a very warm welcome to bbc news. our top stories: president trump bands or flights from mainland europe for 30 days to try and limit of the coronavirus pandemic. to keep new cases from entering oui’ keep new cases from entering our shores, will be suspending all travel from europe to the united states for the next 30 days. the new rules were going to affect friday at midnight. we have a special report from inside one of south korea's super labs when they are processing thousands of samples a day in the fight against virus. in italy, new restrictions close all shops except food stores and pharmacies. tom hanks and his wife rita wilson confirmed that they have been tested positive for the virus in australia and

will self isolate. hello to you. in just the past two hours, president trump has announced a ban on all travel from europe to the united states for 30 days to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus. addressing the nation from the white house, he said the band, which comes into effect on friday, will not apply to the uk. we also announced plans to provide billions of dollars in loans to small businesses to minimise the economic impact of the pandemic. after consulting with oui’ pandemic. after consulting with our top government health professionals, i have decided to ta ke professionals, i have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well—being of all americans. to keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe united

states for the next 30 days. the numerals were going to affect friday at midnight. these restrictions — make new rules, subject to conditions on the ground. there will be exemptions for americans who have undergone appropriate screenings and these prohibitions were not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things as we get approval. anything coming from europe to the united states is what we are discussing. these restrictions will also not apply to the united kingdom. restrictions will also not apply to the united kingdomm isa apply to the united kingdomm is a dramatic shift in a position from a president to only a couple of days ago was describing the virus is no worse than seasonal flu and possibly a hoax. i spoke to our correspondent. the facts really are now gone to dispute and they include the fact that more than a thousand people here in the united states are now known

to have the coronavirus and there have been more than 30 deaths. you right though, the president, not that long ago was saying that basically this will all go away if we stay calm and don't panic and he's also blamed the and democrats for basically trying to play this up. that statement from the oval office of the white house tonight, and acknowledgement, i think, house tonight, and acknowledgement, ithink, that he now thinks it's much more serious, this crisis, than he originally had taken it to be. and the fact that we have this travel restriction coming into effect, a 30 day travel restriction on people coming to the us from europe, aside from those coming from the uk, bound to have a very serious impact on the economy here at a time when its tourism, travelling, is just getting when its tourism, travelling, isjust getting going if when its tourism, travelling, is just getting going if you like ahead of spring holiday and easter. must be questions

about how much you can actually do about this himself by executive order, much will require congress, whether congress is even sitting giving the way the pandemic is progressing. there is also some questions about stopping other people coming into the united states bringing in the virus as he sees it, but very little about stopping the spread between americans. that's right, although the president did refer obliquely to large public gatherings but it didn't majoring on that. grossly right, even though in certain parts of this country, one thinks of seattle in washington state example, certain counties they are, public gatherings are being restricted to no more than 250 people for the simple reason that there has been such a explosion of coronavirus cases there. i think underpinning this, amongst other things, is the fact that this has had such an economic toll on this country. the stock markets have plunged from their

peak in february. the dowjones losing 20% of its value. and this is one of the things that president trump has held about his time in office with an election just around the corner, of course, in november this year. his management and the effect that the economic boom has had on the stock market. we've seen that wiped out in recent weeks all because of this virus. another indication that president trump and his administration clearly does need to take this very seriously. david willis, thank you. president trump also recommended all nursing homes across the united states suspend all unnecessary visits to protect elderly residents. the elderly population must be very, very careful. in particular, we strongly advising that nursing homes for the elderly suspend or medically unnecessary visits. in general, older americans should also avoid non—essential

travel in crowded areas. lisa campbell is a public health nurse in san antonio, texas and she told me this is just one of the measures that has to be taken. ido i do agree with the president that we do... our elderly population is to be very careful because they are at greater risk of coronavirus, especially if they have chronic diseases, respiratory diseases, so diseases, respiratory diseases, soido diseases, respiratory diseases, so i do agree that limited exposure to the elderly who may reside in nursing homes or even in the community may need —— definitely needs to be implemented. either the administration is pressing health insurers to help people out. there has been a concern as to whether there are enough testing kits, what is your experience been? yes. many states have been clamouring to get more test kits. under the cdc and other government agencies and independent testing centres are trying to roll them out as quickly as

possible but there aren't enough test kits to test everybody who could be potentially exposed and positive. we really don't have a true number of the cases are in the united states. it seems a lot of the action may come down to individual cities, editable states. do you feel you're getting enough support in your situation? i believe that we need better systems of mobilisation. unfortunately, this hasn't been addressed as much as it should but our public health system has been woefully underfunded for decades and we really need... it's kind of like, if you need afireman, it's kind of like, if you need a fireman, you want the firemen there when you need them. public health professionals are trained to address issues like the pandemic and we have been underfunded and understaffed. i would say if the us government would say if the us government would do anything, it would

definitely increase the funding to public health. are concerned are you about this virus? now it's officially a pandemic? yes, i'm seriously concerned about it. we'll have to take it seriously and we all have two practice measures that will reduce, not only our risk, but the risk to the community and our loved ones. i'm sure you are familiar with the measures that we need to be implementing but everybody needs to practise those. public health nurse lisa campbell there in san antonio, texas. what is the impact of all this on the financial markets? let's get on update from our asia business reporter monica miller. the president says this is that i've financial crisis but it has financial crisis but it has financial and economic impacts? this announcement has escalated fears here in asia with equity and oil prices falling through the floor. we have seen the neck a drop 5%. the hang seng

in hong kong is down 2.5% and in australia, the snp... asx 200 is down 6% and this is after prime minister scott morrison announced an $11 billion stimulus package. we are also looking throughout asia, japan had released a $4 billion package a couple of days ago, sing a point on the same but none of this seems to be stopping this freefall that we are seeing in the equities market. president trump did sign an $8.3 billion package just a few days ago but has gone back to congress. he wants to increase that funding to $50 billion. and he also has a bit ofa billion. and he also has a bit of a terrestrial move that he has asked for and that is to roll back payroll taxes until the end of the year. this coronavirus is showing no signs of slowing down, to set many industries hard, including the travel industry. president trump says that trade in no way

will be affected by this 30—day restriction on travel to europe. he says the restriction stops people, not goods. thank you very much monica. let's round up briefly some of the other significant stories on the pandemic. the entire nba basketball season has been suspended because a player has tested positive stop game between the utahjazz tested positive stop game between the utah jazz and tested positive stop game between the utahjazz and the 0klahoma between the utahjazz and the oklahoma city finder was cancelled moments before it started when a doctor said nothing had been affected with the virus. india has suspended tourist visas until april, saying it will quarantine travellers arriving from seven virus hit countries to try to contain the spread. the government also advises indians to avoid all non—essential travel abroad. denmark is the second european country to announce a lockdown, it seen a tenfold surgeon cases since monday. all kindergartens, schools and universities are too close for two weeks to try too close for two weeks to try to slow the spread. many events attended by more than a hundred people are banned. saudi arabia

is to close cinemas until further notice was not without cases of the virus double in 24 hours. the kingdom is only closed schools and restricted travel as it tries to help spread. —— halt. in italy, spelling has been increased to help the economy cope. total attrition have been announced, including closing all stores except pharmacies and food shops. tourists and visitors can leave at present but attain residents only allowed to travel for serious work and family residence. 0ver serious work and family residence. over 12,000 serious work and family residence. 0ver12,000 people in italy now have the virus and the number of deaths is up to 827. connecting the epicentres. a doctor in wuhan and those in europe's equivalent, northern italy. colleagues in crisis sharing the know—how. we reached that italian doctor on the right in his hospital. the first to diagnose coronavirus here. it hit like a bomb that

has kept on exploding. the first few hours, we received 10, 50, 60, 70, until 200 patients in our emergency department and we had some hours where the oxygen supplies sockets were insufficient to give oxygen to all the patients. so we were in a sort of, let me say, war scenario. but, in his town, it may have peaked. with no cases there, in the past day, it could be a sign of containment working. i think that what we did in this area has demonstrated that we are on the right pathway. so i am quite optimistic, i am quite confident that this could be the right way to go. but the rest of italy is days behind, and the virus is still surging. rome is quiet with

limits on movement. under new restrictions beginning tonight, companies must close departments not needed for production and all shops apart from food stores or pharmacies will be closed. we can see how the new measures are affecting daily life. pharmacies are only allowing customers in one at a time. at the next—door cafes, tables must be one metre apart. they will close at 6pm. if you come over here, you can see a children's playground over there is closed, as are schools, universities, cinemas, theatres and so many other venues. seeveral airlines have closed many flights in and out, a concern for brenda and andrws samuels. their hotel here shutting on friday because of lack of customers. i'm worried about the disease, we're taking all precautions we can but we're worried about going home, whether we will... our flight will get us home.

police have a new target — traffickers of hand gel and face masks, cracking a ring that tried to make a huge profit, like prized drugs, in these dystopian times. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. there is much more about the pandemic on our website. there isa pandemic on our website. there is a guide from a medical correspondent about what to do if you're told to self isolate. go to the website or the bbc news app. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours then the soviet union lost

an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much do you think? i don't know really. i've never been married before. welcome back. very glad to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines this hour: president trump has banned

all flights from mainland europe to the us for 30 days to try to limit the coronavirus pandemic. all shops except food stores and pharmacies shut in italy. the head of the ajo has called the coronavirus a break a pandemic. in south korea, nearly 100 laboratories have been set up testing more people than anywhere else in the world. i'm a correspondent in seoul, laura bicker, has had exclusive access to one of the super labs conducting thousands of tests every 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. so, because of the safety, we are not going to go into this room. this is where the samples

are being opened and prepared. they're testing up to 20,000 people a day, more than any other country in the world. a lesson learned from bitter experience with previous infectious diseases. so is this the busiest you've ever been? yes. this is my busiest day. 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 about 5—6 hours. so it's quite quick? i think it's quite quick. scientists believe early testing and early treatment could be why fewer people are dying here. makeshift clinics such as this one are set up to combat mass infections. nearly 100 staff at this building in seoul contracted covid—19 — now everyone who works here will be tested. there is no shortage of kits — they were mass produced to prepare for this outbreak.

the blood of recovered patients like mr lee is also being monitored in the hope of finding antibodies and potentially a vaccine. lee told me he had almost no symptoms, just a little cough. translation: it's really important to be cautious and safe, but i wish people would have less fear of the virus itself. but i also know those who are older need to be careful. while they appear to be containing this outbreak for now, they know that with coronavirus, there's no room for complacency. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. borisjohnson will chair an emergency meeting on thursday. it is expected he will confirm the uk is moving from the containment phase of the outbreak to delay. there are currently 460 people infected here, eight people have died. 0ur political correspondence jessica parker has more details.

what we understand now is tomorrow there will be another cobra meeting, what is expected to happen is we will move into the delay phase now. it will be chaired by the prime minister. we have kind of been on the borderline between what's known as contain and delay, contain being the focus recently on finding people who may have tested positive for the virus, contact tracing those who they've come into contact with. delay, you're looking at a further range of measures. what's important is you are not necessarily going to see an announcement that schools are going to be shut and sports stadiums will be closed down, there will be no mass gatherings. i think what we are being pointed to is what chris whitty outlined as possible social distancing measures at a press conference earlier this week and this idea that those perhaps even showing mild symptoms, respiratory tract infections, might be asked to self—isolate

for a time. so i think it is the kind of thing we might be looking at. ministers will also be looking at a range of steps that could be taken over a timeline period over the coming weeks and months. i think the anxiety is, from the government's perspective, not to go too fast too soon and to take measured steps as this outbreak carries on spreading. jessica parker for us there. 0scar—winning tom hanks has been in australia filming an upcoming elvis presley biopic and said he and his wife have been diagnosed with coronavirus. he posted on instagram, saying we'll keep the world posted and updated. take care of yourselves. let's get more from phil mercer in sydney. yes, tom hanks did release that online saying he and his wife rita wilson were suffering from being very tired,

they had aches and colds and did a test and those tests confirmed that they were suffering from covid—19. they say they will stay in isolation for as long as it takes, tom hanks adding in that statement, mike, that they would be taking it one step at a time. now, they are in isolation in hospital on the gold coast in queensland in eastern australia, filming for that fim about elvis presley with filming due to start next monday. difficult to gauge the mood of tom hanks in this statement but it seemed he was in reasonably good spirits, given the fact he and his wife have been confirmed to have the coronavirus. he is pretty active on social media, isn't he? there will be a lot of people worried about getting it, watching his feed. and for information on how he deals with having it? yes, and the australian government is spending millions of dollars on a public awareness campaign here to try to urge australians follow the official advice. this advertising campaign

is meant to thwart some of the misinformation and inaccuracies found on social media around the coronavirus. and you're right, tom hanks is pretty prolific online and his statement is very sensible. he was saying he felt ill, he was tested and now he's doing what medical authorities are advising him to do. he is in isolation in isolation in a hospital here in eastern australia and he says that he will stay there as long as it takes. phil mercer for us phil mercerfor us there. phil mercer for us there. an attack on a base inductor has killed two americans and a soldier. suspicion will fall on melissa working closely with iran. other news, in new york the former hollywood producer harvey weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

0ur north america correspondent nick bryant was in court. there was joy in this moment for the victims of harvey weinstein. that the convicted rapist will spend so long behind bars, that their voices have finally been heard. in courtjessica mann and mimi haley delivered victim statements describing how he ruined their lives and then had to listen to weinstein's rambling remarks, in which he expressed remorse for the women but also the men going through this crisis. then came the sentencing, 23 years. there were gasps in the courtroom as the sentence was read out, not least because it's so severe. most legal analysts had expected 10—15 years. so from this courthouse in manhattan, a punishment that will echo around the world. this is whatjustice looks like, 20 plus three years. the model tarale wulff was one of the women who testified during the trial. for the first time i can say i can feel a sense

of happiness, i guess. because this is not a happy circumstance to be, that we are all here for. but i feel joyous. this is very severe, what is your response? ridiculous, is what it is. harvey weinstein's defence team had sough the minimum sentence of five years in prison. he faces 23. i think that number is a cowardly number to give. i think the judge caved, just as i believe the jury caved and i am not happy. but it is the feelings of weinstein's victims that matter and for the model, ambra battilana gutierrez, that number, 23, is especially poignant. i was 23 when he assaulted me. that is the number when my life was ruined, so... and your response to today's sentence? i am super happy. from his limousine to a prison van, from the red carpets of hollywood to the notorious

rikers island jail in new york, a metoo message, especially to men of power that wealth and menace offer no immunity from prosecution. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. just briefly, to russian pra nksters just briefly, to russian pranksters claimed to speak to prince harry where they pretended to be the activist greta thunberg. they said they managed to make two holes to the prince in canada, it raises questions about the principles make security. buckingham palace has declined to comment about the claim. just a reminder on that mean news. travel to the united states from mainland europe is being suspended in a means to redress the coronavirus pandemic. the

uk will be excluded from the restrictions which will come into force on friday. much more news for you coming up. thanks for watching. hello. meteorologically speaking, it is now the start of spring. but of course, winter is not that far behind us and i think we will get a reminder of that through the next couple of days. cold air flooding into the uk around an area of low pressure will bring us quite a few showers actually, on thursday, the most frequent closest to the low centre, so across the northern half of the uk. but can't rule out some pretty sharp ones whipping through on that strong wind further south, either. and as you can see, the blue has flooded its way right across the uk for today, but all sitting in the polar air. so it will add a definite chill to proceedings, even where we see some sunshine. but after showers overnight and plunging temperatures, snow and ice are a possible hazard as we start our morning commute. there could be some

further falling snow through the earlier part of the day as well for scotland, for the higher ground of northern england and for northern ireland. we should see the snow levels rising as the day progresses, however. some showers to the south, though, could have a little bit of hail mixed in with them from time to time. there'll be quite squally winds here, too. but the showers should be more scattered, they'll tend to come in more persistent bands to the north of the uk, across northern ireland, parts of northern england and scotland. it will feel chilly and the wind, while the strongest across southern scotland, northern england, northern ireland and to the north—west of wales, gusts could touch up to 60 miles per hour here but gusts of 40 miles per hour quite widely. through thursday evening, still a lot of showers around, then we move into the small hours of friday and things start to become quieter. we pick up a northerly wind on the length of the north sea, that will feed some showers into eastern counties the uk, temperatures fall away across the northern half of the uk and in particular again into the small hours of friday.

so ice a risk for the north of the uk for first thing on friday once again but our showers will tend to shift offshore quite quickly through friday morning as high pressure starts to build just a little ridge — a brief ridge of high pressure starts to build for friday daytime. so the early showers clear, the northerly wind eases, there'll be pleasant sunshine the majority for a time at least before our next low starts to approach from the south—west as we get into friday afternoon. the wind will begin to pick up once again and we'll see the arrival of some further rainfall. and then it's another weekend, another area of low pressure. saturday the wettest of the weather to the north—west of the uk. for sunday, this front needs to make its way through so i suspect all of us will see some rain at some stage. so quite a bit of cloud around widely around the uk on saturday, rainfall fairly limited. sunday definitely looks like soggier prospects across the board.

welcome to bbc news. our top stories: president donald trump has announced the us will ban flights from mainland europe for 30 days from friday to contain the spread of coronavirus, now officially a pandemic. from the oval office, mr trump said the flight ban would apply to the uk. he announced plans to apply billions of dollars in loa ns to to apply billions of dollars in loans to small businesses and encourage health insurers to help those affected. in italy, new restrictions will close all shops for two weeks except food stores and pharmacies. its estimated 12,500 are infected. the death toll has jumped by nearly 200 in the past day alone to 837. disgraced film producer harvey weinstein has been sentenced to 23 yea rs weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years for rape and sexual assault. he was found guilty in new york last month. he still faces further charges in los angeles.