this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock and these are our top stories: market meltdown — asian shares post massive losses as oil prices plummet as opec and russia face off on a price war. despite a call to cancel all non—essential travel, some conventions in the middle east are relying on super powers to fight the coronavirus. let's show you the financial markets in asia at the moment. you can see the heavy losses on share markets. the n strengthening and oil prices are falling. energy companies are seeing their shares sold off dramatically as the price of oil plummets.

let's bring you more detail on the market turmoil. a dramatic price war has broken out between two of the world's oil producers, opec and russia. while prices have plunged and thatis while prices have plunged and that is spilling over into as av that is spilling over into as a's stock—market patrol lower. let's go to a asian business hub. talk us through what is happening. you pretty much highlighted it at the start of the programme. all of those equity markets here in asia are making various deep washes. that crash and oil prices adding to the panic with energy firms taking a battering against the backdrop of the rapidly spreading virus which is spanning 50 years over the state of the global economy. these are some of the worst

falls in oil prices since at least the start of the 1991 golf ball according to bloomberg news. trading falls asa bloomberg news. trading falls as a result. a sea of red with tokyo, sydney, manila, all plunging as much as 6% today. hong kong, mumbai, singapore, seattle, jakarta, wellington, they were all down about 3% or more. we got the likes of shanghai, taipei, also down. of course driving the declines was those ferocious selloffs in the oil prices. all sparked by topics, saudi arabia essentially slashing prices. two unprecedented levels after its bust up with russia over production. investors as a result of jumping riskier assets, piling into safe havens, sending things like the gold and japanese surging. the cost those losses in oil prices. you got energy firms in asia being slammed. hong kong

listed petro china plunging and woodside petroleum in sydney or falling on the double digits. governments and central banks have been seen to be preparing to roll out stimulus measures to roll out stimulus measures to counter the effect of covid-19, we to counter the effect of covid—19, we know it's putting a huge strain on economies and stoking concerns of a worldwide recession. confirming it's on the brink of a technical recession today was japan this morning which reported its worst quarterly growth numbers since at least 2014. thank you so since at least 2014. thank you so much. a very chaotic session for financial markets this monday. brent crude sliding dramatically, trading around $31 a barrel. majorfinancial institutions around the globe are acting to make sure their businesses aren't not of course by this rid of the virus but what about small businesses which make up around 90% of all

enterprises. many of them simply don't have the cash or resources to mount an effective defence also in china, the epicentre of the outbreak, 60% of small firms so they can only meet their financial obligations another two months. they are faced major disruptions to supply and manufacturing. not surprisingly, competence among small businesses there has plunged to an all—time low. the european central bank is working on measures to provide a cash boost for companies it at the outbreak in the european union. in the uk, the federation of small businesses and bales a support plan to help their members weather the storm. i have chris southworth here, secretary general of the international chamber of commerce uk. good to see you chris. coronavirus, a new element at another very unpredictable and difficult to manage element for small to medium—sized businesses that

have a had a really tough time for a lot of reasons. i think particularly in the uk, companies are under a lot of strain in the trading economy for the last three years. many of those underlying strains are still there. whether it is trade wars or the disrupting effect of digitalisation and technologies. the coronavirus and brexit is the big one and coronavirus answer that. you have really good companies, good brands, selling good products and services around the world who are under a lot of pressure. i think it's really welcome news that institutions are stepping in and offering helpful something that's absolutely the right thing to do. it's the same for us thing to do. it's the same for us as business organisations like the federation of small businesses, it's really welcome. it's a crying shame i think if good companies go bust because of a crisis that they can't influence or have a say over when it comes from left fields. is very difficult. what i remember saying to you in

terms of how they are managing it? the small to medium—sized companies. cash flow is a real problem isn't it? it's a really, really practical issue for small companies anyway. they are often run on very small margins. the survey from china of chinese companies is a lot actually. you run out of cash in two months. that is perfectly normal in the world of small business. i think we have to be very alert to that and make sure the right support structures a re and make sure the right support structures are underneath to help them through the crisis. and what is provided for them in terms of help and support. we are hearing from various governments, european central bank, uk government, et cetera, trying to as much as they possibly can but in such volatile times and especially on financial markets as well, they are being buffeted from they are being buffeted from the point of view aren't they? it isa the point of view aren't they? it is a watch and see at the moment, particularly for uk companies. the crackdown in italy, the quarantine will have an impact. malone, northern italy, it is heart of the italian economy. they will have

an impact on the uk. uk is number 18 an impact on the uk. uk is number18 in top an impact on the uk. uk is number 18 in top 20 of the by china. i think we have to keep a close eye on it, keep communicating, i think for companies to keep an eye on where the risks are in their supply chain is really important. the same for big companies. doesn't that offer for help is there to step in from the central bank or a na rcos, from the central bank or a narcos, the bank of england is really important when the time comes. absolutely, thank you for now chris. that's a look at how some businesses are trying to cope with this. this now brief you on other business stories. in the latest blow to hit india's troubled yes bank, its founder has been arrested for money and question for more than 20 hours by officials. the country's fourth largest private lender has been struggling with bad loans. tesco may pull its business out of asia. the british retail assessors considering selling its profitable operations in malaysia and thailand in a deal that could be worth well over $10 billion. the company confirms it has received

inbound interest but hasn't named the potential buyer or buyers. tesco outlets in southeast asia employ around 60,000 people in 2000 stores. the coronavirus outbreak has led to conferences and trade fairs being cancelled worldwide because of the middle east is no exception. the uae has advised its citizens and residents against non—essential travel and closed schools for one month. but conventions are an important part of dubai's economy, so how are organisers coping with this? our middle east business correspondence visited a couple of events that decided to still go ahead. superhero masks are a popular site at every comic—con event, but in the middle east edition held in dubai, another type of mask was hard to miss. with fears of the coronavirus spreading, many fans who turned

up were being cautious. i'm just taking precautions like have hand sanitiser, not really going to be around a lot of people, like putting myself in position where i would be at risk. if people take care of themselves, they clean themselves regularly, sanitise themselves regularly, i think it shouldn't be a problem going around. i'm not concerned about corona, but my friend, they are concerned about it and they didn't come. over the last few days, most of the entertainment, business and cultural events have either been cancelled or postponed in the city, and that's not the case only in dubai, but across the middle east. however, some of them are still going ahead by putting precautionary measures in place. thermal cameras have been installed at entry gates to monitor the body temperature of every visitor entering the venue. some organisers have also deployed air purifies and hand sanitising gels. despite these measures, businesses are concerned about the impact of the virus.

because of coronavirus, i'm seeing many events get cancelled. it also affects everything. because these events attract children, like, you can see, there is no children here, the parents are getting scared. the coronavirus outbreak is starting to impact economies in the middle east. the uae is the main hub for trade and entertainment in the region with many local businesses relying on trade fairs to drive revenues. their concern is the longer the situation persists, the more challenging would be the recovery. sameer hashmi, bbc news, dubai. let's show you financial markets once again. as you mentioned, the markets are going through a very difficult day yet again. following losses across the board in europe and us on friday. you can see the price of oil, brent crude has dropped by almost $13 a barrel, nearly down by almost 30%. that

is your business briefing. the trial of the former first minister of scotland on charges of of sexual assault and attempted rape will get under way in edinburgh later today. as assignment is charged with a string of sexual offences against ten women. he denies all of the charges against him. more details here is lorna gordon. for more than 30 years alex salmond was on the top of scottish politics and say goes on trial accused of multiple sexual offences, alleged to have happened but he was serving as first minister and leader of smp. being outside

court last year, he strenuously denied all the charges he is facing. i am innocent and i will defend my position vigorously. alex salmond faces 12 charges of sexual assault and two of indecent assault dating from 2008 to 2014. ten women are said to be victims, some of them more than once. among the charges is one attempted rape and want assault with intent to rape. none of the alleged assault to have taken place at butte house, the first minister's official residence at edinburgh, excluding the alleged attempted rate where mr salmond is said to have and a woman against a wall, removing her close on his own before lying back on top of her. the child to spend many yea rs her. the child to spend many years in many locations. a restau ra nt years in many locations. a restaurant in glasgow, a nightclub in edinburgh, a castle, and the scottish parliament, and a car. he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he is facing. the trial at the high court in edinburgh is expected to last four weeks.

here on bbc one at six o'clock, it is breakfast. that is with louise and dan walker who will have the latest in news, business and sport, including emission from highways england thatis emission from highways england that is not possible to monitor every camera on the smart motorway network all the time. so you may have been suspicious about that and i have more news on that story and i was at six a.m.. you with the briefing on bbc news. the headlines: italy sees a sharp rise in the number of deaths from coronavirus as a quarter of the population is in partial lockdown. the cruise ship moored off the californian coast will reach port later today. 20 people on board are tested positive. the trial begins of four men accused of shooting down malaysian airlines flight mh17 over ukraine at nearly six years ago.

let's have a look at what the global media is discussing today. we begin with the italian paper, the image on the front page is of an empty street in milano. the headline reads italy's second four deaths after china, checks for stations, airports and roads in the security zone of lombardi in14 the security zone of lombardi in 14 provinces close. many of the uk papers and papers globally are covering the story as well. this is the eye which highlights a number of fronts. uk supermarket rationing, the government may hold court cases by video link et cetera. japan times focuses on the mass hysteria surrounding the virus. it is rumours about possible tube is for it are literally going viral online, including sesame oil, rocks and sea lettuce. another big story making the papers is greeks saying no more. this is the new york times headline. angry

locals are forming patrols to repel asylum seekers arriving from turkey. meanwhile, turkish president is expected to demand hundreds of millions of pounds from the eu he heads to brussels. but as the president of turkey in exchange for stopping the flood of migrants covering. and finally, if we go back to the virus briefly, the matter wanting us, don't be sheu matter wanting us, don't be shelf —ish, a great headline there. it's talking about all of us stockpiling. i need to explain that really, i'm sure you will know. we have priya lakhani back. we have priya the italian paper, north italy has been in lockdown, 14 provinces for some time now. just the practicalities of that. businesses closing down, pa rents that. businesses closing down, parents at home with