nick bryant is there.hat kind of return on his invent of half $1 billion is michael bloomberg looking for tonight? nick: laura i don't think it is going to be a very super tuesday for michael bloomberg. his campaign has not caught fire. he has spent a huge amount of money, $117 million on super tuesday ane, $450 million an his campai a whole. is he going to win any states? they may be looking at arkansas, they may be looking at oklahoma, but those are not the big prizes tuesday. they are not cifornia. it is not texas. it has been a pretty poor return on his investment. the crucial moment, his first debate appearance. most people had seen michael bloomberg in the television advertisements that he carpet bomb to the country with full of but when he finally qualified for a democratic debate him he was taken apart in the space of a minute by massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. he has not recovsied his footing e. laura: does you drop out, michaelloomberg, if he does badly, or does he run as an independent i

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.nies are being forced to scale back or abandon filming. the bbc is suspending filming of dramas including eastenders and casualty. but there will be older—age exercise routines as well as educational resources and programmes for millions of children who'll be staying at home. our media editor, amol rajan, is here. what we are going to watch is going to change a lot. it is, there is a paradox here which is with people staying at home, the demand for tv and radio is soaring, so audience ratings across all networks are massively up, but the supply of fresh material to meet that demand isn't a hugejeopardy fresh material to meet that demand isn't a huge jeopardy because of how coronavirus has affected production. itv announced today that the voice uk hugely popular, the live final will be cancelled. coronation street is going from six episodes a week to three, emmerdale from six to five, eastenders is suspending filming and will be on twice a week, mondays and tuesdays but the bbc has anno

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.as now recorded more coronavirus deaths than china. 738 people with the virus died in the past day alone, taking the total over 3,000. italy still has the highest death rate, though. more than 7,500 people have died and over 75,000 have been infected, but the infection rate has slowed for a fourth successive day. in france, more than 1,300 people have died. almost 3,000 people are in such a serious condition that they need life support, meaning more than one third of france's ventilation beds are occupied. there's a similar situation in spain, where more than 2,500 are in a serious or critical state. almost 3,500 have died. 0ur correspondent, damian grammaticas, reports from madrid. on a dark day for spain, a sobering sight. van after van carrying bodies of virus victims. this is madrid's biggest ice rink. it has been requisitioned to hold the dead. they need it, there are so many now. arriving at spanish hospitals are more and more cases, infection is here leaping every day. more than

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.ected country by the coronavirus where shops, restau ra nts a nd bars are being closed for two weeks, in an effort to contain the 12,500 infected people there. the death toll has jumped by nearly 200 in the last day alone, to 827. from rome mark lowen reports. connecting the epicentres. a doctor in wuhan and those in europe's equivalent, northern italy. colleagues in crisis. sharing the know—how. we reached that italian doctor on the right in his hospital. the first to diagnose coronavirus here. it hit like a bomb that has kept on exploding. the first few hours, we received 10, 50, 60, 70, until 200 patients in our emergency department and we had some hours where the oxygen supplies sockets were insufficient to give oxygen to all the patients. so we were in a sort of, let me say, war scenario. but, in his town, it may have peaked. with no cases there, in the past day, it could be a sign of containment working. i think that what we did in this area has demonstrated that we are on the ri

the bbc‘s nick bryant reports now from the state of new york. york, the worst infected city in what's now the worst infected country. there was always a sense this planetary pandemic would end up ravaging this global hub and, while there's a deceptive calm on its now quiet streets, behind the doors of its inundated hospitals the crisis is getting worse. emergency calls have hit their highest levels since the attacks of september 11th. hospital staff are describing a tsunami of patients flooding their emergency rooms. we're thought to be three weeks away from the peak here and already they're exhausted. it's been like a war zone. a medical war zone. working with limited resources, with the constant disparities of pain and suffering we see, not only with those who are afflicted with the coronavirus, but also those coming in for trauma. so it gets very physically and mentally exhausting. the very things that make new york so great have now made it vulnerable, is vibrancy, the fact that it such a melting pot. we're so dense, we're so together, which

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. sight for medical staff in italy, which has again recorded its worst daily death toll. there are grave fears the disaster gripping the north of the country will move south to regions which are poorer. to spread hope, pope francis has delivered an extraordinary blessing to the city and to the world. freya cole has more. this kind of blessing is usually reserved for christmas day and easter sunday, but given the scale of the coronavirus disaster, the pope made an exception. 0n the steps of saint peter's basilica, in front of a rainy and desolate saint peter's square, he gave his blessing. translation: for weeks now, it has been evening. thick darkness has gathered over our squares, oui’ thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities. it has taken over our lives, feeling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void that stops everything as it passes by. we feel it in the air. we notice in people's gestures, their glances give them away. we find our

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.a team who won a pulitzer prize for reporting on workplace sexual harassmentjoins me. your response to what has happened in court today? like many people you had, those watching the case, were a little bit stunned at thejudgement. 23 years is case, were a little bit stunned at the judgement. 23 years is an extraordinarily long sentence, especially for someone in harvey weinstein's age range. it is very likely if this is a life sentence. that is what his defence team argued that thejudge did that is what his defence team argued that the judge did not hear that argument. what are you hearing from those you interviewed and those whose stories you heard. those you interviewed and those whose stories you heardlj those you interviewed and those whose stories you heard. i think there is such a range of emotions. this was a tense moment. a sense of relief, vindication. if the judgement had gone another way, if you had gotten a light sentence or not been convicted, they would have been tears fo

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. confirmed cases in italy has gone up to 86,498 — past that of china. and 6% of those currently diagnosed with the disease — almost 4,000 people — are in intensive care. mark lowen is in rome. i think this was a bit of a shock to some extent that the death toll rose so significantly. over 200 more than the previous one day rise stop shocking figures. 919 people dead in the last 2a hours. it's like italy is losing the equivalent of a village every day. in lombardy, the northern region hardest hit by the virus, 5m people there died just in that region in the last day. weeks here and it is flattening the curve, the infection rate is beginning to fall here. but it is slow, it is uneven progress. and just awful news keeps coming out every day. 46 doctors have now died here since the outbreak began. the national health institute says italy is yet to reach the peak of this outbreak and that the nationwide restrictions may now have to be extended for several months. meanwhile, the pope gave an

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.years old has been engulfed by floodwaters from a new dam. vehicle reports. 12,000 years ago this town rested by the shores of the sivrice river. now the village centre with scores of ancient architecture is surrounded by water and it's not going away. -- tigris water and it's not going away. —— tigris river river. water and it's not going away. -- tigris river river. it work in the tourism industry, told the story story of this place but unfortunately in the last few months no—one has come here —— i work in the tourism industry. the government started feeling the hydroelectric dam mid last year. 3000 residents were forced to relocate to a government built village on the other side of the river. but some residents are standing by the justification. translation: above all, it's good for the energy sector, for power generation, but it will also be useful and beneficial for agriculture. the full extent of the damage caused by the swollen river is yet to be known. a court battle to save th

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.ew domestic case of the coronavirus for the first time since the pandemic began in the city of wuhan late last year. china's national health commission said 3a new cases had been confirmed, but they were people who came from abroad. there were eight more deaths, most of them in wuhan. nearly 81,000 people are known to have been infected in china, and more than 3,000 have died. in spain, the outbreak is spreading rapidly, despite severe limits on personal movement and public gatherings. there are now nearly 111,000 confirmed cases, a sharp increase from just 2a hours ago. and as our europe correspondent, damian grammaticas, reports from madrid, the virus has begun spreading through old—people's homes. inside this madrid care home are 120 frail residents — and, also, now, the virus. in just a week, it has taken a terrible toll here. every day, a hearse is called each time another resident has succumbed. from his home across the street, miguel campos says he has watched the vans come and

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.amatic fall on the us markets, the second biggest drop in history. the us treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, is seeking a large stimulus package to prop up the american economy. samira hussain is in new york. i think the problem is is that investors a re really in uncharted territory. one person i was speaking with on the floor earlier today said, we have never seen anything like this, even compared to 2008, 2009, but at least then there was some idea of where this was going to hit in terms of the economy. but in this particular instance, absolutely every single part of the economy is being impacted, so there is no real area for investors to kind of hide or wait until this blows over, and that is the other issue, of course. we heard from the president that this could perhaps go on until at least august, and that also rattled investors because that is a long time to be dealing with that amount of uncertainty. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: life under lockdown in europe's worst

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.d sweeping measures allowing it to take over private healthcare. the number of recorded cases there has risen to almost 10,000, and more than 300 people have died. spain has declared a state of emergency, placing the country on partial lockdown. damian grammaticas has more. this is spain on a warfooting, the military mobilised for this fight against the virus. instructing people to go back to their homes. keep apart, police warned people in madrid. day one of a state of emergency. those who don't have masks improvise. you are only meant to get out if you are heading to work or buying food. my mom sent me some pictures... like these italian students, stuck here in spain indefinitely as all flights to italy have been grounded, but they think the lockdown is justified. do you think this is necessary, all of these measures? absolutely necessary. this is the only way you can fight this situation. to stop the virus spreading? to stop the virus, yeah. and this is why — spain's hospitals, a he

nick bryant reports. foghorn.n a world right now where so much looks familiar, but almost everything feels different, and on the monday morning staten island ferry, these empty rows were a measure of community concern. these protective masks a global badge of fear. people are worried, and we don't know what to do, and that makes us worry more. i was just actually thinking this morning about how apocalyptic it felt. i was lying in bed and i was thinking, this is a movie. it can't be real. unbelievable, unbelievable. never seen it like this in life, and i've been living here all my life. incredible. on the new york subway system, social distancing would usually be impossible in the middle of the rush—hour. but, this morning, it felt like a ghost train. this city of perpetual motion is shutting down, its bars, its restaurants, its school system. and it is frightening for new yorkers like liz sa nta na. oh, no, it's devastating, what's happening right now. it's a very emotional for a lot of service people, to lose the

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.k is spreading rapidly, despite severe limits on personal movement and public gatherings. there are now nearly 111,000 confirmed cases, a sharp increase from just 2a hours ago. and as our europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports from madrid, the virus has begun spreading through old—people's homes. inside this madrid care home are 120 frail residents — and, also, now, the virus. in just a week, it has taken a terrible toll here. every day, a hearse is called each time another resident has succumbed. from his home across the street, miguel campos says he has watched the vans come and go. 17 of them now. translation: from my window, i have seen them, they put the body bags inside and go directly to the crematorium. they are trying to avoid any risk of contamination. so the care home has been sealed off — relatives, too, not allowed inside, even as their parents or grandparents have been dying. what's happening now in spain is the scenario many fear, covid—19 spreading among the mo

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.eaders and the white house have agreed a $2 trillion stimulus package to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus. the number of infections is increasing in the us, which has now reported more than 900 deaths from covid—19. the package is now before the senate — which is expected to vote on it in the coming hours depsite objections by four republican senators. rich preston has this report. when the coronavirus first started to grip america, president trump promised that the economy and the wallets of everyday americans would be protected. as the number of infections has continued to rise, millions of americans have been told to stay at home, an order that will save lives but is killing business. for the man who, according to himself, understands money better than anybody, that is unacceptable. we want to use the money for the companies and the money for the companies and the plans, whatever they may be, helping to get over this rough patch. and i don't think it's going to end up bei

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.an chancellor angela merkel has given an unprecedented televised address regarding the virus. she said the pandemic is the country's greatest challenge since the second world war, and the number of loved ones lost will depend on how strictly people follow the rules. free movement in the european union's schengen area has all but ended, and queues have built up along borders of countries including germany, poland, austria and hungary. travellers from outside the eu are being turned away from airports and borders after the 27—country bloc imposes a 30—day ban to halt the spread of coronavirus. detroit's major car—makers plan to temporarily close all us factories to help prevent the spread of the disease. ford, gm and fiat chrysler had faced intense pressure from unions, who were concerned about the safety of workers. australia's national airline, qantas, has announced that it will ground all international flights from later this month and temporarily stand down two thirds of its workforc

nick bryant is there for us now.o, a phrase that for new yorkers revives such awful memories, now reapplied to this terrible present day. in what has fast become a quiet city, the case count is doubling every three days. and the peak could come in the next two weeks, far earlier than previously thought. the health system is already buckling under the pressure. here, the queue was for people waiting to be tested. but it is the desperate need for beds, ventilators, medical staff to treat the sick, that poses such a grave danger. this manhattan exhibition centre is being converted into a field hospital. new york might need as many as 140,000 beds, and right now, just over 50,000 are available. so the news that donald trump wants to open up america by easter is being fiercely resisted by new york's democratic governor, who fears the cost in lives. yeah, my mother's not expendable. and your mother's not expendable. and our brothers and sisters, they're not expendable. and we're not going to accept a premise that human lif

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.efly, to russian pranksters claimed to speak to prince harry where they pretended to be the activist greta thunberg. they said they managed to make two holes to the prince in canada, it raises questions about the principles make security. buckingham palace has declined to comment about the claim. just a reminder on that mean news. travel to the united states from mainland europe is being suspended in a means to redress the coronavirus pandemic. the uk will be excluded from the restrictions which will come into force on friday. much more news for you coming up. thanks for watching. hello. meteorologically speaking, it is now the start of spring. but of course, winter is not that far behind us and i think we will get a reminder of that through the next couple of days. cold air flooding into the uk around an area of low pressure will bring us quite a few showers actually, on thursday, the most frequent closest to the low centre, so across the northern half of the uk. but can't rule out so

nick bryant is there for us now. nick. american coronavirus outbreak. the number of cases just skyrocketed here today and so did the stock market. the dow saw its biggest gain in its history in anticipation of a $2 trillion stimulus package being passed on capitol hill. now the challenge of simultaneously facing a public health crisis and an economic crisis is causing tensions here and today we saw a row erupted between the democratic governor of new york and the republican president of the united states. this is ground zero, a phrase that for new yorkers revives such awful memories, now reapplied to this terrible present day. in what's fast become a quiet city, the case count is doubling every three days and the peak could come in the next two weeks — far earlier than previously thought. the health system is already buckling under the pressure. here, the queue was for people waiting to be tested. but it's the desperate need for beds, ventilators, medical staff to treat the sick that poses such a grave danger. this manhatt

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.sperate search under way for potential coronavirus treatments and vaccine trials already under way, reports suggest scientists studing the virus have been buoyed by its low mutation rate. for more, i'mjoined now by professor stanley perlman from the university of iowa. professor, why does mutation rate matter? the mutation rate matters because if the virus mutates too rapidly than any vaccine that may lose efficiency after a few months oi’ efficiency after a few months or weeks or whatever depending on how fast it is mutating. this virus has not mutated much since it began stop there been changes in the sequence but they have not been incorporated into the virus and there is no evidence it is making the virus transmit better or be more virulent. this is good news of vaccine development. locker through the kind of steps that sciences be taking order to understand virusin terms of this sequence differences, what we re this sequence differences, what were doing is obtaining viruses from a

many thanks, nick bryant, in washington.ng people with flu—like symptoms not to visit relatives who may be in care homes. the new guidance is an attempt to prevent the coronavirus spreading amongst the most vulnerable. the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are much more likely to develop serious complications if they're infected. here's our social affairs correspondent alison holt. at saint cecilia's nursing home in scarborough, they've already gone further than today's government guidance by asking relatives not to visit as they try to protect their vulnerable elderly residents from the virus. lyn harmer, hands carefully washed, sees her extremely poorly 91—year—old father matthew several times a week. did you have a good night's sleep? yeah. good. but she accepts this could be her last visit for a while. we can always telephone, and ask how our relatives are, and i'm sure the carers will explain to them, you know, the reason why visitors aren't coming. our own common sense should tell us, you know, we hav

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. suffered its largest one—day rise in deaths since the outbreak began. 919 people have died in the past 2a hours, but the infection rate has slowed again. almost everything has been closed and people told to stay at home. brazil has closed its air borders to all foreigners for 30 days as the number of coronavirus cases there rises. there are now 3,a19 confirmed cases in brazil and 92 people have died. this new ban brings brazil into line with many of its neighbours. the irish government has tightened restrictions on movement to try to fight the spread of covid—19. for the next two weeks, people in the republic of ireland will have to stay at home with limited exceptions. these include travelling to work which is deemed essential. and, you can keep up to date with the latest coronavirus developments, on our website. you'll find in—depth analysis and features, including on how to shop or get takeaway food safely. that's all at the bbc news website and on the bbc news app. the prime minis

nick bryant, bbc news, washington.en speaking to dr edourdo gomez, an expert in public health policy, and associate professor in pennsylvania. he told me what he made of the efforts by officials to cope with the pandemic. well, i read the response as very slow and sudden. this has been a delayed response at the federal level, especially in the local level, to some extent. but now an escalated increase, a rapid increase in federal attention and funding to the situation. i think today's declaration of an emergency from president trump was a positive step forward in increasing awareness and providing assistance to the states. in general we started off very slow, but we have accelerated very quickly in federal attention and assistance to the states. how much has public opinion played in today's announcement of a public emergency? obviously the trump administration has faced a lot of criticism for acting too slowly. yes, public opinion has affected, in many ways, one is pressure on politicians, pressures on state government

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.reads to developing countries that are unable to provide much protection. people who've had to flee from conflict are particularly vulnerable, like those in the refugee camps of idlib, in syria. as our international correspondent 0rla guerin reports, there are real fears of what the likely epidemic could bring. the camps of idlib, a place of last resort, and an easy target for covid—19. after heavy rains today, freshly coated in mud. fatuma mohammed doesn't even have running water. at 70 years old, she has to fetch hers in a bucket and try to make it last. there is no soap, and no hot water to wash her grandchildren‘s hands. after nine years of war, she's worried about the new enemy. translation: we are scared. the streets are not clean. nobody is clean. we go to the medical point with our kids but it is shut. we don't have money. we only have god's mercy. civil defence volunteers line up to fight the invisible killer. they are doing what they can but it will take a lot more than disin

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here.t—ever day falls. are we here for the long haul? are we here for the long haunm was a torrid day on global markets after those comments from the us president. we can see some of the numbers. this was focused on europe, where it directly affected travel companies, airlines and the like. you can see there the german index down 12%, the italian index at the bottom, down 17%. the ftse down 11%, thatis bottom, down 17%. the ftse down 11%, that is the second worst percentage fall on record, around the same as black monday. the 10% fall in the dowjones, that black monday. the 10% fall in the dow jones, that is black monday. the 10% fall in the dowjones, that is despite the fact that us authorities, the federal reserve, put in $1 trillion worth of funding to get the markets going again. what you have here, it is not the same as the financial crisis ten yea rs the same as the financial crisis ten years ago when the plumbing of the financial system wasn't really working. markets are meant to pri

nick bryant, bbc news, new rochelle.wing further dramatic falls on stock markets across europe, asia and america. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here. this fall in stocks in britain for example is worse than the financial crisis of 2008. it is primarily a grave health situation but it has been a torrid time on global stock markets today. i think crashes is a fair description in terms of europe. let's look at what happened today, what transpired in the markets over the day. you can see the ftse100 down nearly 11%, the second worst day in percentage terms on record. worse than the monday of black monday in 1987. you will see the dax down 12%, that is germany. in spain the ibex down 14%. hundreds of billions of pounds of funding was put in for the dow, but it is still a bad performance. yesterday we had the budget where there was support from both the bank of england and the treasury. that is perceived to be effective but what is going on is a reassessment of how much it will affect economies and corporations in the c

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.e on new debt so that it can finance the biggest economic rescue package in the country's modern history — equalling around £680 billion. more than 37,000 people have tested positive for the virus in germany, but the relatively low number of deaths in the country — around 200 — is puzzling experts. our berlin correspondent jenny hill reports. for so many, it is about survival. this german knitwear factory now churning out masks. it's that, the owner tells us, or go bust. translation: this is not about making big money — it's to help people who urgently need masks and of course it's to create a certain level of security for our company. germany's politicians are taking no chances. today, they approved of the biggest economic rescue package in modern german history. it's costing them. they have had to abandon a commitment never to take on new debt. no angela merkel today. she's self—isolating after her doctor tested positive for the virus.

nick bryant is in florida, the issue of mike bloomberg with african american voters.of people who came down from new york. another problem is him expanding beyond that group. he hasn't really managed to make any inroads? that's the real problem. the ironclad rule of democrat politics is you don't win the presidential nominee democrat nomination without doing well with african—american voters. that has always been a problem with mayor bloomberg. he had a highly controversial stop and frisk policy that even the obama administration said it was unfairly discriminatory against african—americans. the courts found out as well, mike bloomberg before he ran announced for the presidency. he tried to neutralise the issue by apologising for stop and frisk, he had outreach to the african—american community, but it did not work especially when he was up againstjoe biden, who has this natural affinity with african—american voters, he was the vice president and running mate of barack obama. virginia, as you say, has voted forjoe biden, andl say, has voted forjoe biden, and i was at

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.orded more coronavirus deaths than china. 738 people with the virus have died in the past day alone, taking the total over 3,000. more than 2,500 are in a serious or critical state. 0ur correspondent, damian grammaticas, reports from madrid. on a dark day for spain, a sobering sight. van after van carrying bodies of virus victims. this is madrid's biggest ice rink. it has been requisitioned to hold the dead. they need it, there are so many now. arriving at spanish hospitals are more and more cases, infection is here leaping every day. more than 5,000 medical staff have fallen sick also. so part of spain's urgent efforts are these new rapid testing centres, specifically for those on the front line. this nurse feared she has the virus. the swabs are invasive and unpleasant, handled with extreme care in case they have picked up the pathogen. toni's worried because she has a family she might have infected too. translation: i'm very worried, especially for my family and my patients. at home

nick bryant has more details from washington. central station on the first full day of new york city's state of emergency. morning commuters so far unaware that the entire country was about to be placed on a similar crisis footing. in the city of his birth, there's been fury at donald trump for not taking the pandemic seriously enough, for fumbling the federal government's response. the federal government has botched this, absolutely out of control. there has been little to no testing. they have been completely misinforming people. what we are hearing has changed from one day to the next. he doesn't believe in science, for heaven's sake. could i say that trump is completely clueless? it's all about him. in the fragrant setting of the rose garden, he addressed what for many americans as the most frightening crisis of his presidency. i am officially declaring a national emergency. two very big words. he was asked about his controversial european travel ban and why it didn't include the uk, a decision that is clearly now under revie

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.oday to try to slow the spread of the virus. among them ireland, tonight all schools, colleges and nurseries were closed until the end of the month and mass gatherings have been banned. our special correspondent, ed thomas, has this report from dublin. 6pm, and this was dublin at rush hour. from the streets to quiet city parks. and empty restaurants. as ireland's partial shutdown began. i'm a bit scared, because i can't go home in case i pass it on to, like, my grandmother, my grandfather. what does this mean for you? well, it's better to be safe. we're going to stay at home. you've made that decision, stay at home with the children? yes. so far, there's only one urgentjob. how manyjobs should there be? there should be at least 60 or 70 jobs on that. at this time of the evening. 70 jobs? this time of the evening, yes. the advice here now is to work from home if you can. but for a taxi driver like colin, that's a problem. finance. who is going to pay the bills? because i'm self—employed

nick bryant, bbc news, new york.ember of the british armed forces is understood to have been killed in rocket attacks on a military base in iraq. -- it —— it has been confirmed that a member of the british armed forces has been killed. a us official confirmed that two americans were also killed in the attacks which were launched on camp taji near baghdad this evening. taji is where uk, us and other coalition nations have been training iraqi security forces. prime minister boris johnson prime minister borisjohnson called the attack deplorable. in tonight's champions league, holders liverpool have been up against atletico madrid for a place in the quarterfinals. it went into extra time. natalie pirks was watching. their own league in spain might have gone into lockdown but anfield was still open to atletico fans, for now. more behind closed door matches are surely looming in england but supporters are sticking with their keep calm and carry on approach. it does not matter what they will throw at us, we'll be here. foot

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. let's take brief look at some of today's other news. have more on the coronavirus ina we will have more on the coronavirus in a moment. the trial of scotland's former first minister, alex salmond, has heard allegations from a civil servant that he initiated a sexual assault by telling her he wanted to recreate a pose on a christmas card. the witness, who can be identified only as woman b, said it happened during a meeting at mr salmond's official residence. alex salmond denies 13 charges relating to nine women. a police officer, who was called to the scene where pc andrew harper was killed in berkshire last year, has told the old bailey that he witnessed his body "tumbling" in the road. pc harper died when he was dragged by a car near the all. three teenagers deny murder. the comedian, actor and presenter roy hudd has died at the age of 83. he was best known for the radio 2 series the news huddlines, which ran for more than 25 years. the bbc has announced a two—month delay in requiring people over 75 to pay for their television licence.

nick bryant in new york, thank you. in other news — a report into the windrush scandal says the home office showed "institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness" on the issue of race. the independent review was set up to examine why people from commonwealth caribbean countries who'd arrived in the uk legally were wrongly told they had no right to be here, with some being detained or deported — in many cases despite living here for years. adina campbell reports. how do you feel, michael? sharing their stories, three members of the windrush generation seriously affected by a scandal now described as a profound institutionalfailure. ijust feel like i'm not even living. i feel like i've died, i'm looking down at myself. every time i talk about it, it hurts me so deeply. and michael braithwaite's career as a teaching assistant for children with special educational needs was also cut short. it's dragged on too long. it's caused a lot of stress. 0ur lives have been turned upside down. but, anthony, you were detained, wrongfully

nick bryant starts our coverage. >> we live in a world where so much looks familiar but almost everythingeels different. on a monday morning staten island ferry, these empty roads were a measurecof community ern. a global badge of fear. >> people are worried and we don't know what to do. >> i was thinking this morning about how apocalyptic it felt. like, this is a movie. >> unbelievable. never seen it like this in my life. >>rk on the new ubway system, socialou distancing wld usually be impossible in the middle of the rush hour. thorning it felt like a ost train. the city of perpetual motion is shutting down. bars, restaurants, school systems. it is frightening for workers like liz santana. >> it is very emotial for all of us. >> timesor square ismally the pulsing heart of manhattan. the only activity was on its big screens. images from a chinese news channel now playing out here. they call times square the crossroads of the world, but body wants to meet here anymore. >> the nation-esque of a capital looked like a scene -- the nation's capital looked like a scene from a dystopian drama. a

nick bryant, bbc news, new york. begin testing frontline medical staff in the national health service for covid—19 in the coming hours, to try to clarify who should and who should not be working with patients. it comes as the prime minister borisjohnson and health secretary matt hancock are self—isolating after testing posiitve for the virus. andy moore reports. they're the three men spearheading the national fight against covid—19 and all three are now self—isolating because they have or think they have the virus. i've developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus, that's to say a temperature and a persistent cough. the prime minister is in self quarantine in this flat above 11 downing street, but says he remains firmly in charge. be in no doubt that i can continue, thanks to the wizardry of modern technology, to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fight back against coronavirus. on wednesday, the prime minister was in the house of commons, with his health minister sitting close by. matt hancock has a

nick bryant is in new rochelle in new york. health. boots on the ground for a mercy mission. how many kids? 0ne. 0ne kid. providing food to needy families whose children have stopped getting free meals because of the closure of schools. people won't go hungry, but they are getting sick and increasingly fretful. i think people are worried. i think people are nervous. the idea is with the resources that are available, it's about coming together and maybe perhaps it will ease a lot of people's nerves. new rochelle, on the outskirts of new york city, has now become ground zero in america's coronavirus outbreak. it's not yet in lockdown. there is still freedom of movement, but they have created a containment area where schools, colleges and houses of worship will be shut for the next two weeks. residents here complain the trump administration has not done enough, especially with testing people for the virus. i think they are approaching this situation very slowly and it's not fair to the communities that are infected. it's not. i th

announced plans to build eight temporary hospitals for a surgeon patients to start her coverage coming nick bryantorts from new york. >> new york, new york, the worst affected city in what is now the there was always a sense this pandemic would end up ravaging this global hub, though there is a deceptive coalm on it streets come it is in the hospitals where the crisis is playing out. emergency calls hit their highest level since the attacks of september 11, hospital staff deribing the tsunami of patients flooding their emergency rooms. we are thought to be three weeks away from the peak, and already they are exhausted. new york is pang a price for being such a vibrant and international city. >> we are so dense and so together, whichhat makes us special and gives us that new york energy, giv us that new york mojo, it also, that density becomes the enemy in a situation like this. >> in midtown manhattan, something we have not seen since 9/11, refrigerated trucks ready to store the corpses of the dead each one holding up to 44 bodies. these workmen were constructing a makeshift morgue. >> america is

nick bryant, bbc news, new rochelle. catastrophic week on walla street.tocks dived again, triggering the second emergency halt in trading m. midday intervention by the federal reserve failing to stop this a lot. our businessre condent samira hussain joined merely. everybody must be thinking right hanow,if anything could stop the slide? samira: what wall street has wanted all week is to hear some reion from the federal government in terms of what it can do to try and hp stop theha bleedingis happening on wall street. but they did not get that, and throughout this week we have seen there have been dramatic problems on financial market as a result of that. monday we saw that the dow jones industrial average fell by almost 8%. there was a pickup on tuesday, some encouragement on esday. but wednesday, another dramatic fall. we heard from u.s. president donald trump. but the message that was received by wall street was not coming, and today we have seen the worst fall on the dow jones industrial average since the .1987 financial cra markets have fallen by some