this is bbc news. welcome if you are watching here in the uk or around the globe. i amjames reynolds. our top stories. italy sees a sharp rise in the number of deaths from the coronavirus as a quarter of its population is in partial lockdown. the death toll rises in america. we will report from the state of washington where most of those deaths have taken place. the cruise ship moored off the california coast will reach a doctor later on monday. 21 people on board have tested positive. in the catholic church holds a huge open air mass to rally against a bill that will rally against abortion in argentina. —— that

will legalise abortion in argentina for top sweeping quarantine —— sweeping quarantine —— sweeping quarantine measures have been introduced in italy. the total of deaths are 366. most of them in the lombardy area. travel restrictions have been in —— put in place there. it cuts off more than half of the population. like a scene from a nightmare that italy is now living. sealed inside, a 62—year—old man, fallen to the virus. he's been contained. the outbreak hasn't. he's transported to hospitals, stretched to the limit. this is the human cost of a disease that has taken hold so fast, infecting, then inca pacitating within days.

translation: it's really is very difficult. we're exhausted. we've got so many patients, a lot more than the number we're used to managing. we are having to move some patients to another hospital just so we can cope. medics say corridors are being used for intensive care units, and one of the world's best healthcare systems is near breaking point. the surge in cases has now prompted the most drastic restrictions here since the second world war. italy's financial capital, milan, is bare, virtually locked down, along with 1a provinces. a quarter of the population, quarantined. everyone returning to the uk from the area must now self—isolate. italy's second city, usually teeming with life, is hushed, access in or out strictly limited. schools and universities are shut until april. cinemas, pools and nightclubs, too. the prime minister

talked of a crisis. translation: we are facing an emergency, a national emergency, taking exceptional precautionary measures, and we are facing it with great awareness. venice is part of the restricted area, one of italy's tourism jewels, deserted by a mixture of quarantine and fear. as we drove north from rome, we expected tighter controls. but there are none. we are coming into the start of modena now. part of the new exclusion zone. you can see there's no total lockdown. there are no police roadblocks, for example. it's too big an area to control in that way. but people are being asked not to leave or enter. we are going to turn around now, because otherwise there is a risk of entering the new quarantine zone. at the vatican, decades of tradition were broken, as the pope made his sunday blessing by video stream, rather than at the window,

to a st peter's square usually filled with thousands. faith that this will pass is sorely lacking. mark lowen, bbc news, northern italy. what —— what -- 544 what —— 544 people have now been diagnosed with coronavirus in america. most of those are in washington state. relatives have been trapped inside under quarantine. chris buckler reports. more than a dozen patients at this care home have already died and dozens of others have been confined to their rooms inside a building that's at the centre of america's deadliest outbreak of the coronavirus. and some, like susan hayley, are showing symptoms of being infected. it feels like prison, it feels like there's a gun to our head. susan's daughters aren't being allowed to visit her for their own health. they've only been able to see their mother by standing outside the closed window of her room.

i feel like the worst daughter in the world. i really do. because i can't help her. i'm sure that most every person that's in there will test positive, but it's a wait and see. a lack of availability of testing kits has hindered america's response to what has become a health crisis. as the number of cases rises, so does the concern. the authorities admit they that haven't been able to test everyone that's showing symptoms. in reality that means they believe hundreds, if not thousands, are carrying the virus here in the greater seattle area. this is a city that's beginning to feel stalked by covid—19. businesses, schools and universities have told people to work from home, but every day thousands gather

in places like seattle's famous pike place market and while they're encouraging people to wash their hands, that can only do so much. i think shutting down schools is a good idea, but i don't really know how much you can prevent the spread of it in a city like seattle. the majority of deaths so far have been linked to the kirkland life care centre. but carmen can't go in and her mother can't leave. she's trapped in this petri dish and that's waiting for her to be sick enough to take her out of here again. containment is clearly a concern but contagion is a deep fear for all the vulnerable living here. chris buckler, bbc news, seattle. and epidemiologist and professor at the school of public health was stop i asked him for his reaction to the us response so far. you need to diagnose everybody but at this point you have multiple clay —— multiple cases all around the country. just know where they are and what

extent it is spread in our communities. you need to diagnose everybody who is infected with the virus who can potentially transmitted to others. at this point, we have multiple cases we had a reportjust now about a care home, i'd like to look at the us and its prison population. of course, the us has the largest prison population in the world, many people in crowded conditions, what concerns might there be about an outbreak in that system? prisons push people into passive epidemics, whether it is to be alkalosis, hiv, hepatitis c, prisons are notorious for being institutional amplifiers for infections. think of what we're talking about, men and women in close without proper ventilation and infection control, with a healthcare system that in many states is privatised. it means that prisons in the united states will be one of the grand zeros of the outbreak. if an infection gets in, it was spread quickly and not just affect prisoners but corrections officials, staff and family and communities.

what steps might be taken to protect homeless people? that is another very good question. have a very large problem with homelessness in the united states and in many cases, where possible, they are put into crime. facilities like homeless shelters which are again group settings in which infection control is nearly impossible. it's not clear that anyone has really thought about how to handle both of those two populations that are extremely vulnerable in the community. and also ensuring they get the care they need and protecting themselves and the people around them from infection. is another category people i'd like to briefly touch on and that is people without regular

income or healthcare. they might be tempted to carry on trying to carry on going to work even if they feel unwell might have served them submitting those of the virus. what might be done for them? we need to institute some kind of sick pay fund or sick leave fund, both in terms of the people who don't have it as a matter of their daily employment but also for people in the gig economy who might be ill but drivers or delivery people i work as home health aides. we need to figure out ways to compensate people so they don't have to make the decision between putting food on the table for the children all staying away from work to protect them from a virus. red seb tape erg —— erdogan is holding —— holding talks in brussels to discuss the migrant situation with eu officials. the boys —— there has been days of tension over ankara's decision to let migrants enter the european union. four suspects are set to go on trial on monday in the hague over the downing of passenger plane and a——mh

downing of passenger plane and a -- mh 17. downing of passenger plane and a —— mh17. three russians and the —— a ukrainian are on trial. at least six people have died into avalanches in the austrian alps. police say five people were swept away in the country's mountain range. victims are believed to be checked nationals. a six victim, a police officer, was struck in the country's south while on a training exercise. a man has been shot dead by police in westminster in london following an incident which is not being treated as terror—related. officers from the metropolitan police remain at the scene of the incident which occurred around 11:30pm on sunday. road closures were in place as police investigations continue. newly inaugurated president of

argentina —— argentina promised he would send a bill to congress to decriminalise abortion. it was met with counter demonstration with those advocating women's rights and what the president's bill to present —— succeed. the mass attracted hundreds of people in front of the lady of lujan in buenos aires. the message from the church was clear: women's rights are important to us and we are here to care for you. translation: we condemn abuse in all its forms, sexual and psychological, whatever the situation, in the family, at work, at school, on the street or in the church. but there was an important proviso. translation: with the same passion that we state this, we also state there be no case for the termination of human life as set out in our national constitution. abortion is illegal

across much of latin america. in some, including argentina, it is only allowed in the case of rape or where the mother's life is at risk. in some, it's outlawed in all circumstances. only three: cuba, guyana, uruguay, have legalised abortion. but argentina's new president alberto fernandez has promised to change that, describing abortion as a matter of public health, saying the state has a duty to protect women and that individual choice should be respected. that hasn't gone down well with some. translation: given this new position from the president, we're here to rise up, to fight today on a special woman's day. translation: it's wrong because it goes against god's law and life. if the bill passes, argentina will become latin america's largest country to legalise abortion, but that might wishful thinking. an earlier attempt failed,

thrown out by the senate after intense campaigning by religious groups. but there's a growing voice in argentina advocating for women's rights and the freedom to choose. as the church held its mass, they covered too outside the city's largest catholic cathedral. the green handkerchiefs a symbol of argentina's pro—choice movement. translation: all women should take to the streets for greater equality in the workplace and living conditions and because of the way the femicide exists and for the legalisation of abortion. the president's bill is due before congress this week but in a staunchly roman catholic country, getting it past lawmakers won't be its only challenge, changing the views of many argentines will be much, much harder. rich preston, bbc news. in afghanistan, president ashraf ghani has rejected a call for a post— moment of his

inauguration ceremony set to ta ke inauguration ceremony set to take place later on monday. his opponent abdullah abdullah has reportedly offered to postpone his own rival inauguration if mr garney does as a result the pair have been long—term political rivals but last month he was —— a struff —— ashraf ghani... the feud is threatening to derail the recently agreed deal between the delavan and the us over troop withdrawals. talks are due to start with mr garney‘s government this week. stay with us on government this week. stay with us on bbc news. still to come. what goes up must come down. melbourne's annual birdman rally tests the laws of gravity. 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 italy sees a sharp rise in the number of deaths from coronavirus as one quarter of the population is in partial lockdown. in the us, the number of infections has also risen with 544 cases now confirmed. 22 people have have died. officials have now decided that the cruise ship the grand princess, that has been stranded off the court coast of san francisco will be allowed to doctor. i have been speaking to a mother and daughter who are on the ship. they explained what they had been told about their upcoming arrival. so, we just got an announcement that once we do get to oakland, the first people that are going to get off are people who are critically ill, and secondly, the california residents, so ourselves. once we get to oakland we are actually going to be relocated to an army base,

the travis army base, and once we are actually at our relocation then we are going to get tested there. and further isolation. what are conditions like onboard at the moment for you both? it's still pretty good. we're still getting fed. we have been able to get out on our balcony and talk to some of our balcony mates. the morale has been pretty good. i think people are just kind of ready to get off the boat. yeah, some people in the inner rooms got a chance to get some fresh air today, which i think is great, if i was trapped without a balcony i would probably lose my mind. what do you both do all day? we watch movies or tv shows. we have been doing a lot of scouring the news, trying to find out some information. we have taken a couple of naps today. and when you talk to the other passengers, you said some in the inner rooms had had

a chance to get some fresh air. what are your conversations like? do you share information? yeah, so, the people next to us are from georgia and they are actually going to get back to georgia when we get to oakland, they are going to transport them back to georgia, it is about 100 miles away from where they actually live, so best of luck to them. hopefully they can get home as soon as possible. we are just going to show our viewers some pictures of the time when the helicopter landed some testing kits on the ship. did you manage to see that helicopter dropping the kids? we did, we did. it was pretty exciting. and one of the concerns that the outside world has is that only a small number of people aboard the ship have been tested so far. of course, you will be tested when you get to land, but are you concerned that testing should have started earlier? i don't know, i think it is important for us to get

tested, obviously, it took a while for them to find the test results of only the 46 people that were tested, so i think they are doing the best they can. in the situation that we are in. yeah, it is hard with the incubation period, to really know whether or not it would have made a difference if we had been tested two days ago or two days away. are you both prepared for potentially quite a few days in quarantine once you get off the ship? no, i don't think we are prepared for that! they said it would be 14 days. we... we don't know what to expect. we don't know what it is like right now. we're really comfortable with our room. it could be completely different. we will see what is in store for us. leanne higgins and kaylee higgins, fascinating to talk to you both. thank you.

for more on the coronavirus out break head to our website. alternatively you can also download the bbc news app. there have been clashes between protesters and riot police and the mexican capital of mexico city following a huge march on international women's day did it the demonstration called for more action to tackle the high levels of gender—based violence in mexico. on monday, millions of women will participate in a national strike to bring greater attention to the issue is our correspondent reports. —— as our correspondent reports. mexican women have plenty of reasons to protest. at least ten, in fact. the number of murders of women which take place every day. anger has reached a boiling point.

the march began peacefully in mexico city, for the most part. tens of thousands of women took the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder and show their frustration at what they see is a lack of action by the government of andres manuel lopez obrador. gender—based violence against women has long been an issue in mexico, but recently it has been spiralling out of control. translation: women are disappearing, they are raped, they are mutilated, they are burned, they have been found in water systems. and why? for breaking off a relationship? i don't think that's fair. me and my colleagues here are demanding an end to all types of violence and we're calling on all women to take care of themselves, to look each other. some marched over the general failure to protect mexico's women by successive administrations. others cited specific cases. yet everyone shared the movement's basic slogan, "not one fewer."

translation: there are many women in a situation of violence, because due to a lack of resources, of care, the victims are not able to go out onto the streets and cry out. we are crying out. what do we need? for the media to know that this is notjust one femicide case. there are many more. the main criticism aimed at the movement is at its more radical fringe. a group of feminists reached the main square and threw paint at the national palace, clashing with riot police, who responded with tear gas. there was also a clash with conservative anti—abortion campaigners, who had turned out to oppose the march. such is the depth of feeling over the gender—based violence in mexico that the chance of confrontation was always likely. now mexican women will follow this demonstration with a national strike, in which millions will stay away from work and school under the hashtag #adaywithoutus. unless the brutal killings of women are tackled soon, it looks set to become an annual event.

marches have been held to mark international women's day around the world. in chile there was a huge rally in santiago dementing abortion rights and an end to violence against women. across pakistan there were marches in cities despite violent counter protests. and in paris, women joined ina protests. and in paris, women joined in a maori war dance while donning the blue overalls of the chronic rosie the riveter. now a symbol of feminism. the authorities in columbia say they busted an animal smuggling ring out of the country. rescuing thousands of native turtles. according to officials, a sniffer dog found the totals as part of a routine exhibition —— routine inspection. they were said to be worth a quarter of $1 million on the black market and we re million on the black market and were to be smuggled out to the

united states and japan. the annual bird man rally has been taking place in melbourne. an event where people dress up, build home—made hang gliders and then throw themselves off a jetty in a usually fruitless attempt to fly. every year on the banks of the yarra river, they set out to prove the old adage that what goes up most definitely comes down. this is a place where hope springs eternal, despite all evidence to the contrary. i wouldn't say i'm fat, but i'm very short for my weight. i've got massive disadvantages when it comes to flying, it's not actually possible. i think i'm going to go forjust a really fun leap or something, i'm not really sure. just see whatever happens. oh, no, he's going sideways! competitors are awarded for distance and — believe it or not — altitude. they also get marks for entertainment value, which is just as well,

all things considered. it's still as scary as ever, when you jump in, it doesn't matter how many times you've done it. it was very exciting, i'm still a little bit like... squawks. it was a lot of fun, i enjoyed it a lot. it is said insanity is doing the same thing again and again, and expecting different results. tell that to the birdmen and birdwomen of melbourne, who still believe one day they will fly. anyone tempted to sign up next year? a reminder of our top story. sweeping quarantine measures have been imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak in italy. have been a sharp rise in the number of deaths. most victims are in the wealthy lombardi area. travel instructions ——

restrictions have been imposed there and in other regions in there and in other regions in the north of italy. hello. recent days have brought a real mix of weather — it's that sort of time of year and we will continue in that vein in the days to come, so if you do not like what you are getting on one day, hang on and it is sure to change. we start bright and crisp with a little frost around perhaps for some eastern areas, even that will change because the weather system towards the west of the british isles creeps its way ever further towards the east. initially spreading a veil of cloud across western areas after a bright enough start, a couple of showers running ahead of the main rain area. after lunchtime the rain will be all over northern ireland, by mid—afternoon it will be over western scotland, western england and much of wales too. out east, you will lose your sunshine but you will stay dry

until later on in the day. temperatures maxing out at around 10 degrees. part of the problem is that once it starts raining, because we've not got one system but two, it may well continue to rain and there are concerns from the met office who have issued yellow warnings already for the intensity of rain across parts of wales and indeed the north—west of england, because on tuesday some of that rain keeps on coming on what will be a blustery day across the british isles here. the wind gusts for you, you can see widely 30, 40, perhaps 50mph in the exposed locations. the air is coming from the atlantic and if the cloud should break across the eastern side of england, in particular, perhaps 14, 15, 16. reaching in the norfolk area you could look at 17 degrees. exceptional for the time of year. that weather front taking time to pull away but notice that the isobars almost run straight through the weather front, so there's no great change in the airmass. as the front slips away,

the sunshine comes out across the greater part of england and wales. plenty of wintry showers across the higher ground of scotland on another breezy sort of day, but, as i say, the wind is coming from the south—west so we will keep it feeling relatively springlike and mild across the south with temperatures 11—14, much chillier when you get the showers in the heart of scotland — five, six, seven degrees only here. into thursday, we will push this weather front down and across the southern half of the british isles, and that i think that will really freshen things up. plenty of wintry showers again across the higher ground of scotland, a couple of showers in northern ireland, but once the rain slips away from the southern counties of england then essentially a dry fine day, but that bit fresher. we return to the temperatures we saw on monday and we get them again on thursday.

from covid—19 over the last 24 hours in italy. the worst affected region is lombardy. 366 people have now lost their lives of the country for the widespread restrictions are enforced in northern italy affecting more 60 million people. officials have now decided that the cruise ship ran princess which had been stranded off the coast of california would be allowed to dock near oakland ness san francisco on monday. there are more than three people on board. —— near san francisco. argentina has held it large open air mass that would protest against a bill that would legalise abortion in the country. president alberto fernandez who came to power in december promised last week he would send a bill to parliament to decriminalise abortion. it remains a controversial subject across latin