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.

there is much more on the coronavirus on our website, and of course you can also try the bbc news app. now sharanjit leyl has all the business news live from singapore. as wall street reels, president companies republican leaders to make a plan to cushion the economic blow caused by the coronavirus outbreak. and with all this uncertainty, is now a good time to invest? we will hear from now a good time to invest? we will hearfrom a now a good time to invest? we will hear from a famous investor who says yes. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm sharanjit leyl. we will begin with the markets, because there is yet more volatility. asian shares are going lower after yesterday's gains, we are taking a

look at japan's nikkei 225. tokyo yesterday's gains, we are taking a look atjapan‘s nikkei 225. tokyo is flatted to lower. australia's s and p asx 200 is currently down by about 1.596. -- p asx 200 is currently down by about i.5%. -- s&p. p asx 200 is currently down by about 1.5%. -- s&p. this is p asx 200 is currently down by about 1.5%. —— s&p. this is after the games yesterday and also those gains on wall street, this follows a particularly beautiful monday. 0n tuesday this is how wall street ended. you can see gains there. the dow closing by more than 1100 points. that is after that awful monday whether markets or some of its worst days the financial crisis. president trump has been trying to reassure investors, saying he would unveil measures to stimulate the economy. notably, he did not appear ata economy. notably, he did not appear at a scheduled press briefing. his economic adviser did, however, announced that the president is asking congress for a large tax cut. samira hussain has more from new

york. there is no question the economic impact of the coronavirus is already being felt, even right here in new york city. this is the 9/11 memorial, normally teeming with tourists. it is relatively empty. a clear sign that people are just not coming out. you can see the impact of the coronavirus on us financial markets two, which this week saw their worst one—day drop in over a decade. 0ne survey shows business confidence has hit its lowest level since the financial crisis. after 11 yea rs of since the financial crisis. after 11 years of expansion there is a seismic shift happening in the american economy. the white house feels it too, which is why on tuesdayit feels it too, which is why on tuesday it announced a measure to soften the blow, cut to the payroll tax, which will benefit companies and workers. president trump has unveiled his proposals, strong proposals, for a temporary payroll tax cut holiday, which i think he

would prefer to last through the end of the year. but president trump had been expected to announce this himself. his absence under lack of any detail of many spectacle that sceptical but he could get this through congress. in any case, many on wall street don't even want tax cuts. they want big government spending. i think that it is a short—term type thing that will help, i think that the infrastructure type projects but we need anyway are a much better way to go. the impact of the virus may be short lived. but it could also go on for a long time, which is why the country is looking to the white house to steady the ship. the fluctuation in the global markets is a reflection of the investors‘ uncertainties over the coronavirus outbreak. which is of course escalating in the united states and europe. jim rogers is a well—known

investor in the community, and he told me he thinks now is actually a good time to be investing. all central banks are printing a lot of money now. a lot of central banks are entering the markets, and governments are putting on huge fiscal stimulus. so everything is coming together. it isn‘t good over the long—term, but it is certainly good for markets now. you say it is not good for the world long—term, dan, but what could be the long—term repercussions of all of this, all this money which is being used to support economies? what they are doing now is artificial, they are trying to prevent the market going down. it has been over ten or 12 yea rs down. it has been over ten or 12 years since america has had an economic problem, the longest in american history. they are artificially prolonging this, which is wonderful. a year from now the debt is going to be much higher, the money printed will be staggering. this could not be good for us in the long—term. this could not be good for us in the long-term. what are you advising, then? aside from obviously buying low, which sectors in particular?

things like airlines, anything to do with travel, hotels, restaurants, they have just been decimated all over the world. agriculture has been decimated. there are some areas of the world which may be making a lot of money. jim rogers there. now, while investors around the world are lamenting the stock market losses, there is one man in asia who has lost more than most. it is this man, right here. indian industrialist mukesh munbarni. he has lost his spot is asia‘s richest man after losing nearly $6 billion of his net worth. to tell us more, we are joined by our asia business report are from delhi. just how did mukesh ambani manage to lose so much? well, his company, reliance industries‘ stocks went down by over 12% during trading on monday. a complete bloodbath. this was the worst his company stocks have done in over ten yea rs. company stocks have done in over ten years. so jack ma of alibaba is now

the number one in asia when it comes to being rich. he is currently settling around the net of $1145 what is significant, alibaba has also been affected by coronavirus concerns. his cloud computing services as well as mobile applications, that is giving alibaba that slight edge over mukesh ambani. now, the ongoing oil price war between russia and saudi arabia is also living investors a little worried when it comes to mukesh ambani‘s petrochemicals business, because he was hoping to seal a deal with aramco on his stake in that. but that could be delayed. so that is also a worry for investors. all right, thank you for bringing us up to date with that. china is now africa‘s biggest trading partner, and many africans are finding business opportunities in china. but the language barrier is often a big issue, and partly because of that,

schools which teach mandarin are p°ppin9 schools which teach mandarin are p°pping up schools which teach mandarin are popping up all over the continent. in zambia, the language will become examinera in zambia, the language will become examiner a bull starting this year. —— so examiner a bull starting this year. —— so in china, saying hi, hello, is "nihau". zambian is a very interested in the chinese language. it is not an easy language to learn. people are always interested, if a zambian can speak it. so i did start actually on radio giving my audience some lessons just from your mundane phrases to communicating, greetings, shopping, and i found phrases to communicating, greetings, shopping, and ifound that there is a huge interest in that. china‘s interaction with africa has been steadily increasing in recent times. zambia is one of those countries in africa but has benefited mainly from infrastructure upgrades and investment as a result of this growing relationship. english is an

official language here, but now, because of the rising influence of china, there is a growing interest in mandarin. —— mandarin. the confucius institute at the university of zambia is one of the biggest symbols which shows how serious china is in making itself understood. through it, zambian ‘s who are interested are learning or appreciating the value of chinese culture. i have seen as an economist at the chinese economy was growing, soi at the chinese economy was growing, so i thought if i do chinese, i can do business with them. it is more of a bridge between the two peoples. mandarin may not be as widely spoken as english is here in zambia. but it is clear that many are making an effort to learn a language that is increasingly becoming of business importance. before we go, let‘s look at the markets again. they are volatile and

they continue to be volatile. he is they continue to be volatile. he is the nikkei, how it is performing in tokyo. down 0.5%. well, one impact of the coronavirus is how some tour operators in the uk say they are seeing significant cancellations. danny savage has been talking to business owners in the yorkshire dales and the lake district. it is only march but the effects of the coronavirus are already being felt in the lake district. for the main ferry company in windermere, they are already dealing with visitors not coming. now people living within driving distance are staying away. what we are seeing now is the reluctance of uk visitors to move around the uk and we are hearing reports from hotels, self catering accommodations, they are not receiving the level of bookings that they would imagine two at this time

of year. these boats are tied up because it is low season, but there isa because it is low season, but there is a fear this could be the scene months to come, and that would be a real indicator ofjust how big a hit tourism is taking. 0ther real indicator ofjust how big a hit tourism is taking. other businesses are not hiring seasonal staff this year, because they don‘t believe the demand will materialise. well, we have already had quite a few cancellations already. louise let's a spacious self catering annex in her home to tourists. cancellations have consequences, notjust for her. the cleaning lady, do laundry people, the decorators, gardeners, their income will go down because they do not have any other source of income. this she can‘t understand why uk visitors are beginning to stay at home at this point. we p°pped stay at home at this point. we popped down to ikea and john lewis at the weekend, they were packed, cheek by jail. at at the weekend, they were packed, cheek byjail. at foci thinking, we better not travel to the lake district or anywhere else, in case there is a health problem. —— but folk are thinking. 40 miles away, in

the heart of the yorkshire dales, neal and jane run an award—winning bed—and—brea kfast in neal and jane run an award—winning bed—and—breakfast in bainbridge. in the last few days alone they have lost 16 nights of future bookings. but because it is a virus, they understand why. if we get somebody coming in with a cold, if we get a slight sniffle, when do you know thatis slight sniffle, when do you know that is what the difficulty is, the uncertainty. nobody knows at the moment. which i think is why our future bookings are quieter. moment. which i think is why our future bookings are quieterlj moment. which i think is why our future bookings are quieter. i am very optimistic. i think it will pick up once people understand what is going to happen next. you know, i think there is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen. back in the lakes, this is what it should look like this spring. but will it? the losses are already sucking up, and they operate notjust about their health, but about their incomes, too. —— they are worrying not just about their health. danny savage, windermere. hello there. i‘m tulsen tollett and mrs sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme, atlanta

fa ns coming up on this programme, atlanta fans celebrate victory in valencia as they move through to the champions league quarter—finals for the first time ever. —— atalanta. champions league quarter—finals for the first time ever. —— atalantam was great to see. two win here! and ata la nta was great to see. two win here! and atalanta is in the champions league, yes! it is great. manchester city's premier league game at home to arsenal on wednesday is off after an —— after it emerged an arsenal star came into contact with the 0lympia cross owner, who tested positive for coronavirus. but coronavirus fears don‘t stop fans flocking to cheltenham as day festival gets under way with 60,000 in attendance. hello and welcome to the programme where it‘s been another day of postponements, cancellations and matches forced behind closed doors due to the coronavirus epidemic sweeping the world. there were two uefa champions league last 16 second leg matches with rb leipzig cruising through 3—0 on the night against tottenham in germany, and 4—0 on aggregate, watching was the bbc‘s

ian dennis. totte n ha m tottenha m ca n tottenham can have no complaints as individual errors proved costly. they made the worst possible start. lloris failed to keep out a shot at ten minutes. werner had a goal disallowed. rb leipzig were a co nsta nt disallowed. rb leipzig were a constant threat. rb leipzig were in full control as spurs struggled. a tea m full control as spurs struggled. a team effort from dele alli where their best efforts throughout the entire match. a fourth spurs a late goal sealed it, but by then tottenham‘s fate was already known. rb leipzig thoroughly deserved to go through. they outplayed tottenham over the two legs. we received only one big chance in the second half. but we defended all the other things very good, and at the end, i think it is totally deserved to go to the

next round, but i don‘t want to say that this was easy. that is kind of arrogant. we have our problems, and our problems, as you say, they don't end in injuries but no team in the world would cope with injuries for such a long time. you can cope for one or two matches, you cannot cope for three or four months. elsewhere atalanta fans gathered en masse outside the mestalla in valencia asjosip ilic scored all four goals for the italian side in a 4—3 win handing them an 8—4 aggregate victory. this was a dark, because a lot of the times, former pros will tell you that playing again behind closed doors, you struggle for motivation. not for these two sides, they played an incredible game but as you said, there was no—one there to see it. atla nta‘s fairytale there was no—one there to see it. atlanta‘s fairytale debut goes on, the quarter—finals, but this game is full of goals stopping atlanta