it is midnight here in london, 8:00am in singapore and 8:00pm in the evening in washington, where the trump administration is spearheading global efforts to help economies withstand the coronavirus pandemic. the us is preparing an aid package reported to be worth $850 billion. this has lifted spirits on wall street, with the dow jones closing up more than 5%. it will include $50 billion for airlines, which have been welcome to newsday. hit hard by travel restrictions i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: and a dropoff in demand. $250 billion will be for small business loans, a $1 trillion against coronavirus. and possible cheques sent to americans in the us says it is planning the next two weeks. a big and bold stimulus in a parallel move, britain has announced package, as the economy falls what the finance minister here describes as an unprecedented package of measures to keep victim to the outbreak. uk businesses afloat. we will have more on that later in the programme. with this invisible enemy, we but first, here is our don't want airlines going out washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue with his of business. we don't want people losing theirjobs on not having money to live, when they we re having money to live, when they were doing very well, because— four weeks ago. in a parallel move, the uk take on the us package. announces unprecedented measures to protect british businesses from the pain of the pandemic. the coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency, but it is also an economic emergency. we have never, in peacetime, well, the tone has changed on faced an economic fight like this one. the hill, there's no question i'm mariko oi in singapore. about that. there is much more also in the programme: sort of bipartisanship talk malaysia becomes the latest

country to impose a travel ban, going on up there. they are not and the lockdown has caused chaos at its border with yelling at one another, singapore. frankly, as they normally are. and what's going to happen that there is a bill going through at the moment, that's worth and voting in the age sort of $100 billion in help. of the coronavirus. three us states hold primaries, but there is a much bigger one but others have delayed theirs, 00:01:14,020 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 including the big prize, ohio. being talked about. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader up there, he is set up a group of taskforces to look at different areas of the economy, like individuals on the one hand, the airline industry on the other, small business on the other, small business on the other. they are going to draw something up and then try and knock out a deal with their democratic counterparts. by the time all this has piled up, you could be looking at somewhere in the region of $1 trillion, 1000 billion dollar bailout situation. we want to go big, go solid. the country is very strong, we've never been so strong, we've never been so strong, and that's what we're going to be doing. we don't wa nt going to be doing. we don't want — with this invisible enemy, we don't want airlines going out of business, we don't wa nt going out of business, we don't want people losing theirjobs or not having money to live, when they were doing very well just four weeks ago. so we're going big, and that's the way

it will be, and that's the way everybody seems to like it on the hill. the treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, says he wants checks, literally checks, to go out to americans within the next two weeks. now, that won't be all americans. he doesn't want to give them to millionaires, as people will argue is pretty fair, but it might be people and maybe $75,000 or less or $100,000 or less, and you are looking at a handout of maybe $1000. all this detail is to be hammered out, and that seems to be the preferred system of help that the trump administration wants to use, rather than, you know, doing anything with payroll taxes, which you wouldn't see four months and months and months. let's take a look at some of the day's other developments: the global death toll from covid—19 is now more than 7,500, and there are more than 190,000 cases. the number of dead has continued to soar in italy and spain, while france has started a strict lockdown. the european union has decided to ban travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days, in an unprecedented move to seal its borders. there are exemptions for citizens of britain, switzerland, and three

other states. the move, designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, will apply to all non—essential visits. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the dual british—iranian nationaljailed in tehran after being convicted of spying, has been temporarily released from prison for two weeks because of an outbreak of coronavirus. she will be required to wear an ankle tag and remain within 300 metres of her parents' home in iran. she is expected to be returned to prison in early april, after nowruz, the iranian new year. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has asked china to think again about a range of measures the country is taking against prominent us newspapers. china has demanded that journalists working for the new york times, the wall streetjournal and the washington post all hand in their press cards,

expelling them from working in the country. they say it is in response to action taken against chinese media outlets in the us. beijing has also reacted angrily to a tweet by donald trump which refers to, quote, the "chinese virus". a foreign ministry spokesman said the phrase stigmatised china. australia's prime minister has announced an indefinite ban on all overseas travel, in an unprecedented move designed to choke off the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. scott morrison said the instruction was very clear, saying the biggest risk and incidence of cases has come from australians returning from overseas, and adding, if we slow the spread, we do save lives.

and european football's governing body, uefa, has confirmed that euro 2020 will be delayed by a year to the summer of 2021. they have also confirmed that all club and national team competitions for both men and women's teams have been put on hold untilfurther notice due to the epidemic. as governments around the globe attempt to take decisive action in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, individuals are being reminded they must play their part. professor scott weisenberg is the director of infectious disease programme at new york university langone medical center. i asked him if countries were now taking the right action. well, i think certainly here in new york and across the united states, we a re new york and across the united states, we are seeing a marked increase in cases just given the last couple of days and i think the level of seriousness and both the population basis and both the population basis and governments, again locally

and governments, again locally and across the united states, is really changed dramatically in the last few days. i think obviously many countries, italy have already taken dramatic steps, other countries have been a little slower, china initially set the standard for this, with a very aggressive steps up front, which seems to have really altered the academic epidemic over a long period time. so i think most countries are coming back around to realising how serious it is and taking aggressive public health measures to try and arrest the spread. 0ne when you sa aggressive public health measures, are you talking full lockdown of the type we saw in italy or initially in wuhan, or social distancing, something more like we are seeing in the uk, for example. in the united states right now the main emphasis is on social distancing. some cities are requiring people to stay home. but even for people where there is not mandate for that, avoiding contact with others, certainly we have closed our bars and cafe is here in new york city, making every effort

to try and avoid unnecessary contact with others, so you avoid unforeseen transmissions to other people that would drive the epidemic and make it even worse. and how important is testing? what information does it give us? yes, so in the united states we have been very slow on our ability to test people, and are only now having widespread ability to test people. up until now we have been testing the sickest people, who fit criteria like they just came people, who fit criteria like theyjust came back from a country where there is an ongoing outbreak, so we really don't know what the wider number of people who have the disease, perhaps more mild disease, perhaps more mild disease in the united states. so in country such as career they have been very aggressive in testing people early, and they a better idea about what they a better idea about what the entire population of people at risk for the disease is in those countries. so we need that information in the united states, and many parts around the world also need that information for more aggressive testing. and when we talk about herd immunity, is that

something that is realistic? and that really protect us? well, so herd immunity means that there is enough of the population that is immune to the virus, or another organism, so that if they are exposed to it, they are not going to either get the infection or particular spread to other people. so if you have enough people. so if you have enough people that are immune to this virus in the population, then the spread would slow down or even stop, because people couldn't spread it to other people, because it would just get arrested by individuals. they wouldn't have the virus and spread it on to others. in order to know what the herd immunity is, you would actually need to know how many bleksley have the disease, which are because we don't know because we don't have the testing. based on the numbers in china, you know, they have 70,000 or 80,000 cases in china, a little less tha n 80,000 cases in china, a little less than 80,000 in the highest risk area, which is very small percentage of the population. evenif percentage of the population. even if the true number is two or three times that, they don't have anywhere near the number of people infected right now to have adequate herd immunity in those areas. now, it may turn out there's a lot more asymptomatic people who have

it, and that would be a way we could figure out that herd immunity would be something that would come up faster, but right now i would not count on that adding —— getting us out of this in the next year. malaysia has been the latest country to announce travel restrictions which came into effect on thursday. the country is banning all visitors, while residents are banned from travelling overseas. businesses will also be shut except those providing essential services like utilities, health, banking and food supplies. the imminent lockdown was causing chaos at the border with singapore, as sharanjit reports. you can see the sheer amount of traffic that has built up on it, and it has been like this for hours now as people try to make their way from malaysia to singapore. that's after the malaysian government imposed a travel ban on all residents and

visitors. now, many people live in the malaysian state just at the other end of this land bridge, also called the causeway, but they work here in singapore. you can see the sheer proximity. this bridge is literally just about a kilometre long, and it is amongst one of the busiest port of crossings in the world. now, while many countries around the world have imposed travel restrictions to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus, this particular travel ban is going to have a huge impact on the estimated 350,000 people who commute daily between malaysia and singapore, to work. the singapore authorities are saying they are now taking steps to try to make hotels and dormitories available for many of the malaysian workers who work in the city—state. it still has many people worried. translation: i heard about the travel restrictions, and it scared me, sol travel restrictions, and it scared me, so i came to singapore right away to stay at my brother's house. the travel

ban affects my so—called business and interest in both countries, singapore and malaysia. friends are very worried about this, so they had to come to my house and sleep. and it is notjust workers. malaysia also supplies a lot of singapore's food, things like vegeta bles singapore's food, things like vegetables and fruit. it has prompted singapore's trade minister to reassure singaporeans that the city has done enough to ensure supplies. malaysia has amongst the largest numbers of confirmed cases in southeast asia and its prime minister implemented the band to stop the spread. but here, just like elsewhere around the world, it is causing around the world, it is causing a great deal of monies. —— unease. just hours after the us coronavirus taskforce

announced its huge stimulus package, here in the uk, the finance minister, rishi sunak, unveiled his support plan to keep uk businesses afloat through the crisis. he said the country is in an economic emergency, and now is the time to be bold. he vowed that the government would do whatever it takes to support the economy. it came as the number of confirmed uk cases rose to nearly 2000, and with 71 deaths. our political editor laura kuenssberg is in westminster. everything seems different now. you can be on your own in the busiest parts of our biggest city. but quiet doesn't mask the worry. millions are concerned about their health, and loved ones too. but instead of shutdown, behind closed doors, the centre of government is in overdrive. they‘ re grappling with the biggestjob in generations — to save lives first, but to protect how we make a living, too. we must act like any wartime government, and do whatever it takes to support our economy. you can't blame the new

chancellor for looking serious. just 33 days into hisjob, here he is announcing a bailout of historic proportions. this national effort will be underpinned by government interventions in the economy on a scale unimaginable only a few weeks ago. this is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy. today, i am making available an initial £330 billion of guarantees, equivalent to 15% of our gdp. that means any business who needs access to cash to pay their rent, their salaries, suppliers, or purchase stock will be able to access a government—backed loan or credit on attractive terms. can you guarantee to firms who need to pay wages now and families who worry about paying the rent now that they will not lose out? while you work through the details of what comes next?

be in no doubt, the state is asking people to do something, to make very considerable changes to their lives. and it is only right, therefore, that the state should stand behind people as they make those changes. business big and small might not have the luxury of time. the office of this brighton travel company is already practically empty. i don't think borisjohnson realises that people are losing theirjobs right now. we've had to put staff on unpaid sabbatical, with no certainty of what's going to happen over the next few months. reporter: are you doing enough to stop the virus? ministers have been scrambling to find a response big and fast enough. it might sound astonishing, but even more than £300 billion might be just the start. by the government's own admission, this is now an economic emergency. so they've just promised to take vast steps to try to stop that turning

into individual hardship for millions in the coming months. taking on long—term costs for the country to try to stop a heavy and painful cost being paid by families in the coming months. the need for help for the country's health and the country's wealth is acute. reassurance is not a currency in itself. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: using every available detail, the mammoth research effort behind computer modelling to understand the spread of covid—19. also on the programme: despite the coronavirus, the democratic vote goes ahead, as three us states hold primaries. 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore.

i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: washington prepares a massive stimulus package to bolster the us economy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. the british government has also unveiled plans for a huge programme to help businesses, workers and households overcome the effects of the pandemic. with parts of the us in lockdown, the coronvirus —— coronavirus pandemic is now taking its toll on the presidential trail. ohio was one of four states due to hold democratic primary votes on tuesday, but the state's governor ordered polling stations to close. for more on this i'm joined now by our correspondent, david willis, in los angeles. i understand that some results are coming in so talk us through it please. there are primary is today place in

arizona, illinois and florida and cbs news projection, this is not a result but a projection from our north american partner network, cbs, is thatjoe biden has won the florida primary, taking with it a considerable number of delegates there and there are in total 4111 delegates up for grabs tonight and we expect, the polls disclosed in illinois as well but no projections from there. arizona is a few hours behind us. a big night forjoe biden tonight following his victories over the last few weeks in which he has taken 16 of the 21 states delegates up for grabs. it could give him an unassailable lead in this contest over bernie sanders and possibly lead to renewed calls for the vermont senator to drop out of the race. but the coronavirus outbreak has been

dominating the agenda and affecting some of those primary votes as well. what of the candidates been saying about this? it really has had a profound effect and the candidates have cancelled rallies, they have had online rallies, they have had online rallies, that is the best they have been able to mount over the last week or so and the effect on the running of these primary is has been profound. there is a shortage of pulse staff and polling stations in some instances as locations have had to cancel and those who turned up to vote have been required to stand the mandatory six feet apart. but what all this has meant for turnout, of course, will be the very big question and we will have to wait and see. it doesn't just

it doesn'tjust dominate the democratic nomination race it also dominates the papers. the japan times leads on the future of the tokyo olympics. the paper says prime minister shinzo abe may have accepted that the games need to be postponed because of the risks of the virus. here he is on a conference call with other g7 leaders, discussing how to manage the crisis. the philippines star has a dramatic picture of people behind police barriers after a community quarantine was introduced in bulacan. the paper says president duterte has declared a six month nationwide ‘state of calamity‘ to combat coronavirus. and the new york times leads with italy, where traditional funerals have been banned. the picture shows undertakers in bergamo, where the cemetary has been closed for the first time since the first world war. so the newspapers are dominated by coronavirus. here in the uk, a big increase in restrictions on everyday

life has been partly prompted by research from imperial college london. the scientific modelling from a team there warned that britain was on course for a "catastrophic epidemic", and the number of deaths in the uk could reach a quarter of a million. that was unless officials took a different approach to the pandemic. here's our science editor, david shukman. from the start of the outbreak in wuhan, there has been a huge research effort behind the scenes, scientists using every detail to develop a computer simulation of the disease. it's called a model and it is what the british government's initial response was based on. but then came northern italy, where more people need intensive care than anyone expected. so the forecasts have had to be adjusted. there is new data emerging from italy and now from our intensive care units here in london to suggest that the level of treatment that is required for a small fraction of these cases is more intense

than we fought. we keep hearing about the modelling of the outbreak, but what does that actually mean? it is basically maths, calculations about different factors that influence the disease. this model was for wuhan, to work out the rate of infection. it is how scientists quickly found out that on average, every person who gets the virus can pass it on to at least two others. so over a month, one case can lead to more than 200. china has responded by closing off entire cities. other countries have done the same. but until now, the uk has kept the most drastic measures in reserve. so critics have questioned the modelling of the outbreak in britain. but the scientists doing the work say it is better than nothing. models are not crystal balls. they are better than just guessing, which is what you would otherwise have to do. but they are reliant on the data we feed into them and there is lots that we do not know about this virus and also lots we don't know about what the effectiveness of these interventions

really will be. so how effective are these computer models of the outbreak? they have to rely on a lot of assumptions about things that aren't known. such as if people have the virus but do not show symptoms, how easily can they pass it on? and then a really critical question — if someone has been infected with the virus and then gets better with a full recovery, is it then possible for them to get it again? chinese television, reporting on research into a possible vaccine. that won't come soon, but it is part of a frantic search around the world to understand the virus and to minimise its impact. david shukman, bbc news. a fascinating insight. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm mariko oi in singapore. stay with us. we'll have business news and more on that massive stimulus package to help the us economy, which saw markets pick up after days of huge losses.

we will be looking at how the asian markets have responded to that. australia's market is down and investors are a bit confused but the japanese market is up. we will have more detail shortly but for the time being thanks for watching abc world news. hello. wednesday's weather brings us a mixed picture across the uk, a day of mixed fortune, certainly. cold air moving in from the north, still mild in the south and across england and wales the cloudy male—female continues through the day with outbreaks of rain. for scotland and northern ireland a different story, cold and frosty start to the morning with a mix of sunshine and a few showers around. the dividing line between the weather types is this whether front which is slowly sinking south across parts of wales in northern england as well

through wednesday morning. north of that we have a chilly north—westerly flow so after a frosty start for scotland and northern ireland we see showers working in and they will fall asleep in snow over the highest mountains in scotland further south we have a band of rain pushing across northern england towards the midlands into wales and much of southern england should stay dry for a good part of the day but fairly cloudy and grey. light wind in the south but it could be quite breezy across the north—west of the uk with those blustery showers continuing to pack in north—west of scotland. fewer showers were northern ireland temperatures around nine or 10 degrees at best in the north and we can see 13 further south. moving through wednesday night on into thursday we still have a weather front that will linger over the next few days, not moving anywhere weekly. it keeps mild air across parts of southern england as we head into thursday but elsewhere the blue colour on the map, the cold feel to the weather as the wind comes from a north—westerly direction. for much of the uk, crisp to start

with frost here and there but a lot of sunshine, wintry showers again working towards the north—west, further south a band of cloud and is outbreaks of across the south—west of england and a few showers getting into the south—east as well. temperatures for most of us between seven and 10 degrees so it could feel mild. looking towards the end of the working week now, thursday into friday week now, thursday into friday we have high pressure building in from the north, still we are keeping this stubborn but weak whether front in the south. some uncertainty about its positioning but there is likely to be some rain through the channel isles in the south—west of england. for the rest of the uk of england. for the rest of the u k m ostly of england. for the rest of the uk mostly dry, variable cloud, cool where you have a breeze coming off the north sea for places like east anglia, eastern scotland and parts of east england, single figures through the day on friday but mostly dry with some sunshine. further into the weekend and beyond we're looking at a mixed, a few showers in the and the west on saturday, dry

conditions more widely from sunday onwards. i buy.

i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story: the us and the uk bring in massive stimulus packages to bolster their economies in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. shares on wall street closed up 5.2% on the news the white house was planning a financial rescue worth up to $850 million. britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, said the uk was on a wartime footing as its stimulus package was unveiled. it includes $400 billion of loan guarantees for businesses hit by the fall in trade. and another public health message—turned—music video has gone viral. wash your hands, don't touch yourface. a south african choir are the latest

stars whose simple message to fight the outbreak is trending online. that's all, stay with bbc world news.