hello. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories... stranded at sea — the cruise ship passengers‘ infected with coronavirus. we'll have the latest from california as the us government reveals its plan of action. all passengers and crew will be tested. for the coronavirus. those that need to be quarantined will be quarantined and those that require additional medical attention will receive it. italy announces its biggest daily increase in deaths from covid 19 —— with nearly 50 more fatalities we've a special report from china — the country where the outbreak began — and where the pressures on chinese society and economy are starting to tell. and in other news: the premature babies struggling for life in syria's war—torn

province of idlib hello and welcome to bbc news. in the last hour the us vice president mike pence has announced plans to deal with a cruise ship that's moored off san francisco with passengers infected with coronavirus. (00v) mr pence said 21 passengers and crew have tested positive on board the crown princess and says the vessel will be brought into a non commercial port where all three and a half thousand people will be tested and treated if necessary. this is some of what the vice president had to say. we are taking all measures necessary to see to the health of the americans and those

involved on the cruise ship and just as importantly, to protect the health of the american public and prevent the spread of the disease through communities in this country. we are introduced two instituting protocols to ensure that not only those on board receive the treatment that they need, but the american people can be confident that there'll no erosion in our preventative measures and efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading throughout a country. let's go to our correspondent in california peter bowes what else was the vice president saying today? well, he really confirmed the worst fears of a lot of people on the ship that almost half of those tested indeed tested positive for the virus, and there is a lot of uncertainty moving forward over the next few days

as to exactly what is going to happen. he explained that those people would be put into quarantine and that everyone on the vessels, about 1100 of them being clear members will be tested and those found positive will be put in quarantine. —— crew members. the crew members will stay on board the ship and it's uncertain whether those passengers will be taken once once the vessel is brought into a noncommercial port. it's very clear these details are still being worked out right now. he explained as far as the us administration is concerned, the risk across the country to americans remains low, but he did warn those in the most at risk groups, and that elderly people, to be extra vigilant. can wejust people, to be extra vigilant. can we just touch on these

testing kits again? some criticism about not enough being able to get through, but there was an update on that. according to mike pence, he said testing kits will be available in every state in the us that been a lot of controversy that the administration has been slow off the mark here. he also amounts that two commercial companies used for medical testing will also provide a testing will also provide a test for this person that seems to be moving in the right direction although critics are saying there's been somewhat of a lackluster response from the government in terms of speeding up government in terms of speeding up the availability of these test kits around the country.

thanks very much peter. thanks very much, speaking to us from your cabin. what year reaction to the news that you will be heading to a port? i think that's positive news. knowledge is always good and sitting here with the lack of indecision... so now we know 21 unfortunate people have the virus and now we have plans for that. say there is quite a rush for you to get off the ship. . there is. i have stage iv endocrine cancer in my tumours are actively growing. we almost didn't come on the trip because of some delay and insurance and such, we were encouraged to go.

we've been looking forward to it. they got everything done and we got cold last friday that we were all set to go. i have appointments on monday and tuesday to start that process. any idea whether you can be helped to get off in time for that? i think there's a big question about that. it's not to be easy with 2500 passengers. plus all their luggage and all the special conditions. we are dealing with more elderly population, even more elderly population, even more elderly population, even more elderly than us. we like to think for one of the younger ones on here. —— to think for one of the younger ones on here. “ we're one to think for one of the younger ones on here. —— we're one of the younger ones. given these circumstances are incredible he difficult, what's your reaction when mike pence and out those numbers that so many of the crew tested positive? in a way

that didn't surprise me, those are the people on the ship previous to the gentleman that's deceased, and more likely the crew would have it. i'm hoping it's youngerand more healthy individuals such that they are able to beat the thing. ion the other hand, really wanted the ship because since there is coronavirus on the ship. of course. paul, what has it been like in your cabin? give us a flavour of what life is like there. well, a lot of the same things going on consta ntly the same things going on constantly although terry has been fairly popular with the media, both in terms of text

and interviews, so hoping heller —— helping herwith and interviews, so hoping heller —— helping her with tech work has been myjob. heller —— helping her with tech work has been my job. it's a tough period for you both. how worrying is the spread throughout the united states, do you think? i like to believe it will end do you think? i like to believe it willend up do you think? i like to believe it will end up hopefully more like the flu virus. we just know about this one differently and the populations that are being tested 's are the populations that are most at risk versus. there could be people walking around our communities and not tested. we have to leave it there but from all of us here, we really hope you get off the ship as soon as

possible. it's been confirmed that a second person has died from coronavirus here in the uk. he was an elderly man with underlying health conditions. the number of people infected with the virus has risen again to 154. that's up from 116. the biggest increase in a single day so far. italy has announced its largest increase. it has risen by for the nine. —— 49. science is fighting back against the new coronavirus. this lab at imperial college london is developing a vaccine. the aim, to protect people from getting infected. they know the world is waiting. absolute sense of urgency and wanting to deliver and stepping up to this challenge. so everybody is working as fast as they can. there is also a degree of kind ofjust innovation to make things happen really much

quicker than they have been before. the first doses, several hundred of them, are kept in this freezer. but it's far from yet ready yet. this is one of several prototype vaccines against coronavirus which are being developed by teams across the world. all must go through animal and human trials before they can be declared safe and effective. and all of that takes time. things have progressed much more quickly than they would have done in the past and it's not unreasonable to assume that we will end up with a vaccine and we may do so in a year, 18 months, which is remarkable when you considerjust a few years ago it would have taken 20 years to do that. the prime minister visiting a lab in bedfordshire announced £46 million of government funding to help find a vaccine and develop a rapid test for the disease, as cases in the uk saw

their biggest daily increase. there will certainly be a substantial period of disruption when we have to deal with this outbreak. how big that will be, how long that will be, i think is still an open question. at milton keynes hospital, a second death in the uk from coronavirus has just been confirmed. the patient was a man in his early 80s who had underlying health conditions. the number of confirmed cases in the uk is now 164, but that's still way behind italy, by far the worst outbreak in europe. the vatican, the tiny citystate in rome, has announced its first case of coronavirus. the pope who has had a bad cold, has already reported negative. across italy, mostly in the north, there were nearly 800 new cases today, bringing the total to more

than 4500, with 197 deaths. but for most, it is proving a mild illness and more than 500 of those infected have already fully recovered. fergus walsh, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news 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 nine people have died. the health authorities in iran say there's been a large spike in cases of coronavirus — with more than twelve—hundred new infections confirmed. that raises the total number of cases to close to 5000, with 124 deaths, many believe

the realfigure may be considerably higher. scotland women's rugby team has postponed its six nations match against france after one of its players tested positive for the virus. the scotland women's team returned from northern italy on last week after their scheduled game against the italians was also postponed. seven members of management and players are self—isolating on medical advice. there are signs that the coronavirus in china is being controlled, with new infection figures and the number of deaths beginning to stabilise. but after more than six 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—19, john sudworth has been looking at the impact of china's efforts to deal with the disease across health, education and business. it's 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 now been shut for more than two weeks. i think most of us are confident in our country to get through all of this because i think in this very time we found out we are very united, because we just do whatever we can to help the country. we do this by staying at home, which is quite important. the university's internet control centre handles almost 4000 virtual courses a week. it's a sign of china's strengths. discipline, mass mobilisation, high—tech. but the virus has exposed china's weaknesses too, with cover up and delay helping it to spiral out of control. everyone's felt the effects. here, a woman needing urgent chemotherapy for her cancer

waits at a checkpoint while her mother pleads to be allowed through. she was eventually taken to a hospital less inundated with the virus to the relief of her fiance. the wider impact on china's economy offers a warning to other countries. china now faces two huge conflicting challenges. 0n the one hand, the control measures are necessary to contain the virus, but on the other, by blockading villages, closing down transport networks and keeping tens of millions of workers in quarantine, it risks choking off its economy. look what's happened to car sales, for example. falling by 20% injanuary and more than 80% in february.

air travel statistics are just as stark, with the number of departures from china's busiest airports massively reduced. with 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 sudworth, bbc news, beijing. stay with us on bbc world news. how this sculpture park in the uk is drawing crowds to its fantastical creatures.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. us vice—president mike pence says 21 people stranded

on a cruise ship off california, have tested positive for coronavirus. italy has announced its biggest daily increase in deaths from the coronavirus —— with nearly 50 more fatalities 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 syria's time of war. ten days old and already battling tough odds. he weighs just over 3 lbs, 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 ikram wants these tiny babies to be seen, in all their suffering. she is eight months pregnant herself and can't understand why the outside world has stood idly by. many times i ask myself, there is no one can help us or no one can stop this war, there is no humanity. where is the humanity of these people? if you see every day the miserable condition here, why cannot do anything? how you are...? then, suddenly, we heard the conflict coming closer, just hours before the ceasefire

began. time to go. in syria, hospitals are not spared. they've been repeatedly targeted by russian and syrian warplanes. we've just heard a very loud explosion nearby. there's obviously been an air strike and the alarm is sounding here at the hospital, telling people that there are jets in the air and people are now starting to come out. but this is an everyday reality in idlib. people have become accustomed to living with this risk. and many have died from it. this was the town of binnish on february the 25th. anas hoping against hope to 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 cloaked in sorrow and pain. his son tarik survived because anas took him to the pharmacy five minutes before the air strike. do you see any future now 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 bashar is around, not for children, for man or for women. who do you blame for what has happened to your family? 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 is a shadow of what it was.

he believes the ceasefire won't last and no one can replace what was taken from anas. 0rla guerin, bbc news, idlib. let's take a look at some of the other developments in the spread of the coronavirus around the world. 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 the french publisher hachette has cancelled plans to publish a memoir by oscar—winning film—maker, woody allen after dozens of employees of its new york subsidiary staged a walkout in protest at its plans. the director of "annie hall" and "manhattan" has long been accused of molesting his adoptive daughter in the nineties when she was seven.

lengthy investigations have cleared woody allen who has always denied the abuse. the yorkshire sculpture park in the uk has some of the most important and impressive works in the world. now they've been joined by marilyn monroe shoes and a wedding ring... and a giant multicolour cockerel. 0ur arts editor will gompertz went to find out why. a chicken in the countryside is not uncommon. cockerel crows. but a massive cockerel covered in ceramic tiles, which emits a soundtrack, is more of a rarity. even for the award—winning yorkshire sculpture park, where contemporary art vies with mother nature for your attention. the portuguese sculptor joana vasconcelos has added some colour and a monumental mirrored mask. this has taken on a contemporary resonance because, ironically, this is a venetian mask, right? yes. and venetians had these masks to stop them from getting the plague, originally? exactly. so the mask is a device that is used for many cultures all over the world

for two things. to protect yourself from evil, and it can be from a virus, like the coronavirus, or in venice from the plague. but also it can be to protect yourself from yourself and so you create an identity of yourself to communicate with the world. up on the hill is her seven—metre high wedding ring made out of gold alloy car wheel rims topped off with a stack of crystal whiskey glasses. framing the view over the valley towards barnsley. so to make a wedding ring is to talk about love, it's to talk about commitment. it's to talk about the relationship. you don't need a rock to do that. so it is intentionally vulgar? it is bling, bling vulgar! and it talks about how we end up consuming so much. and putting all our expectations in objects and not in feelings.

she's an artist for our times, producing instagram—friendly sculptures loaded with meaning. from a pair of stilettos made out of stainless steel saucepans to a stack of plastic cutlery arranged to look like a heart. she says she wants to create a space for discovery. and joana is from the country of portugal. and if you look at the sculpture, those tiny little dots, when it's night time, they all light up. so you can see the sculpture from miles and miles around. bells clang. she's right. you can. will gompertz, bbc news, yorkshire. let us grown in space is as safe to eat as lettuce grown on earth. that's according to a nasa report. astronaut at the space station succeeded in growing the vegetable samples while orbiting 400 km above the earth's cervix.

while orbiting 400 km above the ea rth‘s cervix. —— while orbiting 400 km above the earth's cervix. —— surface. i prefer my lettuce to remain on earth. that's it for me. bye— bye. 0n the plus side, the weather will not be as bad as it has been on some weekends but it will still be windy and it will be wet at times. this area of low pressure will feed in these weather fronts over the weekend, especially during saturday, saturday night. behind this cold front on sunday, it will feel a bit colder, but some sunshine again and also some heavy showers. for the weekend, it will be wet at times. certainly not all the time. could be blustery throughout, but we will see some sunshine especially by sunday. temperatures warming up after an early frost. particularly where we have some cloud towards and west of the uk and some outbreaks of rain.

any early sunshine in the southeast will be short—lived. eastern parts of the uk could also see a bit a posse rain at time. —— patchy rain. there will be some outbreaks of rain but it will turn heavy and more persistent through northern ireland and especially across from southern and western parts of scotla nd from southern and western parts of scotland through the afternoon. it is going to be windy, gale through the irish sea. could be up to around 50 mph gusts. we are going to see misty and working conditions developing with poor visibility, especially in the west. it will be a milder day. then again, it's cloudier, it's windier and for some of us, it's wetter. 0vernight saturday and sunday morning, the rain does move south. before it clears, there could be some problems here in northern and western scotland. up to 70 mm. that could bring some flooding in places. a much milder start

for sunday with cloud and outbreaks of rain. clearing the southeast quite early on sunday morning, and behind that, lots of showers moving through. not a wash—out of a day because there will be some sunshine. it could be —— showers could be heavy with some hail. still very gusty winds as well. it is going to feel a bit cold on sunday because remember there isa sunday because remember there is a cold front that moved through. just to give you a flavour of things, the detail onsetin flavour of things, the detail onset in stone but it does look like an area of low pressure next week. that does mean more wind and rain. a few locations and then into next week to give you a flavour of things. it sta rts you a flavour of things. it starts wet and then turns a shower e. it will turn a bit clueless as well is the week goes on. —— a bit cooler.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us vice president mike pence says 21 people aboard a cruise ship denied entry to san francisco have tested positivefor coronavirus. the ship will be brought to a non—commercial port this weekend. italy has announced its largest daily increase in fatalities from the coronavirus. they've risen by forty—nine to one hundred and ninety seven. it's the second highest number of deaths from the virus — after china. in other news: there's been a sharp rise in the number of premature babies born in syria's war—torn province of idlib. a million people have fled their homes over the past three months to escape the government offensive. the french publisher hachette has decided not to publish a memoir by oscar—winning film—maker, woody alan — after protests from employees of its new york subsidiary. he's faced allegations of molesting his adoptive daughter in the 90's, which he's always denied.

last month was the wettest february ever recorded in the uk with storm