this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan—jones. our top stories: italy is preparing emergency measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak which could stop people entering or leaving the worst affected regions. passengers stuck on board a huge cruise ship moored off the californian coast are being tested for the coronavirus. clashes on the turkish border, as water cannon and tear gas greet migrants trying to get 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 bbc world news. 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 started. officials say 36 more people have died in the last 2a hours. the authorites are preparing a major escalation of controls, blocking all but emergency travel to and from the entire region of lombardy, including the city of milan. the decree being prepared this evening would also extend to 11 northern and eastern provinces as well as the cities of parma and venice. the measures will see schools closed for several weeks along with all museums, swimming pools and ski resorts. earlier i spoke to cristina

nadotti, an editor at la repubblica in rome, about the rise in new cases. we expected that. la repubblica came out this morning and we had already written that the experts expected this rise in the figures. we are aware that we are in a crisis because now, in lombardi, there are problems with intensive care units. —— lombardy. that is exactly what the experts feared. and what are some of the reasons here but 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 we re underestimated, i think that we were not aware of how difficult the situation might be because there were cases that were

absolutely without symptoms, so there were people that went around, and we didn't know that they were actually spreading they were actually spreading the infection. and given this increase, what are the steps being taken now by the authorities to try to bring this under control? the authorities are stressing very much the 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. mr pirelli, who is in charge of the emergency, dealing with the press, 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 the angelis

because he always does. so we do have to change our lives. i suppose not all italians are really prepared 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 area 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. every sector, for example, you know that cinemas and theatres will be closed because we expect more strict measures to be taken 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. this translation: this translationzli this 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 followed the advice of the doctors and of scientists. i will try to lend a hand by working from home as much as possible and i am finding, as it is right to do, for each of us 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 who do not test positive may be able to leave. we are trusting in god with this one. 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 had coronavirus. confirmation they were at risk of catching the virus which has 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 advance notice of this announcement by the us federal government. it would have been oui’ government. it would have been our preference to be the first to make this news available to

you. these individuals will be notified of the test results as quickly as possible. michelle's bissell‘s motherjackie is a board 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, 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 have 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. the us vice—president mike pence has been meeting with leaders of the cruise line industry. he said they were tracking another ship that had shared crew with the grand princess.

mr pence also announced there would be strict measures in place for dealing with cruise ships. today we reached an agreement with the cruise line industry to further enhance entry and exit screening. and also to establish shipboard testing for the coronavirus. new quarantining the coronavirus. new quara ntining standards will the coronavirus. new quarantining standards will be co—ordinated with the cdc for all ships, and we also will be working with the industry, as they develop a plan to move any patients that contractually coronavirus —— contract the coronavirus, or otherwise become seriously ill, to land—based facilities. our los angeles correspondent peter bowes says the us government is under some pressure over its coronavirus response. 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. that is relative to what other countries have managed to do. what we're hearing from the us food and drug administration, just in the last couple of hours, is that more than 2 million 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, which isa by the end of next week, which is a huge improvement on what we have been hearing over the last week or so. there have also been a lot of confusion generated in large part by what the president assad, and what the president assad, and what the vice president, mike pence, has said. they have not always been saying the same thing. the message has been rather mixed. the president saying that kits we re the president saying that kits were available to everybody, the vice president saying that actually that 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 to control what is going on across the us? well, the main

control, if you like, it's 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're getting some school closures as well in that area. but around the rest of the country, the message from health experts and indeed from the administration is that people should get on their ordinary lives. but of course ta ke ordinary lives. but of course take precautions, frequently wash hands, all the good advice that we are hearing around the world. peter bowes. let's round up some of the rest of the day's other news about the coronavirus. rescue efforts in china are continuing after the collapse of a 5—storey building used as a coronavirus quarantine facility, in the city of qingzhou. 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.

15 american tourists have been quarantined in a hotel in the city of bethlehem on the west bank, as part of efforts against the virus. the city in the occupied west bank has been in lock down since cases of the virus were recorded there on thursday. 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 who's representative says iran has made facilities available in every province for the treatment of patients. iran confirmed almost 6,000 coronavirus infections and 145 deaths, but experts fear the official numbers may be underestimated. governments across the world are employing a wide range

of strategies 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 a community or angiography, if there are new cases detected, you want to stop it going any further, and thatis stop it going any further, and that is what containment means. and under those circumstances you probably identify the cases, you very quickly traced 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 didn't stop it spreading even further. now, at some point, there comes a point where you say, well, look, there is clear evidence of spread, why don't the cases that are isolated and sprinkled across the community, so at that point we are in the delay phase and that is where you try

as best as you can to slow down the rate at which the spread happens but you acknowledge it is going to happen, and i think 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 quite dramatically there today. we are certainly in this phase post containment, and possibly delay. what about the specific measures, though? things like italy, playing sporting events behind closed doors, asking people not to travel around, perhaps, unless it is an emergency. things like that. but easily measures you expect to see in other countries now? the thing about this virus is that it the thing about this virus is thatitis the thing about this virus is that it is a new entity. we have not seen this virus circulating before so we don't really know what it is going to do, we don't know what its behaviour is going to be. we are getting insights from places like italy, we are getting insights from the data we have from china, though that isa we have from china, though that is a slightly different setup from your average european country. so at the moment it is a case of looking back in history and asking, what have we done in the past with things

like stars, things like flu outbreaks? what seems to work, and how can we take a proportional approach? italy have said they are going to shut schools and universities, and will do that for a certain period of time. they are hoping that will create the viral equivalent of a fire breaks, we re equivalent of a fire breaks, were basically robbed a virus of so many people it can in fa ct, of so many people it can in fact, so you slow down a penetration through the population. but nobody is thinking this is going to stop it completely. it isn't. it is still going to spread and infect a large number of people, ultimately, but you are slowing down the rate at which you can do that. different countries have different geographies, different setups, different social systems and therefore different measures. what might work well in one country will not necessarily apply directly to another, so it will be a case of a country by country basis, i would say. what about things like panic buying? we have seen people here in shops in the uk trying to stock up, should we be doing it or not doing that? i don't think that is a good idea. and it is not just think that is a good idea. and it is notjust the uk, if anybody is feeling guilty about it, don't beat yourself up about it because other people

in other countries have reacted identically. i was talking to a fellow journalist in new zealand the other day, when they announced their first case, and she said supermarkets there were immediately denuded of all toilet paper. it seems to bea of all toilet paper. it seems to be a common factor here. we seem to like panic buying toilet paper when we get into a situation like this. but that is probably not a sensible measure at the moment. one way of looking but this is that if we all rushed to the supermarket and panic by things, we are going to create a mass gathering in a supermarket which is exactly what the government is telling us what the government is telling us not to do. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: england hold off wales in a closely fought victory, in rugby‘s six nations championship. music with a message. the campaign in vietnam trying to teach people to properly wash their hands. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a 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 italian government is preparing emergency measures against coronavirus which — it's reported — will prevent people entering or leaving the entire region of lombardy. passengers stranded on a cruise ship moored off california have started being 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. 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 their 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 closed door. and greece is enforcing that with every means they can. we are going to the metropole station and they are giving us tickets because it is in—service now and no—one telling us anything like the police, it's no problem now. so we have to just wait. 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 and pass between the two countries. lastly, and kara announced it would no longer prevent migrants crossing into europe. greece vowed not to let

the migrants in —— ankara about. it is now moving to tighten security along the 140 kilometre border, saying turkey has orchestrated the crisis by using the migrants as geopolitical points. turkey in turn accuses greece of endangering lives and violating its own and international laws on asylum. in between the two positions, caught in a no man's land, migrants cannot move forward in degrees and turkey says they won't be letting them back —— forward in greece. david campanelli, 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 $1.2 billion eurobond 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 the passport when his plane landed. he says he thought the passport was a courtesy gesture. the two frontrunners 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. in sport, england's rugby union players have secured

the triple crown, completing victories over the other british home nations. they held on to win their six nations clash against wales at twickenham, 33—30. our sports correspondent adam wild watched the game. penalties between england and wales are always dramatic, close affairs. this certainly lived up to that. the game, the most pa rt lived up to that. the game, the most part was wildly unpredictable as events surrounding it this week. fancier arriving at twickenham we re fancier arriving at twickenham were greeted with wiles of hand sanitiser and if this was offering help and advice to stem the spread of coronavirus. that very much among people's mind but from the folks i spoke to, they were delighted this game was going ahead given the other postponements. when it finally did get under way, england got off to a fantastic start. anthony watson crossing in the opening few moments. they added another try just before half—time with elliott

daily crossing and then england thought they might see out the second half. that second half began in spectacular fashion from the monarch. their team went from one end of the can into the other forjustin to touch down under the post. really, one of the tries of this year's six nations. they got some breathing space before a player was sent off. those numbers took england down to 13, as they already had a man in the sin bin and wales took advantage of that. two made cries, and another one from justin for the score to 33—30. wales just beaten by the clock. england take the triple crown, wales have lost three matches ina row, wales have lost three matches in a row, that in their defence, was a bit tighter. all around the world, health authorities are trying to spread messages of good hygeine to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus.

but how can they persuade everyone to properly wash their hands? in vietnam, they've produced a music video along with a dance challenge — the tune has taken the country by storm and has since gone global.

that is going to stick in your head, isn't it? some good news from china, a baby diagnosed with coronavirus has been discharged from hospital in hunting province. it is unusual for young children to contract the virus, the baby diagnosed with covid—19 just five days old had been receiving treatment over the last month or so. they have now been returned to the parents that mickey has now. the parents have also recovered from the virus and were discharged two weeks ago as well as four members from the family who tested positive for the virus. and of course, as always you can find the latest news and information about the coronavirus on our website, including what you can do to try and avoid it. the guide there to how to wash your hands if you didn't get that from the song earlier, and also how to spot the symptoms of the disease. that is just about it from me. the remember at any time you can get me online on

twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello. saturday brought contrasting with the forgings across the british isles, south and east. dry the most part, further north and west it turned out to bea north and west it turned out to be a pretty wet and windy sort of day. not just be a pretty wet and windy sort of day. notjust on the coast either. much of that brought about by this weather front, which through sunday takes relatively mild air over towards the continent, it leaves us with something slightly fresher. i suppose begin to open up a touch but there is still a fair few of them so it is a brighter today, yes. but there will be a scattering of showers. no great organisation about them, i suspect the heaviest of them out towards the west and a few more of them as well. the just bowling back a degree or two,

from the lofty highs of saturday —— falling was that we get into a showery regime to finish of the week but for monday and tuesday, it looks to bea mild monday and tuesday, it looks to be a mild and wet and windy. for all of that you have to look quite a way out into the atlantic, but with time, so that system works its way towards the western side of the british isles. monday starts off dry enough, don't be pulled. northern ireland, you glide up in the morning and here comes that wind and rain and that pushes into the west of scotla nd and that pushes into the west of scotland widely across the west of england, through wales and it's really quite heavy rain in there. dries the longest further towards the east. especially in the east of scotla nd east. especially in the east of scotland and eastern side of england. we get to see the wind and rain there late in the day on monday and just when you hope the frontal system would move away, it just hope the frontal system would move away, itjust kinks a wee bit so we keep the cloud and the rain for the greater part of england and wales. for scotla nd of england and wales. for scotland and northern ireland, something a little bit brighter but plenty of showers to be had across the north and west of scotla nd across the north and west of scotland on what is going to be

a blustery day right across, but that front really makes a difference. because central and southern areas, look at this, 15, 16, possibly 17 degrees. it isn't overly cold further north but you are closer to about 8— 12 degrees or so because the air is coming in from just south of west and we keep it coming from that sort of direction through wednesday. but the weather front will have moved away, taking the very modest of the air with it. brighter skies for many of us on wednesday, still with a packet of showers across many northern and western areas, much drier, brighter across the east but not as mild as was the case for some of you during the course of tuesday. the second half of the week, as they say, temperatures begin to dribble away. no more than 17, not bad for this time of year.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the italian government is preparing to introduce radical new restrictions in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus. in a draft decree published in the italian press, the restrictions could include preventing all but emergency travel in and out of the worst affected region, lombardy. all 3,500 people on board the grand princess cruise ship, lying off the coast of san francisco, are being tested for coronavirus. 21 passengers and crew earlier tested positive for the disease. the authorities will bring the ship to a non—commercial port and quarantine people there. the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan, has ordered his country's coast guard to prevent migrants crossing the aegean to greek islands. pressure continues at turkey's land border, where thousands of young men — some from syria but most from elsewhere — are attempting to get to europe.