them and more i'm less focused on them and more focused on the people that lie in the middle. and the only way to eliminate any kind of prejudice or anxiety or bigotry... this is worklife from bbc news, with ben bland and karin giannone. a city in lockdown — china cuts transport links to wuhan as it tries to halt the spread of a deadly virus. live from london, that's our top you're watching bbc news at nine with me annita mcveigh. story on thursday, 23rd january. the headlines. significant concerns as an investigation reveals at least seven babies have died at east kent nhs foundation trust since 2016 — some of the deaths were found to be preventable. the international court ofjustice in the hague will shortly rule on whether rohingya muslims still living in myanmar face an ongoing risk of genocide. wuhan is a major business hub and home to 11 million people and the virus that started there is spreading fear around the world as a growing number the entire public transport system of airlines cancel flights. also in the programme... in the chinese city of wuhan grinds toa america considers a clamp—down in the chinese city of wuhan grinds to a halt as authorities try to

contain a new respiratory virus. on emotional—support animals four people are missing, including a british man after storms sweep across spain. on airplanes amid complaints world leaders gather passengers are abusing the system. in jerusalem to mark and feeding the thousands. the 75th anniverisary we'll serve up a look of the liberation of auschwitz. more than a million people, in the kitchens at the world mostlyjews, were murdered economic forum in davos to find out by the nazis there. just what the world's business leaders and politicans are eating. and spending the day at a hotel. we'll speak to a company trying to help fill millions of unused rooms, as well as meeting venues and gyms, and find out why people want them. with the us considering the rule change over animals on planes, we wa nt to change over animals on planes, we want to know how you feel about travelling with animals, restrict or not? let us know. hello and welcome to worklife. a city of 11 million people is in lockdown. china has put wuhan into an effective lockdown as it tries to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak

that has so far killed 17 people. and the disruption is growing with more and more airlines cancelling international flights. later today, the world health organization will decide whether to declare an international public health emergency. nearly half of the world's 500 biggest companies have investments in wuhan. companies including ford and general motors have put restrictions on employees going there. flights have been cancelled to wuhan. the outbreak has come at a dangerous time. vast numbers of people travelling ahead of chinese new year this weekend, close to 7 million chinese tourists travelled abroad overseas for the celebrations last year and more than 50 times that number travelled within the country.

the sars epidemic in 2003 which spread to 26 countries and killed almost 800 people could have cost the world economy around $40 billion, according to one estimate. let's speak to our asia business correspondent, karishma vaswani. authority is taking no chances, tell us authority is taking no chances, tell us about the latest restrictions. the latest restrictions include blocking all public transport, no subways, ferries, trains, and planes going into or out of wuhan. taking no chances. some criticism the measures have come a little too late, but now they are in effect, we are hearing reports, unconfirmed at this point, of police blockade the borders of the city as well, telling eve ryo ne borders of the city as well, telling everyone to stay inside. we are hearing reports people are being encouraged not to gather in large

crowds. museums, exhibitions, performances, they are being cancelled, even some major lunar new year performances and gatherings are being cancelled. as you can imagine, as you were being cancelled. as you can imagine, as you were saying in the introduction, this is a very special time for chinese families and instead of getting the opportunity to spend time with people they care about, many of them are choosing to stay indoors and at home for fear of infection. early days, but what do we think it means for the local economy and businesses operating internationally? presumably there are major companies there. yes, indeed. wuhan is a very pivotal part of the region's economic development. it has massive manufacturing bases there, very strong on information communication and technology. it is seen as a key transport hub in this part of china. there are some very real concerns about the prolonged economic impact of this effective lockdown. from what i am hearing from businesses in

the region, right now, what they are telling their staffers to monitor any symptoms of any illness going forward , any symptoms of any illness going forward, there are masks being distributed. a very well known right hailing company are telling drivers they must have mastered all of the time as well as passengers, and to disinfect the cars daily. it is these kinds of measures we are starting to see an effect, notjust in wuhan, but across china, as people start to become extremely concerned about the potential scale and spread of this disease. at the same time, you are seeing airlines cancelled flights into and out of wuhan. in the last couple of hours, i have had notifications from two budget airlines in asia saying they are suspending temporarily flights into the city. what impact is it having on markets? i mentioned the concerns about how much the sars

outbreak ended up costing the world economy. i think the memory of sars is never too far away from a region that has had to grapple with it so closely. at the time, it was the usual suspects, things like travel, tourism, hotel stocks affected. there are the same concerns this time around. the difference is how much bigger china's economy is from the time sars happened until now. know what something like a fifth of the global economy and as we co nsta ntly the global economy and as we constantly talk about so many international having manufacturing facilities there —— now it is something like a fifth. the economic damage in the future depends how long the disease takes to be contained. already i am hearing from businesses based outside of china they are suspending travel plans into the country, choosing to do video conference meetings instead. many of them are afraid to go on the record with this information because they don't want to upset or annoy

chinese authorities who were under a great deal of pressure to ensure their reputation is not damaged in their reputation is not damaged in the handling of this crisis. thank you very much. 0ur asia business correspondent in singapore. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the french finance minister says that his country won't allow a post—brexit trade deal to weaken the european single market. speaking at the world economic forum in davos, bruno le maire said he was optimistic a deal could be reached. the uk is due to leave next week and is hoping to agree a deal before the end of this year. 0nline fashion retailer asos has reported a 20% increase in its total retail sales for the four months to 31st december. in that time, sales in the uk, its home market, totalled over $530 million — that's up 18% on the previous year. the company put its solid performance down to a record black friday and strong customer engagement. last year it issued two profit warnings on that problem is that its warehouses as it tried to grow the company in europe and the us. the

boss says there is still plenty of work to do. tesla's stock market value has passed $100 billion, meaning it has overtaken volkswagen as the world's second—most valuable car com pa ny after toyota. its share price has more than doubled since october. despite the investor enthusiasm for the electric car maker, tesla still remains a fraction of the size of its rivals. it delivered around 360,000 cars last year compared with volkswagen's 11 million. a top executive at accountants pwc has left the firm after bbc revelations of the company's links with billionaire isabel dos santos, who is under investigation for corruption. jaime esteves was the head of tax at pwc in charge of portugal, angola and cape verde. pwc declined to comment on the departure and says it has launched its own investigation. let us have a look at the markets.

as we were hearing, asian shares fell as investors remain anxious about the spread of the coronavirus virus in china as millions prepare to travel for the lumia —— lunar new year. oil prices tumbled to seven—week lows as the effect of the disease was expected to hit airline travel. that reduces demand for oil of course. adding to the price pressure on oil, the international energy agency warned of an oil surplus and a larger—than—expected increase in us crude stockpiles. that re—kindled fears of excess supply which brings down the price. as we can see across europe, the negative sentiment setting the tone at the start of the trading session as it filters through from asia. now to the us, where the proposed rule change by the government could mean arline passengers might soon have to leave their emotional

support animals at home. michelle fleury has more from new york. emotional support animals will no longer be classified as service animals under new rules being put forward by the us department of transportation. what is an emotional support animal, you ask? well, their primary role is to provide their owners with emotional comfort and, unlike, say, a service dog, whose purpose is to aid someone who might be limited by a disability, they don't receive specialised training. the us government wants to crack down on passengers travelling with unconventional pets, like peacocks, possums, even snakes. per the department of transportation's own statement, the new rules are designed to cut down on passengers who want to travel with their pets passing them off as service animals. but pet owners needn't despair entirely. carry—on pets that fit underneath an aeroplane seat will still be allowed on board,

as will service animals, if they are accompanied by the appropriate paperwork. we will be talking about that later, emotional support animals on planes and whether that will continue. time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is drjulie norman, a lecturer in the department of political science at university college london. good to have you with us. potential trade row between britain and the us ata trade row between britain and the us at a rather inconvenient time. very inconvenient. definitely tension is rising. of course, this is around the uk's proposal to put taxes on tech firms. google, apple, facebook, firms doing business essentially in the uk but based elsewhere. this is a tax proposed by france and other countries as well. the 0ecd is currently trying to get some kind of multilateral decision based on this but the uk is pushing for this to go in place by april. trump, the us, pushing back at this and threatening

a tariff in return on autos. the uk's government at pains to say, sajid javid, the chancellor, saying it is deliberately designed as a temporary tax, it will fall away when there is an international solution, hoping for a deal. that is what the discourse is right now, we put this in place in april, but it will fall away as soon as something bigger gets there. a lot of people have their fingers crossed for that, the 0ecd itself is hoping that the deal will be the one that takes the centre ground, but the uk is pushing this right now as a bargaining chip. it is interesting uk is digging its heels and while france has agreed to delay plans for its equivalent tax. exactly. france had a 3% tax proposed but made the decision, 0k, wait it out for the year and see what happens, partly for the 0ecd deal but also probably hoping to weigh out the election in the us as well. the ebb and flow of trade relations around the world, things

cooling down with china, this potentially flaring up. that is it. we have seen at least some kind of cooling to the us— china trade deal, but in the meantime, tensions heating up between us and the uk, the us and the eu, at a time that's very inconvenient for the uk. davos, big gathering of business leaders and world leaders on prince charles lie same as the guardian reports, massive changes to the structure of the economies we are used to are needed if the world is going to tackle climate change —— and prince charles lie. one of several speakers speaking on sustainability and climate change —— and prince charles there. prince charles after greta thunberg, echoing her message, trying to put out some points around new kinds of taxes, regulations, policies that might push the private sector in this direction. the

question now is if those words will translate into action and if those actions will translate into anything actually accountable. quite a strong statement surrounded by some of the richest and most powerful people in the world, what good is the extra wealth in the world if you can do nothing with it except watch it burn in catastrophic conditions? yes, he was not mincing words. he was trying to make a point. prince charles has been promoting this issue at davos for almost... since 30 years ago, one of the first leaders on this. for him to come out and say, this isn't a list of bullet points, this means something, trying to use language to put things in the right direction. thank you very much indeed. still to come... hanging out in hotels, we speak to the company making use of unused space when no one is asleep.

you're with worklife from bbc news. when it comes to carbon emissions which are crucial in the battle against climate change, citizens advice is warning the government risks fatally undermining the uk's ability to reach the net zero goal by 2050 if it does not get more public by in, support, for the changes that need to be made. joining us now is dhara vyas, head of future energy services at the citizen's advice bureau. 30 years, haven't we got a while to make these changes? is the government fatally undermining the effort? you are right, we have 30 yea rs, effort? you are right, we have 30 years, the target is around us zero emissions by 2050, and this is not a criticism of government policy. we are saying, make sure you take people with you, put people at the heart of these plans, so that people

can have the information and support they need and also help when things go wrong because things do go wrong. what sort of steps do you refer to when you say, the government needs to be clear about what people need to be clear about what people need to do on an individual level? we are going to have to change the way we heat our homes. 29 million homes will have to change to a more low carbon heat source. we have to be more and energy efficient. leak less energy. we could possibly be need to move energy. we could possibly be need to move to electric cars. there will be some changes in the home, people already have things like smart thermostats. we know that right now overwhelmingly the public to support the net zero goal. but even the people who are willing to make changes have told us they really do wa nt changes have told us they really do want information on support and help to make these decisions about how they change the way they live. to make these decisions about how they change the way they livem that the sort of change that needs to be done to put the consumers at the heart of the effort so they drive the whole thing? yeah, the

committee on climate change has had 90% of homes will have to change the way... the sort of heat they use. right now, i think there is really low awareness of that and the people willing to make changes don't really know how to. we need the government putting the people at the heart of the plans. for example, putting a heat policy road map together, make consumer protections at the centre with a programme of support to give people a better understanding of what their options are. thank you very much. head of future energy services at citizens advice bureau. plenty of stories updated through the day on the bbc business life page. —— business live. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story... the chinese city of thai is a knock—down as it tries to control the spread of coronavirus. —— wuhan.

the city is a major business hub. now, think of a luxury hotel suite and what springs to mind? lavish decor, incredible views, and a price—tag to match. but what if there was a way to experience all this for a fraction of the cost of an overnight stay? well, that's what "daycation" is all about. it's a trend which sees hotels offer rooms to rent for the day, allowing you to enjoy its amenities without staying overnight. well, daybreak hotels is a platform for booking daycations that's taking advantage of this growing market. its chief executive, simon botto, joins us now. welcome. where did the idea come from? the idea behind daybreak hotels comes from the fact 65% occupancy rate in hotels around the

world. it makes luxury hotels available for daytime booking. customers can book rooms full 6—8 hour slots as well as the other services in the hotel, spas, meeting rooms, restaurants. the rooms are 7596 rooms, restaurants. the rooms are 75% cheaper. 75% cheaper than the night rate? up to 75% cheaper. how did you go about suggesting this idea to hotels in the first place? it must have taken quite a change of mindset to get hotels used to people coming for short periods rather than the traditional set up that has been in place forever. yeah, it has been difficult at the beginning, when we launched in 2014 with 100 hotels, it was tough to convince hotels they should actually offer their services to more than just someone looking for a night room. to more than just someone looking fora night room. if to more than just someone looking for a night room. if you think about it, a hotel has a lot of services, and a lot are day services, spas,

restau ra nts, and a lot are day services, spas, restaurants, which they offer tonight customers. now hotels have changed. it has to be said, if you we re changed. it has to be said, if you were to suggest to a hotel they went out there rooms for a short period during the day, might have an association with naughty behaviour, let's say. how did you go about convincing them it would not cheapen their brains by offering rooms in that way? yeah, it is true. -- there brands. the hotel room in the day more associated with lower hotels, low—end offering. this was a but people book a hotel on the day and spend £60, £70, so it isjust a customer having a different need. now a lot of chains have in addressing local customers... just

this idea of utilising spare capacity, isn't this the hotel industry playing catch up with other sites like airbnb? daybreak hotels is helping the hotel industry to fight back against airbnb, prices and occupancy rates in hotels have decreased. we take unsold inventory and we turn into income, revenue, new customers, and outside of the target industry, that definitely helps. what sort of a picture do you have of your customers and why they wa nt to have of your customers and why they want to have this kind of hotel rather than the traditional setup? daybreak hotels lets customers pick and choose what services they want and choose what services they want and transforms hotels into a temporary office or daycation

location. most are business travellers that instead of using a temporary office and having a desk and a wi—fi password for £100, for the same amount of money, they can have a pool available, freshen up, rest. and people who want to enjoy luxury hotels for the day, go on vacation once a month instead of just once a year. the other thing that strikes me, some hotels are located well to offer that, if they are in the city centre, someone might want to pop in, use the spa, the swimming pool. others where they are huge hotels but out of town, near airports, conference type hotels, a lot of spare capacity, people might be less inclined to use their facilities because it people might be less inclined to use theirfacilities because it is people might be less inclined to use their facilities because it is less convenient. it is true. we work with 4000 hotels, and it is true most of the bookings are in larger cities because there is more business travel, more airports and train stations, but also to some hotels

outside of the city centre offer a lot of services and are good for alternatives for a daycation. fascinating. sounds great, doesn't it? thank you very much indeed. thank you for having me.|j it? thank you very much indeed. thank you for having me. i was looking around ageing recently and they said that they have sleep pods, you can hire it, 45 minutes, middle of the day. sounds better than doing exercise! especially at the time we get up! in a moment, we'll run through some viewer responses to our twitter question. but first, imagine hosting 53 heads of state and around 1,700 business leaders. that's exactly what they are doing in the swiss ski resort of davos. sally bundock has gone behind to scenes to find out how they are doing it in a sustainability way. it is future of food day here at

the world economic forum in davos. it is the first time they have ever done this and it is in line with that theme this year of climate change and sustainability. so, today, there is no meat on the money whatsoever. we have got lots of plant—based foods here. let's just give you a look. we have got plant—based sausage, pla nt—based meatballs. and this is what the delegates here will be eating. there are 75 chefs, 6,000—8,000 meals served every day to the delegates which do include, let's not forget, 114 billionaires, estimated to be here this year. so, i think they've got some expensive tastes. let me try some of this to just see what it is like. pla nt—based meatballs. delicious. absolutely delicious. lucky sally. working hard, deserves a little snack. talking of davos, we have got breaking news from the world economic forum because we are

hearing in the last few minutes that the us treasury secretary has said he expects that his country will com plete he expects that his country will complete a post—brexit trade deal with the uk this year. that is despite what we were mentioning earlier, the threat that the us could impose tariffs in response to the uk plans to push ahead with a tax on big technology companies such as google and facebook. from davos. we will bring you any developments on that on bbc news. back to what we we re on that on bbc news. back to what we were talking about at the top of the show, we asked you what you think about us plans limiting the kinds of animals and airlines must allow on—board forfree. animals and airlines must allow on—board for free. some of you have responded to that. sue says, of course they are right to restrict them, many of the animals are only labelled as therapy dogs by the owners. labelled as therapy dogs by the owners. simon says, why can't an emotional support person travel free? and mike says, i would say a size limit on them. thank you very

much for all of your thoughts. always good to hear from you. that's it from worklife today. thank you for watching. another fairly cloudy and grey day ahead today but with high pressure in charge, looking mostly dry u nsettled. in charge, looking mostly dry unsettled. this area of high pressure has been with us for several days, largely dry theme to the weather. things are not changing ina the weather. things are not changing in a hurry. gradually it will slip to the continent through the weekend. all change particularly by sunday. we have still got mist and fog patches. causing a little travel disruption. not everyone has seen the mist and fog. we have all got quite a bit of cloud today. a few brea ks quite a bit of cloud today. a few breaks in the cloud particularly for eastern scotland, perhaps the north—east of england, wales as well. you could see blue sky. for most of us, keeping the fairly murky

story through the day. temperatures 8-11d, the story through the day. temperatures 8—11d, the odd spot of drizzle, rain to the north west of scotland, where the front moving in, slipping south tonight, few spots of rain for northern ireland, southern scotland, cumbria too —— weather front. frost free with the cloud acting as a blanket. tomorrow a very similar data today. a lot of cloud. 9—10d at best. fairly light winds. as we head into the weekend, saturday, high pressure setting towards the south—east still, a weather front approaching the uk, so later we could see the wind picking up and spots of rain for the far north—west of scotland. elsewhere, another largely dry day. mulberry is helping to break up the cloud. spells of sunshine breaking through —— more breeze helping to break up the cloud. not a bad day. perhaps cooler where the cloud is slow to break up in parts of the midlands. second

half of the week and, eventually seeing things turn more unsettled as the weather front moves on from the atlantic, pushing east. a spell of rain in strengthening winds moving west— east on sunday. followed by sunshine and showers from the west later on. temperatures similar to the next few days, 8—11d. once the front gets out of the way, a bit of a change in weather type. next week, more unsettled, wet and windy at times, but a more unsettled, wet and windy at times, buta bit more unsettled, wet and windy at times, but a bit of sunshine in 00:28:33,613 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 between too. goodbye for now.