briefing, with me, sally bundock. the top stories: the world is now in uncharted territory, say health chiefs, as the number of deaths from coronavirus passed 3000. benjamin netanyahu claims victory over his main rival in israel's third election in a year, but can he finally form a government? with backing from pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar, welljoe biden‘s momentum continue, as democrats raced to a super tuesday showdown. —— race. and tweet, but don't travel. twitter asks its staff to work from home in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

a very warm welcome. this is tuesday's briefing. we will make sure you are across all you need to know in global news, in business, and in sport. also, the consumer group which found booking a hotel room was cheaper when you call directly, rather than using travel websites. so we are wondering, are we being ripped off when we book holidays online? tell us your experience. just use the hashtag, #bbcthebriefing. president donald trump has met the heads of us —based pharmaceuticals giants at the white house to urge them to quickly develop a vaccine to

confront the covid—19 virus. but help officials have warned it could take 18 months to create and test an effective vaccine for the disease, which is on the rise around the world. —— health officials. freya cole has the latest. the world is in a race to create a vaccine, and us president donald trump wants america to be first. get it done, we needed, we wanted fast. but a vaccine which is tested and safe to use is at least 18 months away, according to america's leading health experts. even so, the president remains upbeat. we had a great meeting just now with the pharmaceutical company heads. lots of you probably saw the results of the meeting, but i think the results will be spectacular. authorities in the us are scrambling to control an outbreak of the new coronavirus. new cases are on the rise. a nursing home near seattle has been badly affected. around the world, china has by far the most

victims, but south korea, italy and iran are other countries with great concern. the world health organization says china's response sets a good example. numbers are high, but the country has managed to gain control. with the coming of spring, we are not far from the coming of the victory of the final defeat of covid—19. coming of the victory of the final defeat of covid-19. in europe, though, virus after—shocks grow stronger. cultural institutions like the louvre in paris have shut up shop, and life in italy, europe's epicentre of the outbreak, is far from europe's epicentre of the outbreak, is farfrom normal. schools and businesses have been forced to close and disinfect. tourism dollars have come to a grinding halt. global health leaders say every individual has a role to play in stopping the spread of this deadly disease stop good hygiene like washing hands

often and knowing when and how to self quarantine could help save a life. simple steps which will go a long way in fighting this enormous battle. well, let's go live to hong kong now to speak to our correspondence there, robin brandt. what has carrie lam been saying about this today? well, she has confirmed plans to bring homejust over 530 hong kong residents from behind. they have remained in that city at the very centre of this outbreak since it all started. so they will be returning today. she has also confirmed the number of cases here in the territory stands at 100, and there have been to reported deaths. remember, hong kong, it is part of china, an autonomous area of the country, but it remains almost cut off.

almost, but not quite cut off from the mainland. just two ways in, by the shenzen border and the airport. they are bringing him hong kong residents from wuhan and the number of cases here now has surpassed 100. we are also seeing action on the part of organisation such as twitter, aren't we? yeah, so, working from home, the wfh phenomenon has spread far beyond mainland china, where it was used as an essential tool by big tech giants like tencent and alibaba. now we are seeing companies like twitter telling people to stay at home and work ina people to stay at home and work in a concerted effort to try to stop the spread of the disease. the problem, of course, is that if you work in industries like that it if you work in industries like thatitis if you work in industries like that it is pretty easy for you. you need your brain, laptop, an internet connection you are there. but if you work on heavy industry, manufacturing, all those industries that are so

crucial here in china to getting this economy back on its feet, you cannot do that. that is why we are seeing some of those economic figures that we talked about yesterday mainland china talking about how severe the impact has been on things like new orders on production at the factory gate, certainly in january. production at the factory gate, certainly injanuary. one other sliver of relative good news. the death toll here in china has increased by 31 the last 2a hours. that takes it to 29113. yet again, almost reported deaths in the province of hubei, according to official government numbers, which we a lwa ys government numbers, which we always have to rely on. no new debts anywhere else across mainland china in the past 44 hours. —— deaths. mainland china in the past 44 hours. -- deaths. thank you, that was the latest from robin brandt, in hong kong. we will go to israel next, where prime minister benjamin netanyahu has claimed victory in the country's third general election in a year. mr netanyahu election in a year. mr neta nyahu has election in a year. mr netanyahu has been seeking re—election facing a corruption trial which is due to begin later this month. anna foster sent this report from tel aviv.

the path to power will not be a smooth one. angela netanyahu's likud may have emerged from these elections as the largest party, but they still do not have enough capacity seeds to build a majority coalition. —— knesset. israel has been here before, but its longest serving prime minister is already making plans for the future. translation: throughout the campaigni translation: throughout the campaign i have talked about what we hope to achieve in the coming years. sovereignty over the homeland. terminating the iranians threat. reaching a defence alliance with the united states. and establishing peaceful relations with leading arab and muslim states. this is only based on an exit poll. the boat still needs to be properly counted and things could easily change. but that didn't stop likud supporters here celebrating what they see as a potential victory. over at blue

and white, the mood was muted. their leader, benny gantz, addressed to the party faithful. translation: addressed to the party faithful. translationzlj understand and i shared a feeling of disappointment and painfor feeling of disappointment and pain for not getting the result we wanted, and if these are the final results, they will not bring israel back on track. after a year of political deadlock, it still isn't clear where benjamin neta nyahu deadlock, it still isn't clear where benjamin netanyahu will find the extra seats needs to form a government. he has another challenge as well. in two weeks he goes on trial to a nswer two weeks he goes on trial to answer corruption charges. for me, ican‘t answer corruption charges. for me, i can't see myself in this country in the next four years. financially, socially, it is hard. i can't stand it, but the prime minister has so many allegations against him. despite that, it appears that israelis have delivered mr netanyahu israelis have delivered mr neta nyahu a mandate israelis have delivered mr netanyahu a mandate to govern. the question now is whether he

has been negotiating power to end the year—long medical impasse and see off a potential fourth election. —— political impasse. we can talk these issues through with rachel benahim, in jerusalem. issues through with rachel benahim, injerusalem. we had another that report, benjamin netanyahu claiming another that report, benjamin neta nyahu claiming victory. from your perspective, is it that clear? there are still many boats to count. good morning. no, it isn't that clear. while it does look like he does in fact have the majority of seats, the question is, the question has been for the past year, will he be able to pull together a coalition? and given the current numbers, his right—wing bloc has only 59 of the 60 required seats, which puts us in the same political deadlock we have been in all year. what do you think will happen next? you have had several general elections in swift succession. surely the people of israel are getting quite tired of all of this? very much so. look, i think

given both benny gantz‘s speech last night and benjamin netanyahu's last night and benjamin neta nyahu's that it last night and benjamin netanyahu's that it seems like a national unity government would not be off the table this time around, what is last time it was. based on what benny gantz did and didn't say, at his supporters‘ rally gantz did and didn‘t say, at his supporters‘ rally last night, he actually did not say there are no circumstances under which he would sit with netanyahu. under which he would sit with neta nyahu. what he under which he would sit with netanyahu. what he did say, and reminded the people, was that the indictment trial is in two weeks. so it seems like perhaps going out on a limb here, assuming that benjamin netanyahu assuming that benjamin neta nyahu would you assuming that benjamin netanyahu would you willing to stand trial, then in fact maybe there is a chance that a government could be pulled together. there are so many ifs and buts, and with a trialjust weeks away, handing over benjamin netanyahu, again, that just increases the feeling of instability, doesn‘t it, within the politics of israel? —— hanging over. absolutely. if

the prime minister were to, you know, if he were a sitting prime minister and he were to continue into this indictment, and then he had the power to somehow look into the attorney general, or perhaps change the law altogether, change the immunity law, that would throw this country into constitutional crisis. so then what do you think might happen if that were to be the case?” mean, the spiral possibilities are endless, and i don‘t pretend to be a prophet. but that would be incredibly detrimental to the country, which doesn‘t even have a fully sat constitution. and very briefly, rachel, what does all this mean for the palestinians, do you think, all these results ? do you think, all these results? i mean, i think do you think, all these results? i mean, ithink if we look at, you know, trump‘s peace plan from the last few weeks and how negotiations between israelis and palestinians are at a standstill for the most part, i think this isjust u nfortu nately think this isjust unfortunately path for the

course at this point. both benny gantz and benjamin netanyahu benny gantz and benjamin neta nyahu at this benny gantz and benjamin netanyahu at this point have talked about annexing the jordan valley. i do not think there is one or another who will be "better" for the palestinians. it is just a political reality on the ground here right now. 0k, rachel. we do appreciate your time and analysis. that was rachel benahim, who is based in jerusalem. let‘s brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the greek prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis and european council head charles michel are due to visit the evros land border with turkey on tuesday. greece has blocked any new asylum applications for the next month after turkey "opened the doors" for migrants to travel to the eu. turkey‘s decision came after 33 turkish soldiers were killed in air strikes in idlib province in northern syria. thousands of people have protested in albania‘s capital city tira na, accusing the government of violating the constitution. albania‘s president, ilir meta, accused the authorities of trying to take control of thejudiciary. he told the crowd he would dissolve parliament

unless the government changed course. a new international study suggests that air pollution around the world now rivals cigarette smoking as a leading cause of reducing life expectancy. the researchers, who published their findings in the journal cardiovascular research, concluded that ambient air pollution was now one of the main global health risks. democrats in 1a democrats in 1k us states are preparing to vote on who they wa nt to preparing to vote on who they want to be a candidate to take on donald trump in november‘s presidential election. sophie long has been assessing the super tuesday poll from los angeles. winning the democratic nomination to be the person to ta ke nomination to be the person to take on presidents trump is all about gathering delegates. on super tuesday, more than a third of them are up for grabs. that is more than any other day

in this long, gruelling campaign. it is big, and it is even bigger this time, because california, the most populous state, with hundreds of delegates, is also taking part. about a quarter of those eligible to vote are hispanic. some are voting for the first time after coming to citizenship classes like this. they are passionate about being pa rt they are passionate about being part of this political process. it is good to become a citizen because you can vote. like, you feel like people are going to hear a voice. so it is good to become a citizen, because you can become a citizen, because you ca n vote become a citizen, because you can vote for the person that you believe is going to change our world. issues that are important to them i immigration, of course, but also education, healthcare and the economy. —— are immigration. in more rural areas, farmers want to know who the candidate will be and what solutions they propose for the many issues affecting this huge and diverse country. right now the focus is on trying to narrow this field down and getting a better picture of what that looks like. you know,

we know what trump‘s proposals are, particularly when it comes to water, which is so important to water, which is so important to farmers and ranchers here. that is a critical issue which has —— which he has been very supportive of here, locally. so to see what the other candidates proposes going to be of big interest to us. while no—one can win the nomination on super tuesday, it can get them a long way towards it. senator bernie sanders has taken the lead both in the liberal lane and in the national polls. —— liberal lane. former vice presidentjoe biden had been limping at the start of this marathon, but his big victory in south carolina has put him back in contention at just the right has put him back in contention atjust the right time. his performance could be helped by other moderates dropping out and endorsing him. but enter the late starter, on the ballot for the first time, billionaire michael bloomberg. he has been converting his cash into campaign advertisements. also running still our senators elizabeth warren and tulsi gabbard. it is the day that political pundits have been

waiting for. could make or break candidates‘ campaigns. it might not. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: after liverpool‘s shock defeat against watford on saturday, how willjurgen klopp manage the line up for the trip to stamford bridge? 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. you‘re watching the briefing. our headlines: the head of the world health organization says the outbreak of the new coronavirus has entered uncharted territory, but can still be contained. and with official results yet to be announced, israel‘s prime minister bejamin neta nyahu has claimed victory in the country‘s third election ina year.

as we have mentioned, later today super tuesday kicks in when there is a vast number of americans going to the polls to pick the democrat candidate who will run against president trump in the elections in november in the us. vera zakem is a senior technology and policy advisor with technology for global security. she‘s in the bay area near san francisco. welcome to the briefing. first of all, what is the threat to the super tuesday when it comes to technology, when it comes to social media? i think we have two distil this into a couple of parts. the threat is going to come notjust potentially from foreign interference, as you may have heard, a number of us officials have announced that they are very much closely watching what might happen at super tuesday and co—ordinating this information sharing with state and local entities and sponsors. but we need to look

at what might actually happen. you might see conspiracy theories in an effort to instill fear and confusion in the american electorate that is voting on super tuesday. and that might seem —— be seen in a couple of ways. it might be viewed as a way to deter voters from actually voting, and also potentially there might be disinformation in terms of where folks might actually go to vote, where the location might be. those are the kind of issues that we might see playing out on social media as well as of social media. so i think this is notjust the technological side of this, but also things that might actually be amplified outside social media and on those platforms as well. for those who intend to vote on super tuesday, they have got to be pretty vigilant, is that what you are saying? absolutely. and the best thing that voters can do is when they see that voting balance, when they get that voting ballot in

they get that voting ballot in the mail, assuming that they have, if they are not sure about where to go or what to do tomorrow, or if they have not voted yet, go online to your local electorate, elected officials to look at the website to see where you need to go and for the best source of information. that is likely going to be the best source of information of what to do. and the best thing folks can do is vote, that is going to be one of the best ways to counter disinformation, and to enhance our security and democracy. and what is behind this, who were what is behind this, who were what is behind this misinformation and calls of confusion online? of course there is foreign interference and foreign act is, we saw this in 2016 and 2018, russia for example is a prime... prime state actor that we have been following. they have changed their tax decks over the course, in 2016 we saw a number of fa ke course, in 2016 we saw a number of fake persona is appearing to be americans, and we saw that

narrative change amplifications. we will see what happens in 2020, because they change depending on what they change depending on what the outcome might be and what the outcome might be and what the electorate is looking like and what the divisions are looking like. so the tactics may change. but we should not be just looking at foreign interference and actors like russia. because we see so many divisions, so much polarisation in american society, that there is this narrative of us versus them, if you will be more conservative side and progressive side. we may see domestic actors actually putting disinformation, and it is not just putting disinformation, and it is notjust on online platforms but mainstream media and other channels as well. vera, we appreciate your time, we will be watching super tuesday very closely, thank you very much indeed. now it‘s time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i‘m chetan pathak with your tuesday‘s sport briefing. we start with arsenal who have bounced back from their europa league exit

to reach the quarter finals of the fa cup. a young arsenal team got thejob done against the league one side, taking the lead in first half stoppage time thanks to sokratis‘ finish. nketiah bundled in the second six minutes in to the second half to put the 13—time winners into the last eight. coach mikel arteta was positive afterwards, even if their european defeat still lingers. we are disappointed that we have to move on today, i think the players were the best in the players were the best in the evening to put the energy that the game required and they responded really well. heavyweight champion anthonyjoshua will be back in the ring to face kubrat pulev on 20 june. joshua who holds the wba, wbo and ibf belts, will fight in the uk for the first time in 18 months, at the tottenham hotspur stadium. pulev is the mandatory ibf

challenger — and a former european heavyweight champion, with just one defeat in 29 bouts. liverpool managerjurgen klopp insists their fa cup fifth—round tie at chelsea on tuesday doesn‘t take on any more significance. despite the league leaders‘ surprise defeat at the weekend. the 3—0 loss to watford brought an end to their incredible till—match unbeaten run in the premier league — and came less than a fortnight after after their defeat at atletico madrid in the champions league. but klopp says his players won‘t be under any more pressure than normal at stamford bridge: we are liveable, we are always under pressure and we always have to deliver. everyone expects us to win which is difficult, it is always difficult, it is always difficult, it is always difficult, it will always be difficult. so that‘s the situation. chelsea other favourite, if you look at their squad, if they make changes we

don‘t know, if they do make changes it is still a very experienced team. the international olympic committee meets in lausanne in switzerland later on tuesday to address the impact of the coronavirus. a number of global sporting events have already been postponed, including some of italy‘s serie a football fixtures. japan‘s minister in charge says the ioc is ‘preparing for the tokyo games as scheduled‘. last week committee member dick pound said that cancelling the games is a "worst—case scenario." in just a few hours australia, england, india and south africa will find out who they‘ll face in the semifinals of the women‘s t20 world cup. if south africa beat west indies in sydney later, then they‘ll leapfrog england in group b and face defending champions australia. if the windies win though, it will be england against the aussies. the fastest man in history has been getting some parenting practice in, and usain bolt

will be hoping that practice makes perfect. he and his and his partner announced earlier this year that that they‘re expecting their first child. if this video is anything to go by, bolt is looking forward to becoming a dad. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that‘s bbc.com/sport. but from me chetan pathak and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. the beginning of this programme we asked for your view on where you book holidays, because the consumer group in the uk called which has found that booking hotel rooms online can sometimes be quite a bit more expensive, 12% more expensive, whereas if you call the hotel directly and book you get a better deal. so we ask your experience. we heard from sta nley experience. we heard from stanley who watches us in lagos, he says any third party transaction will be more expensive. jerome says you are

paying for convenience, especially when visiting somewhere new. 20 of comments, we will discuss that story in a news briefing in a moment, stay with us. —— plenty of comments. hello. i know there‘s still significant flooding around but isn‘t it nice to get away from february‘s relentless grey and of course wet and see something brighter, bluer in the skies, many of us did during monday. there were still some big showers around, no—one is suggesting this week is dry, but there is some texture in the sky for the time being. during the day ahead there will be some sunshine had at some stage of the day, but also some showers again too. a few weather disturbances moving through on tuesday, we are eyeing up this area of low pressure coming in from the atlantic, another spell of rain to many of us, wednesday and thursday. tuesday starts quite cold and frosty out there, will bea cold and frosty out there, will be a few icy patches possibly

where we have had some showers. one area of showers early on will be clearing away from north—east and eastern scotland, see how that goes, and another area of showers will pull away from northern ireland and wales but then that has to go across scotland, move east across england, the shower could be had maybe some hail, wintry hills, behind the sun comes back, a lot of that the northern ireland in the afternoon and increasingly so through wales and western parts of england. my blustery weather showers, nowhere near as windy as it has been, some of us seek damages in double figures, most of us will not. with light winds clear skies on tuesday night that is a recipe for a widespread frost out there, but temperatures, the drop delayed or abbreviated by this area of cloud and rain heading into southwest england in south—west wales. temperatures actually recover a bit later in the night, that rain is from that area of low pressure i showed you, some uncertainty about how far north the weather will get on wednesday but every new forecast sends it further north which means another spell of rain pushing across much of

england and wales during the day towards northern ireland, perhaps even southern scotland. bridges pretty much where they are going be throughout the week. there may be some hills now out of this into the pennines and overnight into thursday wales see some further rain, for that clears away on thursday for the east and south—east of england. running up south—east of england. running up behind it, you may catch a shower because there is a gap between weather systems, here comes another band of rain which will move through on friday. taking a look at the forecast into the weekend, we will see another spell of rain, it will be windier, milder, and won‘t be as much about sunshine.