donald trump's and his administration is not being as transparent or really active as they should be about what this potentially can have for the united states. and again, this may largely be because the dow had its worst week since 2008 this week and he is probably trying — he meaning donald trump — to quell investors‘ concerns here in the united states that the coronavirus will not impact a healthy wall street or economy. now onto the democratic race to take on donald trump in the 2020 election. former vice presidentjoe biden has a lot riding on tomorrow's critical primary in south carolina. in order to stay competitive in this race, he is counting

on a resounding win. barbara plett usher is in south carolina. this is biden country, south carolina — the southern state he cannot afford to lose. that's my neighbour. his loyal supporters are working overtime to make sure he wins. bernice scott and her reckoning crew trustjoe biden. y'all supposed to walk with some pep! his history with barack obama carries weight with them and other african—americans — the critical vote he needs here to stay in the race. hi, this is bernice scott, your neighbour. they think he's the best man to beat donald trump. yeah, we need everybody out forjoe biden. this country needs someone who knows what's going on. he knows where the bones are buried. i think that if we do not elect someone like joe biden, it's gonna to be a lot more trouble than we think. cheering and applause. mr biden is getting a warm south carolina embrace but he's been the one in trouble. he has struggled for most of his campaign, outspent by his rivals, undone

by his rambling rhetoric. the primary has become a make—or—break moment for him, so this was significant... i knowjoe. we knowjoe. but, most importantly, joe knows us. that's right. ..an endorsement from the state's godfather of democratic politics. raps. but will the backing of the establishment be enough? one ofjoe biden‘s most serious challenges comes from bernie sanders, the left—wing frontrunner. he's been packing venues and attracting black voters who think mr biden is no longer the man for the times. i just feel that bernie is something that will actually put change into the country instead of somebody who's just gonna, like, go with whatever is, like, happening in trends. like, he's always on the same topics, and that's why i like bernie more than biden, personally. do you think bernie can do well in biden country? um, i think so. i think he stands his own.

i think he can stand by his own. so, yeah, i think so. i think a lot more people are on his side in this area than you think. really? especially younger people, yes. especially what? younger people. yeah. bernie sanders: bernie beats trump. cheering and applause. bernie sanders is looking for a a big boost in south carolina. he's getting a lot of love at this rally, butjoe biden has had a bounce back in the polls this week. he'll need to win here to help him score victories on super tuesday, and he'll need to win big if he's to emerge as the moderate candidate to take on mr sanders. barbara plett usher, bbc news, columbia, north carolina. three former barclays executives have been cleared of fraud charges in the only criminal trial of senior bankers in the uk for events linked to the 2008 financial crisis. rogerjenkins, tom kalaris and richard boath were charged in connection with a £4 billion investment deal with qatar, which enabled the bank to avoid being nationalised.

the acquittal is a major blow to the serious fraud office, which brought the case. in 2010, a christian woman from pakistan, asia bibi, was sentenced to death after being convicted for blasphemy after an argument with neighbours. she spent eight years in jail before her conviction was overturned. fears for her safety led her to flee to france. she spoke to my colleague mishal husain. the fury in pakistan just over a year ago as a woman sentenced to death for blasphemy was acquitted. asia bibi had been convicted on the flimsiest of evidence. now, she has broken her silence about the nightmare that began when she was accused of insulting the prophet muhammad. translation: i was very scared. i couldn't even imagine something like this would happen to me. for a year and a half, i kept going to court. not once did the judge hear my side of the story. they sentenced me to death

without letting me speak. asia told me she was working in the fields near her home in punjab province when a mob came to drag her away. her daughters, then aged eight and nine, saw it happen. they have since been reunited with their mother. it was so strange to see my husband and children after so long. i couldn't make sense of my emotions. but when i think about my daughters‘ childhood... i see them crying at being separated from me. that i cannot forget. after international campaigns and eight years on death row, pakistan's supreme court dismissed the charges, but there are still christians and muslims being targeted by the blasphemy law.

what would your message be to the government of pakistan? to prime minister imran khan, i say whenever something like this happens, it should be properly investigated. innocence should not be punished and innocent people jailed for this should be freed. in a statement, the government of pakistan told us it had taken considerable steps to prevent misuse of the blasphemy law, and that minorities are treated as equal citizens. this afternoon, asia bibi went to meet president macron. she may be granted asylum here in france or in canada, but this period is one of huge adjustment for her. she told us she isn't sure yet what the future holds. mishal husain, bbc news, paris. beatles fans will be familiar with this — it's the famous pedestrian

crossing outside abbey road studios in london which featured on their 11th album. and you might recognise two of the faces — prince harry and jon bonjovi — along with two members of the invictus games choir, mimicking the fab four. the american rocker is re—recording one of his songs for harry's invictus charity. jon bon jovi quipped that he looked forward to working with the "artist formerly known as prince". a reminder of our top story. the world health organization has raised its assessment of the coronavirus threat to the highest level. you can get more information on that story and everything else you have seen in our bulletin on our website. that is just about you have seen in our bulletin on our website. that is just about it from me for now. you can reach me and the rest of the team on twitter. i'm @sipusey.

from me and everybody else, thank you for watching and do stay tuned. hello. friday brought more rain to areas which didn't need it. another 10—15mm fell across shropshire. around 40mm of rain fell in around 12 hours in cardiff. meanwhile, across scotland, there's been further snow. and through the weekend, parts of the highlands could see another 20—30cm of snow, and all eyes this weekend are on this area of low pressure. this is storm jorge, which was named by the spanish met service. through the early hours of saturday morning, we will see further heavy, squally rain pushing its way eastwards, cold air tucking in behind. we could see icy conditions across parts of northern ireland first thing on saturday. but the main focus this weekend is the strength of the wind. gales, if not severe gales, across a large swathe of the uk, gradually easing down through sunday. very wet and windy first thing across the eastern side of england.

sunshine following. lots of showers pushing in from the west, likely to be wintry. it's very wet and windy across the northern isles through the afternoon. some more persistent rain and maybe some hill snow across northern england and into southern scotland. it's a cold day, particularly when you factor in the strength of the wind. so temperatures not much higher than 6—7 celsius in places and some gusty winds, quite widely 40—50 miles an hour, but through the afternoon, some really strong winds developing across parts of wales, northern england and into southern scotland, where they could gust up to 75 miles an hour, maybe even 80 miles an hour for some western coasts of scotland. and also some heavy, persistent rain for a time across northern england, southern scotland, northern ireland and also some snow once again over higher ground. through the early hours of sunday morning, we keep this focus of rain and hill snow across northern england and southern scotland. to the north and south of this, some clear spells, but squally, blustery showers. the strength of the wind should keep the frost at bay first thing on sunday morning. so storm jorge slowly pulls away northwards through sunday.

we're keeping an eye then on this feature here which will start to push some outbreaks of rain into south—east england through sunday morning. so two things to keep an eye on. the winds will be slowly easing down, but still some outbreaks of rain and snow across northern england and southern scotland. rain for a time perhaps across south—eastern england. we will need to keep an eye on the timings of that. then between all of this, there'll be some spells of sunshine, some wintry showers, the wind slowly easing down, but it's still a windy day. it's certainly still feeling cold, given the strength of the wind. but we start to lose those severe gales as we go through sunday. so it's a blustery day and for most, a mixture of sunshine and showers. and that's actually the theme into next week. it won't be as windy, it will be somewhat drier for a time. but still, some showers around. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the world health organization has

raised its assessment of the coronavirus threat to the highest level as more than 50 countries report infections, but the head of the organisation says there is still a chance to contain the virus if its chain of transmission can be broken. fears that the outbreak could hit the global economy led to a sixth day of sell offs in stocks and shares. in the us and london, markets suffered their biggest weekly loss since the financial crisis in 2008. companies around the world have lost more than $3.5 trillion in value. there've been angry scenes outside france's most prestigious film awards, the cesars, after roman polanski, a convicted rapist, won best directorfor his film an officer and a spy. more than 100 women's rights activists clashed with police near the paris venue. you can get more on that on our website, bbc.com/news. heavy downpours are expected

to bring more flooding