welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: prosecutor turns defender: president trump adds ken starr, the man who sought bill clinton's impeachment, to his team. the us says it will screen passengers from china for symptoms of a new virus that has killed two people and infected many more. chanting chants of "death to america" as iran's supreme leader defends the military over the accidental shooting down of a ukrainian airlines plane. four teachers in los angeles sue delta airlines after a plane dumped fuel on their school during an emergency landing.

president trump's impeachment trial will properly get under way on tuesday, and on friday the white house unveiled an all star roster for its legal team. the defence will include the prosecutor from bill clinton's impeachment, kenn starr, as well as celebrity lawyer alan dershowitz, who's previous high profile clients include oj simpson and jeffrey epstein. our north america correspondent aleem maqbool looks at the key hirings ahead of next week's trial. it is what we have come to expect from donald trump. the newly revealed members of his legal team are made—for—television heavyweights. in ken starr, he also has a man considered a hero to the right. as independent counsel in the 1990s, it was his investigation and the finding that bill clinton lied under oath about a relationship

with an intern that led to the then—president's impeachment. happy new year to you. away we go now... more recently he has been a contributor to mr trump's news network of choice, speaking out against the current impeachment. in alan dershowitz he has got one of the most high—profile lawyers in the country — one who represented mike tyson, oj simpson and convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. he has also been vocally opposed to the impeachment of president trump. both are likely to bring showmanship to the historic events of the coming weeks. and of the coming weeks. we will have more on that st later and we will have more on that story later in the bulletin. the united states is beginning screening passengers arriving at three airports from the chinese city of wuhan. they're looking for symptoms of a new respiratory virus that has killed two people and infected dozens more. the checks will take place at los angeles, san francisco and jfk airport in new york. the new virus was detected in wuhan last month — cases have since been

reported injapan and thailand. well, a little earlier i spoke with dr peter daszak from the centre for infection and immunity at the ecohealth alliance, and asked how much more dangerous this virus is than previously thought. we are beginning to know more about how likely it is for this virus to spread from one person to another. coupled with that, we have had the first deaths and now the virus has appeared in two countries, multiple, two people infected in thailand, so it looks like it has the capacity to spread through infected people. that doesn't sound great. just how bad could this outbreak be? any outbreak is a very intensely watched event, because it is unclear at the beginning of an outbreak, how likely it is for an outbreak to spread and become a pandemic. what it seems from this outbreak is china has done an incrediblejob of rapidly identifying this as a new disease, finding out what the virus is that is causing it, and being open about

the information. but there is a problem, that we are seeing too many infected people for it to be just a single spillover event from animals to people. it looks like there has been either more than one place where the people are picking up this virus or there is human to human spread which is a big concern. you talk about it being a new disease. just what kind of challenges does it present to health officials? it looks like the virus is closely related to sars. since sars emerged, people have been developing vaccines and drugs to see if they work against sars. the problem is, this virus is different. we don't know yet if those drugs and those vaccines work, so the risk is that it is something that begins to spread, that it's lethal and we don't have the capacity to control it. do we know yet where this came from? no, all of the early indications are that it originated in a wildlife market, a market that sells mainly

seafood but also some mammals, mainly domestic mammals. pork and a few birds, poultry. but it is really unclear whether that is the source of the outbreak. it may be that wildlife at the root source, we find that when we look at the genetic sequence of this virus, it looks very similar to viruses that we found in bats in china, and that is where the original source of the sars outbreak was too. so maybe the bats have gotten into a farm and infected some animals or people have been trading and eating bats and that is the origin. nobody knows yet. until we find that out, we can't be sure that this won't happen again. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has insisted that iran must pay compensation for the shooting down of the ukrainian airliner last week. 176 people were killed — 57 of those who died were canadian citizens.

as a first step, the government will give families of the victims who are canadian citizens or permanent residents $25,000 per victim to assist with their immediate needs such as funeral arrangements and travel. this is a unique and unprecedented situation because of the international sanctions placed on iran, and the difficulties that that imposes on these families. i want to be clear. we expect iran to compensate these families. i have met them. they cannot wait weeks — they need support now. meanwhile, president trump has warned iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei to be "very careful with his words" — after he attacked the united states in a public sermon in tehran. in his friday address to thousands of worshippers,

ayatollah khamenei branded president trump "a clown," and praised recent missile strikes against american bases in iraq. here's our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville. chanting. it's eight years since ayatollah ali khamenei led friday prayers. his central message hasn't changed much. translation: the evil us government keeps repeating that we stand beside iranian people. you are lying — even if you are standing beside iranian people, it is just so you can stab them with your poison daggers. "death to america, death to england", chanted the crowd. thousands were bussed in from local mosques and given banners to wave. the ayatollah‘s appearance, and these loyalists, are meant to project strength, at a time of weakness for iran. looking down from above,

qasem soleimani — the country's ruthless regional fixer. his assassination by the united states has wounded iran. the accidental shooting down of the ukrainian passenger plane with iranians on board brought more trouble. angry crowds defaced the dead general‘s posters. in neighbouring iraq, iran and america continue their battle for influence. when iran and america fight, often it's iraq who bleeds. here in baghdad and across the country, there is a revolt against the government and against iranian influence. tehran has spent decades building up enormous power here. that power is now facing unprecedented pressure. they have been on these streets since october and caused the prime minister to resign and parliament to agree a new electoral law. but that's not enough. for many, iran and america are no

longer welcome here. translation: i send a message to us and iran. we wish iraqis will not be either eastern or western. we want iraq to be ruled by iraqis. change was already coming here in iraq, but the killing of qasem soleimani on iraqi soil means it may come sooner. with enough trouble of their own, iraqis are fast losing patience with america and iran. quentin sommerville, bbc news, baghdad. four teachers in los angeles are suing the us carrier delta airlines for negligence after a pilot dumped fuel over their primary school playground earlier this week. the teachers say the fuel burned their skin, eyes and throats and sent children screaming for cover. gareth barlow reports. screaming. this is the moment thousands of litres of aviation fuel rained down on los angeles. the delta air lines flight 89 dumps

the fuel on tuesday before making an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. dozens of children and teachers outside in playgrounds as the plane flew overhead required medical treatment for skin irritation and breathing difficulties. i began feeling a light drizzle on my hair, my face, my body. i thought it was rain. and then i caught the scent of fuel. i started yelling for my students to come back inside the building. in a statement released on wednesday, the airline said: i was scared. i was scared too.

we were all scared. despite the airline saying that normal procedure was followed, the teachers‘ lawsuit alleges the delta air lines pilot didn't inform air traffic control of the need to jettison the fuel. had delta's pilot notified our personnel of the need to dump fuel, the flight would have been directed by air traffic control to a location and to an altitude from which fuel could have been released without danger to the teachers, the students and others at the school. more teachers, students and families may joint the lawsuit amid concerns about the long—term health impacts from the exposed toxins. gareth barlow, bbc news. neil hansford, an aviation expert, is chairman of strategic aviation solutions, and he joins us from port stephens in new south wales. this is the first time many people

will have heard of a case such as this, just how common is dumping fuel the pilots? this, just how common is dumping fuelthe pilots? i have never heard of anybody dumping over a built—up area, it is not that common anyway, to have an aircraft to lose an engine on takeoff. the normal procedure is that you are directed out over the sea and you normally dump fuel over the sea. and they we re dump fuel over the sea. and they were having to dump about 15 tons of aviation fuel, because the aircraft was flying direct from los angeles to beijing. certainly i had never, in my time in the industry, ever heard of anybody dumping fuel over a built—up area. heard of anybody dumping fuel over a built-up area. it is a built-up area, it is also such a low altitude, because often when you dump fuel, you do it so high up that it never actually reaches humans down below. that's exactly right. evenif down below. that's exactly right. even if he actually reported

compressor stall, what he believed to bea compressor stall, what he believed to be a compressor stall with the engine, the aircraft is very capable of flying on one engine, and there must have been another reason, whether they believe they have another problem, to turn back and be facilitated so quickly at what is a very, very busy airport at los angeles, that he did not go out over the sea to dump the fuel. so if there are some other circumstances we are not aware of, but i have a feeling that the delta group may have acted inappropriately in where they dumped the fuel. we saw a teacher in that report very emotional and distraught about what happened, what sort of physical impact will those teachers, children and staff members have that have been affected by the fuel? probably it will be more mental than physical, because research into the effect of aviation fuel on people, when they had done on rats it has had no carcinogenic or any other

effect, so it may well be more emotional, and i have to say because it is in the united states, the fact that it it is in the united states, the fact thatitis it is in the united states, the fact that it is going to court so quickly in such litigious country, i am not surprised. an extraordinary story, thank you for bringing your insight into this, it is nothing i have ever heard of, but thank you for talking us heard of, but thank you for talking us through that. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a special report on record amounts of cocaine being produced in colombia, and how producers conspire to get it to a city near you. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first. america first.

demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set up on by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him ‘the butcher of lyon'. klaus barbie is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. west germany wants to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. millions came to bathe as close as possible to the spot. a tide of humanity, it is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has revealed the team that will defend him in his senate impeachment trial. so let's get more on the legal team that will be defending president trump

in the impeachment inquiry. i've been speaking to troy slaten, a criminal defence lawyer based in los angeles. it certainly is, this is a bit of a dream team. in full disclosure, judge ken starr was a professor of mine and later dean of my law school, pepperdine university school of law. so both professor dershowitz and ken starr are stars in the legal community and they have been very prolific on television in the last several months defending the president's position and speaking out against the impeachment proceedings. are you saying from that that this is a trial about public perception, as much as anything else? we have obviously got an election coming up soon. it certainly is. this is a political process and all of the jurors in this case are united states senators. so those 100 jurors will have to justify their decision to their constituents in their home states and justify whatever decision they make, which is whether or not to remove the president from office. so all of these people

are going to have to go back and see what their constituents think about what they did and certainly, while these proceedings are going on, it is going to be televised gavel to gavel, and the american people are used to seeing these names, alan dershowitz and judge ken starr. you talk about ken starr. he is famous for investigating bill clinton all those years ago. what do you remember of him, because you obviously studied with him? sure, i remember him as being very affable, very nice. it was a bit different than what i've remembered of him during the clinton impeachment proceedings, but there is nobody more qualified than professor alan dershowitz, who famously helped get oj simpson off on what seemed like an airtight murder case, so bothjudge ken starr and alan dershowitz, you really can't get much better than that. and how will the senate trial differ to the house of representatives trial, because there are obviously technicalities between both of those that are quite important?

during the house proceedings, that was really like a grand jury. it was to draw up the articles of impeachment, which are akin to an indictment, and they heard from many witnesses. we may not hear from any witnesses in the senate. it will be up to the senators by majority rule to decide whether or not they want to hear witnesses, whether they want to see any additional evidence. the chief justice of the united states supreme court will act as the presiding officer but it will also be very different because, unlike the house where each one of the members of the committee got to stand up on their soap box and grandstand and give a five—minute speech to begin with, all senators here have to remain silent, which is very difficult for a politician and if they want to ask a question, then they have to submit it in writing to the chiefjustice, who they will ask the question of either the house managers or the president's defence team.

let's get some of the day's other news. security forces in the chilean capital santiago have used tear gas against protesters. there have been months of demonstrations against the government of president sebastian pinera, with people demanding social reforms and changes to the constitution. dozens have died since the movement began in october. brazil's culture minister roberto alvim has been sacked after using parts of a speech by nazi germany's propaganda chief joseph goebbels in a video, sparking outrage. music by hitler's favourite composer richard wagner was played in the background. earlier, mr alvim said the now—deleted video was a "rhetorical coincidence". brazil's president jair bolsonaro said the speech had been "u nfortu nate". us congresswoman ayanna pressley has revealed she is completely bald because of the hair loss condition alopecia. the massachusetts democrat told the root website that she started noticing her hair was

falling out last autumn. she eventually went totally bald in december. apple may be forced to abandon its lightning connector cable as eu legislators push for tech companies to operate one universal charging system. apple argues the proposed regulation would stifle innovation and be disruptive to consumers. european regulators will vote on the cable on a yet to be determined date. the colombian government says it's to restart aerial spraying of coca leaves with herbicide in an effort to reduce the record levels of cocaine currently produced in the country. spraying was suspended in 2015, after a study found the chemical used could cause cancer. since then, the area under coca cultivation has tripled, with much of the cocaine produced ending up in the us. 0ur social affairs correspondent

michael buchanan travelled to colombia to find out what else is behind the surge in production. in the middle of the andes, after a three—hour hike, i meet the foot soldiers of the cocaine trade, the farmers. how old are you? every two months, they harvest a crop of coca leaves. it pays them around £75 a month each, mainly for what they do with the leaves. they add a variety of toxins, including ammonia and petrol. the process creates this valuable paste, which the narcos are willing to kill for. colombia's indigenous groups are under attack, murdered for trying to rid their communities of criminal gangs. canas valasco was one of over 50 members of the nasa people killed last year, assassinated in front of his wife messa.

colombia is producing more cocaine than ever before. a peace deal in 2016 ended the longest running civil war, but the agreement has allowed narco traffickers to expand their production and control of the cocaine trade. 0ne smuggler told me how easy it is to export the drug. the smuggler often hides the drug among the vast consignments of bananas that head overseas. he says he sends at least six tonnes of cocaine to europe annually. how many of those shipments

would you expect to reach europe? the producers and consumers of cocaine both rely on each other, but rarely meet, so i arrange for the coca farmers to speak to lewis, who we met last night, who occasionally takes the drug. so you never take cocaine yourselves? you feel a buzz, a rush, uplifted.

you have plenty of energy, yeah. afterwards, you feel terrible. thanks, guys. the farmer's advice turned lewis off cocaine, but many more are turning to the drug, creating problems in both colombia and the uk. michael buchanan, bbc news, colombia. three brothers from edinburgh have set a series of world records after rowing across the atlantic ocean in just 35 days. lachlan, jamie and ewan maclean are the fastest and youngest trio to row across the atlantic, and the first team of siblings to cross any ocean. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. a record—breaking row in a show of sibling courage. been a tough day. conditions are not great. in fact, at times, conditions were awful, lachlan, jamie and ewan maclean overcoming seasickness, dehydration and exhaustion in their epic row across the atlantic. being brothers was, they said, a help, not hindrance, when times got tough. after 35 days and nights being at sea, the body is starting

to get some pretty sore aches and pains. after more than a month at sea, the end in sight for the trio of brothers with notjust one record on the horizon, but three. cheering. it has been utterly incredible and so surreal. being, you know, on a boat withjust three of us for 35 days. yeah, you are in your own wee bubble. so hearing other people's voices and then all the other boats, their horns start going off when you come across the finishing, bizarre. the maclean brothers said they had no rowing experience before training for their 3000—mile adventure. they have now raised tens of thousands for charity in what one of them called the defining experience of his life. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @sipusey. thank you for watching and do stay

tuned right here on bbc news and we have got much more information on our website. thanks for watching. do stay tuned. hello. so much of the past week and indeed so much of the year thus far seems to have been dominated by cloud and wind and rain. at least there was something of a change on friday. it was a bright but really quite showery day for some, and of course at slightly higher levels in scotland it has led to a covering of snow. but at last, just in time for the weekend, we can talk about drier and sunny weather. it is the other face of winter. they will be some night—time frost and some ice around. and here's the set up. low pressure still close by to the north of the british isles over the past few hours, and it doesn't look very promising when we look out into the atlantic. low pressure driving away towards the bay of biscay, and just in time for the weekend

to settle things nicely, a big area of high pressure and it keeps on doing it. for the most part, that goes on into the middle of the forthcoming week as well. that is a real transformation, but the weekend will start much colder, with a hint of frost about it, something that many of you will not have seen for a while. at least it means it's going to be drier and sunnier as well. yes, there are still showers to be had in this north—westerly wind, most noticeable across the north—eastern quarter of scotland and through the northern isles. and no more of12,13,14, which it has been in places over the past few days. temperatures resolutely in single figures. clear skies persisting under the influence of that area of high pressure. there will be a widespread frost away from the coast as we start sunday. some places will get “11 or —5, something in that order. here we go again. lots of dry, fine, sunny, crisp winter weather. the exception, perhaps

this south—westerly, and more cloud just keeping the north—western quarter of scotland that wee bit milder. there, the sunshine tempered by the amount of cloud. elsewhere it could be wall—to—wall sunshine. from sunday into monday, a cold and frosty start for the southern half of the british isles. milder in places across the north. watch out, it could be more extensive, fog patches for the commute on monday, but essentially, it's much the same sort of affair. the exception — thicker cloud may be producing the odd spot of rain through the northern and western isles. and as i take you on into the forthcoming week, under the influence of that high pressure, perhaps a subtle change in wind direction mayjust mean that many more of us get that mild hour, but it will stay dry for most.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the white house has confirmed who will be in the legal team which will defend president trump in his impeachment trial. it will include ken starr, the main prosecutor from bill clinton's impeachment, as well as the lawyer alan dershowitz, whose clients included oj simpson and jeffrey epstein. the us says it will start to screen passengers from china for symptoms of a new virus that has killed two people. there are 41 laboratory confirmed cases, but experts in london estimate the true number is closer to 1700. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has defended the country's armed forces after it admitted shooting down a passenger plane by mistake. canada's prime ministerjustin trudeau says iran must pay compensation to the 176 people who were killed — 57 of those were canadian citizens. in a few minutes it'll

be time for newswatch.