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.

now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. coronavirus is first and foremost a global health crisis, but its impacts go so much further. the economic damage is deep and worldwide, political systems face profound challenges too. ireland is a telling case study. last month's election left the country without a stable government. eoin 0 broin is a leading figure in sinn fein, the party that won the most votes, but failed to form a government. does political uncertainty now make ireland especially vulnerable?

eoin 0 broin in dublin, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, stephen. you hoped that by now your party would be forming a government, would be the government in ireland, but it has not worked out that way so you have to respond to what the, in essence, the caretaker government led by leo varadkar is doing. he has initiated a host of emergency measures to respond to coronavirus, do you support him? we are and in fact a number of weeks ago we proposed to the taoiseach that there should be a very strong cross party approach to tackling the virus. he accepted that and our regular meetings — there's one taking place today between the taoiseach, the ministerfor health, government advisers and the leaders of the opposition — to ensure that whatever our government formation, we have a strong cross—party view on this. it is a matter way above party politics, to ensure that everything

that needs to be done both to reduce the speed at which the virus is spreading but to also ensure that workers, families and businesses get the support they need in coming days and weeks. the extent of the emergency measures that include schools closed and now bars and pubs all being closed, a semi—lockdown of the country, what it means is that at the very most generous estimate at least 140,000 irish people are no longer able to go to work. that is extraordinarily damaging to your economy and yet, if we are honest, you have fewer than 200 cases of coronavirus. some in your countrymay feel it is an overreaction. i have to say i have not heard anyone say it is an overreaction. the crucial thing is that this is a global pandemic and we must take advice from global leaders, particularly the world health organization. if you listen to their daily press

conferences, as well as the daily press conferences of our own chief medical officer, they say speed is of the essence. the quicker we reduce the rate this disease spreads, the better able you are to get a grip on it. crucially, ensure your health services are not overwhelmed and i must say the type of action we have seen the irish government take last week and, again, the important measures to support those who've temporarily lost theirjobs and businesses that must close and other aspects of the economy, i think it is a sensible and prudent thing to do and i think because of that approach we should see a far slower rate of infection and, crucially, it will save lives and that is the most important thing any government should focus on in this crisis. talking about the economy now. how worried are you? your party is committed to a major boost to public spending and yet what we now see as an irish economy that will suffer a major knockback as a result of all the responses to coronavirus. it calls into question everything about ireland's economy and your economic

policies going forward. firstly, all economies, notjust the irish but the uk economy will be affected by this global pandemic and we all have to respond appropriately. what i will say is that if we are to have learned any lessons of the last recession it is precisely at a moment of economic uncertainty that the government needs to step up to the plate and invest and support the economy and frontline public services. we need to take a strong cross—party approach to tackling the pandemic, as i said, but we also must be involved in negotiations around a programme for a government for change that would allow us to improve the quality of our health care and tackle the housing crisis and ensure that small and medium—sized businesses have the support they need. now is the time to give them that support and if we approach this in the right, way not only will we be able to overcome the worst aspects of the virus, but also ensure our economy in the future is stronger and more

robust and people have a better quality of life and public service. i will get back to your agenda for governance and discuss with you whether it will ever be relevant. let's stick right now to the coronavirus crisis a little longer. you tell me and you have told me twice already in this interview, that you are actively engaged in national discussion with leo varadkar and his team on the response, but i am puzzled because leo varadkar and all of his party and the other main historical dominant party in ireland, this is fine gael and fianna fail, they have both said they will not talk to you about anything political because they do not regard you as part of irish politics' mainstream. firstly, as you and i are talking in this interview, a meeting is taking place in one of the government buildings. micheal martin is at it, mary mcdonald is at it.

leo varadkar is at it. they are the three leaders of the three largest parties. and they are working their way through the government's response to the coronavirus. those talks are happening and we are a central part of them. we would like to see them deepen. we think the government ministers should meet on a regular basis with opposition spokespeople as well as senior government ministers to deal with the legislative working of this virus, we will have emergency legislation come through later this week. and also the day—to—day policy responses. those talks are happening and we are a central part of them and at a time of national emergency like this, the responsible thing for all political leaders to do is to put party politics to one side and work together to tackle the serious health crisis that we face. crosstalk. that work is going on. interesting you make a point about putting politics to one side. what do you make of the sinn fein politician in northern ireland, john 0'dowd, who made a very political point the other day because he was, as many of us have done, noting the great difference in the emergency response in the republic of ireland

from northern ireland so you cross the border and on one side, the southside you have schools closed and pubs and bars closed but in northern ireland you have none of that. he said and this is a quote, the uk government is using everyone of us in northern ireland in some form of twisted medical experiment. did you approve of that language? is that what you and sinn fein in dublin also think? i would say it is almost what everyone on the island of ireland currently thinks. it does seem to be a strange case of british exceptionalism here where the entire world is following the advice of the world health organization with one exception being westminster and boris johnson. unfortunately the dup take a similar response. it makes absolutly no sense to have schools on the south and west of the border of ireland closed and businesses closed and people accepting fully and forthrightly the world health organization advice

and just a few steps, let a lone a few yards across the border, a very different situation taking place. we have teachers who cross the border, pupils who cross the border. 30,000 people a day across the border for all aspects of their life and we need a single approach to the island of ireland to ensure we slow down the spread of the disease and ensure our vulnerable sections of society, be they older people or those with underlying medical conditions are not put at risk because of reckless behaviour. he is absolutely right. we need a single approach on the island of ireland. so in one breath you say let's not be political but in the next you are characterising to me the uk as a sort of health risk for an irish citizen. what i am saying is that the world health organization are the leading experts in this field and we should all be following their advice and it does seem to many of us on this side of the irish sea as strange that the only government on the european continent and within the european area who is not following that advice rigorously is the uk government in westminster. let's both of us hope

that the spread of coronavirus in ireland can be limited and hope for the best on that. let's now dig a little deeper into the political situation in your country right now. back in february you won the most votes in the irish collection although not quite the most seats because of the way the representation system works, but you have tried and failed to form a government. is that effort of yours on the part of sinn fein to form a government led by mary lou mcdonald, is it formally and finally over? no and for those of us who have had coalitions for decades, sometimes forming a coalition can take a little longer than people in britain may appreciate we are still involved in direct negotiations with other political parties, greens, the social democrats, some progressive independent left—wing tds and by trying to put together what that government for change would look like. that has been made difficult

with the position of both fianna fail and fine gael not to talk to sinn fein about government formation. but a week is a long time in politics and while fianna fail may say something this week, they may say something else next week. our focus is very, very clear. there is a huge popular expectation after a significant electoral shift in february for a different kind of government to do policy completely differently and we are focused on bringing that about. it seems that the coronavirus crisis has overtaken the political perspective, because i have the feeling now that reading between the lines of what senior officials in both the historical big parties, fine gael and fianna fail, what they say is that both of them are saying ireland is now facing a massive national healthcare emergency and in a context like this, we must work together, us parties, to form a grand coalition, a government of national unity.

that seems to be the way politics is going. firstly, fine gael and fianna fail combined do not have the numbers and they will have to engage with other political parties. they are already talking to the greens so they can do that. they are already talking to the greens. interestingly, the greens came out last week quite critical of the way in which they felt that fianna fail in particular was taking the green party for granted and indicated clearly that they are not to be used by fianna fail and fine gael. the crucial point is this — most political parties, including ourselves, are still involved in coalition negotiations. i understand fianna fail and fine gael are meeting on wednesday this week, a meeting with the green party on fridayjust gone, and the social democrats later this week. so we are very focused. in february the people of ireland voted for real change. fundamental social, economic political and constitutional change. the political parties, the political parties that significantly increased their seats and votes were sinn fein, the social democrats and the green party, the public are calling us the parties of change, and we are spending a huge amount of time both this weekend and into the coming weeks trying to form a government that will do

exactly what the electorate asked us to do and deliver a completely different kind of economy, society, one that works for workers and families. but to be honest, it is more likely that fianna fail and fine gael will be able to achieve a grand coalition government than it is that you could cobble together an alternative government for change and in the concept of a national emergency, isn't it better to just be honest, recognise that and get on with fianna fail and fine gael finding a way to govern? firstly, i did not vote for either of those parties, nor did 24% of the electorate. i voted for sinn fein. but what is interesting is if you look at the results of the election, fianna fail lost a significant number of votes and fine gael lost a significant numbers of votes and seats. they do not have a popular mandate

to govern and they certainly do not have a popular mandate for change. the big issues that dominated the election campaign were the failure of the outgoing government to secure affordable accommodation for workers, adequate healthcare and childcare, the kind of issues that when we get to the other side of coronavirus will still be with us. so what am i doing and what is our negotiating team involved in? we are trying to do what the electorate asked us to do and form a government for change. and i say this clearly, if fianna fail and fine gael cobble together some kind of unstable government with a few gene pool independents, that will not be the sort of change that the electorate called for. i also have to think you have to say that they would be an unstable government and the kind of proposition we are putting forward to the parties is more sensible and credible and more stable and, crucially, more likely to deliver for workers and families who desperately need a break. well, i don't think anyone

would doubt that uncertainty and instability are what characterise irish politics today. the question is how to get beyond that. and given that you're not really backing down on your right to form a government, and nobody can really see a way in which you could form a government, the uncertainty will continue. and i would therefore suggest maybe the only thing that all of you politicians in ireland can do is accept the need for an urgent second election. what do you think about that? well, first of all, we don't want a second election, and nor do the electorate. they have made that very, very clear to us. but let me also say this. you are overplaying the level of instability. as i said, as we're doing this interview, all of the political parties who are in government buildings are working together to try to find a way to tackle the coronavirus. the business of forming a coalition takes a little bit of time. that is our experience. and in fact, after the 2016 election, it took 71 days. so we're in a position

where all of the political parties, with their mandates, are seeking to form a government. what sinn fein is saying is we're going to do what the electorate has asked us to do and try and form a stable, long—term government that can deliver on the really important issues that fine gael and fianna fail have only not delivered on in recent years, but also historically. i have never seen so much hope, so much expectation that things can really start to change in our economy and society, and sinn fein certainly isn't going to let our voters down. we can work together on a cross—party basis to deal with the coronavirus. but separately, political parties who have a mandate for change need to step up to the plate, form a coalition government and transform our economy and society in the way people expect us to do. it is interesting you talk about that appetite for change, and i don't think anybody looking at the election would doubt sinn fein did reach out in a successful way to a lot of particularly young people on issues that are very close to your heart, like housing, and getting much more affordable housing available for young irish people. i get that. but surely it's time for you to reflect on why, in a funny sort of way, you didn't do even better.

because yes, you got 24.5% of the vote, but it wasn't enough to make you the natural party of government. so maybe you should actually be reflecting on what is still blocking sinn fein's path to being the true party of government in ireland, and maybe what is blocking it is still that sinn fein has a problem coming to terms with the legacy of its past, and its long—term association with the ira and the men of violence in northern ireland. maybe you haven't quite dealt with that legacy properly yet. well, the only real obstacle to sinn fein delivering on our mandate is that fianna fail and fine gael are scared of change. they know that if sinn fein is in government, it will be a completely different kind of government, that challenges the status quo and starts working in the interest of ordinary people. but, with respect to the conflict, the last time i was on this show was in 2001. i was a belfast city councillor,

and it was three years after the good friday agreement has been signed. we have done an enormous amount of work as a society, political parties, including sinn fein, to deal with the legacy of the past and to build a much more stable and a much more peaceful society. i played a part in that, as have sinn fein, and we have a lot more work to do. but the only way you do that work is parties sitting around the table and working together. in the north, for example, we are back in the power—sharing agreement with the dup and other parties, and i welcome that. and it seems odd that fianna fail and fine gael have criticised sinn fein for the collapse of northern institutions and are refusing to talk to sinn fein about government. i am not sure you are really addressing... you're not really addressing my point. my point is that you need to think very carefully about your continued association with the ira. for example, three weeks ago the police commissioner in ireland, drew harris, said that he agreed with the northern ireland police authorities that sinn fein was still, to a large extent, controlled by the ira army council. that's your own irish police chief saying that.

the irish public listen to that, and it raises all the old questions about who sinn fein really are. well, interestingly, the irish electorate gave their verdict on sinn fein in the last election. we got more votes... i am not doubting you did well in the election. you got 24% of the vote. but if you want to be ireland's natural party of government, you've got to do better than that. and my point is that when the police chief comes out and says still sinn fein, ultimately, is controlled by the ira army council, you've got a political problem. so first of all, let me finish the sentence i was going to finish, and then i'll get onto the second bit of your question. the irish public have given their verdict. we took more votes and we have an equal number of seats to the other larger party, fianna fail. the second thing is there's been a number of opinion polls since the election,

and we're up ten percentage points, to 35%. so it's very clear that the electorate don't have a problem with sinn fein. but what i would also say is, as part of the architecture of the good friday agreement, an independent monitoring commission was set up to look at the process of demilitarisation, and particularly decommissioning. and in their last report, some years ago, they confirmed that the ira no longer exists, that it is fully disarmed, disbanded, and is no longer engaging in conduct... but so many people, including the irish police force, don't believe that. well, first of all, that is the independent body that was set up by the british and irish governments to mediate these matters, and i would hope that all governments and political actors agree. the particular report that you're referring to didn't actually state that the psni believes the ira is still in operation, but that an unnamed informant had reason to believe that. i don't believe that is a credible report at all. let's talk about the body set up in the agreement, the independent monitoring commission. let's go back and read the reports. but let me tell you very clearly, i am a senior sinn fein politician,

elected to parliament here. i am on the negotiating team for the formation of government talks. i know who controls our party. it's our elected representatives, it's our members and our voters, and nobody else. so why did that newly elected td, that is mps in the irish parliament, as he celebrated victory shout, "up the ra," which we all know means long live the ira? why did he do that? sure, and it was a foolish thing for him to do, and he has since apologised for the hurt he has caused. it was a late night celebration after the elections. there had been drink taken. sometimes the truth comes out when a drink has been taken. let me tell you this. as a politician of 25 years' experience, north and south, myself and all my colleagues, along with politicians from all other parties, north and south, have done everything we can to first of all bring about an end

to a 30—year—long armed conflict, but also to ensure that the causes of that conflict are dealt with, and we're able to work together in a peaceful and respectful way. and that's why we're in the position that we're in today. notjust sinn fein, in terms of our electoral support, north and south, also the executive in the north is up and running. the ministerial council met at the weekend with representatives of the irish government. many of the executive is in place. we are in a better place because of the work that — all of us have got more work to do, and all politicians, my own colleagues included, have to be very mindful but crucially, the hard work of peace building continues. but also the hard work of reforming government to deliver on the real desire for change in the south also continues, and we're going to continue to be a part of that. one final thought, then. we have painted this picture of ireland at a very crucial moment. you've got the coronavirus to deal with, as indeed do so many nations around the world, but you've also got political uncertainty. we all agree there's a great deal of uncertainty. you've also got the added factor of brexit. your very important neighbour, the united kingdom, is supposed

to be finalising the nature of its brexit trade arrangements with the eu over the next few months. that is major uncertainty for ireland. in all of that context, is it wise for you guys to still push the idea that ireland, north and south, needs a border poll to settle the status of northern ireland as as soon as possible? surely it's the right time to back off from that. well, the whole point of the good friday agreement was to give all political parties on the island of ireland peaceful and democratic means to pursue their legitimate political agendas, and the possibility of a border poll is a provision within the good friday agreement. people voted for that, north and south, and yes, we would like to see a poll in the next four or five years. in the current climate? you still want to push that idea in the current climate? there are two things that get me out of bed every morning, stephen. one is a socialjustice,

and the other is a united ireland. so that's what i do for a living. but can i also say this. i appreciate, for some of you in westminster, referenda have been very acrimonious, but it is possible to have referenda in respectful and well—informed ways. we have done that for example on the march for equality and abortion reform, and we could do that on the united ireland question as well. it has to be evidence—based, it has to be respectful. all sections of public opinion, north and south, have to be included. and of course, we are in a government for change on the other side of these talks. that would be a central element of it, as would universal healthcare, as would affordable housing, as would universal public services, better wages and conditions for people, particularly those in precarious employment. they are the reasons why sinn fein is doing so well, north and south, and we're going continue focusing on that agenda in the days and weeks ahead. eoin 0 broin, we have to leave it there, but i thank you very much forjoining me on hardtalk, from dublin. thank you.

hello. wednesday's weather brings us a mixed picture across the uk, a day of mixed fortune, certainly. colder air moving in from the north, still mild in the south and across england and wales the cloudy mild theme 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 two weather types is this weather front which is slowly sinking south across parts of wales and 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 as sleet 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 winds in the south but it could be quite breezy across the north—west of the uk with those blustery showers continuing to pack in across the north—west of scotland. fewer showers for northern ireland temperatures around nine or 10 degrees at best in the north and we can see 11—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 too quickly. it keeps mild air across parts of southern england as we head into thursday but elsewhere colour on the map, the colder 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, some wintry showers

again working towards some wintry showers again working towards the north—west, further south a band of cloud 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 we have high pressure building in from the north, still we are keeping this stubborn but weak weather front in the south. some uncertainty about its positioning but there is likely to be some rain for the channel isles and the south—west 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 england. many of us, single figures through the day on friday but mostly dry with some sunshine. further into the weekend and beyond we're looking at a mix, a few showers in the north and the west on saturday, dry conditions more widely from sunday onwards.

bye— bye.

welcome to newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: a trillion—dollar shot against coronavirus — the us says it's planning a big and bold stimulus package as the economy falls victim to the outbreak. with this invisible enemy, we don't want airlines going out of business. we don't want people losing theirjobs or not having money to live, when they were doing very well, because — four weeks ago. in a parallel move, the uk 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, faced an economic fight like this one. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. also in the programme: malaysia becomes the latest

country to impose