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, its biggest daily increase so far. in other news, there's been a sharp rise in the number of premature babies born in syria's war—torn province of idlib.

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. 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 on board 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 correspondence oui’ correspondence over our correspondence over the long is in san francisco. the grand princess has been in limbo circling of the northern california coast for some days now. it has been there since wednesday evening. passengers on board have been confined to the cabin since thursday lunchtime. they do now have some clarity. we know that of the 46 tests carried out, 21 people are now known to have the coronavirus. 19 crewmembers and two passengers. vice president mike pence is co—ordinating the federal government response, and so they have a plan in place which will involve the cruise liner docking at a non—commercial port at some point before the weekend is out. all passengers and crew will now have to be

tested for coronavirus. but at least some clarity for those on board. i have spoken to some of the passengers, most of whom have been trying to stay positive and keep spirits up, but concern has been growing, not just the fear of catching coronavirus but also for their general health. many other people on board that line are elderly, they are reliant on medication and are concerned that that could run out. the cruise company that are working with passengers to ensure that won't happen. we do now have, it seems, an end in sight. vice president mike pence saying that ship should dock before the weekend is out. earlier i spoke tojudith enck who's a former regional administrator the the us environmental protection agency and now a senior advisor at bennington college. i asked herfor her i asked her for her assessment of the federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak. 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, contradicting 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 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 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 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 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 an american presidential campaign is really not mindful ——not a good time. 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 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? i 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 a hoax. it's been confirmed that a second person has died from coronavirus here in the uk. the victim was an elderly man with underlying health conditions. the number of people here now infected with coronavirus has risen again to 164 in the uk — up from 116 — the biggest increase in a single day so far. italy has announced its largest daily increase in deaths. they've risen by 49 nine to just under 200. our 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 is 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 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 or 18 months, which is remarkable when you considerjust a few years ago it would have taken 20 years to do that. 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 but 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 — the highest number of patients 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, has already reportedly tested 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, 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 the chinese society and economy is starting to tell. 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 was the lucky one who find a hospital to get treated. 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 news, still to come: the orphaned elephants 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: the us vice president mike pence has announced 21 cases of coronavirus have been identified on board the cruise ship which is moored off san francisco. italy has announced its biggest daily increase in deaths from the coronavirus with nearly 50 mortalities. a ceasefire in syria's idlib province 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. 10 days old and already battling tough odds. he weighs only 1.5 kilos,

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. dr ikram wants these tiny babies to be seen... see that? ..in all their suffering. she's 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 this war? there is no humanity? where the humanity of these people? if you see every day our miserable conditions here, why cannot you understand this? man: what was that?

attack? then, suddenly, we hear the conflict coming closer. it's time to go. in syria, hospitals are not spared. far from it. they have been targeted repeatedly by russian and syrian warplanes. well, we've just heard a very loud explosion nearby — 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 idlib — people have become accustomed to living with this risk. and many have died from it. this was the town of binnish on february 25. yells. anas hoping against hope to find his loved ones after a massive air strike on his neighbourhood. cries.

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 tarek 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 bashar is around. —— 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, anas, for what has happened to yourfamily? 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 anas. 0rla guerin, bbc news, idlib. 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. the former brazilian football star ronaldinho and his brother are being detained in paraguay,

accused of using fake passports to enter the country. the paraguayan authorities said the false documents were discovered in a police raid on a hotel in the capital asuncion on wednesday. the world cup winner had been staying there while promoting a book. both men deny any wrongdoing. tim vickeryjoins me now, an expert, the expert, i should say, in south american football. famous footballers sometimes get themselves into scrapes and this one seems particularly unusual? embarrassing, bizarre, absolutely stupid and it seems to make no sense whatsoever. ronaldhino doesn't need a passport to go to paraguay. a few months back, he had problems with the brazilian authorities and his passport, brazilian and spanish passport, we re brazilian and spanish passport, were confiscated and i understand a deal has been reached and he is in possession of those passports butjust a

brazilian id card is sufficient to go to paraguay and when he embarks at sao paulo airport, it appears he did show his brazilian id card and then when he gets to asuncion in paraguay he gets to asuncion in paraguay he brings out a fake paraguayan passport, or allegedly fake paraguayan passport. now, a lot of work it seems has gone on in order to supply this fake passport. it appears that two women applied for these passports and then the details we re passports and then the details were altered. quite why anyone has seen the need to go to these lengths to come up with a passport that was not necessary is an absolute mystery. and yet, this is something that the paraguayan authorities will have two uncover. there are clearly, there have been two sides to the paraguayan authorities with this. there has been the side of the airport and initially, in the public ministry, where all right, it is ronaldhino and we will let him off as long as he gives us a selfie. and then there is the more severe side

led by a judge who has says this is a serious business, passport is a serious document and we have to find out what has happened here so in the end, ronaldhino, who was, his brother, they were preparing to return to brazil, and instead they have been apprehended and placed under arrest while the truth of this bizarre story is uncovered. i am struggling to understand all of it. it sounds incredibly mysterious! has there been any reaction in brazil where presumably ronaldhino is still revered? he is revered all over the world of course and this is a huge story and i wonder, if i can play amateur psychologist for a minute, i wonder if the story of ronaldhino and so much of what has happened to his is linked to the fact that his elder brother wasn't his are very promising for all and he moved the family with his first contract from a poor neighbourhood to a neighbourhood to a neighbourhood with a swimming pool and his father drowned in the swimming pool which i think has led to ronaldhino having an attitude of enjoy yourself, it

is later than you think, but also his older brother aziz became his defect her father and has looked after him and it seems to have left ronaldhino himself in a perpetual little brotherhood —— the facto father. he seems bemused by anything going on around him, and there is a lot to be bemused about in this case because on the face of it, it would seem to make absolutely no sense. tim vickery, thank you so much. now to east africa's first community—owned elephant sanctuary. it's in northern kenya and is one of the few reserves to employ women as keepers, helping to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants. rich preston has the story. 280 kilometres north of the capital nairobi, welcome to the reteti elephant sanctuary and meet naomi, one of the many female keepers here at reteti. elephant sanctuaries are normally run by the state but this one is owned and run by the community in amongst kenya's second largest

elephant population. the babies that we get are for different reasons. like abandoned. 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 go and leave the baby behind. the baby suffers starvation and sometimes maybe attacked by predators and when people from the community see this happening, they report to us and we rush and rescue the baby. elephant trumpets. and that's where naomi and herfellow keepers come in, raising, feeding and nurturing the babies and then... when they are at the age of three years and eight months, that is the time now when we lead them back to the wild. being owned by the community means reteti can help form bonds between the locals and the animals, in what has not always been

an easy relationship. some years back, human—wildlife conflict was much so challenging. and now we have mobilised these people not to use harmful instruments to scare these wildlife away. so theyjust use less harmful instruments, so human—wildlife conflict and poaching have gone down. as well as being community owned, reteti say they are the first sanctuary to employ women as keepers, giving 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, meaning people like naomi and her colleagues are doing their bit not just for the elephants, not just for their community, but for women across africa. rich preston, bbc news. what a job! more on our website. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @jamesbbcnews.

please do 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.