this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top stories: europe locks out the world, eu leaders agree to close the border to the bloc, the latest step to combat the coronavirus pandemic. deserted restaurants, empty bars, british businesses will get hundreds of billions of pounds in government support after a fall in trade. the cost of coronavirus, the trump administration asks for more than a trillion dollars for a stimulus package that could include cheques sent to americans to give them a financial boost. "scale up efforts to stop the virus", the warning to south east asia from the world health organisation as infections rise

in the region. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and we'd love to hear from you, today we are asking how are you coping with social distancing or self isolation? do tell us your story and your experience — what is happening where you are? just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. the european union is banning travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days in an unprecedented move to seal its borders

amid the coronavirus crisis. the measure is expected to apply to all 26 eu states as well as iceland, liechtenstein, norway and switzerland. there are exemptions for british citizens. the ban came as deaths continued to soar in italy and spain, and france began a strict lockdown. europe is now considered the epicentre of the pandemic, which has killed 7,500 globally. rich preston reports. more than 3000 people have died from coronavirus in europe, and officials are desperate to contain the spread of the virus. the european union ‘s entire external border will be sealed, all non—essential travel into the eu locked for 30 days. and let me stress once more, we are ready to do everything that is required. we will not hesitate to take

additional measures as the situation evolves. in the german capital berlin, a near total lockdown. businesses in europe's economy ground to a halt. 0fficials raised the risk of infection for german people from medium to high. in france, severe restrictions on people's movements as of midday tuesday. within minutes, police were on the streets, an extra 100,000 officers deployed to enforce the rules. emergency measures being put in place at this hospital, preparing for a potential surge in cases. in spain, 15 residents of the nursing home and madrid confirmed killed by the virus. spain has seen nearly 12,000 cases, more than 500 of them fatal. state of emergency has been across the country. 0thers, doing what they can to lift their spirits in the face

of increasing restrictions on normal life. rich preston, abc news. “— normal life. rich preston, abc news. —— bbc news. here in the uk the government has described a package of help for the economy as unprecedented, to help firms get through the coronavirus pandemic. the plan is worth £330 billion or $400 billion, in loans. business groups say they want to make sure the money reaches struggling firms as quickly as possible. john mcmanus has the details. 45—year—old craig ruston, living with motor neuron disease and now lived to be the youngest of them of the coronavirus. he died on monday morning, his wife sally says she is heartbroken. the government, now moving to prevent similar tragedies. government, now moving to prevent similartragedies. in 1973 in the context of the energy crisis, the government assumed emergency powers. fast

forward 47 years, and another conservative government is about to ask parliament to give it sweeping powers. this time, to tackle a pandemic. the emergency coronavirus bill will be put before the commons on thursday. if past, it will allow police to arrest and isolate people to protect public health. border force will also be able to suspend operations at airports and other transport hubs if security couldn't be guaranteed. in hospitals, paperwork would be cut back to allow patients to be discharged quickly and free up vital beds. recently retired nhs and social ca re recently retired nhs and social care staff could be returned to work without losing their pension rights while those who stay away from work to self isolate would get statutory sick pay from day one. yesterday, the chancellor rishi sunak supported government backed loans, business tax cuts

and support for homeowners who found themselves unable to meet their payments. but there is no word on whether those who rent will get similar help. this is state intervention on a scale not seen for decades to tackle an unprecedented problem. the coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency but it is also an atomic emergency. we have never in peacetime faith and economic fight like this one. “— and economic fight like this one. —— also and economic emergency. from today, sainsbury‘s will restrict customers to a maximum of three of any grocery products, and only two of items such as soap and toilet paper, and like iceland who is reserving some shopping hours for the elderly and vulnerable. john mcmanus, bbc news.

more on that to come in business briefing and just over 20 minute. the world health organisation has also issued a stark warning to countries in south east asia, urging them to immediately scale up all efforts to stop the virus infecting more people. so far thailand and indonesia have the region's highest number of confirmed cases. as we've been reporting, over the last few days the rate of new infections in china, where the virus originated, appears to be slowing down. let's get an overview of the region form our correspondent stephen mcdonell who's in beijing. the who now really putting its focused on southeast asian countries? yes, the problem

continues to shift from place to place, as china, south korea seemed to have stabilised, the problem moved elsewhere, to the likes of the philippines and this is partly because other countries don't have the same options available, either in terms of china's ability to lock all cities down and controlled the entire population, or that organisation ability in south korea with mass testing and also the way in which people in those countries, if they are told it's best to stay indoors, in south korea you are not made to stay indoors, theyjust tell people that it's best to do it. 0ther people that it's best to do it. other countries don't necessarily have that kind of discipline in terms of being used to implementing those things and that is why the world health organization is focusing on those other countries. and it is quite interesting, as far as china is concerned, as you say, the situation is really stabilised

but they are very concerned about importing it now, aren't they? hello yeah, again for the second day in a row, only one extra homegrown infection in the whole country, that's in wuhan. all the other infections are coming from people coming in from overseas and that is why you are seeing the focus on overseas arrivals and people having to go into quarantine when they arrive. but it is amazing that, at this time, the likes of china and the us, to be cooperating with one another and instead we have more of this diplomatic bat arcing up between them stopping the latest move has been china declaring that all american journalist working for the wall streetjournal, new york times and the washington post, if their press credentials run out this year, that's most of them, they are going to be expelled from the country. this is a tit—for—tat thing that has been

going on between washington and beijing over the treatment of correspondence, but i think many around the world will be looking to washington and beijing and thinking, really? is the time to be having fights like this? it follows president trump referring to the virus as a chinese virus. it follows china spreading conspiracy theories about us soldiers bringing the virus to this country, and yet relations just seem to plummet between these two countries at a time when we have a global emergency on our hand, and many would say we need international understanding and cooperation. absolutely, thank you stephen. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. australia's prime minister has announced an indefinite ban on all overseas travel. scott morrison said the biggest risk and incidence of cases has come from australians returning from overseas. the government has now also banned gatherings of 100 people or more.

but schools still remain open. brazil has announced the partial closure of its land border with venezuela, banning venezuelans and other foreigners from crossing. at least 30 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in venezuela. in brazil, there are about 300 confirmed cases and one person has died. the tunisian government is imposing a curfew from 6:00pm—6:00am every day starting wednesday. the army will be deployed to carry out the control measures in the north african country, where there have been 2a confirmed cases, and no fatalities. three more american states have been holding primary votes to decide the democratic party's nominee to fight donald trump for the presidency. they went ahead as scheduled in florida, arizona and illinois, despite concerns about the coronavirus. there are only two serious contenders left, the vermont senator, bernie sanders and former vice—president joe biden, who has won

16 of the 21 states who've already voted. let's speak to the bbc‘s north america correspondent david willis. so, david, very unusual times, not the usual rallies beforehand and after the event speeches, put us through how this went. absolutely, these victories tonight sally, substantially boost joe biden's delegate count and his chances of securing his party's presidential nomination. for bernie sanders, in contrast, it would seem to snuff out any hopes of a comeback, as his supporters have been hoping for. joe biden proving very popular as he tends to do with older and african—american voters, and indeed in a live

strea m voters, and indeed in a live stream after the polls had closed from his home in delaware, the former vice president reached out to the younger voters, people who tend to favour bernie sanders, telling them they hear you, i know what's at stake. and talk us know what's at stake. and talk us through the logistics of this in terms of how they managed to put this on despite coronavirus and concern of spread of that. it absolutely had a tremendous effect, both in the preparations, the lead up, rallies were cancelled, get out the vote, fundraising efforts, all had to be cancelled in favour of tally town halls and live stream type events. as far as the primaries themselves were concerned on themselves were concerned on the ground, logistical problems of all sorts, some polling stations had to be moved to other locations, some polling staff didn't turn up for work because of fears of the virus,

and surprisingly though, despite all that, the turnout in florida and arizona are said to have been higher than the totals in 2016 with the democratic primaries then. that is largely thought to be because of the availability of early voting and voting by mail. indeed, in florida, more than1 million mail. indeed, in florida, more than 1 million people mail. indeed, in florida, more than1 million people are mail. indeed, in florida, more than 1 million people are said to have voted early. and the pandemic and how it is being handled has put the spotlight on the healthcare system in the united states, so dominic social welfare system for those who are less well off, this will make a huge impact on how people vote in november. and absolutely well. and it is interesting, both democratic candidates have flatly different views on how the health crisis, as they call it in america, can be solved, but they both said they pledged to support each other, depending on who ends up securing the

nomination, that does not look like it is going to bejoe biden's to lose, but in a wider context, the coronavirus has had a considerable impact already on the 2020 presidential election campaign here at. ohio cancelled its primary that was due to take place tonight and four other states have put back their primary is from dates that were originally scheduled. all right, david, thank you very much indeed. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the race for a vaccine is on. we speak to one of the human testers of an experimental treatment. 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. you are watching the briefing. our headlines: leaders of european union nations agree to close

the border to the bloc, the latest step to combat the coronavirus pandemic. deserted restaurants, empty bars. british businesses will get hundreds of billions of pounds in government support after a fall in trade. the race is on for a vaccine against covid—19. joining me now is rebecca sirull, one of 45 volunteers testing an experimental vaccine in seattle. rebecca, thank you so much for talking to us. first of all, just tell us about this process , just tell us about this process, and how you were approached, why you agreed to go ahead. sure, absolutely. thank you for having me. so i first got a letter in the mail probably thank you for having me. so i first got a letter in the mail probably about a month ago, right when we were starting to hear more about coronavirus on the news, saying that they were starting a vaccine trial,

looking for potential participants. and i thought it just sounded kind of interesting. at that point i was just interested in seeking more information. so i had a couple of phone calls, initial screenings, and then went in for a first screening visit, to make sure i was eligible for the study, and for their i had the study, and for their i had the first vaccination yesterday, and will have another one a month from now, and then continue to have follow—up visits for the coming year, to see how i am progressing. and just talk us through the risk you are taking, because this is human trials, isn't it, priorto taking, because this is human trials, isn't it, prior to any trials, isn't it, prior to any trials on animals at all. it is straight to you guys. yes, we are the first human trials. the risk is relatively low, since they are using a messenger rna protein as opposed to a live virus, so we won't actually be exposed to the virus itself at any point, they just exposed to the virus itself at any point, theyjust expose the virus to our bodies and see if we are able to produce enough antibodies to fight a potential

infection in the future. and what is the hope, in terms of the outcome? those who are conducting this testing, what are they telling you about its success so far? yes, of course, the goal is that eventually it will be approved and widely available for the public to use to prevent any outbreak like this in the future. you know, there is still a lot of approval process that needs to happen. it is probably at least another year before we would potentially be able to see it available for public use. but thatis available for public use. but that is what we are all kind of working towards. many are looking at you and others who are doing the testing as well and thinking, well, you are pretty brave, but it is very important, what you are doing right now. yes, i mean, it definitely feels exciting to be pa rt definitely feels exciting to be part of this, and i think at a time where most of us are told basically to, you know, stay at home and don't take any risks and be really, really cautious, it feels good to be able to be doing something tangible, and hopefully working towards a possible solution for the

future. so that is really exciting to be a part of. at in terms of the restrictions on you during this trial, presumably you have to check in regularly, and are you restricted on where you can go and what you can do? yes, the only restrictions that we have are not to leave the country for at least a month after the second vaccination, and we do check—in very regularly with the doctors and researchers at the doctors and researchers at the clinic. we take our temperature every day, we monitor ourselves for any other symptoms. you know, fever, cough, headaches, things like that, and we report back to them every day with how we're feeling. and how do your family feeling. and how do your family feel about you taking part? yes, i think my parents at first were a little bit sceptical, as any parent would be, but now that they have seen, you know, how important this is, they are really proud that i am doing my part to try to help out. all right, rebecca, it has been great to have you on the programme. thank you for talking to us. and we hope it is a success,

this mission, as it were, that is taking place there in seattle, as well as other places. in europe they are racing to find a vaccine for covid—19. many sporting events have of course been cancelled or postponed due to the covid 19 crisis. —— covid—19 crisis. let's get an update from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm maz farookhi, with wednesday's sport briefing. men's football's european championship is one of the latest major sporting events to be disrupted because of the coronavirus pandemic. it has been postponed by a year untiljune 2021. uefa confirmed the news on tuesday, saying it wanted to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services of its 12 host nations. it will give domestic european leagues a chance to be completed, but does now cause fixture congestion next year, with the women's and under—21s euros also due to be played in 2021. we think that postponing euro the only chance to get a chance

for the national legs and for all the club competitions to finish their competition. and also that is not sure for now, but we should now think about the health, the fans and the players, and of course, we have to think about football as a whole, the whole ecosystem of football. it has also been confirmed that the 2020 copa america will also move to next year. that will enable south american players based in europe to finish their domestic league campaigns. the us pga championship has become the second major of the men's golfing calendar to be postponed. it had been scheduled to be played in mid—may at harding park in san francisco. the first major of the year, the masters, was called off last week. may's french open has also been rescheduled to be played in september. it means it will now be the final major of the year, and will begin as it stands just one week after the end of the us open in new york, leaving players little time

to prepare for a change in court surface, or indeed, to travel and acclimatise. six—time super bowl winner tom brady is a free agent for the first time in his career, after confirming he is leaving the the new england patriots after 20 years with the side. brady is free to talk to other teams before the free agency signing period begins on wednesday, and has been heavily linked with the tampa bay buccaneers. journalist cindy boren believes brady could have further success with another team. when he won his most recent super bowl, you know, that was a defensive effort. that wasn't a tom brady special, you know, passing 500 yards or something like that. i mean, you know, it would seem that he's going to look at what the talent is around him. he should. i think that was one of his issues in new england. theyjust didn't have talent, and you know, you saw how quickly it dropped off once

rob gronkowski retired. finally, with sporting figures around the world advised to self—isolate because of the coronavirus pandemic, we have been bringing you creative ways they have been trying to keep fit all week. today it's the turn ofjuventus defender matthijs de ligt. here he is doing keepie uppies with, of all things, a toilet roll. good to see de ligt practising good self—hygiene, and washing his hands there as well. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that is bbc.com/sport. but from me, maz farookhi, and the rest of the sport team, bye for now. he has a toilet roll, hasn't he? i wonder how many he has stashed. and there are so many famous celebrities, entertainers, those who are in the arts or in the business of

p0p: the arts or in the business of pop, who are posting all sorts of things, even entertaining live on instagram. because of course, a lot of their events have either been cancelled or postponed. people are not allowed to gather in huge numbers. so we have been asking you today, how are you coping, if you are already self isolating, if you are already at home with your family, your household, and you can't leave your home, like some in france, for example, and elsewhere across europe? how are you managing with that, or how are you anticipating that might be if that is the situation in the future? so we have heard from many. sarah says you have got to think out of the box. it is the best method. routine is important, but routine is going outside, so switch the alarm clocks off, relax. don't worry. the more you pick up, the more stressful it all becomes. i presume pick up in terms of news flow. learning through games is best. thank you for all that advice. daniel says

facebook groups will soon be covered with posts from others asking what is there for them to do with their kids? all ideas are welcome. i will see you soon for all the business stories. hello. we've got some real contrasts in terms of the temperature north to south across the british isles over the next day or so. for england and for wales on wednesday, we keep the cloudy, mild theme to things, with some outbreaks of rain. rather grey conditions, though. but for scotland and for northern ireland, clearer skies. a cold start, with some frost, and the risk of some patchy ice. and it'll be a day of sunshine and showers on wednesday, so the dividing line between those weather types is this weather front here. it's going to be slowly sinking its way south. to the south of that, we keep a fair amount of cloud across england and wales. rain initially for north wales and northern england will slowly sink its way south, becoming fairly light and patchy as it moves into the midlands and the south—west

of england during the afternoon. but to the north of that, after a cold, frosty start, with your odd icy patch around, we see lots of sunshine developing across scotland and northern ireland, but some wintry showers working in from the north—west. quite blustery winds likely here, too, with temperatures about 8—10 in the north, but 11—13 further south. so now, heading through wednesday night and overnight into thursday, we've still got this fairly stubborn, slow—moving but relatively weak weather front. it's dividing this mild air across southern england from the much colder air, the blue colours you can see, across the rest of the uk, with a northerly breeze coming in here. so most of us will see some blue skies, some sunshine, still a few wintry showers across the north—west of scotland. i think anywhere north of the ma, just into south wales, as well, we'll see a bit more cloud. milder conditions, but some patchy outbreaks of rain, especially towards the south—west of england. so temperatures here around about nine or 10 degrees, but for most of us, typically around about 7—10 degrees on thursday. and then we've still got that weather front. it looks like it could linger in towards the end of the working week, but a big area of high pressure

builds as we move on into friday. so for much of the uk, lighter winds, lots of dry weather, with some sunshine. a bit of uncertainty about how far north any of that rain will get on friday, but we're likely to see some wet weather for the channel isles, perhaps the far south—west of england as well. most places look dry with variable amounts of cloud. a fairly cool breeze coming in off the north sea, keeping temperatures in the east in single figures, but we could see 10 degrees or so in the warmest spots in any sunny spells on friday. looking further ahead, still a few showers around on saturday, particularly for scotland, northern ireland and wales. sunnier conditions and drier weather more widely from sunday onwards. bye— bye.

right, david, thank you very much indeed.

this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the cost of coronavirus, the trump administration asks for more than a trillion dollars for a stimulus package that could include cheques sent to americans to give them a financial boost. good news for the supply of vital drugs, china is back in business and supplying india the components needed for generic medicines. and financial markets steady in asia as investors get their heads around the latest stimulus measures