The World

Iran's coronavirus death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday, the highest outside of China, and real extent infections could be much higher — increasing the country's international isolation as health authorities move to accelerated emergency measures to curb the epidemic's global spread. And, it was a brief state visit, but on his way out of India, President Donld Trump said he asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi about religious freedom. Also, researchers at Georgia Tech have devised a mathematical model for making the perfect fried rice.  

From The World and PRX, this is to add The Number in the News to your smart speaker News Briefing on an Amazon or Google smart speaker. Produced by The World’s Bianca Hillier.

The coronavirus continues to spread, eroding a sense of safety that comes with distance from China. Europe is confronting its first major eruption of cases in Italy. And, despite a growing chorus of troubling reports of human rights abuses in the disputed region of Kashmir, US President Donald Trump praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday during a visit to India.  Also, in the middle of an NHL hockey game, a Zamboni driver was called to save the day in what became a Cinderella-on-ice story.

We speak with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to find out about international cooperation with scientists in China on the coronavirus outbreak, America's preparedness for infections here and some experimental treatments being tested. South Sudan's political rivals President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have announced they will agree to share power and form a unity government by Saturday. Also, what inspired author Nazila Fathi to write two children books to help Iranian American kids feel proud of their heritage.

Federal prosecutors are treating the mass shooting in Hanau, Germany as an act of terrorism. Far-right extremism is thought to have motivated the shooter, who opened fire in two hookah bars in the western German town and killed at least nine people. We also look at the appointment of Ambassador Richard Grenell as acting director of national intelligence, and ask what impact it might have on US intelligence-gathering capabilities. Whitney Houston died in 2012, but some people are determined to keep some version of her alive. Next week in Sheffield, England, the pop-icon will appear to perform in concert.