hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. the world health organisation declares the corona virus outbreak — a pandemic. the virus is now in 118 countries — with more than 4,300 deaths. we are deeply concerned, both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels ofan severity and by the alarming levels of an action. we will focus on the situation and italy where doctors are telling as it is desperate and some of the hospitals where they are working. the uk government injects billions of pounds into the british economy to help businesses affected by the spread of the virus. whether it is millions of pounds or

billions of pounds, what ever it needs, what ever it costs, we stand behind our nhs. the disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison by a judge in new york, after being convicted last month of sexual assault and rape. the coronavirus outbreak has been declared a pandemic. here's the who earlier. we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels ofan severity and by the alarming levels of an action. we have therefore made the assessment that covid—i9 can be

characterised as a pandemic. this is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. and we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time. you will see coverage on the bbc news website of this announcement. there are various definitions of pandemic — the bbc says the term describes "a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time". but what does this change in categorisation mean? here's the bbc‘s philippa roxby. the who says this will not change anything that they are saying and change very little that countries are actually doing because they had close relationships with countries of her weeks and weeks and telling them what to do so this is really, it is not surprising that's where it is now being used. mainly and the figurative way. it will not change much on the ground. this graphic from thejohns hopkins coronavirus research cente shows the spread of the disease around the world.

the bigger the red circle, the bigger the outbreak. the who says there are now more than 120,000 cases in 118 countries. more than 4,300 people have died. one consequence of this pandemic is pressure on healthcare systems. for example iran, and italy. this is really putting adderley‘s health care systems, one of the best and most well developed in europe, putting it under a great deal of strain. we had seen footage where intensive care units have been set up intensive care units have been set up and hospital corridors and there are fears that if this virus spreads significantly to the south where the health care is not as well developed, it could have a very serious effect. the coronavirus is rapidly claiming lives across the country, and not just rapidly claiming lives across the country, and notjust the elderly, young medics in their 20s. with thousands of confirmed cases, the hospitals cannot cope nor can the

staff. this is one of several makeshift hospitals that are being set up, at the epicentre of the outbreak. in both iran and italy, as cases rise, so will the pressure will on healthcare. it's a concern that's widely shared. here's angela merkel today. translation: the viruses there, there is no immunity and no immunity exists then 60—70% of the population will be affected if this continues to exist. 60—70% in germany, that's about 50 million people. if that happened, even if only a small proportion of people needed hospital care, that would still swamp the german health system. and earlier this week, mrs merkel outlined the best way to handle this scenario. translation: in a situation like this, the most effective means against the virus is to gain time,

to reduce the pressure on doctors and hospitals, if a lot of people we re and hospitals, if a lot of people were to become ill in a very short space of time, the most effective tool against the virus is to slow it down and stretch out its development. the idea is what's called ‘flattening the curve'. and it looks like this graphic from the new york times which is based on a report from the centre for disease control. the red shows a surge in infections without proper measures in place — it goes way above the health care capacity. but, if a country concedes early on there will be large amount of cases and focuses on slowing its spread — you never reach that moment where a health care system can't cope. here's one senior us official. there are a number of things one can do to blunted it, if you look at the curves of outbreaks, big peaks then

come down, what we need to do is flatten that down. that would have less people affected and ultimately have less deaths, you do that by trying to interfere with the natural flow of the outbreak. the man that popularised this graph is the population and health analyst drew harris. he initially used it to teach his classes — but it's since gone viral after it was linked to this virus. drew points out on twitter. "it's the difference between finding an intensive care bed & ventilator or being treated in the parking lot tent." earlier drew explained to me more about what governments can do to flatten the curve. while they certainly can begin to isolate and treat the sick, to quarantine the people who are contacted, close the schools to prevent the spread of disease in children and encourage social business, to keep people apart in

time and place and that means stagger work hours so they don't go to work at the same time or make sure people are in the same place that they are not close to each other. we need to protect ourselves individually by washing her hands and using hand sanitizers. there are discussions when best to bring this measure end, the uk is acknowledging they may come but not coming yet. the challenge and starting to see and is people become complacent and say what is the point? no disease is spreading but if you wait to rate, then you are dealing with a situation like they have in italy so the timing is absolutely critical. and when cases start showing up in communicating person—to—person, it seems that people are contagious even before showing symptoms that they do not know they are spreading they do not know they are spreading the disease until maybe they have

spread it to other people. is there a third scenario we can add to your graph which is when governments do ta ke graph which is when governments do take the relevant measures that still the number of cases take health care systems beyond their capacity? buttoning the curve is we do not do it as completely as necessary but anything they can do to lower the peak and prevent eve ryo ne to lower the peak and prevent everyone from getting sick at the same moment in time is going to be an improvement and hopefully preserve some of the capacity for people who really needed. one final question, is a choice between trying to contain the virus and trying to flatten the curve? can those two things be working against each other? i think at this point, it is not going to happen, this disease will spread and every expert will tell you that the pandemic of this type will eventually move itself to every community in the world. the

question is whether we have vaccines at that point to prevent a further spread of this and whether we are protecting the most vulnerable people in this situation being the elderly and those with compromised systems and making sure they do not get the disease because they are the ones most likely to die. we're bringing you updates how this disease is spreading. so let me take you around the world with the latest measures being taken to combat this virus. starting in spain, where there are now more than 2,000 cases and 47 deaths, mostly in madrid. the government has said they will do "whatever is necessary" to prevent a situation similar to that of italy. one measure has been to play football matches to empty stadiums to stop people gathering in large crowds. last night valencia played their chamions league tie against atalanta to an empty stadium. but, that doesn't mean there wasn't any support. thousands of fans turned up outside the stadium to cheer their team on — and they were so loud,

you could hear them in the stadium and on the broadcast. if the idea was to stop people coming and tightly packed crowds, evidently that did not work. that is happening in spain. several countries in europe including sweden, bulgaria and the republic of ireland have now recorded their first deaths and austria is feeling the effects of the outbreak in italy. the government had banned people entering from italy unless they carry a medical certificate. now they are closing schools until the start of april. and they aren't alone in their concern. sweden has advised its citizens to avoid travelling to the tyrol region — a popular tourist destination near the austrian border with italy. in poland, where there is now 26 cases, the government is shutting all schools as of monday. and in the last few hours, denmark has announced they are closing all schools, universities immediately, to limit the spread. well the european union has been attempting to better coordinate europe's approach, here's adam fleming in brussels.

it has proved quite tricky because you treaties do not get the eu institutions much power when it comes to health measures, that is preserved for national governments but it changed last night who shared a video telecom conference where it it said the eu needed to be much more coordinated. there was a daily conference car to my call between all the health ministries across the eu member states which started today and there will be financial effort as well. one viewer pc bishnoi has been in touch — "how about india ros? any report on corona in india?" thank you for getting in touch. well here it is — india has suspended all tourist visas until april 15 and said it would quarantine travellers arriving from seven virus—hit countries in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

cases have doubled over the last four days. there's now 60. a low total compared to other places. but in a country as big as india there are concerns that could snowball. toa to a country where the figures have escalated, south korea, which as we know, has had one of the largest outbreaks — but they are also leading the way in methods of testing, which scientists believe is helping to save lives. our correspondent laura bicker has gained exclusive access to one of south korea's super labs where they're testing thousands of coronavirus swabs a day. getting critical patients to hospital is a race against time. they have to be tracked and tested quickly. so in this battle to contain the contagion, these labs have become the front line. sell because of safety we are not going to go into this ram, this is where the samples are being opened and paired. they are testing up to

20,000 people a day, more than the rest of the world, learning from experience with previous infectious diseases. is that the busiest you ever have been? yes. the computer programme can tell whether the sample is positive or negative for the virus. how long does the process take? the whole process takes 5-6 hour. so it is quite click click i think it is quite click. to africa now where the ivory coast is the latest country to confirm their first case. there's now 12 countries on the continent with confirmed cases. south africa has finally sent a plane to wuhan, the epicentre of the virus in china — to repatriate more than 120 south african students that have been stranded their since january. here's the bbcs' pumza fihlani on why it's taken so long. officials hill are saying they want

to try to minimise the caseload as much as possible and they did not believe it was safe to go there. degree mike came when the china president travelled to that city just a few days ago and saw this as an indication that the officials they are believe the situation is under control. 120 is a lot of people to bring back into the country and one dell and they also wa nted country and one dell and they also wanted to make sure they had the infrastructure and will be able to look after them while they are here. so as those students set to leave wuhan — where for six days in a row, it's the only place in china where there's been any new cases recorded. yesterday, president xijinping even visited the city — and the message is clear, that china is starting to get back to normal. and in a bid to reassure the population that all will soon be well — journalists have been taken on a tour of businesses. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell was among them. they are giving us these hats to put on. so i guess because like that.

and loves. of course lots of hand sanitizer, this is after all, a food processing place. just about to tell us about the

potential of the province and going through quarantine and then they told us that he should not be talking to us. the headlines in the bbc news ram are that it is a pandemic. other new stock... the taliban have rejected an offer by the afghan president — to release one thousand five hundred militants from prisons. the group said it wanted five thousand taliban prisoners to be freed before beginning peace talks. lawyers for the former vatican treasurer, cardinal george pell, who was convicted for child sex abuse, have been laying out their final case in australia's highest court to try to overturn his sentence. he's serving a six—year prison term, for sexually assaulting two choirboys. two russian pranksters claim they've managed to speak to prince harry in hoax calls where they pretended to be the climate change activist, greta thunberg and her father. the youtubers, known as vovan and lexus, say they managed to make two calls to the prince in canada. buckingham palace has declined to comment. more on bbc.com.

here in the uk the chancellor has delivered his budget — calling it a budget for a new era, delivered in challenging times. there were measures to support the health service — and businesses — through the coronavirus crisis. there was also a commitment to spend on infrastructure on a scale not seen for 30 years. hundreds of billions of pounds was promised for roads, rail, broadband ad housing. laura kuenssberg reports. what might be an emergency for our health, and could be an emergency for the economy. an economic shock that could prove large and sharp. ministers want to slow the spread of the virus. do you need to self—isolate? and limit the ill effects of how the country makes its living. the new man at number 11, clutching what felt like an emergency budget. a job that has become more daunting

every single one of the 27 days that he has been in charge. with more than a50 people with coronavirus now, even a couple in westminster... chancellor of the exchequer... ..number one on the chancellor's list was clear. we will get through this together. the british people may be worried, but they are not daunted. we will protect our country and our people. we will rise to this challenge. for a period, it is going to be tough. but i am confident that our economic performance will recover. to get to the other side, £12 billion to start with for public services and private business, spending on a scale worth listening to. first, first, whatever extra resources the nhs needs to cope with coronavirus, it will get.

whether it is millions of pounds or billions of pounds, whatever it needs, whatever it costs, we stand behind our nhs. he promised cash, grants, even suspending business taxes for some small firms. if people fall ill or cannot work, we must support their finances. we will make sure that our safety net remains strong enough to fall back on, for businesses with fewer than 250 employees, i have decided that the cost of providing statutory sick pay to any employee off work due to coronavirus will, for up to 1a days, be refunded by the government, in full. beyond the immediate emergency... the task was also to keep the promises of the tory manifesto, to build, to restore public bricks and mortar around the country. huge spending on roads, rail and housing.

we need to build the infrastructure that will lay the foundations for a new century of prosperity. we need to grab the opportunity to upgrade, to improve, to enhance, to level up. that starts today with the next part of our plan, as we get britain building. a record splurge paid for by running up huge national overdraft. a government that gets things done. creating jobs... impossible to imagine tories cheering a budget like this a few years ago. a people's budget from a people's government, and i commend it to the house. cheering. new chancellorfixing his place alongside the prime minister. a new era, too. would there be any response from labour? the chancellor shows not some, but a lot of brass neck, when he burst that measures to deal coronavirus are only possible because of his party's

management of the economy. this is a budget which is an admission of failure, an admission that austerity has been a failed experiment. it didn't solve our economic problems but made them worse, held back our recovery and failed, even in its own terms. opposition reminders that the tories have been in charge for nearly a decade. this tory government has failed to level up for anyone anywhere, and they cannot be allowed to hide from these facts, just as they cannot be allowed to hide from their legacy. and a note of caution from a familiar face. prudent management of the public finances is one of the esps of the conservative party. government does not have any money of it alone, we are spending other people's money. we owe it to them to only take as much as we need and to spend it wisely. but conventional tory wisdom shifted here, today. big spending and big borrowing,

now the direction but the government may be forced to change much further, to cope with a virus, well beyond its control. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. markets have just closed in new york — it's been a week to remember, and it's only wednesday. the stock market has closed in new york. a few smiles there — not sure what anyone is smiling about. the dowjones losing nearly 6% of its value, now entering into what is called a bear market. samira hussain is outside the new york stock exchange. thank you forjoining us. i know the government is thinking about announcing interventions today so why is that not calming the markets at all? one of the reasons as we

heard from us president donald trump on monday saying there was going to be some sort of economic stimulus announced but that was two days ago and so markets are looking for some sort of direction from the government in terms of what is going to be happening next. what we heard is from members of his administration, who floated ideas like a classic tax cut which benefited companies and workers and the other idea being floated was delaying the tax deadline here in the united states which is april 15. that is something that the president could do without the support of congress. the challenge of course as anything else the president will wa nt to anything else the president will want to do requires the support from congress and investors are not feeling very confident that he will be able to get that from them. mentioning a 6% drop on the dow industrial today but could you give

us some industrial today but could you give us some perspective across the week, but the perspective has benefited last three days? the last few days have been really quite wild. on monday you saw the biggest drops that we have ever seen since the financial crisis and then on tuesday we saw up financial crisis and then on tuesday we saw up trading into the red, up almost 3% but come today we saw yet another big drops that we were down by more than 5%. we were racing games that we made on tuesday and following even more on wednesday. now we are in bear market territory still lost 22% from the 50 we try. that means investors are not feeling very confident about the future right now. it is not something that will be short turned, once you hit bear market and it lasts for a couple of months or longer so that is why everyone has been talking

about the bear market, it has so much significance when it comes to how investors feel. quickly before i let you know, what is going on in the background there? yes, there are a few protesting about things, it is new york city some people protest about things all the time. i believe this is a workers protest. thank you very much indeed. more background on how the markets are reacting around the world, we have seen big moves and which he can get through the business section of bbc news websites and apps. i will be back in a few minutes but first here is the weather. a number of leather stories going on across the world, let's take a look across some of them what this will attend. this area of low pressure will bring

wet and windy weather for egypt and other areas for the next few days. very active across central and southeastern areas and focusing here and madagascar, off the northeast coast is intense thunderstorms which could have for the next few days show signs of circulation which potentially means we could see a tropical cyclone here. even if one does not develop into the weekend potential for flooding does not develop into the weekend potentialforflooding rain does not develop into the weekend potential for flooding rain from does not develop into the weekend potentialforflooding rain from her ashes. this is certainly a system to watch. an awful lot of rain for parts of pakistan and the northwest of india over the past week or so with flash flooding and mudslides. this next area of low pressure has caused authorities to issue a number of warnings for pakistan with a risk of warnings for pakistan with a risk of thunderstorms and torrential rain and risk of landslides and some snow over the himalayas. shipping further

the ease rates as we head on into friday with sunshine in its place the further south across and yet there are temperatures which will be on the rise into the mid 30 celsius and places and now to australia with and places and now to australia with a cluster of thunderstorms recently across the area and once these thunderstorms cross into the warm waters of the coral sea is where there are some concerns. there is a threat of a tropical cyclone developing here, just off the coast of queensland but it looks like they are favouring a remaining out in a vamp water is with some thunderstorms for the next three days. and there is another system to watch. closer to home low pressure pushing across the british isles and ireland. mild orange colours which we happen to same ebbing away and being replaced by the blue colours so being replaced by the blue colours so it is set to turn colder over the next few days. the weather front is

the dividing line between colder air in the warmth and warmer air in the south. —— colder air in the north and warmer and the south. temperatures will reach the low 30s celsius across parts but it looks like it is unsettled on their state across the british isles due to the low pressure which will bring widespread gale force winds and it will feel much colder and very windy as well. you can see a full uk weather forecast right here in about half an hour. see you later.

hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. the world health organisation declares the corona virus outbreak a pandemic. the virus is now in 118 countries,

with more than 4300 deaths. we're deeply concerned, both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. as the coronavirus is declared a global pandemic, doctors in italy tell us about the desperate situation they're facing. as countries struggle to contain the outbreak, we'll look at the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus. the disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison by a judge in new york, after being convicted last month of sexual assault and rape. now let's update you on italy.

it's the biggest outbreak outside of china, and the whole country was locked down on monday. now there are a number of developments today. we'll get those in a couple of minutes, but first i want to answer a question lots of you are asking, why is italy being so badly affected? because it certainly is. the virus is spreading at speed. by late february, there were fewer than 900 cases. now there are more than 12,000, and the mortality rate is 6%. compare that with south korea, which has a similar number of cases, but its infection rate is slowing, and its mortality rate is less than one per cent. which begs the question, why the difference? first, is the rate of testing. this graph from business insider compares eight countries. south korea is doing 4000 test per million people, italy is testing 826 per million. fewer tests means milder cases going undetected.

that means a lower overall number of cases, which in turn pushes the mortality rate up. so italy's number of cases may be higher and the mortality rate may be lower. the second factor is that italy has second—oldest population in the world afterjapan. around 23% of the population is over 65, and we know that older people are much more vulnerable to this virus. the third factor is timing. the outbreak in italy officially started in late february when a man in lombardy was diagnosed. but because february is peak flu season, its earlier cases were missed. one infectious diseases expert in italy argues that "this started unnoticed, which means by the time we realized it, there were a lot of transmission chains happening." the fourth factor is population density. this outbreak is rooted in northern italy. it has many major cities, which means more proximity between people, and so higher rates

of infection and then greater pressure on hospital resources. take bergamo for example. this is a surgeon there. we're in a kind of war time. i think nobody could imagine this kind of crisis. 92% of deaths in italy have been in the north, and what began there as a concern in february is now a national crisis that's being watched with apprehension by people across europe. let's have a look at how italy is coping. we know hospitals are under pressure. this is an intensive care unit in lombardy. we'll talk more about that in a moment. quarantine measures have been introduced across the country. this is st peter's square in the vatican city. the pope has been delivering his messages from behind closed doors. and this is milan's malpensa airport, almost empty as you can see.

and in rome, police checking people coming in and out. remember, movement is being restricted. you can only move around if you have an urgent need to do so. these are the latest numbers out of italy. more than 12,000 cases and more than 800 deaths. 196 people have died today. almost 6000 people are in hospital. and more than 1000 of them in intensive care. it's putting huge pressure on the health system. this picture has been widely shared on italian social media. it came from italy's military police and shows a doctor caring for the country. mark lowen is in northern italy and has been speaking to a lot of healthcare workers. he writes "not every day that skyping a doctor

brings tears to your eyes. #italy‘s medical staff are doing an incrediblejob in the toughest of circumstances. they are extraordinary heroes." here's one of the doctors mark has spoken to from the hospital in lombardy that diagnosed italy's first case of the virus. 50, 60, 70, and take 200 patients in our emergency department, and we had some hours where the oxygen supply sockets were on sufficient to give oxygen to all the patients. sockets were ounsufficient to give oxygen to all the patients. so we were in a sort of, let me say, war scenario. but the doctor told mark there has been no new cases over the past 24 hours. i think that what we did in this area has clearly demonstrated that we are on the right pathway, so i think, i'm quite confident that this could be the right way to go. here is mark lowen taking us through the quarantine measures that

are currently in place. well, you can see here how the measures are affecting daily life. pharmacies are only allowing customers in one at a time. at the next—door cafes, tables must be a metre apart. they will close at 6pm. if you come over here, you can see the children's playground over there is closed, as are schools, universities, cinemas, theatres and so many other venues. this is one milan resident currently under quarantine. people are starting to wake up really to what is happening. not only because of the measures that have been taken, but also of the way they were communicated. i think the government is trying to make sure that people shouldn't panic with this, but at the same time, it's really important to be responsible in this moment. now the person taking the decisions about these quarantine measures is prime minister conte, and we heard from him earlier.

translation: i've already declared on behalf of the government that we are not closed to the idea of adopting more restrictive measures, although let's bear in mind that the day before yesterday, we did introduced some restrictive measures for the whole country. but we are happy to follow the requests based on the curve of the virus contagions. sima kotecha has been speaking to people in rome. there is anxiety in the air. how long is this going to go on for? how long are they going to have to abide by these rules? they can't travel around the country freely, they have to have good reason to travel from town to town or city to city. something like an emergency or having to go to work. speaking to people here, we were just talking to a lady who works at a restaurant. she says she has never seen rome this bad, and she said that they were actually going to shut their restaurant tonight for the next couple of days. at the moment, many restaurants are still open throughout the day. they close around six p:m.. a taxi driver was telling me

earlier that he feels incredibly anxious and he just wants to know that his family are going to be ok. the big question is whether 60 million people who live here in italy are actually going to abide by those restrictions. are they only going to travel when it is a necessity? and he was saying that he just thinks to live your daily life, to do the things that you need to do, it's going to be incredibly tough for people here to do that. but the government says it's a must in order to contain this virus. we have some extraordinary news from italy on new ministers being brought prime minister giuseppe conte said wednesday that italy would shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. "we close shops, bars, pubs and restaurants. home delivery is allowed," conte said in a national television

address. 820 people have been killed. one of the wealthiest countries in europe, one of the most powerful countries in europe, notjust entirely quarantined. that was brought in on monday. restrictions on how people could move across the country. now the prime minister is saying all shops have to shut apart from pharmacies and food shops. he's talking about all shops, bars, pubs and restaurants. life as italians know it has already changed fundamentally as of monday, but it's about to change even more because of these restrictions, and it's a measure of the fact that the prime minister and the government and their medical advisers are not satisfied that the measures they've already brought in are enough to contain this virus. just to reiterate the pressure they are underjust today, reiterate the pressure they are under just today, close reiterate the pressure they are underjust today, close to 200 people were killed by this virus.

at the moment, they're being brought infora at the moment, they're being brought in for a relatively short time period although this story is unfolding. i don't think we can take that end date as definitive because the government is introducing new decisions and new measures on a daily basis. it's all because the pressure on the italian health symptom is becoming intolerable. here's sophia bettiza from the bbc world service with more on the strain on the health system. there's not enough doctors or resources the government is trying to recruit retired doctors. a team of doctors from china is on its way to italy to help with expertise and they're bringing extra ventilators and facemasks. in terms of buildings, does italy have enough

hospitals to house the patient‘s? buildings, does italy have enough hospitals to house the patient's7m doesn't have enough intensive care units. in milan they are trying to set up makeshift hospitals with beds. interestingly, some guidelines we re beds. interestingly, some guidelines were it to today for doctors and nurses about how to behave. something a bit of an ethical dilemma, because i think in certain situations, doctors have to choose who they can treat and who is too old and not likely to recover, might be left to die. they also have to choose between treating people with coronavirus and treating people with a range of other illnesses. yes, exactly. we hear reports of other procedures being put on hold unless they are very urgent. something else interesting is that a nurse from northern italy posted on media, and described the was seen at the

hospital where she worked. she saw people with very high fevers. they couldn't really move, talk, they had difficulties breathing. but what she said she will never forget is the look in their eyes, just being scared but also confused, not understanding what was happening to them. the government is under severe pressure. it could not have known this crisis would become the severe. our italians remaining sympathetic to the situation the government is in orare to the situation the government is in or are people starting to get frustrated with the health care pressure we are seeing? it took of few days for the message to think in but i think i believe now most people in italy understand the severity of the situation. most people are following the rules imposed by the government, but we are seeing examples of people getting anxious and really frustrated. to give an example, a patient in naples today was supposed to get tested for the virus, i believe it was a very long wait. he got frustrated, took off his mask,

and spat at the doctor. he had to self—isolate as a consequence. there are definitely examples of people being spared. from thursday as of tomorrow morning, all stores except pharmacies and food shops in italy across the whole country are going to be closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. the prime minister minister says they will be closing shops, bars, pubs and restau ra nts. closing shops, bars, pubs and restaurants. another cranking up of the italian government's response to the italian government's response to the situation which is far from in control at the moment in italy. we'll bring you more when we get reaction to that element. a moment of the utmost significance earlier, harvey weinstein was sentence to 23 years for rape and sexual assault. back in 2017, jodi kantor from the new york times was one of the journalists who first reported

on allegations about weinsten. she described the scene in the courtroom immediately after the sentencing, "weinstein was cuffed to his wheelchair then rolled away. the women who testified sobbed afterwards." six women testified in the trial. dozens more have come forward in the last three years. this montage is from the guardian shows some of them. one is rowena choo, a former assistant to harvey weinstein. she had to sign an nda for 20 years and was only able to tell her story recently. at the time, we were told that we were to treat this time of our lives as a black hole. we weren't allowed to speak to anybody personally, and in fact, we had to provide a list of people within our friends and family that we had already spoken to about working for harvey. we were also cut off from any professional assistance of any kind, so any doctor or lawyer or therapist that we wanted to see about the incident with harvey weinstein would have to sign

an undertaking with harvey's lawyers in london before i could even speak to them in any way. and so, it was a suffocating 20 years. two years after signing the mda, i attempted twice to commit suicide. during the trial, harvey weinstein‘s legal team appealed for leniency, saying even the minimum sentence of five years could be a "life sentence". his laywer called the sentence obsence. that sentence that was just handed down by this court was obscene. the number was obnoxious. there are murderers who will get off court faster than harvey weinstein will. that number spoke to the pressure of movements in the public, that number did not speak to the evidence that came out in trial. our correspondent nada tawfik is in new york. the attorney said this really sends

a message to sexual predators to ta ke a message to sexual predators to take note. really what we heard from the victims, giving victim impact statements in the courthouse, and they spoke about how this has impacted their entire lives, scar them for life. haley said she was very happy that this conviction means that no other women will fall victim to harvey weinstein, but that she was angry that he hasn't shown remorse because, as we heard from his lawyer and from statements in the court, he is still really denying the effect he has had on these women. but a very big moment for socialjustice these women. but a very big moment for social justice campaigners, the silence breakers and the other women who accuse harley weinstein. —— harvey weinstein. his legacy is now going to be forever as a convicted rapist and this will really help going forward with other victims looking for duct system. -- justice.

the justice system has not always been on the side of women making these allegations, but today it was. yeah, that's exactly right. if you look statistically, rapists usually get off on these types of cases. it's very hard to try cases where it's a matter of he said, he said, and from the very beginning, experts said it could be a long shot case. they didn't have much evidence to rely on here, it really was whether the jury under hood stood that these women didn't have to, these women continue having contact with weinstein, but what the jurors said was that they understood that attacks can happen even in consensual relationships. they looked at the evidence of these attacks in front of them. as far as the sentence, his victims have been used to disappointment in the past. they been waiting so long for

justice, so even though he was in convicted, they were concerned the judge would just give him a slap on the wrist. instead they gave him 23 years, saying that while this was his first conviction, it wasn't his first offence. the world health organization has described the misinformation on the virus as an infodemic, and arguable it's harder to control than the disease itself. here are some false claims to watch out for. you'll find this circulating on facebook, suggesting that drinking water every 15 minutes will stop you catching covid—19. here's the who on that idea. drinking water is good for your health, it won't stop you getting this virus. here's bbc‘s health correspondent catherine burns on that point, and others too. it's rubbish. i've seen this one. i think the idea is that if you drink

water for 15 minutes, it will flush the virus through your mouth, down to your stomach. there's no evidence backin to your stomach. there's no evidence back in that whatsoever. this is just one of many myths that are doing the rounds right now, so apparently snow kills it. hand d rye rs apparently snow kills it. hand dryers kill it. not true. other things that apparently, hot baths, eating garlic, none of these have any evidence behind them whatsoever. one of my personal favourites is apparently that rubbing vodka on your hands would sanitize them. also not true. hand sanitizers need to be at least 60% alcohol to do the job. vodka is only 40%. all you do is smell of alcohol. bbc reality check has been looking at these claims about eating or drinking certain things, such as to avoid ice cream because heat kills the virus. there's plenty more on the virus on the bbc wesbite too. here's catherine burns again on which sources of information we should and shouldn't trust. don't listen to a well—meaning

friend and family member who have seen things on social media and run away with them. i keep getting my family send me links to things that are just totally bonkers and not true. wherever you are, there are certain sources you know you can trust. you want to look to your government, for example public health england. nhs, they are always updating the facts on this. the who is doing a conference every day. you can make sure as well on social media, companies have agreed to stop promoting this official content to make sure you look out for that kind of thing. thanks catherine. there is much more information, both on public health advice and on the nature of the story and the outbreak via the bbc news website. you can download the bbc news app to your smartphone as well. we will be back here at the usual time tomorrow, but

next, it's time for sport today. good evening. liverpool are reaching the quarterfinals of the champions league. weather has been plenty of drama. the match has gone into extra time. his first half header. that going to extra time as i said, no problems, they are playing behind closed doors because of the coronavirus. england's women are

playing their final coronavirus. england's women are playing theirfinal game coronavirus. england's women are playing their final game of this she believes cup against spain in texas. the defence has not gone completely to plan so far. right back up front after her win against japan. to plan so far. right back up front after her win againstjapan. best chance of a match so far, no goals. the world champions united states, will win the trophy. all staff will be tested after the postponement of tonight's premier league game against manchester city. it was cancelled after the owner said he contracted the virus. it stems back toa contracted the virus. it stems back to a fortnight ago in arsenal. following that match, the owner tested positive for coronavirus. as a result, the arsenal players who had a result, the arsenal players who

ha d co nta ct a result, the arsenal players who had contact with him and some of the staff who sat in the vicinity of mr marron august have been put in till isolation. we haven't been told who they are. we have been told there are fewer than five arsenal players. they are not being tested for the virus, given that they have not shown any symptoms so far. because those player were missing for the team, tonight's game against manchester city should be postponed. arsenal are due to play brighton on saturday. that match will go ahead. the isolation period of those players is due to be two weeks. that will be up by saturday so the theoretically, that match will go ahead. for manchester city, the implication is more for liverpool because liverpool, who could have won the title this weekend in the premier league, now can't because had manchester city lost that game and lost again the weekend,

liverpool would be crowned champions for the first time in 30 years. there are more implications because west ham and portsmouth have also laid arsenal in that period in between. and of course, this championship side nottingham forest who are also owned by evangelos, so there have all —— their players have all been tested. they are all clear. it shows you really what football is up it shows you really what football is up against, just one man being tested positive for the virus, but has had a huge effect on british football and football right across europe. the six to one shot, political log has the surprise winner of the day on day two of the cheltenham festival. lead from the outset of the chase, with no one coming close. harry compton on board

was second. that's all your support for now. you can follow on the bbc sport website. now it's time for an update on your weather with louise. wednesday brought a day of contrast. a beautiful day and it was largely shower free. as you a beautiful day and it was largely showerfree. as you can a beautiful day and it was largely shower free. as you can see a beautiful day and it was largely showerfree. as you can see by a beautiful day and it was largely shower free. as you can see by this weather watcher picture sent in from kent. different story for north, it was cold with some hail showers across, and it's this cold air that will be the key feature to the story over the next couple of days. it's wheezing the mild air back into the near continent and the reason being we can of jet near continent and the reason being we can ofjet stream. we had a powerful jet centred across we can ofjet stream. we had a powerfuljet centred across the uk, but weakening off and starting to slip its way to the south. once we're in the north side of the jet, we're in the north side of the jet, we are on the colder side. that's worth bearing in mind. chilly start to thursday morning, some showers falling as snow in scotland. those

showers continuing through scotland, northern ireland and north england. accompanied by gales in excess of 45-50 accompanied by gales in excess of 45—50 mph in places. there's been a cold or feel with the temperature is pretty much back to where they should be between 7—11d. the strong winds and showers will ease away and as we move into friday, we see a ridge high pressure building, with light winds and clear size. —— skies. a difference to the feel of the weather. light winds around on friday and friday looks likely to be a prominent predominantly dry story. again, those temperatures, 5—11d as the daytime maximum. as we move out of friday into the start of the weekend, it's a bit of a tricky one. there will be some rain around this weekend, but it's not a wash—out by any means. there's also going to be

some decent dry interludes as well. friday night into saturday morning brings a spell of wet weather which may be slow to clear from the southeast of england, but it will do southeast of england, but it will do so and then quiet down. early morning rain, cloudy skies following behind, but you can saturday for many, before the next spell of wet and windy weather pushes into the far northwest for the end of the afternoon. 7—13d, the winds change direction again. the very low is expected to push its way across the country. timings are a little uncertain. it does look as though there's going to be the potential on sunday morning to see some rain still to clear away from eastern england. behind, it's going to be sunny sales and scattered showers. temperatures of 11 degrees in that southeast corner. as we move out of sunday, an area of high pressure start to build and this could stay with us for quite some time. monday

looks likely, again to be a relatively quiet story with the exception perhaps of western fringes of scotla nd exception perhaps of western fringes of scotland may be seeing some rain from that weather front. that sets us upfor from that weather front. that sets us up for the trend for a longer term. in fact, that high pressure, which we haven't seen for a while, could be with us for much of next week. it stays with us particularly across england and wales, always the risk toppling across that high. look at this. next week looks predominantly dry, settled and sunny. if this happens, we haven't seen weather like this for a long period of time, since september of last year.

this programme contains scenes of repetitive flashing images. tonight at ten, the chancellor unveils the biggest—spending budget for over 25 years, with more cash to protect the economy against the impact of coronavirus. in his first budget, rishi sunak said coronavirus would have a significant effect on the economy, but said he'd do whatever it takes to protect business and jobs. there will be more money to increase the number of tests from 1500 a day to thousands. whether it's millions of pounds or billions of pounds, whatever it needs, whatever it costs, we stand behind our nhs. hear! hear! an extraordinary budget in an extraordinary set of circumstances. the new chancellor promises to spend and borrow big. we will be asking

how the budget is