this is bbc world news today. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories. italy announces its biggest daily increase in deaths from the coronavirus — with nearly 50 more fatalities. in the united states, 2,000 people are stranded on a cruise ship stopped from docking by the authorities. they want to prevent further cases this is bbc world news, the headlines. italy has announced its largest of the coronavirus being brought to daily increase in fatalities shore into california, but, if the from the coronavirus. reality is it's already here and they've risen by 49 to 100 and 97. spreading. it's the second highest number of syria's tiny casualties of war — doctors say there's been a sharp rise in the number deaths from the virus — after china. of babies born prematurely. and coming up in sport — empty stadiums in france — in the united states, how football is dealing a cruise ship with more than 2000 with the coronavirus outbreak. passengers on board remains barred from entering port, after cases of the virus on board. hundreds of passengers are being tested on board the grand princess. shares in the united states

have made further falls. the dow jones industrial average closed down more than 1%. oil prices have also dropped, hello and welcome on fears the virus will weaken to world news today. the global economy. the world health organization has urged governments to ensure they have enough supplies islamic state militants have claimed responsibility for an attack of essential medical products, that killed more than thirty people as the number of confirmed cases in the afghan capital kabul. of the coronavirus around the world reaches 100,000. more than 3,400 people have died. in the last couple of hours, italy has announced its largest daily increase in deaths. they've risen by 49 tojust under 200. it's the second highest number of deaths from the virus — after china. i asked cristina nadotti, a journalist with la republica, what we know about the latest spike. i think that it has all to do with the kind of policy italy has tried to put on since the beginning. 0ur government and the authorities, i mean, the minister and so on decided to speak very clearly about all the cases,

—— health minister and moreover, we have two keep in mind that when we talk about 4636 total cases, we are talking about people who have proved positive to the test, but that doesn't mean that they are actually ill. it doesn't mean that they are in serious condition. and moreover, i think that it has to do with the fact that many, many people are actually tested for the coronavirus. so, there is a very thorough way of dealing with the illness. in the second highest number of deaths from the illness outside of china. yes, but, again, you see, today, the director of our national health institute underlined the fact that it

actually means that 85% of the people who died, well, we say that they died from coronavirus, but, actually, it would be more accurate to say they died with coronavirus, because they were old people who had other illnesses, heart problems or other problems and so on. -- all —— all people. in fact, there has also been sort of a dispute about the fact that they should actually be referred to as people with —— who died with coronavirus, and not because of coronavirus. journalist christina nadotti there on the situation in italy. the french prime minister has announced all schools and nurseries in the two areas most affected by coronavirus will be closed from monday for 15 days. in addition, all social

gatherings will be stopped —— and all vulnerable people asked to stay at home — in l‘0ise and le haut—rhin. the tally of confirmed cases now stands at 613 in france, while 9 people have died. in the united states, vice president mike pence has acknowledged a lack of virus testing kits. with markets continuing to slide, the white house has earmarked $8.3 billion to bolster the economy. off the coast of san francisco, more than 2 thousand people are stranded on cruise ship because some passengers have developed symptoms. sophie long reports. the national guard dropping testing kits onto the cruise liner that is now stranded, circling off the northern californian coast. of the more than 3000 people on board, 142 are british. the first person to die from the virus in california recently travelled on this ship. the 71—year—old man disembarked in san francisco two weeks ago. 0ne passenger, carrie, has bone cancer, and was due in hospital for treatment on monday.

the treatment is very urgent. my cancer has progressed shortly before we left home, and the clinicians went ahead and patched me up a bit and sent me on this trip, so it's really imperative that i get there. the grand princess won't be able to sail into san francisco until health authorities are satisfied with the results of testing carried out on board. they want to prevent further cases of the coronavirus being brought to shore into california. but, the reality is, it's already here and it's spreading. keep up the great work. as it does, there is growing concern that the response has been insufficient and people are having to pay thousands of dollars for tests. on a visit to the worst affected area near seattle, the man in charge, vice president mike pence wasn't risking handshakes. he admitted there weren't enough testing kits available for those that want them. we don't have enough tests today

to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward. as more americans take an interest in this or have concerns about this, we want to make sure they have access to coronavirus tests as well, and we have made real progress on that in the last several days. but at this care home in kirkland near seattle, which has been linked to at least six deaths, there is anger from relatives of those still waiting diagnosis. we want to know when our loved ones will be tested. we don't want general information about how the group as a whole will be tested, we want specific information as it pertains to our loved ones. as the number of infections swells to more than 200 scattered across 18 states, president trump signed an $8.3 billion bill to tackle the outbreak. i'll take it. the money will be used for testing, potential vaccines, and treatment for those affected. sophie long, bbc news, san francisco. from its origins in china, the virus has now spread across the globe, with confirmed cases in more than 90 countries.

our team of correspondents around the world are continuing to keep us updated. here are some of the latest developments, starting with gavin lee, who has been following the european union's response in brussels. we are looking at a situation at the moment, where, across europe, there are more than 5000 cases of coronavirus, and every day, other countries, part of the eu country say suddenly that they have got corona cases, lithuania today saying it's got its first case and declaring a state of emergency. so all of these, 27 health ministers coming together to work out, can they co—ordinate to some kind of joint system to deal with covid—i9? the other thing that the ministers are talking about is you have many countries within the eu that share the passport free travel zone, could that change with the free movement of people that won't change at all as a result. what countries are working on they say will be containment. you know, the baltic states, for example, lithuania, estonia, they believe they can still contain this. others, the french, where they have got more than 400 cases, germany as well, similar,

400 cases, talking about how you delay the worst case scenario until the summer. law while i am outside one of the cinemas here in central while i am outside one of the cinemas here in central delhi, and of course people are going in to watch their favourite films. but now comes the news that the biggest bollywood film awards ceremony has been cancelled. now, this is a very prestigious, glamourous ceremony, and attract many big stars. it lasts three days. so it's a huge event, but it's not going ahead. officials are saying that this is because of coronavirus. the virus on the recently reached india, but already, 30 people have contracted it. so, of course, there are concerns that this could spread widely across the country, and of course, the government is saying that there should not be mass gatherings of people. i think this is why the organisers are saying

they cannot go ahead with it. it was due to start at the end of march, but what the organisers are saying is that they hope they will be able to get a new dates, and they will reveal that as soon as possible. this is hilton, a small prosperous and pretty town in the hills inland from durban, and it's here that south africa has found its first end for now only case of the coronavirus. 0f for now only case of the coronavirus. of 38—year—old man who returned from a trip to italy on sunday with his wife, he has been in isolation, in quarantine since tuesday. he was tested and found positive on thursday, and south african health officials have now descended on this area, and they are saying that, for now, they feel they have things in hand that they've used these last few weeks before the

virus started to penetrate this continent, and use that time well to put these measures to make sure they are prepared for any epidemic. that's andrew harding there. there are signs that the corona virus in china is being controlled, with new infection figures and the number of deaths beginning to stabilise. but after more than 6 weeks of quarantine and shutdown, the pressure on chinese society and economy is starting to tell. as other countries consider how best to handle a major outbreak of covid—i9, john sudworth has been looking at the impact of china's efforts to deal with the disease across health, education and business. it is a karate class with something missing. students. they are all online instead. in the fight against the virus, every school and college in china has been shut for more

than two weeks. we have confidence in our country to get through this. we have found out we are very united plus we do whatever we can to help everyone. we do this by staying at home which is quite important. the universities internet control centre handles for thousand virtual courses the week. it is a sign of chinese strength, discipline and mass mobilisation and high—tech. but the virus has exposed china's weaknesses as well with cover—up and journey helping it to spiral out of control. everyone has felt the effects. here are women needing urgent chemotherapy weeks at a checkpoint while her mother pleads to be allowed through. she was eventually taken to a hospital less inundated with a virus, to the relief of her fiance. some patients in this situation

cannot get treatment, she was the lucky one who was able to get treated. the wider impact on china's economy offers a warning to other countries. china now faces two huge conflicting challenges, on the one hand the control measures are necessary to contain the virus but on the other, by blockading villages and closing down transport networks and keeping tens of millions of workers in quarantine, it risks choking off its economy. look what has happened to castles for exa m ple, “ car —— car sales. following by 20% injanuary and more than it percent in february. the number of departures from china's busiest airports is massivelyjust. but the infection rate falling, business and transport links are being eased back into life.

but this giant economy is still a long way from normality. john said with, bbc news, beijing. and don't forget you can get the most up to date information on our website. you can read more about how the white house has acknowledged the us does not have enough coronavirus test kits — despite promising a million of them this week. that's all at bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... afghanistan has seen the deadliest attack since the us signed a deal with the taliban. dozens of people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a political rally in kabul. the attack has been claimed by the so—called islamic state two suicide attackers have blown themselves up outside the american embassy in tunisia, killing a policeman and injuring five others. witnesses said a man on a motorbike

blew himself up near the diplomatic mission in the berges du lac district in tunis. it's the most serious attack to rock the country in recent months. the indian government has banned two regional television news channels for forty—eight hours — accusing them of biased coverage of the recent violence in delhi. the information and broadcasting ministry said that reports on the two channels highlighted attacks on one particular religious community and were critical of the delhi police. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come... born too soon. the increasing number of premature babies in the war zone in syria.

this is bbc world news today. i'm maryam moshiri. the latest headlines

italy announces its biggest daily increase in deaths from the coronavirus —— with nearly 50 more fatalities in the united states, 2000 passengers are still unable to leave a cruise ship, after cases of the virus on board. a ceasefire in syria's idlib province that has been in force since midnight appears to be holding in most areas. around a million people have fled their homes over the past three months to escape the government offensive. a few hours before the ceasefire began our international correspondent 0rla guerin visited a maternity hospital in idlib where there has been a sharp increase in premature births. and a warning, some of these images are disturbing. born too early in the syria's time of war. ten days old and already battling tough odds. he weighs only

a kilo and a half, but he's a fighter, and getting stronger. staff here are struggling to save a growing number of premature babies, born to mothers traumatised by air strikes and barrel bombs. doctor ingram wants these tiny babies to be seen. see that? in all their suffering, she's eight months pregnant herself, and can't understand why the outside world has stood idly by. many times i asked myself, where —— is there no one that can help us, no one can stop this work was meant there is no humanity. where are the humanity —— where is the humanity of these people? if you see every day our miserable conditions here, why can you not do anything to help us? how

are you sleeping? then, suddenly, we hear the conflict coming closer. it's time to go. in syria, hospitals are not spared, farfrom it. they've been targeted repeatedly by russian and syrian warplanes. while we just heard a very large explosion nearby, there obviously been an air strike, in the alarm is sounding here at the hospital, telling people that there are jets hospital, telling people that there arejets in the air, and people hospital, telling people that there are jets in the air, and people are now starting to come out. this is an everyday reality in ad lib, people have become accustomed to living with this risk. many have died from it. this was the town of benish on february 25. hoping against hope to find his loved ones after a massive

air strike find his loved ones after a massive airstrike on find his loved ones after a massive air strike on his neighbourhood. instead, he faced unbearable losses. his baby son. his wife, his mother and his brother. ten days on, he is cloa ked and his brother. ten days on, he is cloaked in sorrow and pain. his son survived because he took them to the pharmacy five minutes before the air strike. do you see any future know for yourself? do you see any future for yourself? do you see any future for syria? translation: may god give us strength, but for syria, there is no future. as long as the church is around. not for children. for man. orforwomen. as the church is around. not for children. for man. or for women. who do you blame for what has happened to yourfamily?

translation: first of all, i blame the russians and the regime. but the main reason is the international community which has no compassion for us. his life asa has no compassion for us. his life as a shadow of what it was. even if the latest cease—fire should last, no one can replace what has been taken from them. 0rla guerin, bbc news, make more of course on that on our website as always. lizzie greenwood hughes has all the sport. thank you forjoining us. tiger woods is a doubt for the masters which starts next month, the reigning champion and five—time winner at agusta has just pulled out of next week plus make players championship in sawgrass after suffering more back problems. woods has only computed twice in 2020 and that at all in the past three weeks due to stiffness in his back, the 15

time major winner has had four back operations in his career, and said his back isjust operations in his career, and said his back is just not ready yet. now onto coronavirus which is taking its toll and sporting events around the world. news on friday that the gymnastics world cup in doha later this month will be had without spectators come a few matches have been possible in this beacon. cycling is been hit. and the stage race, the danish football sides have had to isolate i3 race, the danish football sides have had to isolate 13 players after they came into contact with the formal international thomas, who has been diagnosed with coronavirus. next week can you possibly golf open has been cancelled. the alpine ski world cup finals have also been cancelled. the rome formula e pre—in april has been postponed with a new date to be decided. there are more details on all of those coronavirus affected sports stories on the bbc sport

website. no world champions united states and england met again for the first time since the world cup last summer as she believes cup got under way in orlando. us i2—0 summer as she believes cup got under way in orlando. us 12—0 with england's perform over the last year showing no sign of stopping. katie garneau was watching for us. they call orlando the beautiful city, a place for thrill seekers and those seeking a change of pace. after the highs and lows of 2019, england came here needing to recover some momentum. with the aim of overhauling the best in the world. first, the formalities. a little more cautious in light of coronavirus. but it wasn't long before the shackles were off for the usa. kelly telford kept england in it. weakened usa. kelly telford kept england in it. wea kened by usa. kelly telford kept england in it. weakened by injury, england had chances but couldn't take them. after the break, krista would show them how it's done. there was nothing telford could do about this. world champions ahead. too much room, too much time. with england

vulnerable, the us struck again, but 37 years old, carlyjust keeps getting better. that's what she does so supremely well. england paz mclean had unraveled in minutes, after running the usa close at the world cup, this felt like a backward step. a sixth defeat in nine games, england's second best in every way. what we saw at half—time, was there was nothing to be scared of or fea rful was nothing to be scared of or fearful of, ultimately, two bits of the first goal was magic, the first goal was a brilliant strike, and the second goal i thought was poor defensively, we needed to do better. bits of quality, it's why they're the best team in the world. after england beat them to the she believes trophy last year, this will believes trophy last year, this will bea believes trophy last year, this will be a satisfying window for these us players on their home turf. they we re players on their home turf. they were ruthless here in orlando this evening, as per england, while they now have to pick themselves up and travelled to face japan in new jersey. katie garneau, bbc news,

orlando. liverpool will have to do without their goalkeeper for the next couple of weeks, the brazilian has picked up a hip injury in training, and could now miss the next three matches. he's definitely ruled out of saturday's english premier league game against bournemouth, as well as the visit of atletico madrid in the champions league next week. that's all the support for now. lucy, thank you very much indeed. a police helicopter has filmed the moment a man out walking his dog tackled a suspect who was attempting to flee from the authorities in queensland, australia. the suspect was later arrested and charged with several car— and drug—related offences. let's look.

wow, what i like is the dog wagging his tail as if he's really happy about what's happening. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of my team on twitter — i'm maryam moshiri.

thank you so much for your company. bye— bye. hello there. compared with yes or across east anglia, there is a vast improvement in the day's weather. most of us have got dry conditions and sunshine around. tomorrow from a few showers in the western areas of the uk, but most of us will see decent sunny spells through the day. we have got our next area of low pressure waiting to come just in time for the weekend. so enjoy the day's sunshine whilst it lasts. the showers across western areas will fade away overnight. skies clear, an early touch of ross particularly across eastern areas. later in the night, cloudy and windy begin to move in from the west, ultimately seen rain spread into northwestern areas as well. the cloud wind and rain picking also lifting the temperatures, so by the end of the night from us except in 7 degrees in

plymouth and belfast. now, the weekend, we have got some rain on the way, all thanks to that area of cloud from that area of low pressure i showed you a moment to go. well, here it comes to wettest weather a lwa ys here it comes to wettest weather always across northwestern areas, and during the course of saturday, but as the weather front moves its way eastwards, by the time we get to sunday, we will be looking at cooler conditions, blustery conditions following, and bringing a mixture of sunshine and showers. so it to a degree in unsettled we can. that said come across much of eastern england and for a time from eastern scotland, there will be some dry and great weather here, but across western scotland, looking at some heavy rain. not 20—30 mm of rain is going to fall quite widely, but up to 70 over the mountains, where combined with snow melts, we could see the risk of some localised flooding issues. the rain band will also get into northern ireland, turning very wet through the afternoon in cumbria, the rain not far away from wales and southwest england. should stay dry for east anglia and south east england, albeit with thickening cloud. now, saturday night, that planned our brain is going to be sleeping its

way eastwards, across england and wales, showers getting in across scotla nd wales, showers getting in across scotland and northern ireland. as we get into sunday, that shall he weather will push its way eastwards to affect all parts of the uk, although the showers will be most frequent across northwestern areas where they will be accompanied by hailand where they will be accompanied by hail and thunder from time to time. quite a strong wind, the wind will not sunday will feel like a click kind of day. temperatures between 9-12dc. next kind of day. temperatures between 9—12dc. next week, low pressure shining up, so we should stay pretty 00:28:32,345 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 wet and windy at times.