welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. the headlines: as infection and death rates jump across the world the world health organisation says it fears some countries aren't taking the coronavirus threat seriously enough. after the death of a passenger from the virus officals search for over two thousand people who disembarked a cruise liner in san francisco. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. also in the programme. as a ceasefire comes into affect in syria's idlib province people count the cost after months of brutal conflict. this is from the bomb? yes. civilians.

we are all civilians. and the duke and duchess of sussex carry out one of their last official engagements before they step back as senior royals at the end of the month. live from our studios in singapore and london... this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore and midnight in london. around the world governments are racing to contain the impact of the coronavirus and bracing for the economic impact. iran will close schools until march 20th, as cases there spike. the uk has reported its first death from the virus, a woman in her 70s. but the worst affected place outside china is italy

where148 people have now died. in the us, wall street took another tumble down more than 3%. and off the coast of california, a cruise ship has not been allowed to dock after a passenger died. sophie long reports. around two and a half thousand people boarded the grand princess during a recent voyage to mexico. two people on that cruise contracted coronavirus. one of them died yesterday. this ship has now been prevented from docking in san francisco. more than 35 people are said to have symptoms a disconcerting time for those on board. there have been seven confirmed cases in los angeles. among them, a medical

screener at at lax, one of the biggest airports in the world. in new york, several schools have closed after an outbreak in westchester county. there will be more cases. our focus today is on what we believe increasingly is a more vulnerable population. it appears from some of the worldwide data we have collected that seniors and particularly seniors who have other health challenges represent the most vulnerable population. across the united states, infection rates are now impacting businesses in the economy and education. there is bitter disappointment in san francisco as a school trip to china is cancelled. we have been waiting for this trip for almost a decade now, nearly a decade. we have been promoting and fundraising and donating,

but to see it not happen it's just really sad. we were all really bummed because we are all looking forward to it. authorities are urging vulnerable people to be cautious. and urging companies to encourage employees to work from home. while also reminding people that the risk of contracting coronavirus remains low. in the past hour the us vice president mike pence who is coordinating the us response to the coronavirus has been speaking about the outbreak from seattle and washington state. i am here with a very simple message. to all of you who are standing with the people in the state dealing with the virus, and the people of washington state, we are with you. i am here to ensure that the full resources of the federal government is there in support of the state of washington effort. let's hear from our correspondent peter bowes who's in los angeles. we had a little bit of what mike pence have to say there. what else i'll do the authorities are trying to get

across in the messages they have? the most important message that the authorities are trying to get across to people, the best thing that everybody can do is to frequently wash their hands, that if they feel as if they have any symptoms at all, to not go to work, seek medical attention and to stay home. some authorities are going a little bit further than that, especially in washington state, we re especially in washington state, were some schools have been closed down in washington state on the west of the us is the worst affected still come 11 people have died, most of those death committees edit them, connected to a nursing home where there is a continuing vigilance and an investigation. this is a concerning time. —— coming from that nursing home. this is the government response, the president gave about 2k hours ago in which he suggested that some people, evenif suggested that some people, even if they had symptoms it

might be ok to go to work. that absolutely is not the advice of the authorities. give us an idea of the scale of the outbreak there at the moment in the us. just in the last hour we have further that the state of maryland is the latest place where a number of cases, three cases, have been identified. we don't know much about those individuals come in fact we are told that they are in quite a good condition but that brings to 20, the number of states across the country now that have reported incidents of coronavirus. that gives you some degree of the scope of the virus in this country. less than half of all of the states in the us. in a constant message of public buildings and schools and shops and i was in a hospital earlier unconnected with this outbreak but every single person being questioned about where they have been, whether they have been overseas

to china or iran or south korea come oi’ to china or iran or south korea come or to italy, and again, that constant message that people can help themselves by just being clean and constantly washing their hands. thank you, peter. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the us senator elizabeth warren has become the latest political casualty of super tuesday's vote she says she's ending her presidential campaign. the massachusetts senator was a progressive candidate and a favourite of the liberal left. the democratic contest to take on president donald trump in november is now seen as a two horse race between former vice presidentjoe biden and vermont senator bernie sanders. elizabeth warren says she needs some time to decide who to support now. will you be making an endorsement today? we know that you spoke with joe biden and bernie sanders. not today. i need some space around this. i want to take a little time to think on it. elizabeth warren did not win any of the 14 states on supertuesday. 0ur correspondent gary

0'donoughue explains why ms warren's electability was questioned. there was a similar debate around the time when barack 0bama was running to be the first african—american president, first, raising certain questions and a lot of people came out he said well there's an electability question for a woman running against donald trump. elizabeth warren took that on in the debate and said there is five men on the stage and all of them have lost ten elections between them, and there's two women and we have never lost an election. so she did hit this stuff pretty head on. i think there is also a difficulty sometimes in america with people imagining a woman being commander—in—chief. a lot of young women were supporting bernie sanders and when you ask them why aren't you supporting the female candidate, they would say we think they will be a woman president one day, but we just don't want that one.

also making news today.... the us secretary of state has criticised the international criminal court's decision to authorise an investigation into alleged war crimes in afghanistan by us military personnel and others. mike pompeo called it "a truly breathtaking and reckless move by an unaccountable, political institution". the icc overturned its previous decision to block the investigation. it said alleged abuses by all sides in afghanistan could now be investigated. this winter has been the warmest on record across europe. data from the european union's copernicus satellite shows the average temperature on the continent this winter was one point four celsius above the previous high, four years ago. the warm winter temperatures led, among other things, to the first ever complete failure of germany's ice wine harvest. the wine is produced from grapes that freeze while still on the vine. egypt's oldest pyramid, dating back 4,700 years, has officially reopened for visitors. the step pyramid of zhoh zur

in saqaara has been closed while restoration work was carried for the last 15 years. the third dynasty monument set the style for the great pyramids of giza. it's a unesco world heritage site. and a story of anger on easter island... the mayor has called for motor restrictions around the island's famous statues, after a truck collided with one of them. local media is reporting that a chilean man who lives on the island was arrested on sunday, and charged with damaging a national monument. the stone statues were carved about 500 years ago. a ceasefire in syria's idlib province has just come into effect after months of attacks by syrian government forces and their russian allies. the agreement was announced after lengthy talks in moscow between presidents

of turkey and russia. last week, 30 turkish troops were killed during a russian backed, syrian government air strikes. turkey, which backs opposition rebels, responded by attacking syrian troops. hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled. on thursday morning, russian air strikes killed 16 civilians sheltering in a farm in maarat misreen. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin was there. working by flashlight, to reclaim the living from the rubble. the target here inexplicably a poultry farm which became a refuge for some of idlib‘s displaced. by day, a refuge no more. just hours before ceasefire talks began in moscow, this devastation was russia's handiwork. last night while i slept, i slept here, here.

this is my home. here. when the russian aircraft bombed... this is from the bomb? yes. civilians, civilians, we are civilians. and they were killed as they slept, though the syrian regime and its russian backers say they are targeting terrorists. when you take a look around here amongst the scattered belongings you can see that this was a home, a place where parents were trying to keep their children safe. some of the toys are still here and the dishes are smashed at my feet. what possible justification could there be for bombing a place like this full of civilians? but in idlib this has been happening day in, day out, and as the sound now of more explosions, we have been hearing bombings in

the distance since we arrived. ahmed tells me it's fine if he dies but he's worried for his children who by chance were not here last night. where do you think you and the children will sleep tonight? "i don't know", he says, wondering if any where in his broken homeland is safe. not the local hospital — it's a target, like all medicalfacilities. here, we found victims of the air strikes, like this boy, who is nine, as old as syria's war. i want to be a doctor, he says, to treat patients, so they get better and no one dies in syria or the rest of the world. willa ceasefire bring

an end to the agony here? or will this merciless multilayered war keep doing its very worst? 0rla guerin, bbc news, idlib. should we touch again on our top story? the coronavirus outbreak. specifically its effect on the financial markets. it is meant another tough day. what is happening? indeed. japan‘s nikkei has started trading for this friday and they are sharply lower down about one and a half percent. that is after wall street fell by more than 3%. 0h course it has been a very volatile several weeks for global investors around the world. but basically, traders are now starting to worry that this outbreak could push the global economy into a recession and thatis economy into a recession and that is why we are seeing quite a lot of losses across the market. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme...

london's high court rules the billionnaire ruler of dubai abducted two of his daughters and carried out a campaign of intimidation against his former wife. also on the programme... a final round of duties the duke and duchess of sussex carry out one of their last official engagements before they step back as senior royals at the end of the month. first, the plate slid gently off of the restaurant table. then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downward. it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb, on a remote pacific air tunnel, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i heard the news earlier. and so my hat went

back and back. the constitutional rights of these marchers, are their rights of citizens of the united states, and they should be protected even in the right to test them out, so 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 do you worry about it that it will boil over in the states? it worries me, yeah. but i hope everything will be all right in the end of the day. welcome back. you're watching newsday on the bbc. i am mariko 0i in singapore. iam i am lewis vaughanjones in london. our top stories... infections and deaths from coronavirus are continuig to mount, the world health organisation says it fears some countries aren't taking the threat seriously enough. a ceasefire agreed between

the the russian and turkish presidents has begun in syria's idlib province. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times leads on the vast number of school children who are facing weeks at home while their schools are shut due to coronavirus. the paper says over 290 million students are missing out on education with south korea, japan and italy amongst the countries keeping children away from their desks. the new york times also focuses on the continued covid i9 outbreak. their front page has this striking image of patients infected by coronavirus in wuhan waiting to be transferred to a specialist facility whilst medical workers watch on. and the south china morning post focuses on coronavirus in south korea...

saying that aggressive tests which the country has done reveals a more accurate picture about how deadly the virus really is. britain's high court has found that the ruler of dubai sheikh mohammed al maktoum abducted two of his daughters, and subjected his former wife to a campaign of intimidation. in a series ofjudgments, the court also said allegations of physical abuse could be relied upon and overruled the sheikh's efforts to keep the findings secret. here's our security correspondent, frank gardner. extraordinary and damning allegations of abduction and intimidation committed by the by‘s ruler sheikh mohammed al—maktoum, published today by the high court in britain, and the details have emerged during a lengthy custody battle between the sheikh and his former wife princess haya ofjordan.

here at the royal courts of justice, princess haya, seen here in white, is alleging intimidation by the sheikh, after discovering the alleged fate of two of his daughters. this court case is lifting the lid on what is alleged to have been going on in one of the more secretive ruling families in the middle east. allegations that include the forced return of two princesses, one of whom was allegedly seized right here in britain. 0ne sister, latifa, was recaptured at sea off the coast of india before trying to escape, she recorded this video about her earlier treatment by her father's agents, a testament need the court ruled as credible. it was constant torture, constant torture, and even when they weren't physically beating me up they were torturing me. they would switch off the lights, i was in solitary confinement totally and there are no windows and lights on when they switch off the lights it is pitch black. dubai is sensitive about its reputation, it is a global destination and sheikh mohammed al—maktoum is a huge figure in the horse

racing world internationally and the queen paid a royal visit to the uae in 2010. his legal team has rejected many of the claims, a statement issued after referred to... the court also heard that princess haya, the court also heard that princess haya, a former 0lympic equestrian, had begun an adulterous affair with her bodyguard. she had been subjected to a campaign of intimidation and she had been told she would never be safe in england. the devastating bushfires in south east australia are finally extinguished but life is farfrom normal for those who've lost friends, homes and wildlife. now, australian support services are boosting resources

to prepare for an anticipated spike in family violence. natural disasters place great pressure on communities with some studies suggesting a link between these events and an increase in violent incidents. i've been speaking to debra parkinson, the author of one such study. i asked her why cases of domestic violence seem to increase during incidents like bush fires. they increase for a number of reasons. for quite a long time after something like a terrible bushfire, it can be like a pressure cooker. people could be unemployed, having big financial problems, they could be homeless and forced to share accommodation temporary villages housing. and they could be facing terrible grief and loss in addition to bureaucratic red tape to do with rebuilding and insurance claims or grants. so there is an awful lot

going on for people. is it always men abusing women or have you seen women abusing men? no. it is men abusing women. family violence is usually a highly gendered crime with about 80% of perpetrators being men and 20% women. but what happens after disasters is men face a crisis with the identity and how well they fulfil their protector and provider role. do australian support services have enough resources to deal with an increase right now in your view? i don't think that is ever enough resources and certainly after disasters, there are so many competing demands that women can be really effectively prevented

from reporting family violence against them. that can come from family members saying you just need to be a better wife and a mother, put your own needs last for a while. they can come from the health and community sector, people are saying to them we know that your husband is a good guy and he was a hero in the fires, he was on the trucks, now he has ptsd. you just need to put up with it for a while. that also came from police who were not following their own code of conduct after the fires and of what people call sympathy for suffering men. the duke and duchess of sussex have attended one of their last official engagements together before they step back as senior royals at the end of the month. they attended awards in london to celebrate it was meghan‘s first official royal duty since the couple announced their plans to quit royal life. this report from our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell contains flashing images. lights, lots of them.

cameras, lots of them. but when it comes to action of the formal royal variety, there won't be much more of it from these two. this was the first public appearance by meghan in this country for two months since she and harry announced their new direction, and one of the last by the couple before they begin their new life in north america. they were at the mansion house in london for the endeavour awards for service personnel and looking, by all accounts, very relaxed. it's the kind of royal duty — recognising achievement over adversity — that's expected of the royalfamily, the kind of thing for which harry, with his own military background, has a natural affinity. both appeared on stage, meghan to present one award. good evening, everybody. it's very nice to be back. and harry to speak about the experience of serving. for some, the military

community represents a brotherhood or sisterhood that no other organisation can provide, and for others it's a way of life which you never want to leave. for a lot of us it's both. being able to serve queen and country is something that we all are rightly proud of and it never leaves us. it was a powerful speech. harry sounded motivated and fulfilled. puzzling that in a few days he and meghan will step away to return to canada. nicholas witchell, bbc news. you have been watching newsday. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. i'm lewis vaughan jones in london. this is american daredevil nik wallenda walking a tightrope across an active volcano in nicaragua. it took him half an hour to cross the boiling lava lake in the volcano.

he wore goggles and a respirator to protect him from the gases in the crater, nicknamed ‘the mouth of hell'. he made it to the other side. stay with us. hello there. there were winners and losers with the weather on thursday. parts of northern england had close to nine hours of sunshine. look at this beautiful weather watcher picture sent in through the lake district. but there was a different story south and east, i'm afraid. in fact, the only brightness possibly down to east sussex were the beach huts, because there was were over an inch—and—a—half of rain. that rain pretty persistent, now moving off into the near continent. not many isobars on the chart, so light winds and clear skies, allowing those temperatures to fall away. so it will be a chilly start around friday morning, and certainly worth bearing in mind as temperatures fall just below freezing in a few spots. the exception perhaps the southeast clinging to cloud and out into northern ireland. also some mist and fog around first thing as well.

a few showers from the word go out to the west, and some of these showers will merge together for longer spells of rain as we go through the day. but for many, it is a case of once that mist and fog has lifted away, dry with sunny spells coming through and certainly a quieter story for many. temperatures ranging from 7—11 celsius. now as we move out from friday into the weekend, we start to see another area of low pressure starting to move in from the atlantic. but i really want to emphasise as we move through the weekend that it will not be a write—off by any means. yes, it will turn increasingly windy, and there will be rain at times. but for many, rain actually arrives there saturday night into sunday morning. so you can see for the bulk of the country on saturday, clouding over from the west, but it will stay largely dry. we will have some rain, heavy and persistent into northwest england, western scotland and northern ireland by the end of the afternoon, and the winds will strengthen as well. temperatures ranging again from 7—11 celsius.

now because the winds are strengthening, gusts in excess of 50—60 mph with that rain, it will push that rain through it quite a pace overnight saturday into sunday. so for many of us, we will actually see a good deal of dry weather around for the second half of the weekend. early morning rain clearing the southeast, a blustery day on sunday with plenty of frequent showers pushing in from the west. but as with the nature of showers, some of you may escape them altogether and keep some dryer, sunnier moments. again, highs between 7—11 celsius. it really looks like this theme is set to continue for the early half of the new working week. it stays blustery with plenty of sunny spells and scattered sharp showers whatever you do, take care.

i'm lewis vaughan jones with bbc world news. our top story...

as infection and death ratesjump across the world, the head of world health organisation says he fears some countries aren't taking the coronavirus threat seriously enough. it comes as us authorities search for 2,000 people who disembarked a cruise liner in san francisco last month — after the death of a passenger from the virus. a ceasefire agreed between the the russian and turkish presidents has begun in syria's idlib province. 0ther agreed measures includejoint patrols and a safety corridor along one of idlib‘s key roads. this video is turning on bbc dot com... the duke and duchess of sussex have attended an awards ceremony in london to celebrate the sporting achievements of service personnel. it's one of their last official engagements before they step back as senior royals. that's it, stay with bbc