The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, says the new coronavirus is the country's biggest public health emergency since the communists took power. Emergency measures to combat the virus are being stepped up elsewhere, including in two of the worst-hit countries, Italy and South Korea. The outbreak of the virus in Iran has worsened, with thirty- five confirmed cases and eight deaths.

Also in the programme: Iran announces lowest voter turnout since 1979; and a hundred years after the invention of the theremin.

(Photo: The colourful Venice Carnival draws thousands of visitors to the city every year. Credit: Reuters)

There's growing international concern about the spread of the new coronavirus outside China -- as Iran, Italy and South Korea struggle to contain outbreaks. Iran has reported its fifth death from Covid- 19 and a total of nearly thirty cases. Two people have died in Italy.

Also in the programme: South Sudan rivals Salvaa Kiir and Riek Machar agree unity deal; and the funeral of Joseph Shabalala, the founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, is taking place in South Africa.

Picture: A confirmed coronavirus patient is wheeled to a hospital at Chuncheon. Credit: Reuters.

German authorities confirmed man left a confession revealing far-right motives behind fatal shooting in Hanau. On Wednesday night the typical laid-back scenes at two shisha bars in the town, east of Frankfurt, turned violent as a gunman opened fire killing nine. He later turned the gun on himself and his mother.

Also in the programme; we take a look at how the newest Democratic candidate, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, fared in his first debate and to South Korea where there has been a significant spike in Coronavirus cases.

(Photo: Germany’s leaders visit the scene outside the Midnight hookah bar, one of two bars targeted by a gunman on February 20 in Hanau. Credit: Lukas Schulze/Getty Images)

Some passengers say disembarkation was 'chaotic' and 'haphazard' following quarantine. The passengers from the “Diamond Princess” come from more than 50 countries, raising concerns that the ship could become the source of a fresh wave of global infections, says the BBC's Laura Bicker, who is at the port in Yokohama.

Also on the programme: Could ammonia prove the green alternative to diesel, transforming the world's shipping industry? As the UK government gives details of its new regulations for migrant workers, experts question whether this will actually reduce immigration. And what can Malaysia teach other countries about de-radicalisation?

(Picture: A bus with closed curtains believed to carry elderly passengers off the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, 14 February 2020 Credit: European Photopress Agency/JIJI PRESS)

Measures continue to be taken across China to keep the outbreak under control. At the same time, hundreds of American passengers, quarantined for two weeks on board a cruise liner off Japan because of the coronavirus, are being evacuated back to the United States. Also on the programme: a surge in power generated by wind turbines across Europe; and Elton John forced to abandon show midway through.

(Photo: Workers in protective suits conduct tests inside a laboratory, as the country is hit by an outbreak of coronavirus, in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China February 14, 2020. Credit: cnsphoto/Reuters)

China says the rising numbers of people with the coronavirus highlights the risks to medical staff. We hear from Japan where the country has just suffered the first death from the virus.

Also in the programme: Huge swarms of locusts that have been devastating crops and grasslands in East Africa, with the UN is warning of the danger of famine in the region if the insects aren't brought under control; and in Britain a man has taken his local police force to court after they recorded a series of tweets he'd written about transgender people as a hate incident, despite admitting that he hadn't committed any crime.

(Photo: A medical worker in protective suit checks a patient's records at Jinyintan hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, in Hubei province, China 13 February 2020. Credit: China Daily via Reuters)