welcome to bbc news, i'm james reynolds. our top stories: stranded at sea, the cruise ship passengers infected with coronavirus. 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. those that require additional medical attention will receive it. italy announces almost 50 more deaths from covid—19, the country's biggest daily increase. and in other news: —— the premature babies struggling for life in the syrian province of idlib. and why a publisher in new york is abandoning a memoir

by filmmaker woody allen after its staff protest. 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. mr pence said 21 passengers and crew have tested positive on board the grand princess and says the vessel will be brought into a non—commercial port where all 3,500 people will be tested and treated if necessary. we are taking all measures necessary to see to the health of the americans and those involved on the grand princess, and just as importantly, to protect the health of the american public and prevent the spread of the disease through communities in this country.

it is...we are instituting the strongest testing protocols to ensure that not only those on board receive the treatment that they need, but that the american people can be confident that there will be no erosion in our preventative measures and efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading throughout our country. our north america correspondent peter bowes has more on what mike pence had to say. well, he really confirmed the worst fears of a lot of people on that 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, those tested positive, and that everyone on the vessel, some 3500 people, about 1100 of them being crewmembers, will be tested and those found positive will be put into quarantine.

the crewmembers will stay onboard the ship and at this stage it is uncertain where those passengers will be taken and once the vessel is brought into a non—commercial port. there is talk of people possibly going to some sort of military establishment, but it is very clear these details are still being worked out right now. what else did he say? well, here's land as far as the us administration is concerned, the risk across the country to americans remains low, but he did one the most at risk groups, that is elderly people, should be extra vigilant. peter bowes. we can now speak to a former regional administrator with the united states health advisory. how do you assess the federal government's response? it has been quite inadequate, i think

the trump administration wasted a lot of time early on by minimising the seriousness of this health issue. no doubt most americans will not die from this illness, thank goodness, but many people will get the coronavirus, senior citizens and people with compromised immune systems are at risk, and as recently as a few days ago president trump basically told people just go on with your lives if you are not feeling well you can still go to work, contradict being the very important advice from medical experts. the moment i heard about this emerging health risk, my heart sank, because president trump does not follow scientific guidelines, scientific information, he almost insta ntly information, he almost instantly politicised this issue, and he continues to

attack the american media, calling them the enemy of the people, and this is a moment in time when we rely on the national media to give us accurate and reasonable information. so we are not in a great spot in the united states on this. picking up on how the response actually works, in america, who takes the lead in responding? the federal government or individual states themselves? typically it is the federal government working in very close partnership with state governments, and then certainly in large cities like new york city, you need to have sea mless new york city, you need to have seamless communication. but in this case, it is going to be different. i don't think the states and city governments and businesses and colleges can rely on the federal government so rely on the federal government so far, they have not been accurate with the public, they

seem to have botched getting a large number of testing kits out, it is a very bizarre situation where we have the president, who is in the middle ofa president, who is in the middle of a very tight election, there is no good time to have a health crisis, but having it right at the most heated moment in american presidential campaign is really not mindful of but the president seems to be putting his own political interests quite honestly, and i say this with great sadness, i think he is putting it ahead of project being public health. —— protecting public health. in terms of protecting public health, are there any specific steps you would recommend either the states take all the federal government take? either the states take all the federal government take ?|j think the most important thing is to let medical experts provide guidance. right now we're just being told to wash your hands a lot, don't to work if you are sick, think you do

have the virus, try to get tested, self quarantine, i think that is all good advice, we need the president to stop saying that a vaccine is around the corner. that is more than a year away. it would be good to have political leaders speaking every day, as some governors are, and take the politics out of this medical response. just like the president called climate change a hoax, he actually called the coronavirus actually called the coronavirus a hoax. judith enck, thank you for speaking to us. the number of people in the uk with coronavirus has risen again to 164, up from 116.

it's been confirmed that a second person has died from coronavirus in the uk. he was an elderly man with underlying health conditions. italy has announced its largest daily increase in deaths. they've risen by 49 tojust under 200. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh has the latest. 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. and so everybody‘s working as fast as they can. there is also a degree of kind ofjust, innovation to make things happen really, really much quicker than they have done before. the first doses, several hundred of them, are kept in this freezer. but it is far from 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 that takes time. things have progressed much more quickly than they would have done in the past, and it isn't unreasonable to assume that we will end up with a vaccine and we may do so in a year or 18 months, which is remarkable when you considerjust a few years ago it would have taken 20 years to do that. you need to be quite forceful. quite forceful? the prime minister, visiting a lab in bedfordshire announced £46 million of government funding to help find a vaccine and developed 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 that 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 is still way behind italy — by far the worst outbreak in europe. the vatican, the tiny city state in rome has announced its first case of coronavirus. the pope, who has had a bad cold, as already reported testing 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.

there are signs that the coronavirus in china is being controlled. new infection figures and a number of areas are beginning to stabilise. but after the quarantine has shut down, the pressure on the chinese society and economy is starting to tell as other countries consider how to handle an outbreak of covid—19, johnson wet has been looking at how the country is dealing 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 have confidence for 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. siren wails. 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. some patients in this situation cannot get treated. she had to

find a hospital to get treated. she was one of the lucky ones. 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% in january 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, still to come: the orphaned elephants being being given the feminine touch by africa's first women keepers. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours then the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison

in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much do you think? i don't know really. i've never been married before. 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 northern italy province appears to be holding in most areas. around 1 million people have fled their homes over the past three

months to escape the government's offensive. a few hours before the ceasefire began our international correspondent 0rla guerin visited maternity hospital in italy where there has been a sharp increase in premature births. a warning, some of the images in her report are disturbing. born too early. in syria's time of war. ten days old and already battling tough odds. he weighs only one kilo and a half at the is a fighter and a half at the is a fighter and getting stronger. stuff here are struggling to save a growing number of premature babies. born to mothers traumatised by air strikes and barrel bombs. this doctor wants these tiny babies to be seen. in all their suffering. she is eight months pregnant herself and cannot understand why the

outside world has stood idly by. many times, i ask myself there is no—one that can help us or no—one can stop there is no—one that can help us or no—one can stop this war? there is no humanity? where are the humanity of these people? if you see every day the conditions here. why cannot you understand this? how you are stealing? then, suddenly, we hear the conflict coming closer. it is time to go. in syria, hospitals are not spared. farfrom it. they have been targeted repeatedly by russian and syrian warplanes. well we have just heard a very loud explosion nearby and there has 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 it live, people have become accustomed to living with this risk. and many have died from it. this was the town of binish on fabbro 25. yells. this man hoping against hope to find his loved ones after a massive air strike on his neighbourhoods. —— february 25. instead, he faced unbearable losses. his baby son. cries. his wife. his mother. and his brother. ten days on, he is cloaked in sorrow and pain. his son tarin survived because he was taken to the pharmacy five—minute 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 al—asaad is around. not for children, 4—man orfor women. around. not for children, 4—man or for women. who do you blame for what has happened to your family? 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. and even if the latest ceasefire should last, no—one can replace what has been taken from him. 0rla guerin, bbc news, it live. —— is lib.

president trump has appointed a new chief of staff, his forced since taking office. 0n new chief of staff, his forced since taking office. on friday, mrtrump said mick since taking office. on friday, mr trump said mick mulvaney was leaving the job to become the us special envoy to northern ireland. it will be replaced by a republican member of the house of representatives, mark meadows. it has been no official explanation for the change. —— there has been. a french public has cancelled plans —— the french publisher hachette has cancelled plans to publish a memoir by the 0scar—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 ‘90s, when she was seven. lengthy investigations have cleared woody allen who has always denied the abuse. lauren wolfe is a journalist and director of the women under siege project at the women's media center and shejoins us from new york. hi, lauren.

woody allen hasn't been convicted of a crime, so why do staff at the publishers in new york find it u na cce pta ble to publish his memoirs? they are the same publisher as ronan farrow, far and away one of their bestselling authors recently, and he writes about the supposed allegations in his book and to him, allowing his — former, i guess his father to publish a book as well refuting that account in some way without even talking to his sister, he finds it quite appalling and in this era of #metoo, i think a lot of other people did as well. the author stephen king has tweeted — i'm just going to read it to quote it — "the hachette decision to drop the woody allen book makes me very uneasy. it's not him, it's who gets muzzled next that worries me." is that a fair point? it is, i absolutely agree. i think it is a very bad thing to stop censoring. —— i think it is a very sketchy thing to start censoring. i do think in this situation it was a sneaky move, a p pa re ntly it was secret from ronan farrow as he was finalising his book. i think it's a bit of a publicity stunt to do both, so i don't want to see this book not published, ijust i think it's a little awkward to have it at the same company. could it be a financial

decision by the publisher if they have to choose between ronan farrow, a young up—and—coming author with decades ahead of him, and woody allen? the choice is simple — to keep ronan farrow, maybe, is that right? absolutely, and i think it was about last year the new york times reported that four different media — sorry, publishing companies, rejected woody allen's potential book, so it's not like he was, you know, able to find someone real easily, it's not like his book is necessarily going to sell the ronan farrow‘s does and they already have a winner in farrow, so yeah, financial motives are certainly a part of this. many authors have had questionable and even worse private lives, but their works are still published. is there a danger of a precedent being set here? i think yes. you know, as stephen king said and as pen america has been saying, i do think that once we start censoring, where does it stop? in some ways, i think this is a moment in particular where victims‘ voices are really still coming out of the woodwork and it's a little bit... it's more than a little bit insensitive by hachette and clearly money and

publicity motivated. the former brazilian football star rinaldo and his brother are being detained in paraguay, accused of using fake passports to enter the country. the authorities that the false authorities that the false authorities were discovered in authorities were discovered in a police raid on hotel in the capital are sincere and on wednesday. both men deny any wrongdoing. to east africa's first community— owned elephant sanctuary, in northern kenya and is one of few reserves to employ women as keepers, helping to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants. which preston has the story. —— rich. 280 kilometres north of the capital nairobi, welcome to the elephant sanctuary. and meet naomi, one of the many female keepers here at the sanctuary.

elephant sanctuary is a normally run by the state but this one is owned and run by the community. in amongst kenya's second elephant population. the babies that we get are abandoned for different reasons. it is not easy for an elephant to abandon a baby but sometimes, elephants or the baby become sick and it is not able to walk with the mother and the mother decides to walk and the mother decides to walk and leave the baby behind. the baby and leave the baby behind. the ba by suffers and leave the baby behind. the baby suffers starvation and sometimes attacked by predators and when people from the community see this happening, they reported to us and we rush and rescue the baby. —— report it. and that is where naomi and her fellow keepers come in. raising, feeding and nurturing the babies and then... when they are at the age of three yea rs they are at the age of three years and eight months, that is the time when we lead them back to the wild. being owned by the

community means they can help form bonds between the locals and the animals, in what is not a lwa ys and the animals, in what is not always an easy relationship. some years back, human — elephant conflict was challenging and now we have mobilised the people not to use harmful instruments to scare these wildlife away. so they just use less harmful instruments, so human — elephant conflict has gone down. as well as being community owned, they say they are the first sanctuary to employ women as keepers, giving them an empowering role both in them an empowering role both in the community and in the care of these special animals. an example, it is hoped, will be followed elsewhere. ending people like naomi and her collea g u es people like naomi and her colleagues are doing their bit not just for the elephants, colleagues are doing their bit notjust for the elephants, not just for their community, but for women across africa. rich preston, bbc news. what a job!

more on all of our stories on our website. i'm on twitter at james bbc news. please stay with us. hello. 0n the plus side, the weather's not going to be as bad as it's been on some recent weekends, but, then again, 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, and then behind this cold front on sunday, it will feel a bit colder. there will be some sunshine again, but there will also be some heavy showers. so, for the weekend again, it will be wet at times. certainly not all the time. blustery throughout, but we'll also get to some sunshine, more especially by sunday. now, temperatures are on the up after an early frost by the time we get to saturday morning, particularly where we've got some cloud to the north and west of the uk, and some outbreaks

of rain from those weather fronts i showed you a second ago. any early sunshine in east anglia and the south—east will be short—lived. and eastern parts could be patchy at times, the afternoon stays largely dry, there will be outbreaks of rain in wales and western areas of england but heavier and more persistent in northern ireland and especially across southern and western parts of scotland on through the afternoon. it is going to be windy, gales through the irish sea and some coasts could see up to 50mph gusts. these are your wind gusts for you. we are going to see some rather misty and murky conditions developing with poor visibility around coasts and hills, especially in the west, on what will actually be a milder day. then again, it's cloudier, it's windier and for some of us, it's wetter. 0vernight saturday into sunday morning, the rain does move south. before it clears from southern and western scotland, there could be problems from high rainfall totals in some of the higher ground, up to 70mm, coupled with snow belts, so that could bring flooding in places. a much milder start on sunday but with cloud and outbreaks of rain around. that's clearing the south—east early

on sunday morning, and behind that, lots of showers moving through, but not a washout of a day because there will be some sunshine. catch a shower on sunday, it could be heavy, thundery, some hail. some snow over higher hills in scotland, and still very gusty winds as well, and it is going to feel a bit colder on sunday because remember there's been a cold front that's moved on through. just to give you a flavour of things into the start of next week, the detail not yet set in stone, but it does look like an area of low pressure, yet another one, coming into the uk, and that does mean more wind and rain. a few locations into next week to give you a flavour of things. it starts wet and then it turns showery after that. in most places, it will turn a bit cooler as well as the week goes on. that's your forecast.

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 positive for coronavirus. the ship will be brought to a non—commercial port this weekend. italy has announced its largest daily increase in fatalities from covid—19. they've risen by 49 to 197. it's the second highest number of deaths 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 filmmaker woody allen, after protests from employees of its new york subsidiary. he's faced allegations of molesting his adoptive daughter in the 90s, which he's always denied.