bloomberg looks at another effect of the virus on the delivery company amazon. it has decided to temporarily suspend restocking from independent retailers in order to prioritise deliveries of what it terms essential products. they include books, by the way. and finally, the german website focus carries the story of the country's big brother contestants, who had been completely isolated from the news for the past month. the programme producers had to bring in a doctor to inform the contestants about the virus pandemic. we normally have a guest in the studio to review the papers with us, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, the bbc has decided to implement a little social distancing. so this morning, we are talking to our reviewer from the comfort of her own home. she is anju solanki, founder of mea consulting, a firm that helps companies establish gender balance and inclusion.

lovely to see you. good morning. let's talk about the washington post to start with, the white house expresses support for immediate cash payments to americans. literally americans will get a check through the post in a matter of weeks. that is what the trump administration is looking for approval for, isn't it? absolutely, so now we're talking very big numbers, and we will see this over the coming weeks, with action. there are announcements for up to $1 trillion on a fiscal package, stimulus, and this is really around the focus on american families, on individuals, on liquidity, but not liquidityjust for businesses, but liquidity for those individuals who are going to be hit the hardest and need to be hit the hardest and need

to oversee their own costs and expenses. there are talks around immediate means tested cash payments, of potentially they are saying $1000 to begin with, and may be taking a stagette approach according to how this pandemic plays out. sorry to interrupt, interesting to hear this idea. there is a great debate as to how effective this will be, to what extent it will help. i was speaking to one friend who is in colorado, he is working from home, and he said you know what? if i got a cheque for $1000, that would not last me very long at all. he is thinking how long can he survive without work, being self—employed. survive without work, being self-employed. i think the point is here what method is the government going to use to provide support? add that the moment i believe these are dynamic figures. they are going to change, but the narrative of all governments, we saw

yesterday, macron, the uk government, the us, they are using words like wartime efforts. so what they are effectively saying is we would do whatever it takes to support oui’ do whatever it takes to support our communities, to support our economy, and to support our people. so i think the message i would take from this is less so i would take from this is less so the number at this point, but more the fact that they are moving towards immediate cash payments. so what they were looking out initially is how can we find ways around... i think it was payroll tax cuts, but that would take quite a long time. and talks about in this article in the washington post, the politics of it in the united states. they want this to all happened very quickly. they do, i think there was backing from the democrats for immediate cash payments. and even though it might seem at this moment in time to individuals that, you know,

£1000 to £2000 for everyone who is self—employed and being hit right now who needs to take time off, it might not sound like a lot, but when you amalgamate the fiscal package, it isa amalgamate the fiscal package, it is a lot more than even what they were providing during the financial crisis in 2008. they we re financial crisis in 2008. they were looking at $700 billion at that point, and there were no tax cuts they were looking at, as it was a troubled asset relief programme. and here, i think the messages won't stop even at that point. we need to look at legislation, more legislation to support businesses. the message i think has for the first time, from donald trump, has stood on an initial reaction, some small positive confidence in financial markets. we have got to move on so we can get through all these stories. the daily telegraph, the chancellor unveiling, as you have already mentioned, the £350 billion virus lifeline. you run a business. what was announced yesterday, did that give you

confidence? again, confidence that the government are going to do what it takes. i imagine they are going to revisit this strategy very soon. because a lot of the... i mean, they are doing things via loans rather than, again, direct cash payments and support. so there isa payments and support. so there is a question around businesses, around my own businesses. i am affected myself. so if you are taking up loa ns, myself. so if you are taking up loans, and these are extended loa ns loans, and these are extended loans now, the question is, if there is a difficulty repaying, what happens then? does the government take equity in my business and effectively nationalise a bunch of businesses or will they look at revisiting that? the number is promising, i think the delivery of that may be revisited over the foreseeable future. let's talk about misinformation now, and actually, this article in the financial times which says the financial times which says the european union is warning ofa the european union is warning

of a pro— kremlin disinformation campaign, an actual campaign to, you know, use this crisis to undermine europe, as it were. what do you make of this story? well, i don't think this is the first time we are hearing of such disinformation. i think this is something that we are going to see in the future. this is all around aggravating society, it's around causing panic. it's around destroying confidence. during vulnerable times. i think what makes it slightly more difficult is the fact that we are not able to see the impact of kind of social media taking action on bringing down that information, because of the limited data sharing between authorities. and this is, again, not something new that we are seeing. it is unsettling. i think it stresses the need to be sure of where you source information from, especially at a time when we have too much information at

hand, and it is finding reliable and trusted sources. absolutely. it is just a reminder to us all, isn't it, that we have to be very vigilant about what we are reading and what we are taking and in terms of advice on what is going on. and amazonas prioritising essential product as online orders spike stop when i read this story, it does make absolute sense that amazon should do this, but i did think, again, about these very small and medium—sized businesses who absolutely rely on selling stuff through amazon, and of course, that will be halted for the time being. absolutely. and again, to make it clear, what amazon are saying is, if you are able to store, ship and package your own product, that will still go ahead. but until fifth of april, if you need their packaging, storing and shipping services, for what they call non—essential items at this moment in time, it is on hold. and we know, i think now you

are going to see businesses rethink their strategy, look at their own supply chains, look at how their business operates, and their reliance on companies such as amazon. this is going to hit amazon, though, as well. because a lot of these retailers pay for ad space in amazon. but what amazon are doing at the moment is prioritising the items which we, the public, are finding difficult to get, like bleach, sanitising wipes, baby products, and they are taking rapid action and also venting up rapid action and also venting up their workforce to meet that demand. my personal opinion is it is the right approach for this point in time. and finally, focus day, a magazine in germany, talks about the big brother household there, who had to be told what is going on in the real world —— big brother. they have been in the big brother house for a month and have no clue about what is

going on with this pandemic, and also their own families, if they are impacted. i mean, reality tv shows can't go without controversy, right? this show has been off air in germany for five years, and it has come back with a big bang. in the show, they went on 10th of february, they are only being told now, publicly, that the country is in lockdown, explaining terminology... i mean, for the last month or so, longer than that, we understand what covid—19 means, what quarantine means. it is language that is fluent to us now, so announcing that on air, it is just now, so announcing that on air, it isjust for now, so announcing that on air, it is just for social viewing. it is extraordinary times. thank you so much forjoining us thank you so much forjoining us from your home. it has been good to see you and good to hear your comments on those stories. thank you for your company. that is today's briefing. hello.

wednesday's weather brings us a bit of a mixed picture across the uk. a day of mixed fortunes, certainly. we've got 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 some outbreaks of rain. for scotland and for northern ireland, it's a different story. a colder, frosty start to the morning, with a mix of sunshine and a few showers around. and the dividing line between the two weather types is this weather front, which is slowly sinking its way south across parts of wales and northern england as well through wednesday morning. to the north of that, we've got a chilly north—westerly flow, so after a frosty start for scotland and northern ireland we see a few showers working in. they'll be falling as sleet and snow over the highest ground in scotland. further south, we have a band of rain pushing across northern england, towards the midlands into wales. 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, but temperatures around about nine or ten

degrees at best in the north. we could see 11—13 further south. moving through wednesday night now, and on into thursday, and we've still got this weather front that will linger over the next few days, not moving anywhere too quickly. it's keeping that mild air across parts of southern england as we head into thursday. but elsewhere, the blue colours 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 lots of sunshine. some wintry showers again working in towards the north—west. further south, a band of cloud and outbreaks of rain across the south—west of england and a few showers getting into the south—east as well. so temperatures for most of us somewhere between about 7—10 degrees, so a cooler feel to the weather. still mild towards the channel isles on thursday. looking towards the end of the working week now, thursday into friday, we've got high pressure building in towards the north. still we're keeping this fairly stubborn but rather weak weather front in the south. some uncertainty about its positioning, but we're likely to see some rain for

the channel isles and the south—west of england. for the rest of the uk mostly dry, variable amounts of cloud. quite cool where we've got this breeze coming in off the north sea for places like east anglia, eastern scotland and parts of east england. many of us, single figures through the day on friday but mostly dry with some sunshine. further ahead, into the weekend and beyond, we're looking at a bit of a mix. a few showers in the north and the west, particularly on saturday. drier conditions more widely from sunday onwards. bye— bye.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. 0ur headlines today: the chancellor's 330 billion pound plan to shore up the struggling economy but there are questions about whether it will help the least well off, renters and people in the gig economy. in peacetime we have never faced an economic fight like this one. other measures include business rates relief and loans for small businesses. supermarkets take steps to prevent panic buying and protect consumers.