president trump has declared a national emergency, giving the us government access to billions of dollars to tackle the coronavirus. the move relaxes regulations on the provision of healthcare and could speed up testing. wall street surged by almost ten per cent following the announcement. the world health organisation says europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world, apart from china. a number of countries in the eu say they'll close their borders to most — or all — foreigners because of the crisis. emergency legislation is being drawn up to ban mass gatherings in the uk — possibly from next week — in response to the worsening coronavirus outbreak. scores of major sporting and cultural events have been cancelled. there's more on our website — bbc.com/news. the government is now advising

people with flu—like symptoms, not to visit relatives who may be in care homes. the new guidance is an attempt to prevent the corona—virus 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 st cecilia's nursing home in scarborough, they have 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, with her hands carefully washed, sees her very poorly 91—year—old father matthew several times a week. did you have a good night's sleep? yeah. 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 have to think for them. today's guidance says people shouldn't visit if they have flu—like symptoms. the the home's owner, who also represents other local care providers, isn't convinced that has gone far enough. are we acting quick enough, because we are looking at making sure that visitors perhaps can't come in into the home in the future unless it is an emergency, so we are taking our own actions now to prevent something more serious later on. this is our general store room. many care providers are also worried about getting enough stocks of hand gel, gloves and other protective gear. the government now says additional equipment will be provided for them. alcohol gel is a big thing, hand washing equipment, everything we need for that and it is becoming more of a struggle to get hold of things like that at the moment. this meeting in york is a chance for care and public health professionals to plan together. the challenge is introducing

measures that can be sustained. it might be that stopping visitors might help their physical health but it might have a really poor impact on their mental, emotional health. and getting that balance right to protect older people will have to be kept under constant review. alison holt, bbc news, york. now it's time for the travel show. hello, and welcome to the travel show. this week i am in the maldives

looking back at our best bits from the past few months. we have had an astonishing year so far, from a hamish holiday resort to exploring an ancient newly discovered tunnel under jerusalem and let us not forget our time here in maldives to find out what they are doing to protect local marine life. but let's start with a little glimpse into the future when elusive descended into a space centre built deep inside a spanish cave system.

since hg wells wrote of the martian invasion in one of the world, the red planet has captured our imagination. at over 33 million miles away, it is incredible to think we could one day colonise mars. for the next 2a hours, i will be learning how to live life like oui’s be learning how to live life like ours columnist in the space. the project is set up to see how humans could live on mars from a psychological perspective. i look ready, ifeel i look ready, i feel ready, i look ready, ifeel ready, i am ready. our aim is i look ready, ifeel ready, i am ready. ouraim is to i look ready, ifeel ready, i am ready. our aim is to get to our base

where we will be spending the night. it is anticipated that the first columnist to also have to live underground in caves to avoid interstellar radiation. we have a table. the pod is set up with everything to meet your basic needs. after all that work, it is time for dinner. i am going for one of my favourite dishes, bolognese. leave for ten minutes. it looks a little bit like plastic but i am so hungry. that is actually quite nice.

this experience is not cheap. for nonscientists it is about £5,000 for the 30 day experience which includes preparation, training and about three days in the cave... i mean, mars. lucy finding out what future holidays on the martian surface might feel like. this week i am in the maldives which is a dream destination for many people but there is no doubt that tourism and climate change have had an impact on its environment and a while back i came here to meet some of the people trying to do something about that. we are starting with something that up we are starting with something that up until now most tourists have not

wa nted up until now most tourists have not wanted to see on their pristine beaches but which is vital in the fight against climate change, seagrass. so, sandra, tell me what is seagrass? seagrass is actually very important because it has some of the functions in the ocean. not only is it a habitat or nursery for many animals, many fish, during different stages of their life. but it also provides most of the oxygen that we need for us, for breathing. and what's the biggest threat to seagrass? in most of the reserves, they thought seagrass looked ugly for the guests because it wasn't the white sand they wanted in pictures. they used to remove it from the beach. because of that, yeah... the project is to mostly avoid removing seagrass around the lagoon and not doing any action or activity next to the seagrass. so if it can grow by itself it will be healthy. you don't need to do anything, just take care of what you have. let's take a look at the seagrass.

sure! it is estimated that the world's oceans lose the equivalent of two soccer pitches‘ worth of seagrass every hour of every day. but it stores carbon more effectively than rainforests. it's vital that it thrives. i took it for granted — i thought it was like weeds. there is a lack of information. most people think it is like dirty algae, but it really keep the water very clean and houses many, many kinds of fish. people need to have a different mentality and they have to see areas with seagrass as areas

where it is helpful. here in the maldives, many resorts are realising that healthy underwater ecosystems are more important than tourists‘ ideals of what the ocean floor should look like. we have also been looking to similar eco— inspiration in northern argentina. the bearer is the world ‘s second—largest outlet and its animal species have been dying off for decades. the people that have been looking to a fearsome predator for help. welcome to the island home

in argentina with a project introducing this beautiful terrifying animal back into the wild. no, my... guys, when you make eye contact with a beast this size your heart sort of goes... she is a brazilian panther orjaguar. she is about years old. she is quite young. how will the wetlands benefit from introducing this beautiful animal? they are part of the ecosystem that had been here for hundreds of thousands of years. they disappeared from the wetlands and now the system is lacking from this top predator and we need to maintain the freight

population in natural numbers and not making them increased so much. this ecosystem involved with the keystone predator and take that out and everything crumbles. exactly, yes. it is estimated there are only 250 while jack was left across the whole of argentina many locals, they still have a special, mystical significance. it is common that jack was here i related with bravery, masculinity —— jaguars. iam i am allowed into the enclosure to prepare its meal.

0k, we have one hanging fish, one piece of mystery meat. ready to go. 0k. it is a little bit annoyed, normally food does not arrive this late. there are two trapdoors and i have just been granted permission to open them. wait... which one do i open? both of them. i do not want to open? both of them. i do not want to open the wrong one. the blue one. look, here she comes. let's see if you can find the fish. that is a predator, ladies and gentlemen. and breakfast is served.

mike on the prowl forjaguar. still to come, and one of the world ‘s most significant and controversial excavations has taken place right underneath my feet. if there is a saying, what happens in pine craft stays in pine craft. if this snake bites me, what happens? it is quite painful. right, to israel next and a journey that up until last year was not even possible. in the city already bursting with antiquity it seems unlikely that there would be much to discover underneath

jerusalem but there is as was recently found out. it isa it is a city that is home to the world's three major monotheistic faiths, drawing in more than 3.5 million tourists a year, and of course, it is the diversity of ancient monuments, civilisations and architecture that everyone finds so compelling about jerusalem. and history just keeps on compelling about jerusalem. and historyjust keeps on giving, because every day, even now, new discoveries and secrets are being revealed, and in fact, one of the world's most significant and controversial excavations is taking place right underneath my feet. hi. nice to meet you. rajan welcome, welcome to the city of david, the

most spectacular place to be in israel. 0k, most spectacular place to be in israel. ok, let's go and take a look... this is a guide, and excited about the excavation of what was the city 2000 years ago. the tzar original stairs we are walking up. it was discovered by accident after a waterpipe burst above it during a snowstorm in 200a. a waterpipe burst above it during a snowstorm in 2004. we are about to have a big time. lets do it. up we go. the pilgrimage road runs from the ancient pool to temple mount, also known by its arabic name, at the top. it has been almost totally excavated now, and this is what they discovered. paving stones and almost pristine condition. so we are now walking on original, 2000 year old limestone streets. that was the centre of all ofjerusalem. limestone streets. that was the centre of all of jerusalem. this is the original limestone? the original, perfect as if it was walked on yesterday. it was in the 19th century that archaeologist first twigged that the ancient city

of david wasn't actually within the famous old city walls ofjerusalem, but here, further south. but why is it so significant anyway? so the city of david is pretty much ancient jerusalem. it is thejerusalem that sta rts jerusalem. it is thejerusalem that starts as the capital of this area, 3000 years ago, which means everything thatjerusalem 3000 years ago, which means everything that jerusalem is 3000 years ago, which means everything thatjerusalem is today, pretty much, we can learn about it, whether it is politically, religiously, culturally. while the cultural tea m religiously, culturally. while the cultural team insist utmost safety for local residents is the priority, that isn't quite how everybody feels, especially amongst the palestinian community who live here above the city of david site, which they know by a different name. local residents a cracks and sloping like this to dozens of houses have been caused by the excavation, complaining it is like and during an earthquake. nonetheless, the israeli supreme court rejected those claims. as with many issues injerusalem, there are two quite different

stories being told, and as a travel writer and guide, offers the alternative palestinian perspective through his tours of the city —— aziz. so jerusalem has many layers, and underneath us there is a road from the second century. from the second century, going underneath here? yes, it is an old market. aziz believes it is important to recognise that here in the markets of the old city, local arabic families have been here for generations. the city of david will tell you that us story, which is legitimate, and it is important to be told, but it doesn't really tell you the story of the palestinian residents. it doesn't really tell you the story of the islamic groups that have lived injerusalem as well. and so if you come to jerusalem and go to the city of david only, you will hear one narrative, a single narrative, and thatis narrative, a single narrative, and that is not fair to a city that has so that is not fair to a city that has so much history, so much diverse history. it hasjewish history, it has christian history, it has muslim

history, and each of those has multiple histories as well. so here is the rub. injerusalem, any excavation is going to be both amazing and controversial at the same time. but for followers of three of the world's major religions, curious tourists, and lovers of history are like, the fact is this city will always be a draw. rajan, taking a stroll down pilgrimage road. let's switch continents now to florida, in the united states. it has been a popular destination for years. it is filled with flashy attractions like universal studios, disney world, and epcot. if you are used to a more basic way of life, the state still has plenty to offer, as mike found out when he dropped in on the gentle community of pine craft. since

starting as a tourist resident in the 1920s, this has become a holiday hotspot for the amish. we have a mural here depicting every day amish life, and a friendly man welcoming us. life, and a friendly man welcoming us. maybe we can ride the horse. the amish are christians that hold onto a simple way of life. they are best known for their regimented plain clothes, warn for reasons of humility and modesty. they also reject most forms of modern technology, some even avoiding electricity from the national grid. well, i guess we grow up working. i mean, we don't just well, i guess we grow up working. i mean, we don'tjust sit around doing nothing. it's always you've got something to do. and in the evening, of course, we read books. we don't have tv. and our children like to come home. we have cookouts. it is a very secure life. you grew up in an

area where your life was always sort of you knew what to expect. of course, as time goes on it's not so simple anymore. we don't do things like we did 100 years ago, or 50 years ago. this might look like a normal street in central florida, but actually, many of these are amish holiday homes, and if you look great here, this is a powerline. even the amish want to kick back on vacation. the neighbourhood offers more modern conveniences than you mightfind in more modern conveniences than you might find in one of their traditional settlements. bicycles and golf carts replace horses and buggies, and the holiday homes, they all have power. we heard there's a saying that whatever happens in pinecraft stays in pinecraft. every winter and spring, an estimated 5000 people come visit. but if you are not amish, you might have to prepare for a cold reception. they tend to keep themselves to themselves, not so keep themselves to themselves, not so much out of unfriendliness than

modesty. and when the camera comes out, everyone tends to scatter. i've been a lot of places and i've met a lot of people, and i have fit in most of the time. but here, obviously i stick out like a sore thumb here, and i don't exactly know how to interact. so i kind of feel a little bit lonely at times. can you both tell me a bit about pinecraft? there is no other place like it in the world, i don't think. why do you say that? it's really a social life for all the people. you go to the park, it's kind of a gathering place where people come and visit, there shuffleboard down there. i think we've been very blessed to have a place to go like this, and the people accept us, and... and yes,

it's quite unique. mike, living it up it's quite unique. mike, living it up with the amish. finally to sri lanka, which is planning to quadruple in size it's only unesco listed ra i nforest quadruple in size it's only unesco listed rainforest reserve. but you will need to watch out for the snakes, as lucy found out. now, i know you can't see much apart from the really tall trees, but mother nature's soundtrack is truly spectacular. this is the edge of sri lanka's last primary rainforest. it's a hotspot for biodiversity. ra re it's a hotspot for biodiversity. rare plants, and snakes all thrive here. it is so important ecologically that there are plans to quadruple it in size. the only way to explore it is by foot. this man

used to hike and swim in the forest asa used to hike and swim in the forest as a child. it is so dense. yes. 0nly as a child. it is so dense. yes. only a tiny bit of sunlight coming through. he now runs tours of the jungle around the island. it is slippery. the sinharaja forest covers m ore slippery. the sinharaja forest covers more than 8000 hectares but you don't need to walk very far to spot some wildlife. c resnick that's the green tree frog under the leaves. almost the same colour as the leaves. yes. it is tiny. it is —— so the leaves. yes. it is tiny. it is —— so if this snake bites me, what happens? it is quite painful. stay away! his expert eyes soon spotted another baby snake on our path. what is the name of this snake? it is the eyecatcher snake, because they used to... on the tree at your eye level, and this... see? he really tried to

go for you then. he doesn't have venom, but he has teeth. they will bite you until some blood comes out. 0h, bite you until some blood comes out. oh, my god. wow. you weren'tjoking, where you, when you said it was worth it? every time i come into here, it's not just worth it? every time i come into here, it's notjust going to the jungle. ijust here, it's notjust going to the jungle. i just come here, it's notjust going to the jungle. ijust come into the big, giant living creature. the ra i nfo rest giant living creature. the ra i nforest is giant living creature. the rainforest is it's alive. right, that's it for this week. we've got loads of brand—new adventures coming next week. but for now, from me, ade, and all of the travel show team in the gorgeous maldives, it's goodbye.

hello again. well, yesterday, what a glorious start to the day it was. most of us did have a lot more in the way of sunshine, and some stunning weather watch pictures sent in from scotland. you can see the snow glistening under those clear blue skies in the spring sunshine. it wasn't like that everywhere, though. we did have this line of showers that developed from merseyside down towards the midlands. that's where some of the heaviest showers were during friday afternoon. and of course, the skies look quite different. this was the scene in tamworth, as it turned pretty cloudy through the afternoon, and we had the heavy downpours and, of course, a few rainbows. the latest satellite picture, though, shows an area of cloud extending in across england and wales. this is a weather front. it's weakening very quickly

because out in the atlantic, we've got a developing low pressure, and that development is really starting to take over. so what it means over the next few hours is the rain, as it pushes eastwards across england and wales, is fragmenting, it's becoming light and patchy, whereas further north in scotland, still a bit of oomph to the rain as it comes in across western areas over the next few hours. and, indeed, there'll be a bit of hill snow in scotland about 200 metres' elevation. now, the weekend is quite unsettled. there will be some rain around, quite windy. there'll also be a bit of sunshine, too. for many of us, we start off on a grey note, although some sunshine quite quickly for northern ireland. eventually, as the patchy rain clears england and wales, and later in the day for western scotland, we'll see some sunshine coming through. but then, quite quickly, the next low pressure comes in, and that's going to be feeding rain back into northern ireland. rain getting into western scotland, western parts of england and wales as we end the afternoon. it will be mild, it'll be quite windy as well. now, through saturday night, this weather front becomes quite slow—moving for a time

across wales and south—west england, where over the hills, well, we could see around 30, maybe 40 mm of rain building up. it will be a very mild night. temperatures nine or ten degrees for england and wales. cooler air for scotland and for northern ireland. now, on sunday, our band of rain pushes eastwards, but as it does so, the front will be decelerating. it'll be slowing down, so really dragging its heels as it works into east anglia and south—east england. behind the front, though, the cooler air extends in across many areas, so feeling fresher. it'll be a mixture of sunshine and showers around, and some of those showers heavy, with a bit of hail and thunder in those heavy ones for scotland. now, into next week, pressure rises towards the south of the uk, so the weather becoming settled across southern areas, whereas further north, we've got rain or showers in the forecast, so something of a north—south split. in the south, it's notjust dry, it gets quite mild. temperatures up to 16 in london. there will be showers at times further north. that's your weather.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and rachel burden. 0ur headlines today: plans to ban mass gatherings are being drawn up to curb the spread of coronavirus. the measures could be in place by next weekend. major sporting events around the world a re major sporting events around the world are cancelled. it's a saturday but there will be no football here at league 0ne's tranmere rovers or around the country. protecting the most vulnerable. the government issues advice to protect people with special care needs. i'm very worried. because as it

stands if they were to