a lot of sunshine on the way.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: spain orders residents to stay at home unless they are purchasing essentials or going to work. the prime minister's white is among a surge in coronavirus cases. “— white is among a surge in coronavirus cases. —— wife. france ramps up its response. cafe ‘s, restaurants, cinemas and nightclubs and all non—essential businesses have closed. away from europe, the philippines ramps up containment efforts has cases there pass 100. metro manila on lockdown. travel restrictions are now in place on some 13 million people in this city, as the philippines government attem pts the philippines government atte m pts to the philippines government attempts to slow the spread of covid—19. attempts to slow the spread of covid-19. we look at the impact of coronavirus on religious practice around the world.

hello and welcome to bbc news. european countries are continuing to take extraordinary steps to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus. measures on a scale not seen before in peacetime are coming into force. in spain there's a nationwide partial lockdown for the next 15 days, while in france, all cafes, restraura nts, cinemas and most shops have been ordered to remain shut. this report from rich preston. bells toll. three of europe's biggest economies have imposed national lockdowns. spain ‘s euro's second worst hit country, and has now declared a state of

emergency. public gatherings are bound and most shops and businesses are closed. cafes a nd restau ra nts will only be able to carry out home deliveries. the next two weeks, people have been told to stay at home unless they are going to work or buying food or medicine. the wife of the spanish prime minister pedro sanchez, pictured here with her husband last year, has tested positive for the virus. on the streets, cheers of support to help stop going to work in caring for the sick. —— for health staff. at the stroke of midnight, sweeping new restrictions came into force across france. public places described as non—essential forcibly shut, including cinemas, cafes and nightclubs. the traditional french bistro an integral part of the country's cultural identity closed. more than 90 people in france have died of coronavirus and authorities say this is the only way to prevent

mass fatalities. translation: i am aware of the efforts and sacrifices that are required and i have confidence in the ability of frenchmen and women to understand the seriousness of the moment and to adopt together the civic, responsible and supportive behaviour which will enable us to overcome this crisis. italy remains europe's worst hit country with over 11100 deaths. its national lockdown has been in place for nearly a week but the number of cases and vitality is keeps rising. on friday, the world health organization said europe was now the epicentre of the covid—19 outbreak, a virus which started in china and which in just ten weeks spread around the world and killed thousands of people. more now on the spanish government's decision to impose

a national lockdown to try to control the spread of the coronavirus. that development coincided with news that the prime minister's wife and two female cabinet ministers tested positive for the virus after taking part in an international women's day march in madrid last weekend. miguel murado is a freelance journalist in madrid and he told me more about how the country is responding to the crisis. well, in the last 48 hours there has been talk of people understanding this in the wrong way, as if this were a holiday, going to the coastal towns in spain, spreading the disease, u nfortu nately. spain, spreading the disease, unfortunately. but i think this is going very quickly and people are beginning to understand, i think, people are beginning to understand, ithink, a majority of people understand now the seriousness of the threat, and the fact that the numbers are going up and the decisions made by the government are so harsh. i think that will convince whoever is not convinced yet that they have to take care of themselves. and of course the wife of the spanish prime

minister has tested positive for coronavirus, having been on a huge demonstration last sunday. i mean, that is pretty big news, isn't it? yes, this is going to be controversial, because that huge demonstration on sunday, because of international women's day, was seen by many voices who were wanting that this was a mistake, but those demonstrations are typically very big in spain, and that people could get infected. the government allowed it to go ahead and even encouraged people tojoin in ahead and even encouraged people to join in the demonstrations and even sent the female cabinet ministers to the female cabinet ministers to the head of the demonstration, and as it happens, two of those female ministers have tested positive and now the wife of the prime minister, who was also at the head of the demonstration, has also tested positive. so in a way this is a blow to the credibility of the government. it also means the prime minister will have to be quarantined. but i think

more generally, and leaving aside all these debates and controversies, it shows us how far the virus has gone and the fa ct far the virus has gone and the fact that people, you know that people who are famous are getting it, in such huge numbers, it means that it is already there. and on a personal level, how worried are you about what is happening in spain right now? i imagine the way of life is obviously so different, everything is so different, everything is so different right now, for so many people. this well, i am one of those convinced it is important to stay at home, those of us who have small children, well, that is a bit more difficult. i have a four—year—old, who doesn't understand what is going on. he wa nts to understand what is going on. he wants to play in the street. and of course i tell him he can't. i have been reporting from war zones, can't. i have been reporting from war zones, so can't. i have been reporting from war zones, so i am no stranger to cu rfews, but from war zones, so i am no stranger to curfews, but this is completely different. there is completely different. there is an eerie feeling. of course cu rfews in is an eerie feeling. of course curfews in war zones are a very terrible thing, but in this

case, the fact that you do not see the danger, the danger is everywhere, the people crossing the street to his coffin could give you the virus, but anything you touch could get you infected, this is a very, very strange feeling and one that i haven't experienced. i am not worried about myself, i am not worried about myself, i am worried about my family, about my mother, who was an elderly person. i think these other people we should be most worried about, because for most of us, hopefully, it could be the mild version, the mild symptoms that we will suffer, but for some people it is extremely dangerous. so we have to ta ke extremely dangerous. so we have to take care of them. around 13 million people living in metropolitan manila in the philippines are now under strict new rules set by the government to slow the spread of covid—19. president rodrigo duterte's lockdown comes as the country confirmed it has 111 cases of the novel coronavirus resulting in 8 deaths.

our reporter in manila, howard johnson, has been to see the blockade in action. this is a checkpoint on the southern tip of metro manila, this city of some 13 million people. two days ago, president rodrigo duterte announced there would be a lockdown on this city to try to stop the spread of covid—19. today we are seeing it enforced. we saw an exodus of people leaving the city prompting questions about whether it was a good idea to have these two days to allow people to leave, perhaps they could spread the virus around the country. that's the question being asked but we are seeing police officers handing out these leaflets with all the advice about washing hands and social distancing and also testing people's temperatures on this checkpoint. if they are not showing a temperature above 38 degrees, they are allowed to pass, noting where they are going to but it seems contrary to the idea of having a lockdown on the city, people are being allowed

to leave here today unless they have symptoms of covid—19. and howard, the country has confirmed it has 111 cases of the virus, doesn't it? what happened around a month ago is we saw the first three cases in this country. this is the country where we saw the first death outside of china and there was a month where nothing much really happened. people here lulled into a sense of security and then in the last week, we've seen the numbers spike up to 111 as you say, the number of deaths here as well which is causing concern and the fear is there has been underreporting due to lack of testing, not enough test kits here in this country. last week, 2000, they are buying in more test kits and being more proactive with the testing rather than waiting for people to come with symptoms, to display those symptoms. that's what's being going on here. there is concern the numbers could rise here in the coming weeks. what about closing bars,

restaurants, clubs, things we've seen in major european cities and countries. there is a document going around this week from the government, there will be curfews in places in parts of the city from 8pm till 5am in the morning. no mass gatherings, no cinemas, no screenings allowed anymore. shops will be allowed to sell food and on line services to get the goods to people but there is a restriction of movement in this city and if there seems to be an out rake in an area, that area will come under special lock down and an even tighter lockdown in the particular area. they will put all of their resources into working out where the accused and people will be quarantined in their homes and we will see tougher measures of movement in those areas. australia's prime minister has announced that anyone arriving into the country will face

a mandatory 14—day self—isolation. he also said cruise ships from foreign ports will not be allowed to dock for 30 days. the measures will come into effect from midnight on sunday. all people coming to australia will be required, will be required, i stress, will be required, will be required, istress, to will be required, will be required, i stress, to self isolate for 14 days. this is very important. what we have seen very important. what we have seenin very important. what we have seen in recent weeks is more countries having issues with the virus, and that means that the virus, and that means that the source of some of those transmissions are coming from more and more countries. our bans have been very effective to date on what this measure will do is ensure that particularly australians, who are the majority of people coming to australia now on these flights, when they come back to australia now, their self isolation in 14 days will do an effective job in flattening this code as we go forward. similarly, the

arrangements for cruise ships will have the same effect. in specific cases where we have australians on cruise ships, then there will be some bespoke arrangements to be put in place directly under the command of the australian border force, to ensure that the relevant protections are put in place. we are seeking to assist australians to come home by ensuring that the flights continue to run, but when they come home they will be spending another 14 days and self isolation. in the united kingdom, more than 200 scientists have sent a letter to the government criticising its coronavirus strategy. there are over 1,100 confirmed cases here, and 21 deaths. but prime minister boris johnson hasn't closed schools or introduced travel restrictions. big public gatherings are still allowed and there is no advice to work from home. people with mild symptoms won't be tested but instead are being asked to stay at home. sophie

hutchinson has more. on your marks... get set... go! a large group of runners out today, keeping fit, but the question now is for how much longer? concerns about the coronavirus mean the government may ban mass gatherings. it is understood the measure could be brought in as early as next week in order to free up emergency services to deal with the virus. the evidence tells us that stopping mass gatherings does not have a huge impact on the spread of the virus but, for example, the decision has been taken in some countries because of the impact on public services and because when you have a mass gathering, that draws on the police and the ambulance service who need to support it. today, the death toll in the uk jumped, almost doubling from 11 to 21 people. all those who lost their lives were in the at—risk groups — aged over 60 or with underlying conditions. there are now more than 1,100 confirmed cases in the uk. one of them is a newborn baby and its mother, but officials believe the true figure could be as many as 10,000.

the world health organization has raised serious concerns about the uk's strategy to allow enough people to be infected with the virus who then recover, in order to build up so—called herd immunity. meanwhile, hundreds of scientists have written to the government, urging them to introduce tougher measures to stop the virus spreading and warning of the risks of a lack of action, and other experts agree. the uk government response has, in my view, placed the country at a considerably higher risk of becoming the next domino to fall in the series of outbreaks that we have seen around the world. just remember this — if you cut your number of contacts in half, then you have cut in half the number of opportunities the virus has to transmit. if everybody were to do that, then there would be a chance of slowing the infection to the extent that you would not be overwhelming the nhs. do you know the national anthem? shall we sing it? the government has announced it is developing plans for more new ventilators to be produced as quickly as possible and said the nhs will buy up beds in private hospitals to boost capacity.

it has insisted its approach is the best way to keep the public safe, and stressed those with a dry cough and a fever should self isolate. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we look at the impact coronavirus is having on religious practice around the world. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search.

above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: spain and france follow italy in announcing emergency restrictions on citizens to combat the coronavirus pandemic. ten more people die after testing positive for coronavirus in england — the largest daily total since the outbreak began. in the united states, the white house doctor says president trump's test for coronavirus has come back negative. a letter released to the media explained the president agreed after having an in—depth

discussion with his doctor and that it was a week after he met with brazil's president, some of whose entourage had tested positive. meanwhile, as the country tries to limit the spread of covid—19, a first death has been recorded in the southern state of louisiana, while georgia will suspend its presidential primaries from this month until may. our washington correspondent jane o'brien reports. a new sense of urgency in the us as more than 500 additional cases are confirmed and the death toll rises to 50. testing is being ramped up and, for donald trump, it has become personal. facing criticism after being exposed to an infected person several days ago, he says he is now being tested. after a slow and at times mixed response, americans are reeling from the disruption to their lives. many are stockpiling food and medicine and confronting social restrictions.

museums have closed and gatherings are limited. there are few economic safety nets in the us and millions of americans have no health insurance. lawmakers have passed emergency measures offering paid sick leave and free testing. most people without symptoms or asymptomatic aren't being tested, and could still be spreading the disease. until you really understand how many people are asymptomatic and asymptomatically passing the virus on, we think it's better for the entire american public to know that the risk of serious illness may be low, but they could be potentially spreading the virus to others. the impact is perhaps being felt most in the cities, which are starting to empty. the administration says there are no immediate plans to restrict domestic travel but the president says it is being considered. in such a vast country, that would have been unthinkablejust a few days ago. but this is the new reality as america shuts down. ? jane o'brien,

bbc news, washington. the world's largest airline by passenger volume, american airlines, is to cut three quarters of its international flights because of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. the reduction will begin on monday and continue until may 6. american says the changes will mean parking almost its entire wide—body fleet — about 135 aircraft. short—haul flights will continue as scheduled. with me is our news correspondent, simonjones. what exactly have american airlines been saying? if you wa nted airlines been saying? if you wanted an example of how coronavirus is affect in everyday life and particularly the travel industry, look no further than this. american airlines transports around 200 million passengers each year and now it is effectively saying three quarters of its services will go because it will no longerfly services will go because it will no longer fly to destinations like europe after president trump initiated a ban, saying people from

mainland europe and the uk and ireland cannot travel to the us. so a lot of the planes will be grounded, they are going to ta ke be grounded, they are going to take a big financial hit over this and it is going to happen very soon. it will begin on monday and those planes will not take to the air. they will then assess the situation at then assess the situation at the beginning of may. they are not the only airline to say that they are in trouble. absolutely not, uk airlines for example are saying to the government if you do not give us government if you do not give us immediate financial support, when we get to the end of this crisis then there may not be much left of the airline crisis and you have for example one of the major operators easyjet that runs from the uk to marry european destinations and overnight we have had the foreign office in london say that travellers from britain should not go to spain, 18 million british people go to spain each year. so that for example for easyjet is going to bea example for easyjet is going to be a big hit for them and now, they are saying that they are going to stop flights to spain because of the advice from the foreign office and they simply

will have rescue flights to bring british people back home. and of course you mentioned the usa but a lot of countries are putting forward restrictions, aren't they, on travel, which is having the impact. absolutely, and i think the people who want to go on holiday and get home it is a very worrying time because they are unsure whether the flights will operate at all and for the airline industry, this is an enormous hit because many travel firms are finding it difficult generally, without all of these coronavirus problems, struggling to get by and you have the airline industry saying we need help, otherwise there will not be a service when things get sorted out. simon, thank you indeed. let's get some of the day's other news. central and eastern africa, rwanda, kenya, ethiopia and sudan, are among the countries to have confirmed their first cases. and morocco has suspended air and sea links with france and spain and banned any public gatherings of more than 50 people. in israel, restaurants, shopping centres, gyms and hotels will be shut down from sunday morning in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

gatherings of over ten people have also been banned. in the west bank, the palestinian authority has asked worshippers to avoid mosques and churches and pray at home instead. the state news agency in kuwait is reporting that all malls, except for those selling food, are being closed. and the tech giant apple, has announced its closing all its retail stores outside china for two weeks in response to the outbreak. the firm, which has dozens of outlets around the uk, says it's willing to do whatever it takes to prevent the spread of the virus. the coronavirus is also having an impact on religious practice around the world. pope francis is delivering his wednesday and sunday addresses only via video link, churches and mosques in bethlehem are closed for at least the next two weeks, and the saudi arabian government is restricting access to the holy city of mecca. our religion editor martin bashir reports. fanfare. easter sunday last year,

and more than 100,000 pilgrims gather in rome. bells toll. but the church of st peter, which for centuries has welcomed saints and sinners, is now closed, and it may stay that way this easter. so what of the catholic church in england and wales? if we here, in this country, are asked to close churches for the celebration of mass, i will say yes, people should not come to mass. but yes, the churches should remain open so that people can go and pray, and yes, i will ask priests to continue to celebrate mass, even if they do it on their own. and everyone was singing along to all the songs... the church's wider ministry is also being impacted. for almost 65 years, the hosanna house and pilgrimage trust has taken disabled children to lourdes in france every easter.

it is the catholic church's oldest and largest pilgrimage, but it is not happening this year. it was very difficult having to pick up that phone and having to ring a family and explain the reasons why the pilgrimage wasn't going to be taking place. for a lot of these children, this could be the first holiday that they have ever had. for the families, this could be the only respite care that they receive. coronavirus does not discriminate, and for muslims, the hajj pilgrimage to mecca, which attracts over 2 million pilgrims in july, is also now in jeopardy. qari asim, an imam in leeds, is preparing worshippers for potential disappointment. as a person of faith, i believe that my god wants me to not only protect my own self, but also protect the lives of others. and if that means postponing a particular obligation due to circumstances beyond my control, then i am following the message of god, you know,

by not performing that particular religious obligation. back in rome, the annual delivery of flowers from the netherlands used to decorate st peter's on easter sunday has been cancelled, signalling the possibility that, for the first time in modern history, this year's open—air mass will not take place. martin bashir, bbc news. there is, of course, more on the global pandemic on our website. there's background and analysis, including this guide put together by our data visualisation team, giving you all the latest facts and figures on different aspects of the outbreak across the globe. it is what we are good at here at the bbc. check it out on bbc.com/news. you so much for your company. goodbye from me. —— thank you so much

for your company. hello. well, the weather's going to be a little hit—and—miss early on sunday morning. some of us will need our brollies, for sure. but it won't be long before the sun comes out and actually, for many of us, sunday is going to end up being a pretty decent day with at least some sunshine. now, currently a weather system is barrelling across the uk. it has brought rain to scotland and some other western parts of the uk, certainly through the early hours of sunday morning. you can see the rainfall here falling across parts of wales, the south—west of england, and scotland and northern ireland too. but two different wind directions. one coming across the north across scotland, so here it's colder. also a little bit of wintriness across the highlands. here, the winds are blowing out of the south—west, so it's quite a bit milder. so i think a mild start for much of england and wales, but scotland and northern

ireland will feel a little more chilly early on sunday. now, you can see the various areas of rain crossing the country, so this is a weather front that will bring some rain around lunchtime in the south—east and east anglia. showers in scotland, but the vast majority of the uk sunday afternoon enjoying a fine day. if it won't be clear blue skies, at least the weather is looking dry and bright. now, monday, two things happening on the weather front. on the one hand, we've got high pressure building in from the south—west. on the other, there's a low pressure lurking close to iceland. but the high pressure will be more dominant across the uk on monday, and early scenes outside of town probably looking something like this, so some mist, some frost around. crisp, sunny, calm conditions on monday. certainly across england and wales, across much of eastern scotland too. but early in the morning, we'll start to see weather fronts affecting — or a weather front affecting — western scotland and northern ireland here, and stronger winds, so very different weather here. but the vast majority of the uk, i think a fine day on monday, beautiful sunshine on the way. and then, monday night into tuesday, that weather

front‘s going to slip a little bit further south. in fact, it's trailing out into the atlantic here, and there's another sort of pulse of rain running along it. so that does mean that we're expecting some rainfall to reach, again, north—western areas during the course of tuesday. perhaps a bit more cloud overall across the uk on tuesday. i think the sunniest spots will be in the south and in the east, but look at these temperatures. these are south—westerly winds, 15—16 degrees tuesday for some of us. monday and tuesday will feel like spring. and then, towards the end of the week and into next week, it's not necessarily going to turn that warm but the winds will die down, the sun will come out, and we have a high pressure, with crisp weather on the way.

this is bbc news. the headlines: spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, has banned people from leaving home unless they need to buy essential supplies and medicines or to go to work. it comes as his wife maria tests

positive for covid—19. the country is europe's worst hit state after italy. france has brought in strict measures after seeing a sharp rise in infections. prime minister edouard philippe has ordered bars, clubs, cafes a nd restau ra nts, cinemas and most shops to close. as many people as possible are being asked to work from home while schools will close from monday until further notice. the world's largest airline by passenger volume, american airlines is to cut three quarters of its international flights because of the downturn caused by coronavirus. the reduction will begin on monday and continue until may 6th. american airlines says the changes will mean parking almost its entire widebody fleet. this week, keeping our devices coronavirus free.