you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am and these are the main stories this morning. the pm chairs a meeting of the government's emergency committee on coronavirus — as public health england warns of the spread of the outbreak. it is likely now that we will see in due course widespread transmission in the uk. what we don't know is exactly how widespread that will be. as the worldwide death toll from the virus passes 3,000 — the bank of england says it will take "all necessary steps" to preserve financial stability following recent falls on stock markets. the first round of trade talks between the uk and the european union begins today — 100 negotiators are travelling to brussels for discussions. greece says it's stopped nearly 10,000 migrants crossing the border into the eu from turkey

over the weekend. the government says it wants to give people in northern england "more powers over their railways" as it starts running services previously operated by arriva rail north. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'mjoanna i'm joanna gosling. the prime minister is chairing a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee, to discuss possible responses to the coronavirus outbreak. public health england has this morning warned that widespread transmission of coronavirus in the uk is now "highly likely". the government's official plan on how to tackle the spread of the virus will be finalised and signed off at today's emergency meeting. 36 people are confirmed to have the disease in the uk. 13 of those were diagnosed yesterday

— the biggestjump in a single day. one of the new cases is a health worker. there's concern over the economic impact of the virus — the bank of england says it will take "all the necessary steps" to preserve financial stability following last week's sharp falls on stock markets. looking at the global picture — there have been more than 3,000 deaths worldwide. more than 90% of those are in hubei province in china — but there have been deaths in ten other countries. andy moore has the latest. we know the...the genome...? ahead of chairing a cobra emergency meeting, borisjohnson went to visit the health professionals in the front line of the fight against coronavirus. at the laboratories of public health england in london, he expressed every confidence in the people around him. coronavirus is of concern. it is a...it‘s a novel illness, but it's something that this country really amply has the resources to deal with. we have state of the art testing

facilities, we have a fantastic nhs. we will have to get through this, but believe me, we are going to beat it. the jump in cases announced yesterday includes a family cluster of three adults related to a man in haslemere, who was confirmed as testing positive on friday. it's still not known how he got the virus. there are now 36 confirmed infections across the uk, with the first case in scotland, on tayside, announced yesterday evening. this is a serious situation, but we have well established procedures in place, and there's no need for the public to be unduly concerned. but the public can help, because we are still very firmly in the containment phases of this infection. it's been confirmed this morning that one of the new cases in england is a doctor at the mount vernon cancer centre at northwood in middlesex. the nhs says the risk to patients and staff is very low. the contacts of the doctor

have been traced and appropriate measures taken. last night, some of the first britons released from several days‘ quarantine at a hotel in tenerife flew home. on tenerife flew home. it's hoped that many others will soonjoin them. frustrating at times, mainly because of the communication difficulties between spanish and uk authorities. apart from that, they've been great. in the usa, in washington state, a nursing home is still under lockdown amid fears dozens there may have the virus. a local scientist said he thought the true number of infections might run into the hundreds, because the virus has been spreading undetected for many weeks. and at the source of the infection, in china, the daily toll of new infections continues to fall. but, with another 42 fatalities, the global death toll from covid—19 has now passed 3,000. andy moore, bbc news. public health england has warned that widespread transmission of coronavirus in the uk

is now "highly likely". professor paul cosford has been speaking to the bbc — and said the country must be prepared. of course, the increase in numbers of people that we've seen affected both in this country and other countries in europe and south—east asia do, i think, make it likely that we will see in due course widespread transmission in the uk. what we don't know is exactly how widespread that will be. of course, all of our efforts at the moment are still to identifying anybody who's got the illness, identifying their contacts and isolating them. and then doing all we can to reduce the spread of infection. that's important because what that will do is reduce the intensity of infection, so the challenges we may inevitably face with this will be reduced as far as we are able to reduce them.

i wouldn't say anything is inevitable but it is highly likely. the point of that is that we have to be prepared for a range of different eventualities. it's unclear, if you look at the experience in other countries, some countries do appear to have managed to get this a little bit more under control. we've seen the numbers coming down in china but other countries are struggling more and are seeing increasing numbers. that's why we must be prepared. that's the head of public health england. our health correspondent, nick triggle is here. he is saying widespread transmission is now highly likely but at this stage we don't know how wide spread. what are the latest stats? we have seen a flurry of new cases of the weekend. 0n seen a flurry of new cases of the weekend. on thursday there were just 15 confirmed cases in the uk and that has increased to 36 now and it worryingly includes two patients who health officials have been unable to identify how they got it. they haven't been abroad to one of the countries where we have seen outbreaks and that suggests

transmission beginning to happen in the uk. and as professor paul cosford has been saying, they are concerned that widespread transmission could become highly likely. the government's cobra committee is meeting today to discuss what to do in terms of if we see major outbreaks. and what are they likely to come up with? there has been a lot of speculation about possible measures. certainly the health officials are saying it would present a significant challenge to the uk. in terms of the nhs, more than 20 hospitals have been designated to take patients, but if we see lots of outbreaks they will $0011 we see lots of outbreaks they will soon become full. there is more than 4000 critical care beds across the whole health service in the uk but the question is whether you want to put these coronavirus patients in hospitals where you can't necessarily isolate them from the general population. that's one of the things that will be discussed by cobra. there is also the question about what you do about curbing the

wider spread of the virus. do you curb schools, the use of public transport, ban mass gatherings in public which has been happening to some extent in some countries. ministers have been quick to say they want to be proportionate, though. anything like that has a significant social and economic impact. at the moment the virus causes only a mild illness for a lot of patients. ijust causes only a mild illness for a lot of patients. i just want to read causes only a mild illness for a lot of patients. ijust want to read out an e—mail sent anonymously to the victoria derbyshire programme this morning because it is particularly interesting and pertinent when we are discussing about the possibility of it spreading without people necessarily even knowing they have cut it. this e—mail says, i'm a junior doctor in london, everyday i commute through london including one of london's biggest train terminals and come into close contact with hundreds of people every morning and walk straight into hospital for work. my colleagues do the same all over london every day. how do we think we can sustain a workforce if we are made to self—isolate? who will work in the hospitals? is it safe for doctors to blindly their days on the wards in which close

contact with all patients with multiple comorbidities? by the time we know a doctor is infected it will be far too late. i can't believe we are continuing like this. very pertinent points about health workers. extrapolated into every single workforce, the question about self isolation, what is the guidance on that? this is one of the problems. when you do get widespread transmission throughout the community, it becomes virtually impossible to stop. public health england accept that trying to contain it only works to a certain extent. if we can delay it, that helps. then it is all about sort of mitigating the impact. if, as we believe, and as we have seen with this outbreak, that the majority of cases are mild, we might see cases of people with the mild illness encouraged to stay at home so the nhs can concentrate on those most severe cases. if nhs can concentrate on those most severe cases. if we nhs can concentrate on those most severe cases. if we look back ten

yea rs severe cases. if we look back ten years to the swine flu pandemic, that led to 30,000 hospitalisations, about 6000 critical care cases. there was enough capacity in the nhs there to cope. so the signs are encouraging from that point of view. there is a shortage already of health workers. we are actually going to be speaking in a short while to a nurse who retired last june who thinks she may be one of those called back if this spreads and they decide to start calling that people who have retired to plug the gaps. thank you very much, nick. let's show you the latest pictures from tenerife, showing a coach picking up quarantined british tourists from the costa adeje hotel for airport transfer. some of the guests are now free to leave and these are amongst them. they have beenin these are amongst them. they have been in lockdown for six days at that hotel but have been told they can leave if they don't show symptoms if they have tested negative for the virus less than 24 hours before the flight and continue

their period of isolation in their home country. so these are the latest holiday from that hotel leaving and heading home. we saw earlier a group of british tourists who had been on a coach heading to the airport. they got off the coach at the airport wearing masks, saying they are relieved to be heading home. there have been five cases detected at that hotel, the fifth cases detected on saturday, and that is of course what has triggered that lockdown at that hotel. the government has said its plan, if the outbreak worsens here could include asking newly retired doctors and nurses to return to the nhs. sheila jones is a retired nurse and joins me via webcam. thank you for joining us. you retired lastjune. have you had any official contact about the possibility of going back? not at all. the first i heard about

this was basically on twitter. i saw the comments that there was an article where medical staff may be called back to help as part of the coronavirus plan. so no official notification at all. quite surprising news, really. what would you think if you did get the call—up? you think if you did get the call-up? i think first of all, i've only recently retired and i'm one of those 50s women that didn't get their pension, so i had to wait five yea rs their pension, so i had to wait five years to be retired anyway. and then to think they may then now be asking us to think they may then now be asking us back, but additionally, i'm also concerned because i'm 66 now, so i'm in that group of people that are at high risk if they come into contact with the coronavirus, at high risk

of death. the statistics show, and this is from an official website, the figures can be as high as 3.6% for my age group. and if you have an existing co—morbidity like cardiovascular disease that then goes up to a 10% risk of morbidity if you contract the virus. i think first of all there needs to be a bit of clarity. this feels a bit like a knee jerk of clarity. this feels a bit like a kneejerk reaction, oh, we willjust fill the spaces with newly retired staff without a lot of consideration being given to the fact that these people, it is probably mostly women anyway, are going to fall into this high—risk category. it would depend on what they were wanting us to do. i guess you could potentially go into some sort of advisory telephone type of role, man the telephones, maybe. but to go back into something like intensive care, and i was in

intensive care nurse, or some sort of physical role, i think would be very difficult for a lot of retired personnel. would you say no if you we re personnel. would you say no if you were asked to do that? if it was a physical role, there is no way. i wouldn't put myself and my family at risk, given what i know now. if it was an advisory role, as a nurse we are compassionate, we do want to help where we can, and it would be something i would give consideration to. but you know, i don't think they have thought this through because many people who have retired have struggled to hang on to working until 65, 66 anyway, so then to ask them to consider going back to work when many of them have may be through personal illnesses anyway, doesn't seem very realistic to me. you said you are a nurse and you are compassionate by nature. i hear everything that you are saying about

really probably not wanting to have to get back into the fray, but does that pull make you feel at all like volunteering your services in the sort of what you have described, potentially giving some advice or a supervisory position?” potentially giving some advice or a supervisory position? i think if it was an advisory position and they could work it that you would maybe just a few hours of your time, that might work. but you know, time is precious. we are already short of money not having had our state pensions forfive years. money not having had our state pensions for five years. i think it would be very difficult to say that i'm just going to volunteer to help, you know what i mean? when we have already been short—changed on the pension front. back to 60 at the moment, the campaign group, already have a court of appeal hearing in july to challenge the government on their stance on women's pensions. so to say now they want us as voluntary

workers, which is one of our arguments really, that women who have retired in the past at 60 did go into voluntary work and they were able to do so because they had money coming in. i think this cohort of women 110w, coming in. i think this cohort of women now, they are not in that same position. so i think they haven't really thought it through, i don't think. when i was on the radio yesterday, i was listening to the doctor that was speaking from the bma and the other lady doctor, and there are all sorts of issues around registration, because that might have expired, some people haven't renewed their registration. retraining for the new post. that could take some time. and the liability that you need as an employee in the nhs. so there is a lot of things they need to set up. i do know they will have a pandemic plan, because all hospitals have to

be prepared for such a situation. but this plan doesn't seem to have been thought through. i think potentially we are one of the high—risk generation being asked to put ourselves out there when really it's not in our interests, and probably not in the interests of the people that we would serve. thank you very much, really interesting to get your perspective on all that, sheila jones. that's fine, thank you very much and thank you for having me. we are hearing that the eu has raised the coronavirus risk level two high from moderate. so, that just through. two high from moderate. so, thatjust through. let's get the latest of what is happening politically here. the prime minister has been sharing the cobra meeting this morning, the emergency committee discussing exactly what the responses will be as coronavirus continues to develop.

0ur assistant political editor, norman smith is at downing street. the eu raising the coronavirus risk level up to high from moderate. 0bviously that won't affect us here 110w. 0bviously that won't affect us here now. it's different for us. it is, although what i think we will get is some detail about the sort of contingency preparations and options the government is now having to consider. i think much of what comes out of the cobra meeting will be about public information, public awareness, about what individuals can do. we have had a lot of it in terms of washing hands and proper use of tissues and that kind of thing. i think the other side of it which we will get is a lot more government information. i think you will see more press briefings by the chief medical officer and by matthew hancock. there will be a greater focus in government on setting aside time to address coronavirus, so each government department will have a minister who is assigned to take

responsibility for putting in place various preventative measures. we are told it will automatically be on the agenda for all future cabinet meetings. but in terms of some of the sort of ideas that have hit the headlines, such as, for example, restricting travel, potentially cancelling football matches, concerts, maybe even isolating whole cities, my sense is we haven't quite got there yet and there is a relu cta nce got there yet and there is a reluctance in government to go down that road until we really have to. because obviously, the social and economic costs. it was interesting listening to the international trade secretary truss this morning. she seemed to be indicating that the expectation was that this virus is going to spread lot further. we've had 36 confirmed cases so far. we are prepared for all scenarios. we are, of course,

doing all we can to contain the disease at the moment and we're working very hard on that, but we need to be aware that things could get worse. that's why we have the plan in place, that's why we have a dedicated minister dealing with coronavirus and that's why we're making sure that there are resources in the national health service to deal with it. interesting, liz truss mentioning the national health service because her counterpartjon the national health service because her counterpart jon ashworth the national health service because her counterpartjon ashworth in the labour party has said, well, actually, if this is so serious the government should be looking at providing emergency funding for the nhs and the liberal democrats actually suggesting that the brexit trade talks should be put on hold so that the government can actually focus entirely on the coronavirus. i mean, despite that, it is striking it hasn't really become a party political issue. i suspect it may not because it is viewed as something that goes beyond, if you

like, normal party politics. norman, is this likely to impact on the budget which is next week? well, we are told not to come in the sense that the budget will still go ahead. but in terms of big decisions, yes, i think it may indeed impact because it's very hard for rishi sunak to come up with any really radical spending plans, or indeed tax plans, when there is a huge degree of uncertainty about the real impact of coronavirus on the economy and whether potentially it's going to significantly hurt the economy. so i think it's likely to mean that this budget is actually a pretty cautious budget is actually a pretty cautious budget as we wait to see exactly what the impact of the coronavirus is on the economy. norman, thank you very much. to find out more about coronavirus, you can watch a bbc news special on tonight on bbc one. rachel burden and fergus walsh will be answering all of your questions in coronavirus: everything you need to know. that's tonight at 7.30pm on bbc one.

there is plenty of coverage online and we will keep you fully updated throughout the day. the first round of trade talks between the uk and european union start today. a team of 100 negotiators led by the prime minister's europe advisor david frost are in brussels for an initial four days of talks. it is expected cooperation on security and transport will also be discussed. adam fleming is in brussels. those 100 will be split up between ten different focus groups are looking at all aspects from fishing to financial services. both sides wa nt very to financial services. both sides want very different things. so, how tricky is this going to be? the process will start off very shortly at around lunchtime with a setup meeting between michel barnier, the chief negotiator, and david frost, the chief negotiator for the uk and then those 11, not ten, 11 separate

working groups will start working tomorrow. it is such a big set of delegations, it is too big for the european commission's headquarters so european commission's headquarters so they will decamp to a conference centre down the road in the centre of brussels. the disagreements between the two sides are pretty big as well. there is quite a lot of them. first of all in the free trade agreement, how much of that is reliant on current eu standards? how much of that reflects eu law? the eu says you got to have european standards in there. the british government so surely we could just make some general pledges to fair and open competition. then you have the big issue of fishing where the uk wantsa the big issue of fishing where the uk wants a completely different model for allowing access to british fishing waters for european trawlers. and then you've got the governance of the whole arrangement, sorry to use that technical phrase, but how do you actually manage the agreement or agreements, and is there a role for the european court ofjustice in that process? and even then, do you have one big

blockbuster agreement covering all the areas from trade to services to transport to fisheries as the eu wa nts, transport to fisheries as the eu wants, or lots of separate agreements in those sectoral areas all with their own little arrangements as the uk wants? a lot of stuff to be chewed over and i doubt we will make a lot of progress injust this first doubt we will make a lot of progress in just this first four days. it is a pretty tight window really if there is in progress byjune, is that it? june has been agreed by both sides that there will be a high—level conference at leader level where stock will be taken of how much progress has been made. the uk has said that would be a moment at which if things haven't been going well then the uk government would refocus its attentions to contingency planning for there being no trade deal and no agreements at the end of it. the eu agrees that that's an important point to take stock. they don't see it quite so dramatically as that. but then you hear diplomats saying actually it might not be until october when the pressure is really on and that compromises really get made. so we

could be waiting quite a long time. you speak to the officials on the eu side who are doing these negotiations, they would quite like it to all be done behind closed doors without too much public pressure because that is how you get compromises being made. having said that, though, michel barnier will do a press co nfe re nce that, though, michel barnier will do a press conference on thursday at the end of this first round because he wants to be seen to be super transparent and in control of the narrative, and he is going to do a press co nfe re nce narrative, and he is going to do a press conference at the end of all the rounds. the next round will take place in a couple of weeks' time in london. thank you very much, adam fleming. let's speak to sarah hall — professor of economic geography at the university of nottingham. welcome. thank you forjoining us. what are your thoughts on the prospects of an agreement when both sides want something very different? the eu wants an overarching agreement covering everything, the uk wants to negotiate piecemeal deals. i think the rhetoric that we have heard so far and that is reflected in the two documents that we have seen them on first impressions, looks like the two

parties are relatively far apart. i think, as your colleague was just saying, when you look into the detail, there are a few key areas where there are big differences in their opinions. fishing would be one. the actual structure and governance of any future agreement would be another one. but i think if there was the appetite on both sides for concessions to be made, then come the autumn there could be a way through. you mentioned fishing. it isa through. you mentioned fishing. it is a totemic issue in these negotiations, in terms of the value to the british economy, 0.5%, i think, of gdp, so it is a small fraction. why is it such a totemic issue? i think this really gets to the heart of what these negotiations are about because they are notjust about the economics, they are also about the economics, they are also about the economics, they are also about the politics. if you recall the big rhetoric around the brexit referendum vote and leaving the eu,

it was about taking back control, andi it was about taking back control, and i think it's the politics of that desire to take back control that desire to take back control that really come to play significantly when we talk about fishing and access to a waters, particularly given the fact that the uk is seen as an island nation. the canada uk is seen as an island nation. the ca na da style uk is seen as an island nation. the canada style agreement has been talked about for a long time and was presented as something that would be pretty straightforward, a free trade agreement. but it sounds like the eu are now saying that the uk cannot have that free trade agreement along the lines of canada because of our geographical proximity. it is just not the same. what is your view on that? we know that geography really matters when it comes to trading relationships. so from the eu's side, it is understandable that they would be concerned that a major economy very close to them, when trade tends to be greater between two countries closer together, it makes sense that they could be

concerned that for example the uk might undercut them to seek a competitive advantage on things like labour rights or environmental rights. 0n the uk side, i think the negotiators really have to think about what price economically in the uk is prepared to pay to take back control. and the question that has been asked so many times since before the referendum, and obviously it is still valid now with these negotiations going on, which side has the most to lose here? in raw economic terms, the uk economy, we know we trade significantly with the eu, notjust in manufacturing, but also in services, although politically in the uk now, boris johnson is going into these negotiations with a significant majority. 0n the eu side, i think it's important not to lose sight of the politics of these negotiations within the eu, and the fact that the

eu obviously have other business going on beyond brexit. i think to think about who loses most, you need to think both about the economics and the politics. thank you very much. it is good to get your analysis of those trade talks beginning today. there is going to beginning today. there is going to bea beginning today. there is going to be a long road ahead, 100 negotiators in 11 working groups. now, let's catch up with a look at the weather. sunshine across many parts of the uk, one ortwo sunshine across many parts of the uk, one or two showers, more frequent showers across the west of scotla nd frequent showers across the west of scotland but this is the scene in cambridge, fair weather cumulus cloud in the sky, replicated across many parts, but the showers will continue across western scotland, still some snow over the higher ground of scotland, eastern and southern scotland faring better with some sunshine. elsewhere, one or two showers across england and wales. maximum temperatures up to around

7-9, maximum temperatures up to around 7—9, maybe 10 degrees. tonight we will continue with those showers across scotland, moving their way a bit further southward but find many parts there will be close by unlike skies and temperatures will fall away, so quite a chilly night, a touch of frost into tomorrow morning and also a chance of some ice, especially with showers throughout the night, typical values into tuesday morning. they will again be a largely fine and dry day, some showers passing from west to east throughout the day but sunshine in between and top temperatures similar to today, about 7—10dc. bye for now.

hello this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines... the pm chairs a meeting of the government's emergency committee on coronoavirus — as public health england warns of the spread of the outbreak. as the worldwide death toll from the virus passes 3,000 — the bank of england says it will take "all necessary steps" to preserve financial stability following recent falls on stock markets. the first round of trade talks between the uk and the european union are set to begin — as a hundred negotiators travel to brussels for discussions. greece says it's stopped nearly 10—thousand migrants crossing the border into the eu from turkey over the weekend. the government says it wants to give people in northern england "more powers over their railways" as it starts running

services previously operated by arriva rail north. sport now...and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning. anthonyjoshua will defend his world heavyweight titles on the 20thjune — with the fight expected to be against kubrat pulev. the bout is set to take place at the tottenham hotspur stadium and will bejoshua's first fight in the uk since september 2018. it's also the first time joshua has defended the titles since regaining the belts, following his win against andy ruinunior last december. well, anthony joshua has since had this simple response on twitter — posting a picture of himself with his three heavyweight belts. some breaking rugby union news this morning and former england winger chris ashton has left sale after reaching an agreement

to terminate his contract early. the ex—saracens and northampton player winger joined sale nearly two years after a spell with toulon in france. ashton has scored 20 tries in 44 england tests but hasn't been capped in over a year. defending champions australia beat new zeland in melbourne to reach the semi—finals of the t20 world cup. the hosts won by four runs to join england, india and south africa in the finalfour. they will find out their semi—final opponents on tuesday. manchester city have won the league cup for the third year in a row after beating aston villa 2—1 at wembley. goals from sergio aguero and rodri were enough to seal victory for pep guardiola's side. natalie pirks has this report. league cup final day or groundhog day? these are scenes of glory now oh so familiar for manchester city fans. it had been 24 years since opponents

aston villa had won this trophy, but despite a strong start, their nemesis was about to send city on their way. aguero! and then it would get worse. soft defending from a corner doubled their pain. headed in cheaply by rodri. dean smith was furious that it should have been a goal kick. in truth his team's defending was the biggest issue. just as a sense of inevitability crept in, it was city's turn to slip. stones. stones with the stumble, samatta with the strength. samatta! game on. villa were hanging in there and with time trickling away, bjorn engels came mere millimetres from achieving legendary status. so the final whistle brought heartbreak for plucky villa, business as usual for guardiola. such is city's dominance at wembley, they might has well set up camp in the home dressing room. this was their ninth win in a row here. but villa can leave with their heads held high. premier league survival

a more pressing matter. natalie pirks, bbc news, wembley. liverpool under—23s coach neil critchley has left the club to take charge at league one side blackpool. critchley has taken charge of two first—team games this season including the fa cup win against shrewsbury last month at anfield. he also oversaw the league cup defeat to aston villa in december while most of the senior squad were in qatar. coronavirus continues to have an impact on sport around the the world. the opening motogp race in qatar has been cancelled, while football in italy remains seriously affected. juventus have now confirmed that the coppa italia match this week against ac milan will go ahead. fans will be able to attend, unless they have a membership address affected by the outbreak. lecce against atalanta was one of only five serie a games to take place over the weekend. visiting fans from the northern based team were tested for symptoms of the coronavirus on their way in to the ground.

meanwhle organisers of the six nations will meet later today to discuss plans for the remainder of the tournament. ireland's match against italy in dublin — scheduled for this weekend has already been called off, while there are still doubts over other matches, including england's visit to rome on the final weekend. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. the european union's disease control agency has increased its risk level for the coronavirus from moderate to high, the eu commission president ursula von der leyen made the announcement a short time ago at a press conference. the cdc has announced today that the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the european union. in other words, the virus continues to spread. we all know that the many many different actions

that the many many different actions that are needed to address coronavirus arm very multifaceted, they are multifold and for eight weeks we have been working intensively on these different work strands. the commission has addressed all these strands and we have a situation that is very complex and it requires on one side, very swift action and on the other side, a strong coordination and all the levels and different sectors, not only on the european level but of course on the national level and then a very comprehensive and coherent approach to what is the topic from all 27 member states and the european union. negotiations but oppose brexit trade deal between the eu and the uk begin today. the eu

says its own fishermen must not end up says its own fishermen must not end up any worse off. the two sides have major differences on key issues. one of those is fishing. the uk says it's taking back control of waters that have been shared with eu countries, and british boats should catch more fish. the eu says its own fishermen must not end up any worse off. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas is on the north east coast of denmark. damian — why could fish prove such a difficult issue? that promise to uk voters was made in the brexit referendum that taking back control of british waters would revive the british fishing and revive the british fishing and revive british coastal communities and there a sense in the uk that it has done badly historically because less tha n has done badly historically because less than half of the fish from uk waters is taken by british votes. but here on the european side, they say that is the pattern that fishing has taken four decades and decades, long before the eu existed. they do not want it to change and here they save thousands ofjobs depend on fishing and they wanted to continue the way it always has. in some

places like here in denmark it is really dependent on fishing. in the port of skeg and up the coast, around 75% of catches by some votes are made in uk waters. laden with more than £1 million of fish caught on one trip. the boat is danish, the fish, blue whiting, were caught in irish waters. but soon it will be the season to trawl uk seas, exactly the areas the uk says it alone will control after brexit. for these big danish fishing boats, access to uk waters is crucial. about 40% of their catches comes from there, and they are saying that if the uk wants a trade deal, it has to allow this fishing to continue. the saying is they will take back control, we don't know what that means. we go back to what? in the history, we have to be able

to go fishing in the north sea, and the uk water, we have been able to do that for all times. that history of sharing these rich fishing grounds, mapped by danish trawlers, is the reason the eu says it is not ready to give up either its access to uk waters or it's part of the catch here. i can't really accept the argument of handing anything back to the uk, as danish fishermen have been operating those waters for centuries. and the eu has a weapon in its fight over fish — tariffs. this factory alone produces 800 million herring fillets a year. the uk could catch the herring, but if the eu puts a tax on imports, where will the uk sell all this fish? the biggest volume for herring will be consumed in europe, and not that much in the uk. so if the uk insists on catching more herring, it has still got to sell it over here?

yeah, that is how i see it at least, or the english people have to learn to eat herring — a lot of it. in the uk, brexit has been painted as a chance to revive coastal towns. in skagen, the fear is that brexit might follow the economy out. fishing supports 3000 jobs here. it is what this community is built on. we have a fish as our monument. it is part of our dna. it is a dna which goes back to viking times. the local mayor says both sides need to avoid hostilities. we have to find some sort of agreement where we can come and fish in the seas that is connecting us, and the british fishermen can sell their fish. when it comes to trade, fishing is only a tiny part of all the exchanges between the uk and eu, but it is an emotive one, and failure to agree

could scupper an overall deal. and there you have the problem. the uk thinks it has a strong card in the negotiations because of its control of those waters but the eu side saying that fishing will be tied to an overall trade deal and the eu once signs of progress towards a fishing date by the end of june or it says base negotiations could be in trouble. there is a lot at stake focusing on this one narrow issue. thank you very much. as damien says, it is one of many important talking points to negotiate. there will be a lot of key talking points to negotiate, but what are the biggest issues dividing the two sides as these talks begin? 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris is here: there's been some pretty tough talk before these negotiations have

even started — not surprising, there's a lot at stake. in fact things could well get worse over the next few weeks — there are plenty of gloomy predictions. both sides would like to end up with a free trade deal with no tariffs (or taxes) and no quotas on goods crossing borders. but how do you prevent unfair competition between businesses in the uk and the eu, which could allow one side to undercut the other? this is what's known as the level playing field. and some version of it appears in most trade deals. but the eu's demands in this negotiation are particularly strict. it wants the uk to follow eu rules in the future on state aid — that's things like the amount of subsidies governments are allowed to give to businesses. and it wants the uk to stick close to current eu rules, on issues such as workers' rights and the environmental regulations that businesses have to follow. but the uk rejects all of that. leaving the eu, the government says, means no alignment with eu rules. we will maintain high standards, ministers argue, but they will be our standards not yours.

the uk says we just want the same kind of trade deal that you've negotiated with other big economies like canada orjapan. the eu says that's not possible — the uk is a special case because it's much closer to the eu, and their economies are far more intertwined. so now we have both sides accusing the other of breaking promises on a key issue. the eu says it's all about protecting the single market, the uk says it's all about regaining real sovereignty. there are plenty of other difficult issues to negotiate as well — fisheries for example, and the role of courts in resolving any trade disputes in the future. different interpretations about future arrangements for northern ireland, painstakingly negotiated in the withdrawal agreement, could also become another flashpoint. so it does come down to an issue of trust — which is really important in a trade negotiation.

you need to have some confidence that the other side isn't going to go back on its word. at the moment trust is in slightly short supply — but it's still worth remembering that after the shouting stops both sides want, both sides need, to strike a deal. thank you very much, chris. greece says it's stopped nearly 10—thousand migrants crossing the border into the eu from turkey over the weekend. turkey says it cannot deal with the amount of people fleeing syria's war. now greek officials have announced they'll block any new asylum applications and turn illegal immigrants away. but asjonah fisher reports some people have managed to cross the border. the route overland to europe has been given new life by turkey's president. this road runs very close to the border between greece and turkey. there are a couple of official crossing points, which are now closed and heavily protected,

but there are, we've been told, plenty of other places along this stretch, where people can get through. as the icy rain falls, we come across a family group from afghanistan. pawns in a geopolitical crisis and now shivering and alone. they tell us they had been bussed up to the border by the turkish authorities. and then crossed into greece by cutting the barbed wire on the borderfence. further down the road, we find a group of west africans. they say they walked along a dirt track to get here, evading tear gas and border guards. we want to go to germany. we don't want to stay here in greece. you understand ? we want a better life for us, for ourfamilies, that's why we cross, you know. then, as the clock approached midnight, we came across four young migrants from the middle east.

you guys have come from iraq and you have come from syria? as we started to talk, men with their faces covered and no insignia, arrived. please... the migrants were put in the back of a van, which had no number plates. excuse me, where do they get taken now? to the police station. and what will happen to them? i am not a sergeant, 0k? i am not an officer, 0k? i'm not a sergeant, 0k? 0k. greece says fewer than 200 migrants have managed to get through since friday, and they've all been detained. at one of the closed border crossings, we caught up with the defence minister. we saw people being taken away in a vehicle yesterday without number plates, and men with their faces covered. is that normal procedure here? in my mind, normal procedure for one country is to guard and secure its borders. that's all i have to say. but they are getting through the fence.

hello. ahmed is one of the few migrants we've met we met who came from syria. i don't money, i don't water, i don't food. i am don't everything. the number of migrants crossing is still small, but the door to europe is far from closed. it's now very, very tight. yeah. very tight. jonah fisher, bbc news in northern greece. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news. the prime minister chairs his first meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee this morning with 36 known cases of the virus in the uk. a team of a hundred negotiators are in brussels as the first round of trade talks between the uk and the european union are due to begin. greek officials say they have stopped nearly 10,000 migrants crossing the land border with turkey since last week.

in the business news... london's ftse100 index jumped nearly 3% in early trading, boosted by hopes of support from central banks to ease the impact of the coronavirus. the rise followed a rebound in asian markets amid hopes that central banks will cut interest rates to boost economies. so farjapan and the us has already pledged to intervene after big falls last week as fears about the economic impact of the virus spread. big falls on global stock markets might be easing but travel firms are still feeling the impact. airlines saw some of the biggest share price falls last week, as carriers are forced to suspend some routes due to the coronavirus, while demand has been falling on others. the biggest riser on the ftse100 is rentokil initial, which operates commercial hygiene services. its shares are up 5.6%. young people from black, asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds are at greater risk

of being in unstable employment, according to new research. a report from the carnegie trust says the group is 47% more likely to to be on a zero—hours contract and 4% less likely to have a permanentjob. good morning. let us turn our attention to the trains. the government has taken over the running of all the train services which were previously operated by arriva rail north. the takeover was announced in january following widespread commuter chaos since may 2018 when the timetable was changed. passengers experienced regular delays and cancellations. the bbc‘s danni hewson is in manchester and has more on what day one has been like for commuters under a new leadership. this morning's commute was the first real test of the government's operator of last resort which took control of the northern rail franchise last night. all the staff that work here at this

depot in north manchester, all the trains are now under their control and it is a complicated franchise. more than 3000 services every single day. passengers have got used to delays, to cancellations and to overcrowding. they understand that there can be no magic wand waved, but i was talking to transport secretary grant shapps earlier and he said he understood that people wanted change. i think anyone who has been travelling on these trains for months will say it is not a day, a minute, a second too soon to do something different, because there is no doubt in my mind that the service these people have been getting is appalling and you're right, it has notjust all been the previous franchisee's fault, there were many other factors, engineering and trains not coming and all the rest of it and those things will not be magic—ed away, but i think we could do better and ijust believe that people deserve trains that turn up on time so that they can get to work, get home, see the kids, all those things that people want to do in their everyday lives. today is the start, the start only, of some improvements.

the operator of last resort is going to be working with northern politicians and with passenger groups. they are going to report back in 100 days on the progress that has been made and the progress that still needs to be made on the northern rail network. the coronavirus is also something which is causing particular concern on public transport. grant shapps says today that people shouldn't avoid the services, but needed to make sure that they took simple precautions like washing hands when they came off services. let's get more on that story suggesting that young people from black, asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds are at greater risk of being in unstable employment. the researchers compared the experiences of 25—year—olds in england and found that of those, 47% were more likely to to be on a zero—hours contract. but why — prof morag henderson who carried out the research at ucl explains why the issue needs

to be addressed. it is a study that looks at about 8000 young adults in england and follows the sort of life from adolescence and we are at the point of age 25 where we can find out what their work status and theirjob status is. and we know there is quite a well—documented ethnic minority pay gap and all this report shows is that there is additionally some ethnic minority gaps in terms of secure employment. so we are talking about permanent contracts without being fixed term. so what we find is that for pretty much all of the categories that we looked at including some of what you mentioned, zero—hours contracts, having a second job, not having a permanent contract, to being a shift worker or being unemployed, black and minority ethnic groups were more likely to be in those categories. so we think that there is some systematic challenges that these groups face and that government and employers should do more to try and address some of those inequalities.

let me show you what is happening in the markets. let me explain. brent crude is back up from some pretty hefty. we saw last week because of nervousness particularly in the travel industry and fewer people we re travel industry and fewer people were travelling. also remember, a lot of factories in china, the workshop of the world, now not working. the demand for energy falling sharply but they are back on the up. international consolidated airlines group, the parent company of ba, their shares are down and there are real concerns about travel around the world because of the coronavirus affecting travel shares, easyj et coronavirus affecting travel shares, easyjet is down as well. you see that real difference because those would ordinarily be dragging down the wider market but the ftse100 is pretty flat and that is because of that stimulus that we think might be coming from central banks around the world to try and negate the worst

impact of the spread of coronavirus. that could be slashing interest rates and that is why the ftse100 is holding up overall even though some big stocks particularly travel firms are falling pretty sharply. that's all the business news. breaking news about frankfurt airport. it has been closed up early because of a drone sighting and some reports even talking about multiple drone sightings and the airport will be closed until 2pm local time with flights being diverted to elsewhere in germany or in some cases turned back at mid air. the airport has reportedly had issues with drones in the past and they have now locked down the airport while a drone siting is investigated and we will of course keep you updated. grenfell tower enquiry was briefly suspended just minutes after it began because some members of the public shouted at the chair accusing him of selling

his soul. they were protesting against the decision last week to offer guarantees to those giving evidence they would not be prosecuted. the enquiry is hearing from architects and contractors involved in the refurbishment of the building before it was destroyed in a fire building before it was destroyed in afire in building before it was destroyed in a fire in 2017. here is the moment so martin suspended proceedings for a few minutes. i am clear, studio architects limited. you will have to learn to behave here. we have got someone and that is nothing to do with you. shouting. if you cannot sit still and listen, you will have to leave the room. what is the point, if they cannot be used in the court? right, have we got... 0k. all right, we going to rise for two

minutes and those gentlemen will be asked to leave the hearing are not returned. now it's time for a look at the weather. we have had a really wet february and moving on to march things quiet down a bit. still rain in the forecast, but for many of us, we have been enjoying some lovely sunshine and that is the scene in derbyshire, some cumulus clouds and sky. throughout this week sunshine and showers, not as windy as over the weekend, but it will feel quite chilly with overnight frost expected. three today we have low pressure towards the north and that is bringing quite a few showers today and as we can see, the speckle cloud here, that is the shower clouds, bit of rain this morning in the south—east of england and that cloud is clearing away and you can say for the most part we have sunny spells into the afternoon. still some showers feeding in particularly in the west of scotland and on the higher ground, snow falling, eastern and southern scotland a bit drier. a few showers in england and wales, a

bit wintry of a higher ground, maximum temperature is about 7—10d and throughout the afternoon, still and throughout the afternoon, still a bit breezy in places, particularly across the and west of scotland. closer to the area of low pressure. as we go through tonight, still some showers for scotland, northern ireland, drifting their way south and east and for many of us, clear spells as we go into tomorrow morning and that will allow temperatures to drop away and it will be some frost round, potential for some ice where we had some showers through the night. a chilly the day, this area of low pressure is still there towards the north, with a north—westerly wind, still that weather from there, it will give us more showers across scotland and northern ireland, showers feeding south and east across england and wales and may be handy tomorrow, but in between the showers, sunny spells and temperatures similar to this afternoon values, between seven or

nine or 10 degrees. going into wednesday, some uncertainty about the forecast, we have this area of low pressure tracking its way close to southern areas of england and that could track its way a bit further north or south and we will keep a close eye on it. it will bring some rain across wales, the south west of england during wednesday and it will gradually extend further north and east and the uncertainty lies as to how far north the rain will be. elsewhere it will be drier with sunny spells and temperatures around seven or eight or9 temperatures around seven or eight or 9 degrees. by the end of the way, more rain on friday, more so i think during saturday, but nothing quite as stormy as we have had recently. goodbye.

you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's midday and these are the main stories this morning: the pm chairs a meeting of the government's emergency committee on coronoavirus — as public health england warns of the spread of the outbreak. it is likely now that we will see in due course widespread transmission in the uk. what we don't know is exactly how widespread that will be. as the worldwide death toll from the virus passes 3,000 — the eu raises its risk level and says they're working intensively to curb it. the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the european union, in other words the virus continues to spread. the first round of trade talks between the uk and the european union get under

way — 100 negotiators are in brussels for discussions. greece says it's stopped nearly 10,000 migrants crossing the border into the eu from turkey over the weekend. the government says it wants to give people in northern england "more powers over their railways" as it starts running services previously operated by arriva rail north. good afternoon. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'mjoanna i'm joanna gosling. the prime minister has been chairing a meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee, to discuss possible responses to the coronavirus outbreak. the government's official plan on how to tackle the spread of the virus is expected to be finalised and signed off at the meeting. 36 people are confirmed to have the disease in the uk. 13 of those were diagnosed yesterday — the biggestjump in a single day. one of the new cases is a health worker. there's concern over the economic

impact of the virus — the bank of england says it will take "all the necessary steps" to preserve financial stability following last week's sharp falls on stock markets. looking at the global picture — there have been more than 3,000 deaths worldwide. more than 90% of those are in hubei province in china — but there have been deaths in ten other countries. public health england has warned that widespread transmission of coronavirus in the uk is now "highly likely". professor paul cosford has been speaking to the bbc — and said the country must be prepared. of course, the increase in numbers of people that we've seen affected both in this country and in other countries in europe and in south—east asia do, i think, make it likely that we will see in due course widespread transmission in the uk. what we don't know is exactly how widespread that will be. of course, all of our efforts at the moment are still to identifying anybody who's got the illness, identifying their contacts and isolating them.

and then doing all we can to reduce the spread of infection. that's important because what that will do is reduce the intensity of infection, so the challenges we may inevitably face with this will be reduced as far as we are able to reduce them. i wouldn't say anything is inevitable but it is highly likely. the point of that is that we have to be prepared for a range of different eventualities. it's unclear, if you look at the experience in other countries, some countries do appear to have managed to get this a little bit more under control. we've seen the numbers coming down in china but other countries are struggling more and are seeing increasing numbers. that's why we must be prepared. meanwhile, the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, has launched a ‘corona response team', coordinating the work of five european commissioners. at a news conference in brussels,

she said the european centre for disease prevention and control had raised the risk level in europe. ecdc has announced today that the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the european union. in other words, the virus continues to spread. we all know that the many, many different actions that are needed to address coronavirus, are very multifaceted, they are very manyfold, and since eight weeks we are working intensively on these different work strands. the commission has been addressing all the strands. we have a situation that is very complex and it requires on one side very swift action and on the other side a strong coordination on all the levels and all the different sectors, not only on the european level but of course on the national level, and then a very comprehensive and coherent approach

towards the topic from all 27 member states and the european union. that is 0sella von der leyen. —— 0sella. our health correspondent, nick triggle is here. co nsta ntly constantly moving pictures bring us up constantly moving pictures bring us up today with the latest. we have seen a flurry of new cases in the last few days, on thursday there was only 15 and now there has been 36 confirmed cases of coronavirus the uk. two of those are patients that didn't travel abroad and so health officials fear it may be being transmitted within the uk, in fact public health england have warned that it public health england have warned thatitis public health england have warned that it is highly likely widespread transmission will be seen in the coming weeks and months. and as we mentioned, the government's cobra committee is meeting to firm up what it is calling battle plans. we understand we will get the details of those certainly by tomorrow. in terms of the transmission, it has

only been since the end of last week that random testing is taking place within the population for anybody reporting symptoms without a direct link. so presumably the number of cases went up by 50% of the weekend, still low, but presumably they are only going to go one way now. public health england set up a scheme working with 100 gps to identify cases that might not be immediately obvious. 0ne cases that might not be immediately obvious. one of the cases that did not get the virus from abroad was identified through that system. the question now comes is what will happen if we see some major outbreaks. there is a number of options at the government's disposal. 0ne options at the government's disposal. one in terms of curbing public gatherings, closing schools, and banning gatherings in public. we have seen some countries already