this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top stories: president trump bands or flights from mainland europe for 30 days to defeat the credit pandemic. to keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe to the united states for the next 30 days. the new rules were going to effect friday at midnight. tom hanks and his wife rita wilson confirmed they have tested positive for the virus and will self isolate in australia. we have a special report from the middle east as muslims and christians take unprecedented measures to try and halt the spread of

coronavirus. and in business, the global market sell—off continues as president trump fails to reassure investors. a very warm welcome, this is first a's briefing, keeping you gci’oss first a's briefing, keeping you across all you need to know in globalnews, business and sport. and you can be a part of the conversation, latest travel restrictions announced by the white house, is this the right course of action? does this disrupt your travel plans? tell us disrupt your travel plans? tell us what is happening where you are when it comes to —containing coronavirus. just use the # bbc the briefing. let's bring you more detail on

president trump's announcements ofa ban president trump's announcements of a ban on all travel by a foreign nationals who have been ina26 foreign nationals who have been in a 26 european countries with open borders agreements in the last 1a days. addressing the nation from the white house, he said the ban, which comes into effect on friday, will not apply to the uk also mr trump 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 to the united states for the next 30 days. the new rules will go into effect friday at midnight. these restrictions will be adjusted, subject to conditions on the ground. there will be exemptions for americans who

have undergone appropriate screenings and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but also 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. let's talk to our north american correspondence david willis. it has been the reaction to the announcement?‘ lot of surprise, sally, as you fully imagine. the prison announcing the suspension of travel from europe to the united states for 30 days. starting on friday and these restrictions will apply to foreigners who visited one of 26 european countries in the two weeks before they are due to arrive here. there are 26 countries, european countries

identified which include italy, germany, and, france and... let's hope we can return to david later on in the programme. clearly we can't discuss with him forever because of technical reasons. i'm told, we can continue that conversation so let's continue with david. david, you are explaining that the various countries who were on the watchlist as it were, continue please. 26 european countries have been singled out by the trump administration and people who have been in those, any of those 26 countries in the two weeks before they were due to arrive here in the united states will not be allowed into the country. those countries, those european countries include italy, spain, germany and france. but not the uk and not ireland for reasons that have not been made clear by the

trump administration thus far at least. in a separate move, sally, the us state department is urging americans who are considering travelling abroad to reconsider their travel plans. hundreds of thousands of people come here to the us every month from europe and that this is bound to have a considerable economic impact, not least in travel and tourism. and also, david, how has it affected the psyche of those who watched that speech from the oval office, do you think? i think there's a lot of people sally who were looking to president trump to exhibit leadership in this crisis. he has been accused of downplaying its up to now. he said famously that people here should just stay calm and it will all go away. clearly, his own officials and medical experts and so on have been disputing that particular conclusion.

indeed one during the day yesterday went on to make the point before congress that millions of americans may well be affected by the coronavirus. president trump, i think bowing to the inevitable, not least the advice of his own members of staff but also the fact that the stock markets have been hammered by this in the last few weeks. the dowjones closed down 20% yesterday, bear markets territory and that's a barometer, as far as the president sees it, of his success president sees it, of his success here in the united states. also, when it comes to the goods being crossed between the goods being crossed between the us and europe, when looking for some clarity on that stop trump's tweeted about that since this page hasn't he? has indeed and he made the point that goods were included in that goods were included in that whole provision, this whole restriction. and then he tweeted to the contrary, saying

that this would affect people and not goods. that well, i'm sure, come as a relief to a lot of people here. nonetheless, the impact of this could be considerable to say the very least on an economy that is already reeling under the effects of the coronavirus. thank you david willis. let's have a look at the situation across the rest of the world. freya cole has the latest. italy's town squares are empty, the streets are almost deserted and it's about to get even quieter. the prime minister has announced only essential services like grocery stores, pharmacies and banks will remain open. translation: only a few days ago, i asked for you to change your normal habits in your lives to stay at home as much as you can, only going out when it is absolutely necessary. now in this moment, it is the time to take the next step. we will close shops,

bars, pubs, restaurants, leaving a possibility to only make home deliveries. are so far, europe has recorded more than 17,000 cases of the disease, denmark is the second country to go into a partial down after a dramatic spike in cases. schools are closing at all people with non—critical jobs have being told to stay at home for 1h days. translation: it's all happening really fast here at home now. too fast and thatis here at home now. too fast and that is why authorities are now intensifying their work to stop and store the contagion in denmark. at the world has a long history of pandemics, deadly diseases like spanish flu which have changed the course of history. now that the new coronavirus has spread to more than 100 countries, is little surprise the world health organization is now using the pandemic label. what it means is that governments 110w it means is that governments now need to take urgent action and perhaps a step up their

response to contain and fight covid—19. the uk's action plan is set to include measures like social distancing. argentina, colombia and peru have announced travellers from china, italy, spain and france will be isolated on arrival. this india has also suspended almost every foreign visa for a month, a move that will hurt its economy but is necessary. it is to avoid an outbreak like the ones in south korea, currently 20,000 people a day are being tested. africa remains another huge concern. iris numbers are relatively low but if there is an increase, the world health organization is already fragile health systems won't be able to cope. freya cole, bbc news. the british prime minister boris johnson is expected to signal a new phase in the uk's efforts to tackle the coronavirus crisis this afternoon. a

meeting of the cobra emergency mitty is likely to agree the virus can no longer be contained and that efforts should now focus on delaying the peak of the outbreak until the peak of the outbreak until the summer. there have been eight deaths in britain so far, 1:60 eight deaths in britain so far, 460 confirmed cases. the oscar—winning actor tom hanks, who has been in australia filming and coming elvis presley biopic says he and his wife have been diagnosed with coronavirus. as go live to syd ney coronavirus. as go live to sydney now and our correspondence feel myself. what more can you tell us? tom hanks made this announcement on instagram, he said that he and his wife rita wilson who are in the australian state of queensland were suffering from symptoms like a cold, fevers, body aches and shells and then they were tested for covid—19 and found to be positive. it is understood the pair are now being treated in a hospital on the gold coast in queensland.

in that post on instagram, tom hanks, who is 63, said he would remain in isolation until it was necessary for him to be let out. so he is doing clearly the right thing. we did hearfrom his son chet on twitter who said both of his parents were well and chet hanks said they won't even that sick. tom hanks, here in australia, to play the part of elvis presley's eccentric manager in a new film. that film is due to be released in october of next year but of course, like many other things around the world being affected by covid—19, thatis being affected by covid—19, that is now uncertain. broadly speaking, australia has about 130 cases of the virus and is worth noting as well that there isa worth noting as well that there is a warning in new south wales from medical authorities that a fifth of the state's population, that is one million

people could contract the virus. —— 1.5 million people. tom hanks is a celebrity victim of the biosphere and authorities file could be many more. thank you very much indeed. let's look at stock markets and what they're doing today. they immediately fell following president trump's announcement. there's been a downward trajectory throughout the trading day in asia. of course, as david willis mentioned, the dowjones is now down 20% since its peak in february. the main indices in tokyo, seattle, and hong kong safe appliance between three and 5%. if it is indicating how american and european stock markets will open later today are also nose diving as the travel ban appears to have taken travel ban appears to have ta ken investors travel ban appears to have taken investors by surprise. oil prices have also fallen today by quite a bit. we have fiona here, a senior market analysis at city index. have you had much sleep this week

fiona? it's you had much sleep this week fiona ? it's been you had much sleep this week fiona? it's been quite a week since black monday as they are naming it from the beginning of the week? it has been a relentless and the fear in the market is really driving that. we can see this because we've had big old policy moves here in the uk by the federal reserve , in the uk by the federal reserve, the bank of england, the uk government, president trump, there's a big bold moves seeing and yet the market is still plunging. this is the issue with regards to the united states because the hope was that on wednesday, there would be... well actually no, todayis would be... well actually no, today is thursday. on tuesday i should say, the white house would make some announcements of fiscal stimulus, tax breaks, that kind of thing to help the us economy. they didn't come which is why we saw dramatic falls on wall street on wednesday. he mentioned some tax breaks, measures to help businesses in his oval office speech which happened overnight last night but the markets aren't really encouraged by that. it would seem out of the

us, it is not enough. that's right and the other thing we to bearin right and the other thing we to bear in mind here is the fear of the virus is what is actually driving the problems in the stock market. these measures are going to cause problems, we are going to have a very hard economic hit and the hope is it's going to be a v shaped recovery but policymakers cannot stop the spread of the virus. until we actually see improving numbers as far as the virus is concerned, they were going to see a lot of problems on the stock market still. thank you very much indeed fiona. later on in the business briefing, will be alive to the team in the asia business hub for the very latest and the numbers when it comes to stock markets today. still, today on the briefing, loss of an ancient town and homes for 3000 people as turkey pushes ahead with a newly constructed dam. 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 the briefing. let's talk you through the headlines was the president trump bands of flights from mainland europe to the us for 30 days to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. tom hanks and his wife rita wilson confirmed they have tested positive for the virus and will isolate in australia. —— self isolate in australia. —— self isolate was the middle east, friday prayers have been cancelled as the region tries to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. sunni, shia and christian communities have taken actions to hold the spread. i make middle east correspondence quentin sommerville reports. in this time of crisis, faith is a

supporter, but it also carries risks. in this shrine in iraq, locals are still welcome. but this and in many of the middle east's other holiest sites are now no—go areas for foreign pilgrims. translation: if they want to be saved from this crisis, they should obey and worship god. and to also follow his instructions from the —— in following instructions from authorities. ablutions are performed, perhaps with more vigor than before. pilgrimage is the lifeblood here. millions of shia, especially from iran would usually pray and spend money. but the shops and precincts are now mostly empty. finally, on alert in the

epicentre of the outbreak, iran. it has suffered the most cases and the most casualties. but was slow to respond. it deputy health minister on the left was noticeably unwell at a news conference, dismissing concerns over the lack of preparation. shortly afterwards, he, too was isolated, struck down by the virus. at mecca's grand mosque, saudi arabia has banned foreign pilgrims and tourists, visitor numbers have dropped dramatically. neighbouring jordan has closed its borders to, along with gulf states and israel. this is a crisis for all faiths. and in 11 on, services are being cut short and worshippers have been told to bring their own prayer mats when attending. but there are other challenges, too. here in lebanon on and in iraq, months

of protests have brought our government is accused of incompetence and corruption. these are states which i barely functioning, just at a time when people's lives depend on them. faith might not give protection but it does offer comfort. this we, the marinate priests took to the skies to bless the country. but this is a region already overwhelmed by crazies. it will take more than prayer to keep the coronavirus in check. quentin sommerville, bbc news, a route. —— beirut. it's pretty one other news making the news today. a rocket attack near the capital bag guard has killed two americans and a soldier —— baghdad. tensions have been high since the us give the senior iranian commander icm

soleimani in a drain attack in january. violent protests have brought —— broken out in santiago a sebastian pinera celebrates 30 years of the country's return to democracy. in protesters clash with police who used tear gas to disperse the crowds. there was a call for a boycott, given accusations of police abuse last year. a think tank says building coal—fired power pla nts waste building coal—fired power plants waste hundreds of billions of dollars around the world because they are more expensive than wind and solar farms, whose costs have tumbled. now time to bring you all the latest sports news. hello i'm tulsen tollett and this is your thursday sport briefing, where we start

with the news that holders liverpool are out of the uefa champions league, beaten 11—2 on aggregate in their last 16 tie by atletico madrid. the match moved into extra time at anfield after the hosts were 1—0 up at the end of 90 minutes, leaving it 1—1 on aggregate. and despite roberto firmino scoring four minutes into extra time, two marcos llorente goals and then a late alvaro morata score meant that the spanish side move into the last eight. we know how good they are defending and we have a good attitude. i think sincejuly or august, it's incredible, from training, you know you see it's like this in training. so it all really feeds off him. world champions usa have won the shebelieves cup beating japan 3—1 in texas and handing them a third consecutive win in this season's tournament. megan rapinoe notched the first goal of the game with a wonderful free kick

to send her team on their way to victory, while in the earlier match, spain scored late on to beat england 1—0. only six of the scheduled eight europa league last 16 ties will go ahead later on thursday. roma's match away to sevilla and inter‘s match against getafe have both been called off due to sporting restrictions in both spain and italy because of the coronavirus. one match that will go ahead — but with a reduced crowd — is manchester united's opening leg tie in austria against linz. the game will only see a reduced capacity of 500 spectators in attendance, although the stadium holds 14,000. golf — and the biggest tournament outside the majors gets under way on thursday. it's the players championship at sawgrass in florida where rory mcilroy is the defending champion. the world number one from northern ireland — who's looking for his first tour title of 2020 — is bidding to become the first golfer in the history of the players championship

to win it two years in a row. this week last year was huge for me in terms of... the sort of, getting the monkey off my back a little bit and i had a few close calls and i wasn't able to sort of, walk through the door and claim a win. then i was able to do it here. yeah, obviously it would be wonderful to replicate what happened last year. the nba season has been suspended amid ongoing concerns over the coronavirus. the golden state warriors' game with the brooklyn nets was due to be played behind closed doors but the governing body has now taken the decision to stop all matches after a utah jazz player tested positive. as you heard earlier, holders liverpool were dumped out of the champions league by atletico madrid in front of a full house at anfield. while in france, there were no

fans for the paris st—germain second leg against borussia dortmund due to coronavirus fears. so, no fans inside the parc des princes but there were plenty outside who celebrated their team moving through to the quarterfinals with around 3,000 gathering to show their support. the players joined them afterwards to show their appreciation as they progressed to the last eight. you can get all the latest sports news at our website an ancient town in turkey thought to be more than 12,000 yea rs old thought to be more than 12,000 years old is being engulfed by floodwaters from a newly constructed dam. there will be a lennon spence reports. 12,000 years ago, the town of hasankeyf stood proudly by the shores of the tigris river. residents say their ancestors would spend their days growing and trading fruit, like pomegranates. but now the village centre, with scores of ancient

architecture, is surrounded by water and it's not going away. translation: i used to work in the tourism industry. i told the story of this place, but unfortunately, the last few months, no—one come here. the turkish government started feeling the ilisu hydroelectric dam mid last year. by october, homes in this ancient town were inundated. around 3,000 residents were forced to relocate to a government built village on the other side of the river. but some residents are standing by the justification. translation: above all, it's good for the energy sector, for power generation, but it will also be useful and beneficial for agriculture. the full extent of the damage caused by the swollen river is yet to be known. a court battle to save the ancient town was lost, only some cultural artefacts have been salvaged. so now all residents can do is sit and watch while their homes slowly go under. freya cole, bbc news.

and we will have all the latest business news including what is happening on stock markets in just a moment. that is a business briefing. i'll see you soon. hello. yes, it is the start of spring, but winter is not that far behind us. and i think it will feel more wintry, if anything, in the next 48 hours or so than we have been used to in recent days — temperatures have gone into the mid—teens. low pressure driving our weather today, sunshine and showers across the board and is low pulling polar air right the way south across the uk for the end of the week. you can see the blue line there advancing into the north of france. the showers most frequent to the north, closest to the centre of the area of low pressure. after a cold night and with the showers, ice a risk about anywhere, actually, where we're seeing showers across northern britain forfirst thing. and there could be a covering of snow in a few places, too, maybe some fresh falling snow across scotland and parts of northern england through the morning. but the snow level will actually rise as the day

progresses. showers as you can see are coming in quite thick and fast to scotland, parts of northern england and northern ireland. much more scattered for the south, more in the way of sunshine. the showers when they do arrive could be pretty lively. it will feel chilly thanks to the polar air and the strength of the wind. widely gusting up to a0 miles per hour away from the low centre in the north, but for southern scotland, northern ireland, northern england, the peak of the gusts i think, up to 60 miles an hourfora time. still a lot of showers whipping their way across the uk through thursday evening into small hours of friday, then we pick up a northerly wind, that could mean some wintry showers to the east and there's a frost that develops to the north of the uk by the end of thursday night. for friday morning, ice again could be an issue here to get the day under way. but actually friday looks comparatively quieter

because briefly, we're going to see a ridge of high pressure extend across the uk. the showers in the east will move offshore, into the north sea, sunshine across the uk and light winds on friday. still feeling cold, we're still the polar air. our temperatures on the face of it a bit below average but i think it will feel somewhat chillier than these numbers may imply. and then towards the south—west, the beginnings of our next area of low pressure moves in. it's the weekend, we can't seem to have a weekend at the moment without one. saturday, i think, will be a case of building cloud and the majority of the rain sweeping through on sunday. so, some rather overcast skies for many of us for the first half of the weekend but largely dry, sunday looking rather soggy.

this is business briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top stories: the global markets sell—off continues as president trump fails to reassure investors. wise now the european central bank of the interest rates already at zero 11 minus, how much cannot really do? let's look at markets, asia, following the steep goals, you can see both main at markets down by over 3%. the down losing almost 1500 points, nearly 6% lower on wednesday.