this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: italy moves to tighten its lockdown rules still further, as more than 600 people with corona virus die in a single day. empty streets from new york to california, but president trump says he doesn't expect to impose a national lockdown in the us. you go out to the midwest, you go out to other locations and they are watching it on television they do not have the same problems. a new way of life in the uk, as the prime minister orders pubs and restaurants closed to try to prevent the spread of the disease.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. italy is set to tighten its coronavirus lockdown, after the number of deaths jumped by more than 600 in a single day. reports suggest that from saturday, parks and public gardens will be shut down and people will only be allowed to exercise around their own homes. the death toll is the biggest daily rise since the virus first emerged in the country a month ago and comesjust a day after italy overtook china as the country with the most deaths recorded from the virus. the hardest—hit region of italy remains lombardy in the north. sima kotecha has more from rome some people in italy are calling it the nine 11 of italy because of what has happened. the death toll has now surpassed china and if you look at the population of china and the population of italy, that is incredibly alarming. 1.4

billion people in china, in italy 64 million so questions being asked as to why that has happened here. most of the fatalities north of the country where authorities and resources are running out. we know the chinese have brought nine thousand kids and extra supplies for hospitals in milan where they are struggling to cope. deep—rooted concern that the outbreak could move from the outbreak could move from the north to the south because, in recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have made the journey from north to south as they have tried to flee the outbreak. hospitals in the south are not as well—equipped. it isa south are not as well—equipped. it is a poorer part of the country the government is worried that if the outbreak moves down there, how they will cope. they want to make sure doctors and nurses are protective. stringent measures

in place restricting people's movement around the country, in place for 11 days, those could be made even more straight. we heard from the sports ministry yesterday saying that, at the moment, people can go out for a job, block their dog, go to the supermarket —— walk. but a possibility even of those things may not be allowed. italy aware it will probably get worse before it gets better. those figures are expected to continue rising but also the agitation of some having to stay in their homes, 11 days already and knowing those measures might be in place for another month or so is hard for them to take. soon more than 1 in 5 americans will be living under government orders to stay inside — instructed to only go outdoors when strictly necessary. the measures — intended to slow the spread of coronavirus — have been introduced by localities and states one by one.

california, new york, and illinois are among those to have declared what are called ‘shelter in place‘ orders in the last 24 hours. nada tawfik has this report. from california to new york, and erie dinners across america's bustling urban centres. in the age of social distancing, people are avoiding hotspot. officials announced more measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. anything the golden state, a stay—at—home order went into effect on friday for all 40 million residents. people could only live their homes for essential business. having gone through several catastrophic situations in past years just gives us more strength. we had earthquakes, fires. we are used to deal with situations over which we have no control. new york also took drastic

measures. the governor said all businesses need to keep that worker time. this is not volu nta ry, worker time. this is not voluntary, it ——we are going to monitor it and they can be mandatory closures for businesses who do not comply. i am not kidding about this. the numbers are going up at such a rate that, as i said, it has more than doubled the capacity of the hospital system. the changes are rapidly impacting daily life, leaving many to question what might be next. president trump flanked by his coronavirus task force said a national lockdown will not be necessary. i don't think so. essentially you have done that in california and new york, to really hot bed, probably the two hottest of them all in terms of hotspots. i do not think so. you go out to the

midwest, you go out to other locations, they are watching it on television but they do not have the same problems, by any means the same problems. he did however announced the united states was closing its borders to all but essential travel from saturday after agreement with mexico and previously canada. with increased tension, to republican senators have faced calls to resign, alleging they sold stock before concerns over the coronavirus sent the stock market falling. senator burr said he relied solely on public news reports and asked the senate health committee to review the transaction. career laughter, married to the stock exchange officer also pleaded not guilty. nature ‘s wonders

have provided a much needed distraction. in washington, people wandered outside to see the cherry blossoms in peak bloom. a safe outing, just as long as they keep their distance. for more on the situation in the state of california, our correspondent sophie long is in los angeles. these are may be the most restrictive measures in modern californian history. here in los angeles, life goes on. i am on sunset boulevard and eco part. downtown just behind on sunset boulevard and eco part. downtownjust behind me. this is a city famous for its gridlock traffic and cars are moving freely past the palm trees. there were cyclists overtaking joggers and families are still out for a walk so life is going on. you have to remember, was people have been told to stay at home to stop the spread of this virus so rapidly, central businesses are still open. pharmacies, grocery

shops and banks are still open and people who work in those businesses have been told to go to work. buses are still running. different orders in different places in california. in los angeles, all businesses should stop operations if they require people in a person. i have seen people cleaning. reports of gardeners working in gardeners and people working on houses as well so it does not feel that different to what it felt yesterday and the day before. restaurants and bars have had their doors closed. spain marked a grim milestone today. it's the fourth hardest hit country behind china, italy and iran, and now the virus has claimed more than 1000 lives — climbing by 235 deaths in the past day. the latest statistics from the country's health ministry showed just under 20,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

our europe correspondent damian grammaticas has this report from southern spain. on the loudspeaker, warnings that hardly seem necessary in a half—empty airport. the queue is for the flight to london, it's sold out. people scrambling to get back while they can, the last tickets going dear. it's up to a £1000. i thought i will stick with ryanair and try and find my way back down to brighton. so you're ok, you're getting back? who knows, who knows. in the middle of it all, we found jean and philida. jean's almost 90. here for the winter sun, she's already had three fights back canceled. flights back canceled. my daughter, yeah. you know, she's getting upset. "i just want you home, mum." "you should've come home." phillida is 86, her family have been begging her to come home too.

i've got 20 grandchildren, 16 great, six great great great, five generation, and they are all, "oh, why don't you come home?" you know, "how long until you come home? so, here we are, coming home. but there's one thing she's looking forward to. hopefully, now, i get to go home to a lovely roast and a big slice of beef, with all the lovely cabbage from the garden and everything like that, you know, whatever. so, today, fights to the uk were still running, but next week, there may be even fewer, leaving tough choices for those still here. we have enough food for maybe another 4—5 days. because of her dogs, the only way allison thompson can get home is by ferry. she worries about being on a ship with up to 2000 other people. would that be safe? she would have to cross spain to get to it. i have been quite anxious this week. we haven't left the house since last friday. and getting back to the uk poses real problems for you. it's a 12 hour drive, we normally stop in madrid on the way and stay in a hotel, but now we have heard the hotels are closing.

for those who do stay, even the beaches are now closed. these are difficult dilemmas thousands are facing. is it better to leave before travel restrictions tighten even further or stay put? where is the best place to ride out the difficult times approaching? damian gramaticas, bbc news, malaga. the british prime minister has ordered the closure of all bars, pubs and restaurants, just as the country was heading into its weekend. the idea is to limit the amount of social interation, and cut down the chances of spreading the virus. it will have an impact on how people make a living, as our business editor simonjack reports. one of east london's popular social hotspots on a typical saturday. this is what it will look like this weekend. the government tonight ordered the closure of the venues like this, but the effect has already been catastrophic for the hospitality industry.

we decided we had to lose 85% of our people. a millionjobs have been lost in 36 hours following that announcement. we are now focused on trying to save the jobs of the next million. a rebate of 8096 of staff wages promise by government despite that businesses expected to lose morejobs. on a normal saturday night, two and a half thousand people would come through this food hall, but it's now shut for the foreseeable future. although the government has announced hundreds of billions of potential support, it is not size that matters, it's the speed with which businesses can get at that support, and for many, it's already too late. like workers at this hotel near aviemore in scotland, who live on site and were told to leave theirjob and their home immediately.

i gotjust let out, they say to me i have to leave and i get fired, they didn't even give me any reasons. i have been working here for two years. so, throw people like that in the middle of a pandemic, it's notjust a normal loss ofjob, it's a pandemic. and what about the millions of self—employed people like theatre director kat roby and her colleagues who are trying to work out what the future holds for them? all of us are self—employed, and we have no idea what that means in terms of our income, anyjob security, whether we can pay our rent next month, and we have no idea when any shows or any work will start again for any of us. today it was announced that the self—employed would be able to defer tax payments and get greater access to benefits, which will be increased.

many businesses are also desperate for a guarantee they won't forfeit their lease if they don't pay the rent. simon jack, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the olympic flame has landed injapan — but can the games go ahead in the midst of the pandemic? we'll have the latest from tokyo. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search.

above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: italy moves to tighten its lockdown rules still further, as the number deaths jumps more than 600 in a single day. empty streets from new york to california, but president trump says he doesn't expect to impose a national lockdown in the us let's bring you some other developments from around the world. data coming from italy indicates the covid—19 death rate for men is double that

for women for all age groups. that's according to the white house coronavirus task force. sri lanka has now introduced a nationwide curfew which will last until monday morning. mosques have also been ordered to shut indefinitely. israel has reported its first fatality — an 88—year—old man who was suffering from previous illness. there are more than 700 cases there. and nigerian officials are asking people not to take the anti—malaria drug chloroquine to fight the coronavirus after hospitals in lagos said they were treating people with complications caused by overdoses. nigeria's health minister says there is no proof that chloroquine is effective in the fight against the virus. as an increasing number of countries around the world are closing their borders in an effort to try and contain the spread of coronavirus, there are large number of expats and tourists around the world who are struggling to return to their home nations. one of the countries where tourists have been

stranded is peru, which has been put into lockdown. international airports have been closed, as well as all shops except for pharmacies and those selling food. there is also a curfew running between 8pm and 5am. rachel billsberry—grass is a stranded tourist who is in the capital, lima. she's been telling my colleague james reynolds more about her situation. i'm here with my 19—year—old daughter who has been living in peru since january working in an orphanage and i came out to visit her and do the inca trail together. we realised things we re together. we realised things were going wrong and tried to book a flight home and the president gave 28 hours notice ofa president gave 28 hours notice of a total lockdown. total chaos at the airport. it was impossible to get a flight and now we are in an airbnb with no hope of a flight home at the moment. have you spoken to the foreign office, the british foreign office, the british

foreign office, the british foreign office, to airlines... talk us through your been speaking to. there is a group of people. there are over 400 tourists stuck here, half of which are actually in a cuzco which are actually in a cuzco which is a good 12 hour drive from lima, the capital, or even further remote outlying areas. we have co—ordinated online together and there's been a lot of activity reaching out to mps, to media, to the foreign office, to the embassy. the embassy here is quite small and it seems to have been overwhelmed by this. so the response getting from them has really... it feels quite copy and paste. they haven't been able to give much personalised support. all have said to us so far in terms of flights, they have suggested a couple of commercialflights. have suggested a couple of commercial flights. one of which was advertised yesterday which was advertised yesterday which was advertised yesterday which was going to spain. there we re which was going to spain. there were no places on it but i think it's sort of, it seems quite odd that the british government is recommending flights to spain for us at the

moment when there is obviously a crisis going on in spain are trying to get people out of there. it feels like an out of there. it feels like an out of the frying pan into the fire really. rachel, sorry to interrupt, you having to expect to think about spending a lot of money on accommodation, on possible other flights, possible other flights, possible transport to other south american countries? talk me through that. there is literally... all the borders are shut so there is no way of getting out of peru at the moment as far as were aware. we have been told the airlines have been told the airlines have totally shut. in fact, israel managed to get four flights in yesterday and repatriated it citizens. but the flights that have appeared to have come up, we never quite sure whether they actually exist or not. has been priced upwards of $3000 per head. these are flights that might normally cost between three to £500. people are having to look

at thinking about spending $3000 plus. there were some air france flights that were $4500 yesterday. so, people are really having to find money from places they probably didn't know they could stop you know, really going into debt. that was rachel speaking. against the backdrop of the global coronavirus outbreak, the olympic flame has arrived injapan — amid doubts as to whether the 2020 games will go ahead in tokyo. until now the organisers have insisted the tokyo games will go ahead — but calls are growing for the event to be delayed or postponed. and now the former governor of tokyo, who led much of the early planning for the games, has told the bbc he is almost certain the games will not take place as scheduled injuly. our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has more. there may not be much surf for her to show off in today, but for nao omura, every day

now in the water counts. now she has her sights set on a medal in the first ever olympic surfing contest. at least that was the plan until the virus arrived. translation: right now, i'm afraid. i don't know what's going to happen. the olympics is a dream for me, but we don't want to have a bad olympics, so maybe it's better to have the olympics when the fear has gone. here injapan, you could be forgiven for thinking there is no global pandemic. schools are closed, but apart from that, life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games. the japanese government insists it is full steam ahead for the opening ceremony on july 24. but there are now some prominent voices here saying that is denying reality.

in central tokyo, the brand—new olympic stadium is ready. $30 billion has been spent preparing the city. but the former governor of tokyo says the chances of holding the olympics this year are now tiny. normally, just 10%. unfortunately now. that's it, you know. but cancelled, or postponed, 90%. that's awful here, i dare to say. japan looks like it has the coronavirus under control. this was the popular omotesando district of tokyo today. there was no sign of the social distancing or public panic that has been witnessed across europe. but experts say that does not mean tokyo 2020 can be held safely. even if you could be successful in controlling the disease injapan, if other regions like europe and africa were suffering from infectious diseases, nobody could come

to japan, because of the risk of infection, so we have to have a control injapan, and we have to have control of the infectious diseases worldwide. now, is it likely? i doubt. many athletes both here injapan and around the world, are now asking for an end to the uncertainty. like like nao—chan, they all desperately want the olympics to go ahead. if it can't, they need to be told soon. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, tokyo. now, when the british government advised those over—70 to prepare for a period of self—isolation, 100—year—old yavar abbas had one important concern — how will this impact his upcoming wedding. the filmmaker and former bbc journalist was set to marry his partner, indian activist and writer noor zaheer, on march 27. with their plans in dissaray they managed to get the last

wedding slot at their local registrar's office before going into self—isolation. let's take a look at their special day. let's hear from the newlyweds. we haven't got a lots of time. noor has to leave the country under the immigration laws by the 24th of april. when we went, when we found that this is going to happen, this wretched coronavirus, we had a, sort of, had another look at our situation. we went to the

registry together, to the registration office two days before the 27th... the 17th. we we nt before the 27th... the 17th. we went on the 15th and they said that they could manage the 17th for us. the earlier, they said they could manage it on the same day within half—an—hour, they said no, i want to change my sari. it was difficult in such short notice and they said, ok, the 17th is the best we can do. and at 1030, we said 0k. wonderful news, congratulations to them. there is plenty of more information and advice on our website about the coronavirus, including this article on how you can keep a healthy door exercise regime going while still making sure you're keeping a safe distance from other people. you can find a piece the website or the up.

—— app. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. hello there. a little bit more in the way of sunshine to go on friday and it's another to be a glorious day across many areas. and what a glorious picture this was from the cockermouth area of cumbria. you can see the extent of the sunshine we had. further south, this weather front was with us again and it continued to bring some dull and damp weather into the very far south of england and into the early afternoon, there was some light rain recorded in hastings in east sussex. overnight tonight, many of us will have dry conditions. the breeze keeping the frost at day across many south—eastern areas but the further north you got those lighter winds, we will see temperatures step well below freezing. that said, there are just below freezing. that said, there arejust a below freezing. that said, there are just a few showers

dotted around as well. across the hills of southern england, across the hills of north—east england to but for most of us it isa england to but for most of us it is a great looking picture. the weekend, this area of high—pressure commissary of low pressure not really changing very much. that is shuffling position element more and that means the winds are going to switch from a easterly to more ora switch from a easterly to more or a south—easterly direction. that is still a cold wind that will be blowing and making you feel pretty chilly out and about particularly in the morning. some patchy cloud around as well, that it is day across western areas, quite high cloud and a nice sunrise are some of you. the winds will make and those winds will be the strongest across the hills and western coasts of wales and across the moors and coast of south—west england. gusts of 40, perhaps even 50 mph in one or two areas which will make it feel quite chilly. certainly knocking the edge of the temperatures. we will have some areas of cloud in the north sea affecting eastern areas of scotla nd affecting eastern areas of scotland in particular. we might have some of that both in the morning and the afternoon. it won't be nice and sunny everywhere. on into the night time, saturday night, we could

see some patchy cloud coming in from that north safe but when winds do manage to drop out, we could well see a slightly more widespread frost. a cold start of the day on sunday but then that said, the winds were blowing a little bit less strongly on sunday so probably won't feel quite as chilly. there will be quite a lot of dry weather and sunshine to around. perhaps some slightly thicker cloud edging into the scottish islands and threatening an odd light show but most of us another fine looking day. temperatures between eight and 12 degrees. cool with onshore winds on the eastern coast of scotland and england for that is an x—ray, the area of high—pressure still holding on but we see this weather front starting to slip in across the far north—west. muqqy in across the far north—west. muggy looks like being another try day with sunshine. then we will start to see some rain approach the far north—west as we go from tuesday and wednesday. that is your latest weather, bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines: italian authorities have announced that the country's death toll from the virus has jumped by 627 in a single day. they're reported to be about to close public parks and limit the areas in which people can take exercise. the united states is closing its borders to all but essential travel from saturday. the move has been agreed with canada and mexico as part of efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus. officials said the restrictions would not apply to lawful trade or commerce. in spain the virus has claimed another 235 lives. its worst number yet in a single day brought the country's total fatalities to above 1,000. as the number of deaths related to the coronavirus passes 10—thousand, countries worldwide are placing more restrictions on the movement of people. global stock markets have stabilised following action by governments and central banks.