welcome to newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: italy is in lockdown. public gatherings are forbidden, tourist sites are virtually deserted, and doctors give stark advice to the public. stay at home and be prepared for a kind of war, because we are facing a war now here. in the us, a "containment zone" is in place around the town of new rochelle near new york, following a large cluster of cases. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme, as china's cases of coronavirus appear to stabilise, is it business as usual for those returning to work?

bernie sanders and joe biden are the last men standing as six us states vote in the latest round of the democratic primaries. good morning. it is 9am in singapore and 1am in london, and 2am in it is 9am in singapore and iam in london, and 2am in italy, where tough measures are now in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus. across the country, italians are being told to stay at home, public gatherings have been banned and schools closed. and italy faces growing isolation with thousands of flights cancelled. but the number of deaths has increased by a third to 631. our correspondent mark lowen has the latest from the city of orvieto.

"all residents stay at home", orders the police. from naples in the south to the supermarkets of rome, to the financial capital up in milan, news of the restrictions spread as fast as the virus. in bologna today, they began to adjust to the toughest limitations since the war. public gatherings banned, bars and restaurants closed from 6pm, tables a metre apart, schools, museums and nightclubs shut. everyone is affected. italians, tourists, and expats living here, staying put as several airlines stop flights. well, obviously we won't be able to travel in the immediate future. we've been told we can only take trains between cities in italy for reasons of work or health orfor some extraordinary emergency and apart from that we must stay put, but that seems sensible.

another thing is they have put this limelight, or spotlight, on age groups and it makes me feel really, really old. but i'm optimistic about it. moving around requires a form which we also had to complete, allowing travel for work or health emergencies or to return home. we would have to produce it if asked. it says here that falsifying this document could lead to prosecution. never could people in italy have conceived of the idea that they would need this to be able to move within their own country. as we drove out, traffic seemed quieter. roads are open, though slovenia says it will close its border and austria has banned italians entering unless with medical certificates. we have come out of bologna and we're on the motorway to rome and we haven't seen any police checks

for the documents, so it's still not clear how these restrictions are going to be enforced. we pulled over and got through to a doctor in one of the worst virus—hit areas. hospitals are near breaking point. we need more beds, more doctors, more nurses, because i think that in one to two weeks we will reach the top so if we will not have more facilities we will not know how to take care of the patients. we are facing a war now here. in rome, deserted tourist sites show the huge economic impact. the government now discussing suspending tax and bill payments to ease pressure. from inside the vatican, the pope led mass, urging priests to have the courage to visit the sick — a risky call. and often it's too late. even funerals are now banned, replaced with a restricted blessing. the virus is killing and taking italy's dignity with it.

that was mark lowen reporting from italy. let's look at the global impact of the coronavirus. there are now more than 32,000 cases worldwide outside of china. over 4,000 of which are new cases. in the united states, schools have been closed and public gatherings suspended in the new york city suburb of new rochelle. authorities there are trying to contain one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks in the country. republicans are hoping the trump administration can strike a deal with democrats on measures to help ease the economic effects of the outbreak. and president trump has urged americans to remain calm in the face of fear over its spread. we are prepared and we are doing a greatjob with it. it will go away. just stay calm, it will go away. we want to protect our shipping industry, our cruise industry, the cruise ships. speaking of cruise ships, passengers have been disembarking from the ground princess, which has docked at the port of oakland. chris buckler is there.

it has been a very, very long process. hundreds have now disembarked, including the british holidaymakers who are now making their way back to the uk. there is a flight that will land in birmingham on wednesday afternoon, uk time. that will bea afternoon, uk time. that will be a moment they will all relish. they have had such a time aboard the ship. many have been frustrated and simply want to get home. as for some of the other passengers, we expect it will take something like 2a hours for all of them to finally get off the ship. it will give you a sense of the scale of what they have been trying to address here. of course, the sickest, and those who have been diagnosed with covid—i9, have already been taken to hospitals here in the california area, and they are being treated. as for the wider issue of how you deal with the coronavirus, that is something the american authorities are still grappling with. for example, here in california, they have done their best to

basically try to ensure there are not gatherings of 1000 people or more. that has led to sports events being cancelled, concerts being cancelled, and on the other side of america, on the other side of america, on the other side of america, on the east coast, in a new rachelle in new york state, they have put in place a containment zone, and specifically there, they have got the national guard cleaning schools, they have counselled schools, they have counselled schools, it gives you a real idea that they are trying to tackle this problem. —— new rochelle in new york state. at the same time you get the impression from health officials it will take something to address this properly. it is a tough, tough issue. they have now got testing kits and resources but ultimately what they can do to try to stop coronavirus spreading is a real issue for the authorities. that was chris buckler. well, on wall street, stocks finished a roller—coaster session as oil prices bounced back, while the trump administration continued to promise relief measures to offset the economic hit from the virus. a day after suffering its worst session in more than 11 years, the dow jones piled on more than 1,000 points.

that's nearly 5%. but analysts are warning of more uncertainty ahead. in other news. the afghan president has signed a decree to release one a health minister has become the first mp in the uk to be diagnosed with coronavirus. sdine dorries recently attended a downing street reception with the prime minister, borisjohnson. she confirmed she started showing symptoms last week, before receiving an official diagnosis this evening. and finally here's the dutch prime minister, mark rutte showing just how hard it is to break the habit of a lifetime! he'd just gone on live tv to tell the country's 17 million residents to stop shaking hands to help combat coronavirus. and minutes later he broke the new rule. australia's high court has started hearing cardinal george pell‘s final appeal against his

conviction for abusing two choirboys in 1996, while he was archbishop of melbourne. he is currently serving a six year jail term. pell‘s lawyers are hoping to convince the high court the jury hoping to convince the high court thejury made hoping to convince the high court the jury made a mistake. we can go now to our correspondence shima halil in canberra for us. you are there at the high court, but has been argued so far? well, we have started hearing the appeal arguments of george pell‘s defence team, and the basis of the argument is, as you mentioned, that's the judges we re mentioned, that's the judges were wrong to uphold george pell‘s conviction, but that the jury pell‘s conviction, but that the jury was also unreasonable in the decision but they came to in convicting george pell. they argued, the lawyers argued, but they relied heavily on the testimony of one victim and that they ignored the evidence given by other witnesses, some of whom held official positions in the cathedral, others who we re in the cathedral, others who

were members of the choir. the lawyers talked about compounding improbabilities, basically saying the jury failed to acknowledge what could or could not have happened in saint patrick's cathedral at the time. the prosecution has rejected these arguments. we are yet to hear from them in the court. they said it glosses over many of the details and that essentially, the evidence given by the victim stands, but he is a witness of truth, and that essentially the jury came to a decision and that should be respected. when do you think we will get an outcome from all this? well, we are likely to getan this? well, we are likely to get an outcome on thursday. this is a two—day hearing. the judges may well accept the appeal, in which case george pell may walk free, or they may dismiss it or handed back to the victorian court of appeal. thejudges may also preserve their decision for now, and if that happens it could be a few months before we actually get final decision in that case.

thank you. let's turn to the us, wherejoe biden has taken another step closer to clinching the democratic nomination to challenge president donald trump, with projected victories over rival bernie sanders in mississippi and missouri. now, they are two of six states holding primaries, but michigan is the key state to watch, with bernie sanders pinning his hopes of a comeback there. let's crossover to speak to peter bowes, our north america correspondence. we are talking about projection so far, what is in? well, we have projections thatjoe biden has indeed won in missouri and mississippi. michigan, comedy polls have closed, we cannot projects the winner just polls have closed, we cannot projects the winnerjust yet, although us media is reporting thatjoe biden is in the lead. —— michigan, the polls closed. this is a crucial state, one of those melbourne estates, a swing state which donald trump

managed to win, bringing the state back to the publicans for the first time since 1988. a very close race. to do well in that state, whether it isjoe biden or bernie sanders, is crucial when it comes to the general election. so as the results down so far it is turning out to be another good night forjoe biden, building on the momentum that he won on super tuesday, seven days ago, when he won ten out of the 1a states. how has he turned it around? states. how has he turned it around ? the states. how has he turned it around? the beginning of his campaign was lacklustre. there was a lot of criticism of his energy levels. yet now we have seen a complete turnaround. what we are seeing, it is interesting looking at some of the exit polls, people talking, democrats talking about how they reached their decisions. those decisions seem to have been quite late in the day, afterjoe biden managed to win in south carolina. that was seen as in south carolina. that was seen as the turning point, a state with a high number of african—americans, a state with a high number of african—america ns, a state state with a high number of african—americans, a state in terms of its demographics more

similarto terms of its demographics more similar to the rest of the country than some of the early estates, where he didn't do very well. and the fact that he managed to win there persuaded a lot of democrats thatjoe biden indeed had what it takes to win across the country, and a lot of them are saying the reason they are going for him as they think he is the best candidate to beat donald trump at the general election in november. it is really presenting quite a stark choice now. if it were bernie sanders, the attack from donald trump would be that he is a socialist and poll after poll has suggested that that line of attack might well be successful for donald trump, that there is still a huge problem for many americans with a counter labels himself as a democratic socialist, he does. joe biden is seen as more middle ground, of course linked to barack 0bama, he was his vice president. clearly there is a lot of inbuilt support there. when it comes to bernie

sanders' supporters, they are fiercely supportive, aren't they? they are so pro bono sounders. when it came to the election last time there was a real problem for hillary clinton? yes, and that will be the key question. let's assume joe biden continues to be successful and manages to rack up successful and manages to rack up the most delegates. it will be bernie sanders' supporters who have to do a lot of soul—searching, maybe bernie sanders himself, in terms of how he directs his supporters, whether they get behind joe biden to try to ensure a win for the democrats, or whether they are in some way maintained through to their beliefs. what we saw in michigan four years ago was in fact some bonus under supporters actually choosing to vote for donald trump, which was quite an unusual move, supporting the right—wing candidate as opposed to the one on the far left. politics is difficult to predict here in the united states, because these are quite turbulent times we are going through. that is certainly

saying something, peter. i know we will be back with you through the night for more projections. for the time being, peter bowes, thank you so being, peter bowes, thank you so much. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, the rate of new infections appears to be stabilising. also on the programme: the wonder plant that can help tackle climate change from the seabed but is disappearing from britain's coastline. 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 newsday on the bbc. welcome back and thanks for staying with us. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: the number of cases of coronavirus in italy continues to rise as the country is put in lockdown. in the us, new york's governor announces a containment zone

around the town of new rochelle, following a large cluster of cases let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. unsurprisingly, the japan times leads on the coronavirus as the country tries to slow down its spread. the japanese government has approved a bill that would enable shinzo abe to declare a state of emergency in the country if needed. similarly, in singapore the straits times also focuses on the coronavirus. singapore has ramped up measures to protect older citizens from the virus. government—run social acitivities will be stopped for 1h days. nearly 300,000 people will be affected from that. the front page of the international edition of the financial times has a story about how vladimir putin has backed

a proposal to reset his term limits. if this change to the constitution goes ahead, it could allow the russian president to stay in office until at least 2036. that brings you up—to—date with some of the papers. what are some stories sparking discussion online? the internet is in an absolute meltdown over billie eilish's is in an absolute meltdown over billie eilish‘s song bad guy the song topped the chart more than 15 countries, it was also the second most played song on spotify, racking up more than1 million streams. that sounds incredible. now, let's get more on the coronavirus break, as the amount of infections rapidly decrease in china, there are signs that life is slowly returning to normal

there. on a visit to wuhan on tuesday, xijinping declared the outbreak basically curbed in hubei province. china has seen over in hubei province. china has seen over 80,000 cases of covid-19 seen over 80,000 cases of covid—19 more than 3000 deaths, by far the most globally. how is the government handling the crisis and how is it being perceived in china? where does this leave xijinping's leadership in the long run. my guest is at the wilson centre in washington and explained by the president has taken so long to visit the region. xi visited wuhan today and used a videoconferencing to talk with some of the patient there. he essentially hedged early on in the coronavirus greatest and

said he would visit wuhan, the viral epidemic has slowed down in china and the official message is going to be that the handling of the crisis is going to be attributed to xi and the parties. and how far has he been seen to be handling the crisis? because we know there we re crisis? because we know there were some big mistakes at the start, the fact that people had been angry that information had been angry that information had been suppressed, there was the death of the doctor who alerted authorities early on. how have you been gauging the general reaction to how the government has been handling this? one thing that i found was interesting that happened actually today was that one of the doctors that was a whistleblower early on, she was a colleague of li wenliang, she was profiled in a magazine and

was profiled in a magazine and was detailing some of the issues that she had in relaying the information that covid—19 was transmissible from human to human. this article eventually got shut down, people were actually trying to bypass the censorship tools to try to pass on this information, so people are aware that there were issues in getting resources into wu han's various issues in getting resources into wuhan's various hospitals. now some breaking news to you, related to the coronavirus, we are getting use that wednesday night's premier league match between manchester city and arsenal has been postponed stopping it as a precautionary measure following the announcement on tuesday that the owner of the greek side has contracted covid—19. 13 days ago, they played arsenal in the europa league and the greek

club's owner met with several arsenal squad members and also with several members of staff. following medical advice, both clu bs following medical advice, both clubs have agreed to postpone their fixture, so that they is, will keep you updated if we get any more. that something different, it is a wonder plant but seagrass has been disappearing from written's coast. —— britain's coast. now, britain's biggest ever project to restore the is planting over a million seeds of the welsh coast. evolving with every ebb and flow, britain's coast is a place of natural, timeless beauty. but beneath the waves there is an ecosystem that is disappearing. sea grass grows in shallow waters, sheltering marine life, but globally it's been declining at a rate of 7% a year, the result of decades of dredging and polluted

waters. poor water quality, coastal development, a lot of industrial development, all sorts of interacting factors around our coasts have resulted in a widespread loss. to try and save british seagrass, these seeds have been gathered from around england and wales. placed in hessian bags, they are lowered down on 12 miles worth of rope to form a new meadow here off the pembrokeshire coast. in all, 1 million seeds are being laid down on the shallow sea bed beneath us. they won't grow into mature plants until the end of the year. then, the hope is that in 5—10 years' time, they'll grow to fill out a meadow the size of two rugby pitches beneath us, providing habitat for tens of thousands of little fish and millions of invertebrates like prawns and cuttlefish. but protecting marine life is only one benefit. seagrass also absorbs carbon

far faster tha n forests on the land. campaigners want more meadows sown around britain to help tackle climate change. we see seagrass as this wonder plant, really. you know, its ability to fight climate change, to help with fish stocks. we see it as this really practical example of what needs to happen all across the world if we are to meet our climate change targets. now, the team must wait for the seagrass to grow as they try to persuade people planting meadows right around the coast can provide one solution to the climate crisis. now, let's just now, let'sjust remind now, let's just remind you of this breaking news we are getting into the newsroom, it is coronavirus related, it is about wednesday night's premier league match between manchester city and arsenal. it has been postponed stopping it has been described as a precautionary measure and it follows the

announcement on tuesday that the owner of the greek side 0lympia because has actually contracted the virus and 13 days ago they played arsenal at the emirates stadium in the europa league and the owner of the greek club met with several arsenal squad members and staff, so as a precautionary member it has been decided that the game has been post owned. we will of course bring you more on that as and when we get at. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. we have got lots more about the coronavirus and how it has been impacting the financial markets as well. could now be a good time to invest? coming up next, my speak to a well—known investor. we willjoin you for that, but let's end on a non—coronavirus related story. this is quite a remarkable picture, two men and their

labrador walked away unharmed after their small plane crashed into this tree in florida. the plan was heading towards a small airport when it had engine problems. hello there. on tuesday we had a temperature of 16.5 degrees at kew gardens and in cambridgeshire, making it the warmest day of the year so far. for some southern parts of the uk, the air originated all the way from the azores, hence that bit of warmth. further north, the air is cooler and it's the cooler air that will win out over the next few days. these shower clusters are heading into the north—west of the uk. this band of cloud, all that's left of the earlier rain taking some patchy rain and drizzle southwards into the english channel but keeping temperatures up across southern england and wales. colder air further north, though, and lots of showers packing into scotland and northern ireland. and here we'll have showers or longer spells of rain on wednesday. some heavy bursts of rain

and snow of the hills of scotland. some of those hours will be blown into northern england and wales. towards the south—east of the uk, they get away with a dry day. it will be quite blustery out there, mind you, especially in those heavy showers and across the north—west of scotland, gusts of 50, maybe even 60 miles an hour. here, the air is a little bit cooler, but there's still warmth to be found across eastern parts of england, temperatures not far of what we saw on tuesday, 111—15 degrees. but it will get colder, i think, later on in the week. and we've got this weather front taking some wetter weather into england and wales on wednesday night. and it's behind that the area gets quite a bit colder and we see the snow level lowering on wednesday night in scotland and northern england. some icy conditions here as there could be in northern ireland as well. but the snow levels will rise, i think, on thursday. but we'lljust keep wetter weather piling into scotland and northern ireland, the winds strengthening as well and will blow some rain into the north—west of england. a few passing showers across southern parts of england and wales,

they may get away with a dry day in the midlands. temperatures back to near where they should be for this time of year as they cooler air arrives. that area of low pressure keeps wetter weather going across the northern half of the uk during thursday evening, that pushes away and we get a ridge of high pressure in time for friday morning. so, it's a chilly start, yes, the winds will have eased and most places will start dry and sunny. it won't be too long, though, before the cloud bubbles up and spreads throughout the day. and those temperatures are still quite healthy for this time of year, 8—12 degrees. that rain will push its way eastwards on friday night, we'll see more rain arriving in the north—west of the uk on saturday. that then sweeps its down way into england and wales and cooler air follows into the north—west on sunday with some sunshine and some blustery showers.

i'm kasia madeira with bbc world news. our top story: italy is under lockdown, in a battle to contain the biggest outbreak of coronavirus in europe. accross the country people have been ordered not to travel, other than for work and emergencies employees are being urged to work from home or take annual leave. all sporting events have been suspended, and schools and universities are shut until the 3rd of april. in the us, a suburb near new york, new rochelle, has seen one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the united states. a containment zone has been set up. and doing well online, it's billie eilish‘s song, bad guy, being named the bestselling global digital single of 2019. the song topped the charts in more than 15 countries. it was also the second—most—played song on spotify, racking up more than 1 million streams. that's all. stay with bbc world news.