hello. this is the briefing. our top story: shutting down a city. as they struggled to contain a deadly virus, chinese officials say the 11 million people of wuhan must not travel. democrats set out the details of their case against president trump, on the second day of his impeachment trial. the devastation of storm gloria. four people still missing after severe weather batters spain. in business, trading threats. tensions rise in davos as the us warns it could hit written‘s carmakers with tariffs over its plans for attack tax on the lake of facebook. —— on the likes of

facebook. hello there. it is great to have you with us. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you need to know in global news, business and sport. as ever, you can be part of the conversation. let us know what you think about the stories we're covering the hashtag. —— we are covering, using the hashtag. hello and welcome to the programme. a shutdown of public transport in the chinese city of wuhan has begun, as the authorities there try to control the authorities there try to control the spread of a new virus. now, the way it has been described as an ammonia like virus, they are calling

it coronavirus, and in wuhan, which isa it coronavirus, and in wuhan, which is a heavily populated city, there are 11 million people living there. they have all been urged not to leave the city —— pneumonia. as the week has progressed, the death toll from this virus has risen. it now stands at 17 people confirmed to have died, and the disease has spread already to japan, thailand, there are even reports of it reaching the united states. world health experts are meeting again on thursday to decide whether to declare this and international emergency. let's speak to our correspondent who is in beijing for us. correspondent who is in beijing for us. stephen, this shutdown of wuhan, this seems like quite a drastic measure. is it a request to people living there, or is this being imposed? 0h living there, or is this being imposed? oh no, it is not a request. the government has told people that this is what's happening. it started last night when they introduced a

special regulation saying that in the city of wuhan, when you go into any public space, a restaurant, a hairdresser, you need to have a face mask. no face mask, you can't get in. imagine you are trying to check into a hotel, you need to have a face mask to even walk into the building. and we thought that was pretty serious. then they announced all transport in and out of the city, so imagine, you can't leave by train, you can't leave by plane. and within wuhan itself, shutting down the underground subways, stopping buses from going, these are absolutely drastic measures. i was just thinking, actually before, imagine if you were sick there and you needed to get to hospital. it might also make it quite difficult if you don't have a car. and i would imagine the roads are going to start to get pretty clogged up there. although many people, no doubt, in

wuhan are just staying indoors. as long as they have their fridges stocked up for the chinese new year, they are probably happy enough just to watch television and hang around with theirfamilies, to watch television and hang around with their families, because to watch television and hang around with theirfamilies, because it seems like the situation there is becoming very drastic. i should add that we are also hearing and other chinese cities that they are clearing entire floors of hospitals, preparing for a very big intake of people. part of the problem is that the incubation time of that virus is like five days, so imagine all the people who have already left wuhan. they could have even travelled to other countries, gone past the scanning procedures. the temperature doesn't come up yet. and then they are already somewhere else and they start getting sick. in the meantime, for those five days, they've already passed the sickness onto other people. so the authorities are very worried that this could become an extremely serious situation. thanks very much for the update. for more information on the coronavirus just

go to our website. among the articles and videos, this piece by our health correspondent on how worried we should all be about coronavirus. there is analysis there for you. just visit the website. in washington, the democrats have begun laying out why they believe president trump should be impeached. it is the first of three days of detailed argument, although they have been prevented from seeing any new documents or witnesses. mr trump has described the proceedings as a charade. our correspondent reports. president trump flew back from a meeting of world leaders in davos to washington, a city where his own leadership is under scrutiny and facing a challenge inside congress. please join facing a challenge inside congress. pleasejoin me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. president trump sought a political favour... four hours, in forensic detail, they set out their case

against the president, the first of three days allocated for the prosecution to make their argument that mr trump abused his position for their own personal benefit. president trump solicited foreign interference in our democratic elections, abusing the power of his office to seek help from abroad to improve his re—election prospects at home. and when he was caught, he used the powers of that office to obstruct the investigation into his own misconduct. the central allegation is that president trump threatened to withhold vital military aid to ukraine unless its government launched investigations into his political rivals, including potential presidential candidate joe biden and his son, hunter, who had business dealings in the country. biden and his son, hunter, who had business dealings in the countrylj know business dealings in the country.” know that members of this committee... the democrats use clips, quotes and documents to support their claims, but at one stage that presentation was interrupted by a protester. today, president donaldj

interrupted by a protester. today, president donald j trump interrupted by a protester. today, president donaldj trump spoke by telephone with president volodymyr zele ns ky of telephone with president volodymyr zelensky of ukraine to congratulate him on his recent... protester yelling. the serjeant-at-arms will restore order in the gallery. president trump's legal team have their own objections. there's a lot of things i'd like to rebut, and we will rebut them. i think we said yesterday, the first one, you notice that adam schiff today talked about quid pro quo. notice what's not in the articles of impeachment? allegations or accusations of quid pro quo. that's because they didn't exist. inside the senate, republicans have so far blocked attem pts republicans have so far blocked atte m pts by republicans have so far blocked attempts by democrats to issue subpoenas for witnesses or new evidence. that seems to have pleased the president. mr trump boasted that the president. mr trump boasted that the democrats didn't get the

documents they wanted. they will argue that as a sign that he might have something to hide. bringing you some of the day's other main news, the us transportation department is considering allowing our lines to ban emotional support animals from aircraft cabins. —— airlines. officials say carriers may be given the power to limit the definition of a service animal to a trained dog. airlines have long complained that some passengers falsely claim their pets are needed for emotional support. the trial of the hollywood producer harvey weinstein has heard he was a seasoned sexual predator who lowered vulnerable aspiring actresses to his hotels and private apartments, promising them film careers. the 67—year—old denies five charges, including rape and sexual assault, relating to two women. the italian foreign minister has resigned as leader of five starc, the biggest party in parliament. he will stay on

as foreign minister. he told party supporters in rome it wasjust the end of a phase. the party won a third of the seats in march 2018 but looks likely to suffer losses in important regional elections this weekend —— five star. ijust want to bring you some breaking news now from australia. the rural fire service is investigating reports that one of its air tankers has crashed in southern new south wales. a short while ago it posted this tweet saying it had lost contact with a large air tanker which was working in the snowy mintaro region. —— snowy monaro region. let's get the very latest from our correspondent who is monitoring events correspondent who is monitoring eve nts fro m correspondent who is monitoring events from sydney for us. what more do we know? well, still waiting to hear how many crewmembers were on that plan. but as you said, new south wales rural fire service are

investigating at the moment. we understand helicopters are circling the area in search of potential wreckage after local crewmembers said that the aircraft might have crashed. we also understand that the aircraft was in the snowy monaro area, which is south of the capital, canberra, fighting blazes. the fires there were burning at an emergency level. we also know that smoke in that area was quite heavy, blocking visibility. visibility there was extremely difficult. but as it stands, there is still an investigation. there still a search for the wreckage, with helicopters hovering around in the area. we are still yet to learn about the extent of the damage, and where exactly the crash happened and how many crewmembers were on board. this, of course, as the day itself was really, really difficult when it comes to bushfires. the temperatures have picked up, the

winds have picked up, and we are hearing about fires burning at emergency level in new south wales, but also in the capital area as well. and it is worth pointing out that, because of the extent of the bushfires, the air tanker, this firefighting plan, this has been quite a crucial aspect of the effo rts quite a crucial aspect of the efforts to stop the fires spreading. absolutely, and in all the areas we have been, the air tanker and the crews that circled the area with much needed help have always been on people's mines. they tell us that without those, without this kind of help, bushfires are really, really ha rd to help, bushfires are really, really hard to control. so this is a crucial, crucial piece of equipment that helps firefighters on the ground controlled these fires, and will be a huge loss, especially, as we say, with the bushfires burning out of control in some areas, merging in other areas, between new south wales and the act. so again, we're looking at a big loss in terms

of the aircraft itself, the crew itself, but also in the firefighting effo rts itself, but also in the firefighting efforts as well, from the air. thank you very much indeed. let's talk about our top business story now, and trade tensions have flared up between britain and the united states at the world economic forum. the us treasury secretary, steven mnuchin, has threatened to hit uk car manufacturers with new ta riffs hit uk car manufacturers with new tariffs after the chancellor, sajid javid, refused to back down on plans to tax tech giants including facebook and amazon. the row comes just over a week before britain leaves the european union. a trade deal with the us as a top post brexit priority for the uk government. our guestjoins us now. good to see you, david. really interesting, this. you would have

thought that the uk government would be at pains to keep very sweet relations with the us government, and may have been willing to compromise on this tech tax that the us says unfairly hits us companies. i think you've got a look at history here, and it's very important. apart from the recent chinese— mexican deal on trade, and phase one of the deal on trade, and phase one of the deal when china and the united states, the last time the us government agreed a trade deal i think was before the old king died. soi think was before the old king died. so i think to think that the uk is going to be gung ho, fixed bayonets and over the top, we are going to do it with the united states, i throw caution in there. because it is never easy. it is a very complicated situation. there are so many different aspects to the us economy that, to actually come to a consensus very quickly, is now impossible. and i think anybody, whether you have been pro— leaving the european or not, is hanging his hat on the peg of a big deal with

the united states of america, regardless of what president trump thinks. i think that might be folly. so sajid javid is apparently... prime ministerjohnson is absolutely adamant that he wants this tax to go ahead, and he said nobody will flatten out the level playing field with this. so when somebody says, no, you can't come over here and make billions and billions of dollars where high—street shops and various other businesses have draconian levels of levy. we got to do something about this, and i think the world has been, if i might say so, quite wet in the fact that it just allows these loopholes in taxation around the world, to get around it. and i know it was beaten up around it. and i know it was beaten up yesterday by steven mnuchin, and others were laughing, and there was of course a representative from ubs, the chairman there, and they are thinking that sajid is getting beaten up, respectfully, sajid

javid, but he is not. he is right. he has got to stick by his guns. we will go through the papers in more detail shortly. still to come on the briefing. sliding away. the rain is a pain at the australian open. 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 upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour.

they called him ‘the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity that's believed by officials to have broken all records. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: shutting down a city as they struggled to contain a deadly virus, chinese officials say the 11 million people of wuhan must not travel. democrats set out details of their case against president donald trump on the second day of his impeachment trial. authorities in spain are searching

for at least four people missing since storm gloria roared widespread destruction to the east of the country. —— brought. the powerful storm front has so far killed nine people and is now causing flooding in southern france. freya cole reports. storm gloria arrived with great force — winds of up to 144km/h with waves up to 14m high. in a small seaside town in catalonia, a thick foam flooded the streets. it was caused by this — howling winds and a powerful surge from the ocean. local authorities say it's the worst sea storm since 2003. it's claimed several lives, and there are still people missing. one man is feared to have been swept into this canyon on the island of majorca. rescuers are doing all they can to locate his body.

translation: in principle, the garda seville and the fire brigade are the only ones who can go into the canyon because the water level is quite dangerous. after four days of relentless rain and wind, a moment of calm has settled across the worst hit areas. it's only now locals can start to assess the widespread destruction. translation: it was tremendous. it destroyed the seafront, and look at the result. the worst thing is the disaster it's caused. this was beautiful. forecasters have tracked seawater 3km inland. it swamped the ebro delta, a vital ecosystem full of rice paddies. the storm front headed north—east and landed in southern france. torrential rain there has also caused chaos, forcing many people to abandon their homes for safety. only when the water subsides will they know the true extent of gloria's damage. freya cole, bbc news.

world leaders are gathering in jerusalem to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the auschwitz death camp in poland. it's the biggest international gathering ever held in israel, with more than a0 presidents, monarchs or premiers. not everyone, though, is attending, as gareth barlow reports. extermination was the fate for all who were not fit to be active these. 75 years ago soviet soldiers liberated auschwitz in occupied poland. the nazis loop was most notorious concentration and extermination camp. a side of horror where more than 1 extermination camp. a side of horror where more than1 million extermination camp. a side of horror where more than 1 million were murdered. today world leaders are gathering in israel to commemorate the anniversary, but politics is taking a central stage. a row between warsaw and russia over comments made by president putin, who recently claimed poland was complicit in the outbreak of world

war ii, was exacerbated when the polish president was told he wouldn't be allowed to speak at the event. in response, the polish president has refused to attend, a decision defended by the country's prime minister. when you hear such state m e nts prime minister. when you hear such statements like those made by president putin, falsifying history completely, this is also our responsibility to give an appropriate reply. if you don't have the floor to give an appropriate reply, then the only reaction can be as it happened. meanwhile on a visit tojerusalem's as it happened. meanwhile on a visit to jerusalem's old as it happened. meanwhile on a visit tojerusalem's old city, france's president macron clashed with israeli security officials. he tried to enter a crusader area church considered french territory despite rules preventing them from do so, doing so. i know perfectly the rules, i don't like what you did in front of me. outside. i'm sorry, i

know the rules, nobody has to promote anybody. i promote anybody. ,and promote anybody. , and cordial relations were restored, with the french pm later embracing the man he previously berated. the hope can be politics can be put to one side and the focus turns to remembering the victims of the holocaust and commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. gareth barlow, bbc news and. judges at the international court ofjustice are due to rule on whether the 600,000 rohingyas still living in myanmar face an ongoing threat of genocide. in 2017, thousands of rohingya muslims were killed and hundreds of thousands fled to neighbouring bangladesh during an army crackdown in the buddhist—majority country. if the court decides they still face a threat, it would impose emergency measures to prevent more violence. anna holligan reports. rohingya refugees cheering

for a state that's standing up for their right to exist. in fact, it was the gambian justice minister aboubakar, or ba tambadou's, unexpected detour to a displacement camp in bangladesh that led to an epiphany that resulted in this historic court appearance. the agent of the gambia, his excellency, mr aboubakar. .. inside the great hall ofjustice, the former prosecutor in the rwanda genocide trials told judges there was no time to waste. every day of inaction means that more people are killed, more women are being ravaged and more children are being burnt alive. for what crime? only because they were born different. so far, an estimated 211,000 rohingya have been killed since myanmar‘s army launched "clearance" operations three years ago. there's a high risk of the recurrence of these

crimes given the situation in myanmar. there's still a sizeable number of rohingya in rakhine state. they are at the mercy of the myanmar authorities. there is a continuing existential threat of the rohingya, a threat of destruction or elimination or killings of the rohingya in myanmar unless something is done about it that is real, it's imminent, it can occurany time. aung san suu kyi, a once—oppressed nobel peace laureate, now defending her country against the indefensible. a fall from grace a few would have seen. aung san suu kyi isn't expected to return to court for the decision. myanmar has described the mass killings as a haphazard response by the military to attacks by muslim militants. the gambia has asked the un's highest court to take immediate steps to stop any rapes, killings or the destruction of homes and villages.

it's also asked the judges here to demand the preservation of any evidence of actions designed to destroy an entire ethnic group. this case has given the rohingya a voice and the authorities in myanmar are warning the world's eyes are now on them. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. let's breathe you on a few other stories this hour and environmental activists are saying the contamination of drinking water in the us with man—made chemicals is far more serious than previously estimated. tests commissioned by the environmental working group have for the first time found toxic chemicals, pfa is, in the drinking water of dozens of american cities. some of these have been linked to cancer, liver damage and low

birthrate. hundreds of schools are staying close for two days in bangkok because of the high level of air pollution. the burning of undergrowth in surrounding rural areas is believed to contribute to poorair areas is believed to contribute to poor air quality in the thai capital. a transgender soldier in south korea says she will sue the army after it dismissed her following says she will sue the army after it dismissed herfollowing her sex change. shejoined dismissed herfollowing her sex change. she joined as a dismissed herfollowing her sex change. shejoined as a man but had assignment surgery last year. byun hui—soo has accused the army of deep—rooted intolerance. the army says she can't carry on. tennis now and rain and poor conditions delayed action on the outside courts on day four at the australian open in melbourne. it is causing problems on the courts with play delayed on the outside courts. they had to be power washed and organisers say they will be delayed by three hours on most of

them. we will bring you the latest on that a little later. stay with us. the business briefing is injust a moment. hello there. wednesday was a cloudy day foremost and the best of any sunshine was eastern scotland and north—east england, mild into the afternoon, especially north—east scotland, where we saw 15. today looks like a cloudy one with mist and fog. still got high pressure but low pressure pushing from the south and low pressure moving into the north and this weather front will bring rain to north—western scotland. in england and wales, some of the mist and fog could be quite dense in places through the morning before it left into low cloud and maybe they will be the odd patch of drizzle. the best of the sunshine for north—east scotland and north—east england again, where it will be fairly mild, and this weather front will ring outbreaks into the scotla nd will ring outbreaks into the scotland with heavy bursts.

temperature—wise, eight or nine for most and we could see ten or 11 in the north—east of scotland. that weather front goes to the north—east of scotla nd weather front goes to the north—east of scotland and will fizzle out, leaving drizzle, windy and showery in the northern isles but elsewhere on thursday night, cloudy and largely frost free. friday, very similar with a lot of cloud. we could see mist and murk with a bit of drizzle in places and the winds for most will be like. that's the last of those very cloudy days as we start to a change to the weather out of friday and into saturday. high pressure retreats to the near continent and we see low pressure to the north and west. with the breeze picking up, especially in scotland and northern ireland, we start to see sunshine but this weather front will bring rain to the hebrides and the north—west mainland scotland later perhaps. elsewhere quite a bit of around but because the breeze is picking up, a few bits of brightness here and there with temperatures ranging from 7—10. moving through

saturday night, low pressure pushes across the country along with its weather front and that will bring a band of rain too many. more isobars on the chart. on sunday, not windy for us all with our weather fronts spreading east with patchy and heavy rain on it as it goes across england and wales. in scotland and northern ireland, a day of sunshine and blustery showers and some of these will be wintry over high ground in scotla nd will be wintry over high ground in scotland as the air turns colder and we'll see temperatures of 9—11 in the south—east. next week, remaining u nsettled the south—east. next week, remaining unsettled early in the week with a deep low bringing gales and heavy rain.

hello. this is the business briefing. trading threats. tensions rise in davos as the us warns it could hit written's carmakers with ta riffs over could hit written's carmakers with tariffs over its plans for attack tax on the likes of facebook. echoes of sa rs tax on the likes of facebook. echoes of sars as china battles the mystery coronavirus. could the economic contagion be as bad as 2003? and on the markets, asian shares fall as investors remain nervous about the extent of that virus outbreak. oil prices tumbled to seven—week lows on concerns about its impact on air