welcome to bbc news — i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: the us federal reserve has cut interest rates for a second time in a fortnight to protect the us economy from the worst consequences of the cornavirus pandemic. we'll have the latest on how asian markets are reacting to the decision and the impact the virus is having on the global economy. as the death tolljumps in france, italy and spain, we report from madrid, on the huge pressures on hospitals and medical workers. translation: you go home and you cannot kiss your child or your husband or get too close, you cannot talk to your friends. and growing numbers of parents in the us prepare for home learning as more and more states order schools to close.

central banks around the world, led by the us federal reserve, have taken concerted action to halt the economic slump provoked by the coronavirus pandemic. the fed slashed interest rates by a full percentage point on sunday and announced a multi—billion dollar package of quantitative easing, to encourage spending. it said it expected a rate of virtually zero to be maintained until the bank was confident that the economy had weathered events. here's president trump's response. the federal reserve is going to be purchasing $500 billion of treasuries and $200 billion of mortgage—backed securities and that number can increase, but they are going to start with that and that is really good news, it's really great for our country. it's something that we're very happy, i have to say this, very happy.

0ur north america correspondent, david willis explains why the ferderal reserve are acting now. they are acting now out of concern, i think it's to say, mayram, over the effects of the coronavirus in the united states, and of course around the world. we've seen markets in freefall over the last few weeks as the impact of this virus has become apparent. clearly, president trump has been very, very concerned about that. he's been putting a lot of pressure on the federal reserve to do something fairly drastic like this and having cut interest rates earlier this month, just a couple of weeks ago, attempted stimulus, the fed has gone further, announcing on a sunday evening, would you believe, that it is basically cutting by a full 1% which means it will virtually be free to borrow

money here in the us. they are saying this will have an effect on businesses. it will of course lead to them paying less in interest rates. it will also affect people who have credit cards. whether or not it will actually lead to more money going into the economy at a time so many people are choosing to stay at home because of the virus remains to be seen. david, president trump shows he is happy with the decision. how much was political, given the pressure the president has in the past but on the federal reserve to cut rates? well, i think there was obviously a political element. just mentioning there with all this, president trump has made no secret of the fact that he has disagreed with a lot of the decisions that the federal reserve chairman jerome powell has made, not least mr powell's reticence to cut interest rates with quite the vigor that president trump would have liked to have seen.

but the president, much, much more magnanimous towards jerome powell today, saying this was a terrific move, offering his congratulations to the board of the federal reserve. but how would the global markets react to this use of a bazooka by major central banks to make it easier for banks to get more money out to their customers? they could soar on the news of cheaper money and the impression of a firm grip on the problem or they could collapse even further — believing that it was a signal that this coronavirus is going to be even worse than originally feared. let's get an update from mariko 0i in our asia business hub in singapore. i'm guessing the latter has come true, the markets are more in here. indeed, maryam, and if you look at japan's mckay, it's been acting like a yo—yo, a lunch break and in the morning session, pretty much flat. it

was in and out of the negative territory all morning. investors have been waiting for this emergency monetary policy meeting, in response to the fed's emergency rate cut which has just started about one minute ago they are basically waiting to see what kind of measures the bank of japan might announce measures the bank of japan mightannounce in measures the bank of japan might announce in order to stimulate its economy that if you look at elsewhere in the region —— region, let's look at hong kong's index, its lower by 296 hong kong's index, its lower by 2% and that is a similar story across the region. we are seeing a lot of red arrows following that emergency rate cut by the federal reserve as you mentioned. investors seem somewhat spooked by the fact that the fed had to act ahead of its scheduled meeting which was only scheduled to start on wednesday and that's what we are seeing, if you look at us futures numbers as well and that's probably not what resident trump had in mind when he said that he was very pleased with how the fed reacted but it seems like investors are more surprised by

the fact that the fed had acted so quickly, so dramatically in order to tackle this economic impact. of course, one has to wonder what else is left for the fed to do, given this bazooka that it fired. absolutely, thank you very much mariko oi in our singapore hub. the first human trial of any vaccine to protect against coronavirus will begin in the us city of seattle on monday. 45 young, healthy volunteers will receive various doses without being infected. the vaccine doesn't contain any part of the coronavirus, but will instruct a patient‘s own cells to produce proteins that could prevent, treat or cure disease. as we've been reporting, days after becoming the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, europe has been altered beyond recognition. the streets of rome, madrid and paris are deserted. spain is in a state of emergency with the whole population in near total lockdown. from the capital madrid, here's damian grammaticas. you may find this

report distressing. she is gasping, grief stricken, infected with the virus. last night, in this hospital, her husband died. today, doctors have told her to go home. there aren't enough beds to treat her. she is not sick enough, not yet. around her, trying to calm her, are her children, now at extreme risk too. they warn us to wear masks, keep a distance. spain is in the grip of the virus. everywhere it's close at hand. milagros tells me the medics working double shifts are overwhelmed and fearful of being infected themselves. translation: it's so hard. you go home and you cannot get close to your child or your husband. but it's what we have to do. and this is that

frustration boiling over. "don't come to the hospital if your symptoms are mild," the doctor says. "people have to stop flooding emergency rooms." and so spain has ordered everyone off the streets. madrid, a major european capital — silent. the police tell anyone they see to go home. unseen, the virus is propagating, and also the anxiety. so this is what happens when a country really starts to fear the threat posed by the virus. this is part of madrid's financial district, and take a look down here. one of the biggest avenues through the city. just two days ago this was thronged — now, almost empty. you're allowed out to buy food or go to work. petrol stations are one of the few places that are open

and people have to keep a distance. but spain was slower to do this than italy. they should have had protective measures before because i mean, we're neighbours. it was impossible not that it was not going to spread to here. applause. and last night, this has happened. applause, all across spain, to thank the country's doctors. they came out of their clinics forjust a few minutes to acknowledge the gesture. gracias! then got back to work, trying to save hundreds more from succumbing to the virus. damian grammaticas, bbc news, madrid. the governor of new york state, andrew cuomo, has announced that schools in new york city, and three counties just outside the city, will close from monday.new york city's public school system is the largest in the world with more than a million students being taught in more than seventeen—hundred schools. governor cuomo had earlier been criticised for insisting that schools should remain open. this is what he said

on saturday. for many families, the school's childcare. if you close the schools and the children are home, a large percentage of the workforce may say i have to stay home and take care of the children. randi weingarten is the president of the american federation of teachers, i asked her why she thought governor cuomo had changed his mind. mr cuomo is the governor of the state but it was important to have a change of heart from the mayor of the city of new york who was also basically the head of the new york city school system. what you are seeing is, over 2a of the 50 states now in the united states have said schools will be closed for a period of time. you also just had guidance from the centres for disease control that for the next eight weeks, there shouldn't be

gatherings of more than 50 people. and so what you're seeing is that america is starting to do what now italy, france, spain has done in times of creating social distancing, particularly because we don't have the kind of tests we need to get a sense of who has or who doesn't have the virus. and just like you have in the uk, and we feel for you like just like we feel for those of us in in america. we cannot fight this disease without actually knowing who has the disease and what the transmission vectors are. it's agonising to close schools because in america, we feed kids in school, schools of the centre of community, we do a lot of things that help kids in schools so it's an agonising choice but it's a choice we need to do to actually make sure the health and safety

of people are protected. you touched on the social impact, that will be huge. how much support is there from parents for this move? what was happening, i'm the president of the ft, we have 3,500 locals throughout the united states, and we are in a0 of the states but i happen to live in new york city and the parents and teachers were in an uproar that the schools were not going to be closed because again, there is not a way of knowing who is carrying the virus because we have not had the kind of tests that we need to have, the tests that they have in south korea, the tests that they have in so other places and there is a lot of criticism in the states the trump administration really botched up the beginning processes here of how to make sure that our health system was ready for the surge and make sure we had enough tests.

so parents around new york city were trending on twitter, were saying we've got to close the schools because we don't know who is carrying it and who isn't. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: easier said than done, we'll bring you some top tips to help keep your hands away from yourface. 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 news, the latest headlines: drastic action from the federal reserve to tackle coronavirus: it's cut interest rates to 0.25% and announced co—ordinated action with other central banks. as the death toll across europe rises, spain begins a state of near lockdown — with people only allowed out of their homes to work, buy food or get medical care.

brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has left self—isolation to greet pro—government supporters protesting against the congress. he was seen shaking hands and taking selfies outside the presidential palace in brasilia. mr bolsonaro put himself into quarantine after at least five members of his delegation tested positive for coronavirus over the last week following a trip to the us for meetings with president trump. he has already said that he does not have the coronavirus and he gave an obscene gesture outside the presidential palace to the press, noting that his test had negative results. since then it is understood he is undertaking more tests and has entered or had entered, at least, a period of isolation which was expected to last for at least

seven days. now when the pro—government rallies kicked off today across the country and when the pro—government rally advanced on the presidential palace in brasilia that was the second instance of when mr bolsonaro left his self—imposed — his advised isolation period. he went out to meet the demonstrators and took photographs with them, shook hands. earlier in the day before he met them personally it was understood he left isolation at the presidential palace in a car and accompanied a protest with a car in the capital brasilia. the presidentjust this week on tuesday was saying that the coronavirus is much more fantasy. in an interview with cnn brazil he said that he still encourages people to go to football events and does not

really see anything wrong with what is going on. he made some insinuations that there was an economic motive behind what he describes as hysteria about coronavirus. he says hysteria and yet there are still some cases in brazil. how many are there and what is being done? we have had about 200 cases confirmed and reported so far, no death, there is one patient understood to be in a critical condition also in the capital but that is a patient who already had a terminal illness. no death so far but 200 cases and these are expected to rise through anything up to 4000 within the next week—10 days and that was before these pro—government rallies today. measures that are being put, there have been

coming from government, from congress which is on lockdown. state governors themselves, individual states are proposing measures. here in sao paulo it is understood that tomorrow will be the last day of school for young people in the state. it is understood that theatres will be closing, entertainment venues, anywhere where there will be a conglomeration of people. and that is reflected across different states in brazil. we have seen the governor and former bolsonaro ally in rio dejaneiro state advise peopl not to go to the beach. as of saturday there were a lot of people visiting the beach. but there is a growing concern here in brazil among members of the informal labour workforce, — much of thejob recovery seen after the recent years financial crisis and economic crisis, has come from the informal economy — street vendors and uber drivers and when you speak with these

people, you see many of them are concerned about the growing crisis. let's return to europe where measures have been put in place to try to contain the spread of coronavirus, and limit the impact on health services and vulnerable people. rich preston has this look at what's been introduced across the continent. a wave of restrictions across europe from the closure of borders to the shutting of schools, restaurants and business. millions of people have been told to stay at home. as the number of cases climb in germany, it has announced it will seal its borders with france, austria and switzerland. people without good reason will not be allowed to cross into the country. commuters and goods vehicles will be exempt. there are now more than a800 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country with 12 deaths. in the netherlands, which has seen more than 1100 cases, bars, restaurants and cafe's will be closed. last round! in amsterdam, queues outside

cannabis cafes with customers hoping to make a purchase before the door is shut. croatia says anyone arriving from a country with infections covid—i9 infections must self isolate for 14 days. european union members have been told the best way to get through the crisis is to pool resources and work together to start making essential life—saving equipment. we are working with industry to ramp up reduction. second, we need to keep in the eu the protective equipment that we need. this is why we adopted today and expert authorisation scheme for protective equipment. this means that such medical goods can only be exported to a non—eu country with the explicit authorisation of the eu governments. in the czech republic, people are only allowed to go out to go to and from work and purchase food, medicine or make an urgent family visit. otherwise the instructions

are to be at home. in poland, mass is held in empty churches. austria is banning any gatherings, public or private, of more than five people. in ireland, pubs will be closed. pressure is mounting on government to act rigorously to limit the spread of the disease and to put measures in place to be able to deal with the increasingly large number of cases. for the first time in three weeks, south korea has reported fewer than 100 new coronavirus cases. after china it has the highest number of cases with over 8000 confirmed infections and 75 deaths. that south korea seems to be enjoying a downward trend in new cases. the basic principle is openness, transparency and fully keeping

the public informed and i think that this is paying off. testing is essential because that leads to early detection, it minimises further spread and quickly treat those found with the virus and i think that is the virus and i think that is the key behind our low fatality rate as well. well, for the past few weeks, we have all been told the best thing we can still do to prevent the spread of coronavirus is to wash our hands and not touch our faces. psychologist natasha tiwari has these tips to help you. don't touch your face. and i haven't touched my face in weeks. because we can't help it. it is part of our dna and we are hardwired to do it. we know this because humans as young as foetuses in utero touch their face, so every time you tell yourself to not touch your face you are telling

yourself to do something that is entirely unnatural. when we touch our face we are calming ourselves down, we touch certain areas of our face and what we're really doing is activating certain pressure points that activate something called the parasympathetic nervous system which is the thing that makes us calm ourselves down internally. we see the same response in dogs and cats. children model the same behaviour as their pa rents. so if our parents, when they are shocked, they touch their face, when they are surprised they touch their face or when they are upset they touch their face, we are likely to do the same thing. the irony is at a time when it is more important than ever to not touch your face, unconsciously your mind is constantly moving to a place where it can better protect you by doing the things it knows will soothe you so your unconscious mind will prompt your hands to go straight to your face. while it is almost impossible to totally stop touching yourface,

a key way you can go about making it easier to take out the habits that lead you to do it. that may mean wearing glasses instead of contact lenses. it may mean less make—up so you don't have to touch it up through the day. it may also mean creating habits around how you use your hands. rather than moving around and having a hands like this and making it easy for it to land on yourface, making an effort to cross your hands and put them in your lap. then when the urge comes to pick your hands up and touch your face, you will be more aware of what you are doing and quicker to catch yourself. i cleaned my hands before i touched my face. some top tips there about how to stop touching your face. we have more information about coronavirus on our website including this, a guide on how to protect your mental health

during the global pandemic. many of you feeling anxious about what is happening in the world right now. now reuters news agency has reported that america los angeles has ordered all restaurants, bars and nig htclu bs to all restaurants, bars and nightclubs to close as part of an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. that news follows media reports we have had over the last few minutes that the mayor of new york city has made a similar order and asking restau ra nts a similar order and asking restaurants bars a similar order and asking restau ra nts bars a nd a similar order and asking restaurants bars and cinemas in new york to be shot, except for delivery. more of that as we get it before we go, a top reminder of the top story. the federal reserve has acted to limit the damage to the global economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic, slashing interest rates by a full percentage point and pumping billions of dollars into financial markets. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter —

i'm @bbcmaryam thank you so much for your company. we've got some good weather on the way. monday is expected to be a sunny day, across much of the country, after what has been a bit of a changeable weekend for some of us. and the weather front moving away towards the east. a big gap in the clouds here. and this is where our area of high pressure is coming from, in fact, an azores high is building in, from the south—west, and that's clearing the skies across the uk from monday. but there is low pressure out there in the atlantic, and it will bring some rain later on monday, to north—western parts of the country. but this is what looks in the short term. you can see where the air frost is, where blue colours are. most major towns and cities probably just around freezing, but certainly out in the countryside a frost. so first thing in the morning on monday,

apart from a few areas, it will start off sunny. remember that frost, but then, in the north—west of the uk, come the afternoon, it is going to cloud over, the winds will strengthen, and we are expect rain in northern ireland and western scotland. looks like glasgow is in for some rainfall, at least by the time we get around the middle of the afternoon. here's tuesday's weather forecast — the high—pressure, that azores high that's building in right now, will slip away a little bit further towards the south and the east, and allow for some of these weather fronts to make inroads, so that does means that, after a beautiful and sunny start to the week on monday, tuesday is going to turn a little bit more cloudy. you can see that cloud streaming in, on a south—westerly wind and, on top of that, we've got yet more rain there for northern ireland and also particularly western scotland. but with south—westerly winds also comes mild air, so you can see there temperatures there widely into the mid teens, across england. and through the course of tuesday night and into wednesday, pretty much the same. so this weather front that is sliding in

on these south—westerlies, keeps bringing mild air to the south of the country. quite a bit of cloud around and even some rain too at times, but across northern parts of the uk, a different source of those winds coming in — source of wind direction — coming in from the north atlantic so it's going to be colder there, eight degrees in glasgow but 16 in london, remember in those south—westerlies. so that is the middle of the week. come thursday and friday, a bit of a hiccup really in the weather and we are expecting some of these weather fronts to develop across southern areas, and the rain could turn quite heavy by friday, temporarily, across the south, and you can see how the weather goes downhill, for example, in london. a beautiful monday, then it warms up by friday, expect some rain in london and in cardiff. but come the weekend, it should dry out once again.

this is bbc news, the headlines: central banks around the world, led by the us federal reserve, have taken concerted action to halt the economic slump provoked by the coronavirus pandemic. the fed slashed interest rates by a full percentage point on sunday and announced a multi—billion dollar package of quantitative easing. initial indications suggest the moves have not done enough to reassure markets. in the first hour of trading the dollar fell and the nikkei futures fell by 6%. global markets have fallen by twenty percent in recent weeks as the virus shut down international commerce. as the death tolljumps in france, italy and spain borders are being sealed and businesses shuttered as countries try to stop the spread of the disease. the european union has told member states that the best way to fight the pandemic, is to coordinate efforts and pool resources.