this is bbc world news today. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories... the italian government plans emergency measures after a big rise in coronavirus cases in the country. passengers stuck on board a cruise ship moored off california, are all being tested for coronavirus. clashes on the turkish border as migrants try to break through fences into greece. and in sport, england narrowly beat wales in rugby's six nations as they chase down france at the top of the table. hello and welcome to world news today. the italian government says it will adopt emergency

measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. it comes after over 1,200 new cases were reported in italy in the last 2a hours — the biggest daily rise in cases since the outbreak. officials say 36 more people have died in the last 2a hours. the authorites are preparing to introduce stringent new measures to try to contain the outbreak — including in a major escalation of controls — blocking all but emergency travel to and from lombardy — and eleven northern and eastern provinces. a decree being prepared this evening would also see schools closed for several weeks along with all museums and swimming pools. earlier i spoke to cristina nadotti, an editor at la repubblica in rome, about the rise in new cases. we expected that. at la republica, the edition that come out this morning, we had already written that the experts had expected that this reason,

in the figures, and we are aware that we are in a crisis, because now in lombardy there are some problems with intensive care units. that was exactly what the experts feared. what are some of the reasons here that there are so many cases and deaths in italy? i think the problem was sort of underestimated at the beginning. when i say underestimated, i think that we weren't aware how difficult the situation might be, because there were cases that were absolutely without symptoms, so there were people who went around and they didn't know that they were actually spreading the infection. and given this increase, what are the steps being taken now by the authorities to try and bring this under control? the authorities are saying very much in fact that people

should be more careful, that elderly people should stay—at—home as much as possible, that people should not go around, in the daily press conference, the man who is in charge of dealing with the crisis said, actually, let's change our way of life. so we are very much urged to not go to public places, you know, the vatican said that the pope is not going to make the angelus as he normally does, so we do have to change our way of life, but i suppose not all italians are really prepared or aware of what we are asked for. and this is going to have a significant economic impact. a huge economic impact.

first of all, as you know, we are a country that relies very much on tourism and there has already been a dramatic impact on tourism. but every sector, for example, you know that cinemas and theatres will be closed, because we expect more strict measures to be taking in the following hours and this is going to have a really huge impact. among the people in italy who've tested positive for the disease is a senior politician — the leader of the country's jointly — governing democratic party. nicola zingaretti is putting himself into self—imposed isolation in his home and is feeling well. zinagretti, who is also the president of the region of lazio, posted a video from quarantine. translation: i have always said don't panic, let's fight this

and in this moment i will of course give a good example and follow the advice of the doctors and scientists. i will try to lend a hand by working from home as much as possible and i am fighting, as it is right to do for each of us and for the country. in the united states, the number of deaths from coronavirus is now 19. passengers on board a cruise ship stranded off the coast of california say the process of testing everyone on board has started. they're preparing for a number of days, or even weeks in isolation. from san francisco, sophie long reports. a large, empty berth. this is where the grand princess should have docked today. instead, it remains stranded off the coast of california. the lives of those on board left in limbo. when we get moved to this facility, we will all be tested. and those that don't test positive may be able to leave.

we are trusting in god that something good will come out of this. we don't know what it is and i'm going to test negative and get to go home and get some treatment. testing kits lowered onto the cruise ship revealed 21 people on board have coronavirus. 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. confirmation they were at risk of catching the virus that killed thousands around the world came from news channels, not the ship's captain. you may have heard this on the news by the media already and we apologise, but we were not given advanced notice of this announcement by the us federal government. it would have been our preference to be the first to make this news available to you. these individuals will be notified

after their test results as quickly as possible. michelle bisell‘s mumjackie is on the cruise liner with her friend margaret. both women are in their 70s. michelle wants the government to act quickly and bring them home. when they were told that there were 21 cases of the coronavirus on the ship and most of them were staff, that is when reality hit, last night, and she was very tearful on the phone. the ships medical crew say they are working to address urgent health needs and one person may have to be airlifted to hospital. they've come closer to shore to make it easier to get supplies on board, but, ultimately, thousands of people still have no idea where they are going or when they will get there. sophie long, bbc news, san francisco. for the latest on the situation in the us, i'm joined our correspondent peter bowes is in los angeles.

hi, peter, we got an opt out there about the ship but what about the rest of the united states? well the big lingering question has been about the availability of the coronavirus test kits and the us administration has been relatively slow in getting those kits out, relative to what other countries have managed to do. what we are hearing from the food and drug administration in the last few hours, more than 2 million kits will be made available to non—public laboratories around the country by monday, possibly as many as 4 million by the end of next week. that is a huge improvement on what we have been hearing over the last week or so. there has been a lot of confusion generated in large part by what the president has said and what the vice president had said, they have not always been saying the same thing and the message has been rather mixed, the president signed the kits were available to anyone on the kits were available to anyone on the vice president saying i was not

the vice president saying i was not the case and it would take several weeks, as indeed it is. what about things like transport, moving around, other efforts to try and control what is going on across the us? well, the main control if you like is probably being seen in washington state which has the highest number of cases and indeed the most deaths of anywhere in the us and for example we are getting tech companies like facebook and amazon asking people to work from home. we are getting some school closures as well in that area, but around the rest of the country, the message from health experts and indeed the administration is that people should get on with their ordinary lives but of course take precautions. frequently wash their hands, all the good advice that we are hearing around the world. thank you for that, peter.

let's take a look at some of the other latest developments rescue efforts in china are continuing after the collapse of a five—story building, used as a coronavirus quarantine facility, in the city of chee an joh. at least 70 people were housed in the hotel. it's not yet clear what caused the collapse. local media say at least 43 people have been pulled from the rubble. there's been a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases in germany. more than 680 people are now infected — ten times the number recorded last week. no deaths have been reported. the world health organization says it's seen "tremendous progress" at hospitals across iran in recent days. the w—h—0's representative says iran has made facilities available in every province for the treatment of patients. iran confirmed almost six thousand coronavirus infections and 145 deaths, but experts fear the official numbers may be underestimated. governments across the world are employing a wide array of strategies in order to tackle the outbreak. virologist and host of the naked scientist podcast dr chris smith breaks down

the stages of response we're seeing. the containment phase, that is where, if you don't have any evidence that an agent is circulating in the community or geography, if there are new cases detected, you want to stop it going any further and that is what containment means and under those circumstances you probably identify the cases, you very quickly tries to their contacts are, so you can establish where they got it from and who they might have given it to. and the aim of doing that is to stop it spreading any further. at some point, there comes a point, where you say, there is clear evidence of spread, wider thanjust you say, there is clear evidence of spread, wider than just cases that are isolated out and sprinkled across the community and at that point we are in the delay face and thatis point we are in the delay face and that is why you try as best you can do slow down the rate of spread and you acknowledge that it will happen. we are certainly in that situation,

not just we are certainly in that situation, notjust in this country but in many countries worldwide. if you look at italy, the cases have risen dramatically today. we are in this phase post containment, possibly delayed. what about the specific measures, like in italy they are playing sporting events behind closed doors and asking people not to travel around, perhaps, closed doors and asking people not to travelaround, perhaps, unless closed doors and asking people not to travel around, perhaps, unless it is an emergency, things like that. i these are measures you expect to see in other countries now? the thing about this virus is that it it is a new entity, we have not seen it before and we don't really know what it will do, we don't know what its behaviour will be. we are getting insights from places like italy and from the data from china, although thatis from the data from china, although that is a slightly different setup than your average european country. at the moment, it is a case of we look back in history and we asked what are we done in the past for things like sars and flu outbreaks? what seems to work and then take a

proportionate approach and italy have said we are going to close some schools and universities and we are going to do it for a period of time and they are hoping that will create the viral equivalent of a firebreak where you basically rob the virus of so many people it can infect and you slow down the penetration through the population but no one thinks it will stop it completely. it will still spread and affect a large number of people but you're slowing down the right. different countries have different geographies, different setups in different social systems and therefore different measures, what might work in one country might not work in another. it will be on a country by country basis. what about panic buying? we have seen people in the uk trying to stock up, should we be doing that? no, i don't like it is a good idea not just the uk, no, i don't like it is a good idea notjust the uk, if anyone is feeling guilty, don't beat yourself up, because people in other countries have done the same thing. i was talking to a journalist in new zealand the other day when they

announced their first case and she said that supermarkets there were immediately am denuded of all toilet paper. we seem to like panic buying toilet paper in the situation. that is probably not a sensible measure because one way of looking at this is if we all rushed to the supermarket and we all panic buy things, we will create a mass gathering in the supermarket and the government are telling us not to do that. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: (pres) stay with us on bbc world news, still to come:(00v + vamp)england hold off wales in a closely fought victory, in rugby‘s six nations championship the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this is 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 and then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, i don't know... petrified. james earl ray, aged a1, sentenced to 99 years, he will be due for parole when he is 90, travelled to nashville state prison in an eight car convoy. paul, what does 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 world news today. the latest headlines... the italian government is preparing

emergency measures against the coronavirus outbreak which is reported will prevent people entering or leaving the entire region of lombardy. passengers stranded on a cruise ship off the coast of california are starting to be tested for the virus. the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan, has ordered his country's coastguard to prevent migrants crossing the aegean to greek islands. the coastguard said this was because of the dangers they faced. but pressure continues at turkey's land border with greece, where thousands of young men — some from syria but most from elsewhere — are attempting to get to europe. david campa nale reports. the land route into europe is blocked. as they approach turkey's border fence with greece, hopeful migrants are met by volleys of tear gas from police. frustrated, but desperate to get across, groups of young men, predominantly from afghanistan,

pakistan and iran, try forcing a way through to a better life. water cannon, though, is used to drive them back. the message from the european union's foreign policy chief has been to avoid moving to a close door. and greece is enforcing that with every means they can. we are going to the metropole station and they are giving us a ticket, because it is a service now and no one is telling us anything about the police, it is no problem now. so, we have to just say, if they open the door, then we have to cross the border. if not, we have to go back to istanbul. the stand—off at the greek turkish border reflects a deeper impasse between the two countries. last week ankara announced it would no longer prevent migrants crossing into europe. greece vowed not to let the migrants in.

it is now moving to tighten security along the 140 kilometre border saying turkey has orchestrated the crisis, using the migrants as geopolitical pawns. turkey, in turn, accuses greece of endangering lives and in violating its own and international laws on asylum. in between the two positions and caught in a no man's own, migrants cannot move forwards into greece and turkey says they won't be letting them back. david campanale, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. lebanon's government has voted to default on a foreign currency debt for the first time in the country's history. the country will no longer pay a one—point—two—billion euro—bond that matures this monday. the prime minister hassan diab said lebanon's debt had become more than it could bear and the decision had been made to protect the country's interests. three members of the saudi royal family are reported

to have been arrested, including the king's younger brother and nephew. mohammed bin nayef and ahmed bin abdulaziz‘s detentions are said to be linked to the country's de facto ruler, mohammad bin salman. it's seen as a move to consolidate his power, and remove any threat to his authority. the former brazilian footballer, ronaldinho has been ordered into pre—trial detention by a judge in paraguay after he attempted to enter the country with a false passport. prosecutors say he was given a false paraguayan passport when his plane landed. he says he thought the passport was a courtesy gesture. the two front—runners for the democratic nomination for president in the united states, joe biden and bernie sanders, are campaigning in the country's midwestern states including missouri and michigan. the two states will be among the six holding primary votes on tuesday. now for all the sport. and we will start with liverpool as

they are just three wins away from winning the english premier league and what would be their first league title in 30 years. it was not easy for them as they had to come from behind to beat struggling burma to— one and just look at what it means tojurgen klopp. one and just look at what it means to jurgen klopp. as he watched his side secure a league win at anfield. callu m side secure a league win at anfield. callum wilson opened the scoring for the visitors before mohamed salah and sadio mane secured the victory. we have 82 points which is really nice and now we have to fight, carry on fighting, tuesday, on monday and saturday i think, that is how it is now. we have to give everyone who wa nts now. we have to give everyone who wants the points from us a proper fight and that is what we did today and that is it. in the other games arsenal beat west ham, watford are still in trouble after losing to crystal palace who are surely safe

now on 39 points. newcastle also moved closer to safety with the win at southampton while wolves against brighton ended goalless and in the late game burnley and tottenham also drew one all. barcelona have gone top of la liga thanks to a 1—0 victory over real sociedad. lionel messi scored a penalty to put his side two points clear of real madrid. zinedine zidane's side can regain the top with victory over real betis on sunday night. sporting events around the world continue to be cancelled or postponed because of the global spread of the coronavirus. so far this saturday psg ‘s league match against strasbourg has been postponed while scotla nd strasbourg has been postponed while scotland ‘s women 6 nations match against france was postponed after a scottish player tested positive for the disease. and for now the barcelona marathon has been pushed back until october. and england have

kept their hopes alive after winning this year ‘s 6 nations championship after beating wales by 33—30 in a fiery match at twickenham. they are now level on points with leaders france who play scotland tomorrow. ireland ‘s game in italy was postponed due to the coronavirus. encounters between england and wales are always dramatic affairs and this certainly lived up to that. the game for the most part was wildly unpredictable as the events surrounding it this week. fans here arriving at twickenham were greeted with walls of hand sanitiser and health officials offering advice, such are the efforts to stem spread of coronavirus. it is very much on the minds of people but from the fa ns the minds of people but from the fans i spoke to, they were delighted the game is going ahead given the other postponements. when it finally did get under way, england got off grow to a fantastic start, anthony watson crossing in the opening few

moments. they added another tryjust before half—time, elliot daly crossing on the corner. from there, england thought they might see at the second half, but it began in spectacularfashion the second half, but it began in spectacular fashion from wales. their team going from one end of twickenham to another, and justin tipuric touched down under the post, one of the tries of the 6 nations. manu tuilagi pulled one back for england to give them breathing space before he was sent off. that took england down to 13 and they already had a man in the sin bin and wales took advantage, two late tries, one from dan biggar and a second from justin tipuric brought the score back to 33—38. wales just beaten by the clock. england take the triple crown, wales have lost three matches ina row crown, wales have lost three matches in a row but in their —— and that in their defence of the title last year. adam either. that is all of

the sport, plenty more on the website. goodbye for now. thank you. and finally, let's bring you some good news from china, where a baby who was diagnosed with coronavirus has been discharged from a hospital in henan province. it's unusual for young children to contract coronavirus. the baby, who was diagnosed with covid—19 just five days after birth, had been receiving treatment for the last month, and has now been returned to his parents. they have also recovered from the virus and were discharged themselves two weeks earlier, along with another four members of the same family who had also tested positive for the virus. we will give you a quick recap on the coronavirus, focusing on italy where the major developments are. the government there is preparing to introduce radical new restrictions to contain the spread of the

coronavirus or at least attempted. a d raft coronavirus or at least attempted. a draft decree published in the italian media includes measures such as stopping all but emergency travel to the entire region of lombardy. that is the worst hit area. it is the largest and richest of the italian regions with 10 million inhabitants and includes the country ‘s second biggest city, milan. identical restrictions will apply to 11 provinces elsewhere. the decree will also reportedly close museums, sports centres and ski resorts for weeks. the head of the country civil protection agency says defeat of the virus, italians would have to change their way of life. and you can find all the latest information about the virus and the updates there is happening in italy, but also the spread worldwide island crucially what you do to avoid spreading the virus.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ lvaughanjones. it has been one of those days i can western parts of the country as a weather front has worked its way slowly into that western side of the british isles, a combination of wet and windyfair british isles, a combination of wet and windy fair gradually moving further towards the south and east as we start the day on sunday and as it clears the way, what will have been a relatively mild packet of air will be pushed into the near continent, something fresher following on behind. 0vernight you may be woken up by some pretty gusty winds. and some pretty heavy rain at times. gradually easing its way down towards east anglia and the south—east, crossing all parts, but quite cloudy skies following on

behind, a packet of showers as well as many areas, urged along by quite as many areas, urged along by quite a noticeable wind. that combination of cloud and wind and rain that will help to keep many of us frost free on sunday. you will have to be up pretty quickly in the day across east anglia and the south—east to see the last of that rain and once it isa see the last of that rain and once it is a way, without being too clever about the detail, it will be a day of sunshine in blustery showers, some of them quite sharp, the temperatures in single figures across scotland, maybe 11 or 12 to the south. so, we keep those showers going into the first part of the evening, the first part of the night as well, especially so in the west, one or two spots in scotland, the temperatures will dip away, nothing unusual there, many of us will start the new week frost free, temperatures in the range of 3—6. that showery regime does not last long, because from the west, as we get on into monday, we will bring a

combination of some really quite wet and windy weather and it will take time to show its hand, initially through the morning it will get into northern ireland and then around lunchtime, getting into the south west of scotland, through the afternoon many western areas will have seen that combination, heavy rain coming and the met office have a yellow warning for the heart of wales where we could see between monday amid their midday on tuesday up monday amid their midday on tuesday up to 80 millimetres of rain. a week to come which is essentially a mixture of sunshine and showers.

this is bbc world news. the headlines: the italian government is preparing emergency measures after a big rise in coronavirus cases in the country. it will prevent people from coming into the entire region of lombardi as well as other provinces as well. a hotel has collapsed in china that was being used as a quarantine facility for those who had close contact with confirmed cases. the lebanon government has voted to default on loan payments. they had been do to repay a £1.2 million bond

on monday and