welcome to newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: chinese authorities impose further travel restrictions in hubei province where a previously unknown respiratory virus has killed 25 people. major lunar new year celebrations in beijing are cancelled to try to control the spread of the disease. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme: the government of myanmar dismisses a ruling by the un's top court ordering measures to prevent the genocide of rohingya muslims. and out of the devastation of the australian bushfires comes inspiration for a major work of art.

this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 9am in singapore, 1o‘clock in london and 9am in china where the city of wuhan is in lockdown due to the outbreak of a coronavirus. the chinese government has just said the death toll there has risen to 25 with 830 people infected. it's still too early to knowjust how dangerous the outbreak will turn out to be. and the world health organization has again said it is not a global health emergency, though it is an emergency in china. from beijing, john sudworth reports. this is the moment a city of 11 million people was effectively shut off.

pa ramilita ry police guarding the station, as all departing trains are cancelled. in the hospitals, medical staff in full bodysuits are treating hundreds of infected patients. while images on social media appear to show a system struggling to cope. empty shelves in the shops and scuffles over food. we spoke to one british man now stuck inside wuhan. it's a very surreal feeling. you know, knowing especially that if you go outside, there is potential to catch such a deadly virus. and when you look outside the window, what's the atmosphere like? does it feel like a city under a blanket of fear? oh, yeah, 100%, 100%. behind me, you saw the street at nighttime where i normally live, it's a very vibrant street, lots of restaurants, and it's open until 2am and chinese

families come and they're celebrating, but if i show you out there now, it's dead. on china's main evening news, the lead item? a new year banquet for senior officials. president xijingping makes no mention of the crisis. but the facemasks on display at this beijing station are proof the public is well aware of the risks. yeah, a little worried, because, you know, i... you're wearing your mask? yeah, my mask. bottles as well. are you worried about the virus? no, because i believe in my country and my government. you believe in your government? yes. this is an epidemiologist‘s nightmare — how do you control the spread of a dangerous virus during the biggest movement of people on the planet? tens of millions travelling every day for at least a fortnight, and the real question is whether the closure of the city

of wuhan comes far too late to make a difference. alongside the public health announcements, there are signs of censorship and control, and questions are being asked whether more might have been done sooner. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. democrats in the us senate are continuing to give evidence in the impeachment trial of president trump, who is accused of soliciting election help from ukraine. senior congressman jerry nadler said the alleged abuse threatens the entire system of us democracy. mr trump denies any wrongdoing. the emerging point of contention in these hearings is over witnesses. democrats want to call them, but republicans, who hold a majority in the senate, are unwilling. here's the top democrat

in the senate making the case. the same republicans are saying that they heard nothing new, but these republicans voted nine times on tuesday against amendments to ensure new witnesses and new documents to come before the senate. let me repeat — the same republicans saying they "heard nothing new" just voted nine times on tuesday to hear nothing new. our washington correspondent, chris buckler has the latest. today is really about setting out the charge, the first of these charges against president trump, and that is abuse of power. during the first day of the prosecution, if you like, they basically set out the chronology of what they say happened. today is about the charge, saying exactly why they believe this was president trump doing wrong as far as the us constitution was concerned. there is of course a second charge, and it's likely they will get

you that tomorrow. as for today, it's been to some extent more of the same, using clips and documents to really set out their case that president trump was doing his very best to try and force ukraine into launching investigations into his political opponents with a mind very, very firmly set on the 2020 election, basically to benefit him from a domestic political point of view and geting a foreign country, a foreign power, involved in that. as you mentioned, this was the democrats suggesting this was a threat to democracy, a president going well beyond his powers. but actually, if you look at inside the chamber, there are many senators not paying that much attention. in fact some walked out of the chamber at certain points and there were conversations back at the cloakroom, and indeed, at one stage, they were even playing with what are know as fidget spinners — basically these toys that some republicans were given during a lunch. it gives you this idea that they've heard a lot of this already and perhaps aren't

taking some of this in. chris butler talking about rigid spinners, which i don't think any of us were spinners, which i don't think any of us were expecting. -- buckler. also making news today — africa's richest woman says she's ready to fight what she calls misleading and untrue graft allegations. isabel dos santos is the daughter of angola's former president. prosecutors accuse her of using her father's influence to steal millions of dollars from state companies during his rule. dos santos says she's ready to fight through the international courts to clear her name. humanity is closer to annihilation than ever before. that's a punchy headline, and it's according to the scientists behind the symbolic doomsday clock. the time has moved tojust 100 seconds to midnight after experts altered the clock due to concerns over climate change and global tensions. united states must somehow begin to demonstrate global leadership, at

federal level to and without it, we will not be able to meet the targets to tackle global warming with manageable limits. the united states is tightening visa restrictions to stamp out so—called birth tourism. from friday, pregnant women applying for visitor visas will have to prove they have a reason for going to the country other than giving birth. currently anyone born in america automatically gets citizenship. the trump administration is removing pollution controls from more than half of us wetlands and hundreds of thousands of small waterways against the advice of its own environmental experts. under new regulations, landowners and businesses will be able to dump chemicals and waste directly into millions of miles of waterways. the white house says it's scrapping unnecessary regulations to help american farmers. poland's parliament has passed legislation preventing judges from giving european union law precedence over polish law. it also stops them questioning the legitimacy ofjudges appointed by a body that's been brought

under political control. the lower house decision overturns last week's ruling by the opposition—controlled senate to reject the draft law. the ruling law and justice party reforms have sparked widespread protests. now take a look at this — these black, shiny fragments are believed to be the glassy remains of a man's brain. found in the town of herculaneum in italy. he was buried by the ancient eruption of mount vesuvius in 79 ad. researchers have been studying the remains, unearthed in the 1960s, and this is what they extracted from his skull. back to our main story — the spread of the coronavirus which has

claimed its 25th victim — an 80—year—old man — while nearly 600 people are infected across 10 countries. worryingly, the latest death was the first victim not from the epicentre of the outbreak, wuhan, where its 11 million residents have been quarantined. a similar lockdown has been put in place on another 8.5 half million people, in the cities of huanggang and ezhou, 70km away. wuhan‘s high—speed rail links have been shut off from most of china's most important cities, leaving train stations empty and residents waiting for the lockdown to be lifted. jan renders is a belgian student who is studying in wuhan. i asked him whether he had had any plans to leave the city before the lockdown was announced. not for the new year holidays, i was planning to stay here. i do have a flight i was hoping to catch next month, but they're not necessarily certain right now. jan, you've been moving around the city of wuhan, can you describe to us what you have seen and what the city looks today?

well, the city is actually very, very quiet right now, it's very empty, but that's also related to the chinese new year. actually every time at this time of year it is very quiet. i do feel it is more than usual, it's hard to say of course what is the effect of the chinese new year. all the people on the streets, for example, the people you do see are wearing masks. going out on the street is not advised, but i have been and i do feel like in general... but in general... what are the feelings and sentiments of your fellow students or your friends in wuhan who are in this lockdown? they can't even get out of the city, travel and celebrate with their loved ones the lunar new year holidays. that is definitely the case. some people already left a few weeks ago. because, you know, i'm a student so it's holidays and for them it was a while ago and they've already left. i also met people who were lucky enough to get away two days ago right before the lockdown.

but, yeah, the rest of us, of course there is some frustration with the situation. you mentioned the city is very quiet and many people on the streets that you see are wearing masks, but there are also reports of panic buying at supermarkets and a shortage of facemasks? yeah, i saw this yesterday myself because i also had to go and buy one. this is also because, again, this is the chinese new year, so we don't know for sure if things will return to normal afterwards. shops are closing. not all shops are closed, some are still open, mostly local people. but the masks, it's hard to say. i actually been able to see a lot of masks in the stores. they are actually available. might have been that they've seen there's a surge in demand and they also compensated for that quickly. this saturday is of course the start

of the lunar new year — the most important holiday to chinese people all over the world. but while friends and families prepare to welcome the year of the rat, the celebration will be highly political in hong kong, with communities there deeply divided after months of anti—government protests. from hong kong, fan wang reports. the new year in hong kong used to look like this, but this year it couldn't more different. the hong kong government has cancelled many events, fearing they could be hijacked by protesters. this market used to be lively and colourful every new year but is empty right now. translation: the mood of this new year is gloomy, not festive at all. my business is down by 50%. people are not coming out to celebrate because they are worried protesters could cause trouble. more than 7,000 people have been arrested since lastjune. many of them are students

and still behind bars. hundreds of people have gathered here tonight outside this detention centre. they have brought some food and letters, which will be allowed to be sent inside. they say it's their way of celebrating the chinese new year with people arrested during the protests who won't be able to spend the day with their family this time. translation: i'm here to show support to my friend, who's been detained for more than a month, as well as to our other brothers and sisters. we want them to know that even though they can't come out to celebrate this year, we are here for them. the government wants us to believe that everything is back to normal, but that's a lie. new year is a time for people to reunite with their loved ones. families travel thousands of miles just to get together, but here there is a rift among members of many families because of their opposing political views regarding mainland china.

many people here say they wish their home city could go back to normal, but the protests have not stopped and it may take a long time. fan wang, bbc news, hong kong. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, written in the sands: how the suffering wrought by australia's bushfires inspired a stunning tribute to the koala bear. 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. our top stories: severe travel restrictions have been imposed in more cities

across the chinese province of hubei, which is at the centre of an outbreak of a new virus that has killed 25 people. the government of myanmar has responded defiantly to a ruling by the un's top court ordering the country to bring in emergency measures to protect rohingya muslims from genocide. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times leads with an update on coronavirus and its spread to other countries. it says a man from china is the first to test positive for the virus in singapore, with another chinese national also likely to have contracted it. the philippine star looks into the plight of residents of the taal volcano exclusion zone. it reports that the government may ban people from returning to their homes for good — and some government ministers are pushing for permanent relocation

sites to be established. and the international edition of the new york times highlights endangered giant fresh—water fish. it says scientists are warning of a complete collapse in the populations of these so—called megafauna — in part due to overfishing and loss of habitat. the government of myanmar has responded defiantly to a ruling by the un's top court, which said the rohingya people remain at serious risk of genocide. myanmar denies the claims and accuses human rights groups of distorting the facts over its treatment of the muslim minority. a final ruling by the international court ofjustice could take years. but in the meantime it says myanmar must take steps to prevent killings and preserve any evidence. akila radha krishnan is the president of the human rights organisation, globaljustice centre. i asked her why this court

ruling was so significant. i think the ruling is significant for two reasons. i think, one, we're almost two years past the occurrences of the instances against the rohingya, and we haven't really seen anything change in the situation. you have over a million people languishing in camps in bangladesh, and 600,000 people currently under threat. and i think what the court is saying here is, myanmar, we want to see you do more. we want to see you take concrete measures, and we want you to tell us what you're doing to make sure this population is protected. ok, do you think myanmar will take those steps? will they abide by the ruling? well, today they said they have taken note of the decision. but i think that if there's adequate political pressure from the international community — the measures are automatically transmitted to the un security council. you know, the member states of the united nations, through their individual relationships, can help to make sure that they — you know, that they take actions that can help

myanmar, that will ensure that myanmar complies with the orders. ok, and what are these orders, and what does the defence by the myanmar government mean firstly for the standing in the international community of aung san suu kyi? so i think that it was an extraordinary move for aung san suu kyi to come to court in december, and i do think that it helped, you know, the international community reconsider who they thought she was. she has somewhat been silent and standing behind the shield of the military, and the international community has said we need to give her time and be patient, so that she can enact the reforms she needs to do. and i think that seeing her stand up in court and deny genocide, and deny the existence of this population, and ignore the serious harms against them, i think it really helps the international community see with a clearer picture who she might be and what she is capable of doing. and part of the response — ijust want to give you a chance

to respond, because part of the comments from the myanmar government is that agencies, organisations like yours, human rights organisations, have been distorting fact. sure, so i think that there's a couple of things there. one, the reason that the information that's available is based solely on interviews and documentation of those in bangladesh is because myanmar‘s government has refused to give access to rakhine state to anybody, including the united nations expert fact—finding mission. and i think the second piece of it is that they're saying we are distorting the facts because they refuse to acknowledge the existence of the rohingya. so to them, even saying that the rohingya are a group that exist, that need to be protected, distorts it, because they believe that they don't exist. out of the devastation

of the bushfires in australia has come inspiration for a major work of art. the artist edward — who has been compared to banksy because he also doesn't want to reveal his identity — uses rakes in the sand to draw huge pictures. have a look. i looked at the smoke, and you could smell fires that are 200 km away, and i just sat there. and that sense of helplessness kind ofjust seeded itself in my body, in the sand, and i got the idea of the koala. when i put the drone up and i saw how it captured that image, then i thought, that's how i felt. the helplessness projected into the koala, that's kind of a raw emotion that went into that drawing.

the first one was sitting on the beach and dragging a stick, and just to start drawing on the sand. and then i thought, well, let's try this at night time, to kind of give me a space to dance, if i wanted to, kind of a space to just verbalise some of that emotion that i would feel, based on that image that i was trying to create. i use a small kind of leaf rake that can brush, and using my body dimension as a block of lego, and then building the artwork, and get the final image once i put a drone in the air to see what it looks like. the firefighters and the emergency service people, these are the people

who are keeping the community as safe as possible, and that was just a tribute to them. if the drawing made you feel something deep down inside, and you're able to give and support, locally and globally, then please do. amazing images there. just a quick reminder of our top story this hour. in china, the city of wuhan is in lock down due to an outbreak of corona virus. the death toll has just risen to 25 with 830 people infected. the world health organization has again said it is not a global health emergency yet but it is an emergency in china. you have been watching newsday. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore.

stay with us. coming up it is all about the lunar new year. gong hei fa cai. as you've been hearing in the show, today is lunar new year's eve. as the preparations and festivities get under way around the world, we will be talking to a feng shui consultant, an expert in the traditional art of energy flow, who'll be telling us what to expect in business and politics in the year of the rat. so far her predictions have been mixed, positive and negative. happy new year to you lewis. yes. stay with rico for that. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. animals are often taken into hospitals to provide comfort for patients — but the creatures in question are usually dogs. this centre for senior citizens in iowa, in the united states, has gone a radical step further with ole, the therapy bull. he weighs one ton and is 14 years

old. his visit went down very well indeed. this is newsday. stay with bbc world news. hello. six hours of sunshine in sheffield on thursday. much of the uk couldn't even manage six seconds of blue sky, with scenes like this. there are weather changes on the way over the weekend, and that will shake things up a bit, but until then, plenty of cloud. the big picture shows high pressure giving way to this weather front, which will spread rain southwards across the uk during sunday, wind picking up as well. behind that, skies will eventually turn brighter, but it'll feel colder into the start of next week. but not looking at any frost, certainly not widespread, to start friday. plenty of cloud, damp, drizzly, misty and foggy in places too. particularly across parts of england and wales, poor visibility. now, some rain near the north coast of northern ireland, south—west scotland, pushing up across the western side

of scotland during the day. increasing cloud in the afternoon in north—east scotland. until then, some sunny spells. still some brighter breaks in north—east england. it brightens up a bit in northern ireland. and perhaps some glimmers of sunshine the channel islands and far south coast of england. temperatures are close to average for the time of year, if not a bit above in some spots. going through the night and into saturday morning, still cloudy, damp and drizzly, misty, foggy in places. but all of that cloud keeping temperatures up, so again, frost—free to start the weekend. this weather front getting a bit closer on saturday. but really, for most of us, it's as you were, with lots of cloud around, again misty, murky start, damp and drizzly in places. there are signs of a zone of brighter skies running up across eastern parts of england during saturday. but there's showers coming in towards western parts of england and wales, maybe one or two later to northern ireland, and rain gathering on that weather front we saw towards north—west scotland. it is this which eventually moves south saturday night into sunday, taking some rain.

with that, the winds pick up, but notice the blues following on behind. yes, brighter skies, but feeling colder. so this is how sunday is looking. looks like there'll be a spell of rain for all of us at some stage in the day, but the further south and east you are, in particular, that'll be later in the day as the front gradually moves across the uk. now, behind it, you get the brighter skies. may see a few showers, wintry on hills in that colder air mass, particularly in scotland, as those temperatures drop away behind the weather front, though still mild for another day towards the south—east of england as that rain moves in. and a big change in the weather into the start of next week. it'll be wetter, windier, it'll feel colder for a time, as low pressure takes over. just a flavour of what we might expect. inevitably it'll change, getting closer to these days, but it is a big change in the weather.

i'm lewis vaughan jones with bbc world news.

our top story. china has cancelled all large scale lunar new year celebrations in beijing in an effort to control the spread of a new respiratory virus which has claimed 25 lives so far. myanmar has dismissed an international court ruling that it must take measures to prevent a rohingya muslim genocide, despite hundreds of thousands fleeing violence. the un's highest court also ruled that evidence of alleged genocide must be preserved. and this video is trending on bbc.com. an australian artist has drawn a giant koala on a beach in victoria state in response to the bushfires that have been raging across the country. the man, known as edward, says he channelled his raw emotion to make the picture at barwon heads. that's all. stay with bbc world news.