you're watching bbc news at nine with me, carrie gracie — the headlines chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus deathtoll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. in the uk, m people have been tested for the virus with five testing negative and an incident team has been set up in scotland to deal with the threat. the us has rejected an extradition request for anne sacoolas but the dunn family says they will continue to fight. this extradition request hangs there forever, it is never going to go away. this administration will go away. this administration will go away and we will wait if we need to, for the next five, ten, 15 years.

the government spending watchdog says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail which could now cost 106 billion pounds. huge crowds in the iraqi capital call for us forces to be expelled from the country boris johnson's brexit withdrawal agreement is signed by eu leaders a week before the uk leaves the bloc. one of the uk's biggest supermarkets, tesco, says it'll no longer sell items bundled together using plastic. and in sport — serena williams is knocked out of the australian open in the third round. good morning — and welcome to the bbc news at 9 the chinese authorities are taking drastic action

to try to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. wuhan — the city where the virus was first discovered is on lockdown as it tries to halt the outbreak. four other nearby cities have taken similar precautions. so far, 26 people have died from the new coronavirus. there have been more than 800 confirmed cases across the globe including in singapore, thailand and the us. fourteen people in the uk have been tested for the virus. public health england said five had been given the all clear, while nine were still waiting for results. the world health organisation says it's not yet a global crisis. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in bejiing and sent this update. people are pretty worried about it and are frankly relieved that the authorities are taking such drastic measures to try and bring the situation under control or at least try and stop it from getting worse.

right across china events which you would normally have during the spring festival had been cancelled. in beijing, the temple fairs that you normally have at this time of year have been called off, in guangdong province cinemas closed for the entire period. in shanghai they are preparing to shut down disneyland. and in the province next to wuhan, other cities, more cities are following the lead of wuhan, shutting down all public transport. that means nobody coming in and out of the cities, even within the cities, nobody moving around. we now have people who have died outside wuhan as well, somebody in a province quite close to here, another person in the north—east. people in wuhan have struggled to find a spot in the hospital, people have been sick, they have travelled elsewhere, they've gone to shanghai oi’ elsewhere, they've gone to shanghai or beijing seeking treatment. as they go, they've taken the virus

with them. this is why the authorities are concerned that it could become much worse, that the realfigure could be could become much worse, that the real figure could be very quickly thousands of infected rather than hundreds. and indeed, it is why other countries in the region are also concerned. earlier the medical director for public health england, emeritus professor paul cosford, said he thought he would be ‘highly likely‘ there would be cases in the uk. he gave this update on the situation both at home and abroad. the figures at the moment, we update oui’ the figures at the moment, we update our figures the figures at the moment, we update ourfigures at midday the figures at the moment, we update our figures at midday every day come the situation changes everyday. the figures we had at midday yesterday, 571 people in china, another 12 elsewhere, sadly i7 571 people in china, another 12 elsewhere, sadly 17 of those had died. those figures will increase today. i'm sure. but in terms of testing, we are testing anybody who meets the criteria as you said, we tested five confirmed negative or

not we've got another nine tests underway but the numbers aren't the important thing. the important thing is that when somebody who has been to wuhan within the past 14 days and has symptoms, respiratory symptoms that could represent this virus and be infected, then we asked them to phone nhs iii and we can arrange testing and any appropriate treatment if it's needed. we haven't got a precise figure for how many people have made contact with the gp across the country or with the nhs 111 but we are very clear that the people who need to be in touch with us 01’ people who need to be in touch with us or those who have been to wuhan in the past 1a days and have respiratory symptoms, that's a cough, sneeze, shortness of breath 01’ cough, sneeze, shortness of breath or fever. those are the people who make contact with us and we can then deal with. i have to say, these new viruses that emerge from time to time, we do know that they occur, we have a whole range of plans in place for such an eventuality. and that's

what's happening here. it's very early days, obviously, this is a corona virus and they range from everything to the common cold through to sars as happened nearly 20 years ago. and we are collecting all the available information we possibly can to understand the nature of this virus. the good thing is that the majority of people do seem to be making a full recovery. 0f seem to be making a full recovery. of course, there is a small number of people who have died in china as a result of this infection so we are looking very carefully at what's going on to make sure we are as prepared we possibly can be. our correspondent lorna gordon is in glasgow. what is the situation in scotland? the scottish government has set up an incident team to monitor the situation as it develops. there are no confirmed cases here in scotland but five people are being tested for this coronavirus, purely as a precautionary measure. all of them

have travelled and have returned from wuhan within the last 1a days and all of them have been showing respiratory symptoms. a number of them are believed to be chinese nationals. and one of them is thought to be a student across in edinburgh. it's not known how many of them are being tested and are in hospital environment and exactly how many of them are at home and we don't know exactly which hospitals they are in but it's understood that at least one of those individuals is in the glasgow area and as we said, at least one of them, that student, isa at least one of them, that student, is a cross in edinburgh, so one of them in the lothian area as well. public health england currently sounding quite calm and control, is that the same message coming from the scottish government? yes, absolutely. they say the risk to the public is low. there will be a lot of focus of course on those student

populations, there are a lot of chinese students here in scotland, in the big cities. and a lot of the universities here have links to china and indeed wuhan. a small group of academics came back from wuhan to dundee university in the last week. all of those are said to be in good health. another small group of academics came back from the wuhan area to aberdeen university in the last few weeks. interesting to note that one teaching member of aberdeen university is working at home at the moment as a precaution. perhaps worth re—emphasising the advice we heard a few minutes ago. the advice that the public health boards in england and here in scotland are giving is that anyone who's been to wuhan in the last 1a days or so and he is feeling a little bit unwell, particularly if exhibiting respiratory symptoms, cough, sneeze, fever, shortness of breath, they are being asked to phone 111 or get in touch with the gp who will arrange

testing if necessary, but no confirmed cases here in scotland. this is all precautionary. the message we are getting is that it's a situation which is very much under control and the risk to the public is low. lorna, thank you very much for that. just as lerner was speaking we are getting news and from geneva, the world health organisation, they are about to hold a news conference to report the latest on the coronavirus. they will present that at 9:15am, a news conference will begin at 9:30am so we will go live to that but let's look at some other news first. the family of harry dunn, who died in a road crash involving the wife of a u—s intelligence officer, are demanding a meeting with borisjohnson. it's after america rejected a request to extradite her. us officials said allowing anne sacoolas to be returned to the uk would set a "troubling precedent" for diplomatic immunity. the home office has described the decision as a "denial ofjustice."

simonjones reports. it was here that harry dunn was killed last august as he was riding his motorbike. he was hit by a car allegedly being driven on the wrong side of the road by anne sacoolas, the wife of a us diplomat. she returned to the us, claiming immunity from prosecution, describing what happened as an unintentional accident. ever since, harry's family have campaigned for her to return. they made a direct plea to donald trump at the white house and held a protest outside raf croughton where anne sacoolas was based. now they are told the us will not agree to their extradition but insist they won't give up. this extradition request hangs there forever, it's not going to go away. this administration will go away and we will wait, if we need to, for the next 5, 10, 15 years. i can assure you anne sacoolas will be coming back one day, this is farfrom over.

the home office asked for anne sacoolas to be returned to the uk earlier this month but at the time, the us state department said that would be a highly inappropriate move so it can't have come as a surprise here that the formal extradition request has now been rejected. nevertheless, the government says it's disappointed at what appears to be a denial ofjustice. the prime minister had issued this warning last week on breakfast. i think the chances of america actually responding by sending anne sacoolas to this country are very low. that's not what they do but we will continue to make every effort that we can. the british government says that it's urgently considering its options but it may now have to rely on the political rather than legal route. the construction of the controversial hs2 railway line is billions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule. the national audit office says

the department for transport failed to understand how complex and risky the project would be. the government says it's already acting on the watchdog's recommendations. ben thompson is in birmingham at the site which is destined to be the city's newest train station. over to you. good morning. welcome to what will become the birmingham end of the first phase of hs2. hugely controversial and as you said, in the national audit office report this morning, already way over budget and way behind schedule. just to give you a sense of where we are, you might be able to make out the old building in the background, the old building in the background, the original building from the 18005. the original building from the 1800s. the work going on here on site as archaeological, excavating to make sure there's nothing underground, you might be able to make out some of the brick pillars, the original platforms on the site, dating from the mid—1800s. but let me explain to you about this

project, it's been beset with controversy and i run you through the numbers. as we said the first phase of the line will run from london to here in birmingham. the idea is to improve capacity, more space for us but also to reduce journey times. originally destined to open in 2026, not now going to happen until at least 2031 or 32. the next phase of the line will take you here from birmingham on towards leeds and manchester, again another delay expected 2032 or 33. the cost of the line has grown since it was announced back in 2015. originally forecast at £30 billion then upgraded to 55 billion, by the government ‘s own estimates suggest £88 billion but a leaked report this week takes it above £100 billion. lots of controversy about the cause, big questions over whether this will even be built at all. what exactly is at stake? my colleague tom

burridge has been finding out. as work to build a new high—speed line goes on in birmingham, criticism from the government's spending watchdog over management of the budget for hs2, which has ballooned. today's report says the government and hs2 limited underestimated the scale and complexity of this project, and that's one of the reasons why the budget has risen so much. this is the vision for that site once a station is built here. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren't properly but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they've done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost and how long it

will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks remain. some conservatives have urged the prime minister to rethink. other seniorfigures say hs2 has to go ahead. this part of the country, the north, turned decisively to the conservative party and the prime minister has talked about levelling up. this is literally the investment that will level up the economy. the cost of the second phase of this project, linking the city to leeds and to manchester, is more uncertain because it's at a much earlier stage. a final decision is due next month. tom burridge, bbc news, in birmingham. victoria hillsjoins me. we are on the side here, work is underway but are you surprised by what you heard in this national audit office report, behind schedule, over

budget, not a great surprise, is it? we need to have an open, honest and transparent conversation about the sort of national projects, they are big and complex and expensive. and i think being open and honest at the start about the scale of the cost, not a race to the bottom but saying we wa nt not a race to the bottom but saying we want to deliver against the government levelling up agenda, climate action, getting people out of cars, getting lorries of the roads. the knot will cost money. so i think we need to be very clear that these projects are complex, expensive, and we need to have that clarity so we can move forward and get on with delivering these sorts of projects which the country desperately needs. of projects which the country desperately needslj of projects which the country desperately needs. i wanted to show viewers what this site might look like because it's hard to imagine that this could be a huge terminus andi that this could be a huge terminus and i know we've got pictures of what the curzon street site might look like. give me a sense of how the government perhaps got this sarong. the nal report doesn't pull any punches, it says the government wasn't prepared for the scale of complexity of this, how did we get

it so wrong? we don't always get things wrong. look at the olympic games, that was delivered on time and budget, we know we can do great projects, the difference there as there was planning right at the heart at the start, it's notjust about trains and tracks. it's not just an infrastructure project. it's about delivering regeneration, the place, thejobs, the homes, working with communities. if you have a really strong plan around it from the outset, you can deliver there is great projects because everybody is clear about what it's trying to deliver and how we are going to deliver and how we are going to deliver it and i think perhaps just delivering a railway on its own, perhaps, that may be where things started to go wrong. having a more holistically, taking a view on how we are going to strategically maximise the benefits of the significant investment for the taxpayer, get the most bang for the buck so it helps to drive forward some of the levelling up agenda but it's real for people some of the levelling up agenda but it's realfor people in some of the levelling up agenda but it's real for people in terms of what it means for them, jobs, communities. the comic criticism here is the money shouldn't be spent

connecting london and birmingham, it should be spent on making connections between cities in the north work because we know how dreadful some of the services can be between leeds and manchester and liverpool. people have a point when they say that money should be spent improving commuter services there, not just getting people improving commuter services there, notjust getting people in and out of the capital much quicker. yes, let's be honest. we need significant railway investment throughout the country, lots of people in london are able to commute to and from work on the railway because we have a reasonable rail service there, outside of london there is a significant need for rail investment and for this project will do is free up and for this project will do is free up some of that local capacity so that we can have improved rail services across the region. but this isn't just about the west midlands, this has to be about the whole country, it has to be about levelling up that opportunity to sustainable transport so people can get out of their cars and make that commute to work and forever they need to go, by rail. and wejust know that investment perhaps hasn't been there throughout the rest of the country in the way it could be.

and there is a good opportunity now as we look forward to the budget for the government to come out and make a really strong statement on investing in rail, sustainable transport throughout the country so it's not an either or, we need it all. in one sentence how confident are you if i came back in five years we would see something happening here? we need a positive statement from the government. the final cost, we are going to get on and do it. if we are going to get on and do it. if we had that i'm very confident, you can see behind us, this hasn't stopped, it's happening now, work is going on, i've been speaking to the teams this morning, they are working incredibly hard to get this project going so let's get behind it. good to see you. thank you for your thoughts. there you have it, the thoughts. there you have it, the thoughts at this end of the line and as you heard, lots of people that i've spoken to in birmingham this morning telling me we've got to think beyond the cost and just the time frame of this, it's about what it would mean for places like birmingham and then onwards to leeds and manchester and the change that would bring. the official report expected any time, the government,

we are told, it is complete, we just need to find out when the division report, the final cost and deadline will be released. from here in birmingham, back to you. thank you. some breaking news coming in from andrea leadsom, the mp for the family of harry dunn who's been extensively involved in the efforts to get and it's a from the united states. the united states announcing it will not extradite the wife of the intelligence officer at the heart of this tragedy. the road traffic accident. andrea leadsom this morning has said, responding to the news about the refusal to extradite, she says this is clearly wrong, decision must be changed, at its heart this winter road traffic accident were a lovely young man with his life ahead of them died. diplomatic immunity should not be at play here. the person who's been charged by the cps must be brought back to the uk to stand trial, we

stand shoulder to shoulder with harry ‘s family to get justice stand shoulder to shoulder with harry ‘s family to getjustice done. that story not over. that, from the for the family who is also a member of the cabinet. the headlines on bbc news... chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus deathtoll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. the us has rejected an extradition request for anne sacoolas. the dunn family says they will continue to fight. the government spending watchdog says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail which could now cost £106 billion. in spore, serena williams is out of the australian open. the seven time champion lost to her chinese opponent in the third round, her earliest defeat in melbourne since 2006. bobby dazzler, roberto may

note late winner at wolves sense liverpool 16 points clear at the top of the premier league. league1 liverpool 16 points clear at the top of the premier league. league 1 side tranmere knock watford out of the fa cup. next up it's manchester united in the fourth round. i'll be back with more on all those stories after 9:30am. the president of the european commission has signed boris johnson's brexit withdrawal agreement, a week to the day the uk is due to leave the eu. ursula von der leyen and the european council president, charles michel, put pen to paper to the deal signalling the uk's departure. the european parliament is expected to approve the bill on wednesday. an nhs trust being investigated for at least seven preventable baby deaths was paid a bonus of £1.5 million for claiming it provided

good maternity care. east kent hospitals nhs trust said it had met all required safety standards to receive the money. this week it was subject to an unannounced inspection by the care quality commission. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. shelley russell lost her daughter following a maternity error. her baby was stillborn after a midwife failed to act on a suspicious heart rate reading. they came in, said to me, "yes, everything looks ok. " are you happy," she said to me, and i said to her, "if you're happy, i'm happy." east kent hospital's trust apologised yesterday after the bbc revealed there had been seven preventable baby deaths at the trust since 2016. it was discovered they received almost £1.5 million in 2018 from a service initiative aimed at promoting good maternity care. to get the money, east kent told nhs officials they were taking steps to reduce errors.

a payment included £500,000 that came from trusts that didn't rate their own care as highly as east kent did. the trust said the money helped fund new equipment. maternity care in east kent is expected to be heavily criticised today following the death of harry richford, who was just a week old when he died in 2017. over the past three weeks, a number of witnesses have told the coroner there were a series of failures in harry's care for which the trust has already apologised. michael buchanan, bbc news. tens of thousands of people are protesting on the streets of the iraqi capital baghdad to demand the expulsion of american forces from the country. the killing in baghdad this month of the iranian military commander, qassim suleimani, in baghdad this month has fuelled tensions and a shia cleric has called for a million people to join the march, near the us embassy.

our middle east correspondent martin patience sent us this update. extraordinary turnout for this march which has been called by one of the country ‘s most influential clerics. he can deliver a crowd. a mercurial politician but with this march is showing his strength on the streets and he is signalling very clearly that he once american troops out of this country. the dynamics in iraq have of course changed everything, the top commander was killed here, qasem soleimani, and file everything is peaceful at the moment, the danger always is in iraq that potentially a march could trigger a fresh round of violence. the iraqi government is incredibly weak at the moment. it's problem is discord between iran which controls many of

the politicians in the iraqi parliament and america on the other hand. it finds itself in a very difficult position. there is strong because for american troops to leave the country. but there are pressures against that. partly from the different communities in iraq, they see american forces and there are also others that will say, if american troops leave this country, not only will that make the fight against the so—called islamic state, that will be deeply damaged, but iran will have more influence in iraq as well. those voices aren't as loud but those voices are there as well.

millions of multipacks of tinned food are sold by supermarkets every year but as most come wrapped in plastic, that generates a huge amount of unecessary waste. now tesco has decided to scrap the packaging, which they say will stop 350 tonnes of plastic polluting the environment each year. emma simpson reports. multipacks. we love them. buy more, save more. baked beans tinned tomatoes pasta, tuna and sauce. they are a big seller. we buy more than 200 million multipacks here at our main supermarkets alone. tesco is now getting rid of this wrapping from every single tin, saving 350 tons of plastic waste a year. it is what we think is the right thing to do. also it is what our customers want us to do on their behalf. they challenge us to say ask if plastic is necessary. sometimes it is and where necessary we need to reduce it to a minimum, recover it and recycle it. but where it is not necessary or cannot be recycled we need to remove it from business entirely. and that means getting big suppliers on board.

this is the largest food factory in europe, heinz in wigan where they make a billion tins a year. and 40% are multipacks. the plastic film is nonrecyclable. they are ditching it for tesco but they would like to go further. we are making the first move but it's the largest move. it represents a third of total shrink wrap in the industry and what we expect is that consumers will learn how to shop in a slightly different way and hopefully we can eliminate shrink—wrap from other retailers as well going forward. getting rid of all this plastic wrapping seems such an obvious thing to do. of course it is just a tiny fraction of the plastic that still ends up in a shopping trolley. but the pressure is on to remove it, especially from young people. dear tesco, we are concerned about plastic packaging.

these plastic wrappings are often unnecessary. these primary school children in kent have just recorded an open letter to all supermarkets to do more. we look forward to your reply. they have a mountain to climb. but there is a lot going on and waitrose is trialling bring your own containers and plastic—free fruit and vegetable is available at morrison's. sainsbury‘s have reusable grocery bags. consumers notice. i get upset about the amount of plastic i take home, when i go out shopping. when it's as bad as that, that is ridiculous. not for much longer. tesco says the price at the till will not change but the real deal will be doing away with pointless packaging. in a moment the weather but first here's joanna gosling to tell us what's coming up on the victoria derbyshire at ten good morning. on the programme, misogynistic and legally inaccurate, that's what a woman's charity says

about a family courtjudge that a woman had not been rates because she did not take any physical steps to stop the man. have you had experience of the family courts, good or bad? the system is shrouded in secrecy and there have been calls for yea rs in secrecy and there have been calls for years to it to be opened up for proper scrutiny. get in touch if you have been affected, how did the court and your situation? you can contact us in the usual way. join us at ten m, on bbc two, the bbc news channel, and online. we will be there. joanna, thank you. now here's there. joanna, thank you. now here's the weather with sarah. thank you. lots of cloud out there, it's gloomy this morning, mist in full, most places will be trite through the day. staying damp and overcast, very great throughout the day. one or two brighter spells, especially in eastern england and scotland. patchy rain where we have a weak weather front moving from northern ireland across western parts scotland. temperatures today between 8—9d for

most of us. largely try end to the day, still rain but the west of scotland, the odd spot of drizzle over night but again, most places try. lots of low cloud, mist and mark likely as we head into the early hours of saturday morning. most of us starting today for forestry, temperatures first thing between li—7d. this area of high pressure in charge of the weather on saturday, slowly slipping away towards the near continent, this weather front moving from the north—west. tomorrow looks like a similar day, largely try, grey and cloudy. we will see things turning increasingly wet and windy by sunday. hello this is bbc news with me, carrie gracie. the headlines... chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus deathtoll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. the country has widened a lockdown in hubei province — the centre of the outbreak.

in the uk, 1a people have been tested for the virus with five testing negative and an incident team has been set up in scotland to deal with the threat. the us has rejected an extradition request for anne sacoolas who is to be charged with causing the death of teenager harry dunn. mp andrea leadsom has issued a statement saying "the decision must be changed" and that "diplomatic immunity should not be at play here." the dunn family says they will continue to fight. the government spending watchdog says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail which could now cost £106 billion — almost double the initial estimation. the national audit office says neither the department for transport or hs2 allowed for all uncertainties. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching,

reading and sharing. coronavirus is the top story here on the bbc today, and it's a story sending waves across britain and around the world. almost all of the uk papers are splashed with dramatic headlines about the possibility of the "killer virus" from china arriving in britain, after more than a dozen people in the uk have been tested for it. news about the virus and china's travel lockdown is also trending globally across social media. on twitter, the hashtags coronavirus and wuhan—shutdown are now coming up with thousands of results. cbs asia correspondent ramy inocencio has brought attention to one of the measures the chinese government has taken to reduce the spread of the virus. explaining that "china has closed all of its movie theaters. all 70,000." business insiderjouralist aylin woodwards has put the scale of the shutdown into context writing, "imagine trying to quarantine nyc. cutting off all buses, all trains from penn station, all planes from laguardia, jfk, & newark.

oh and shutting down subways and mta buses in a city of 11 million. that's what the #wuhan coronavirus travel shutdown is like." while dr howard markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the university of michigan, has described the shutdown as unprecedented. in a new york times tweet he is quoted as saying "people are going to get out... it's going to be leaky." and of course the spread of the virus has come at one of the busiest times of the year in china and across asia, when millions of people will be celebrating the lunar new year this weekend. former china correspondent emily rauhala wrote on twitter, "a thing to keep front and center on wuhan: many people work six days a week, 12 hours a day, or more, so that once a year they can go home for spring festival. this is a public health disaster, and also a big heartbreak for millions and millions of chinese families who live apart." carlos cuaipo who is based injapan,

urged people to "be more sensitive about coronavirus." explaining, "some cities in china are cancelling their lunar new year events. that's like cancelling thanksgiving, or christmas. for some people, that's their only chance to see their family." while anthropologist ana vasquez highlighted that "the temporary closure of disneyland in shanghai, on chinese new year, one one of the busiest moments of the year, is social responsibility". storm gloria is also trending online. spanish newspaper el pais has been tweeting updates about the havoc the extreme weather has caused, posting in the last half hour, that at least 13 people are now known to have been killed in storms, and spain's prime minister pedro sanchez has called an emergency meeting to respond to the disaster. four people are still missing after storm gloria triggered floods and swept away roads in some areas. the authorities have told reporters that climate change had played a part in the severe storm.

and in the uk, one of the big stories online again today, revolves around the family of harry dunn. they say they won't stop fighting forjustice, after a request to extradite the american woman accused of causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving was turned down. on bbc breakfast this morning, a spokesman for the family called on borisjohnson to do more. this is one of the darkest days in the history of this great relationship, it's an assault on the relationship. borisjohnson wanted to be prime minister and this is a severe test for him. i want to see him come out today and rise to the challenge. you know, has not done this yet, let's invite the family and myself in, look at in the eyes and tell us what you're going to do. and we can have a look now at what's most clicked on the bbc news app this morning.

i have to warn you that the top trending story about a close call with a needlefish is very graphic, and some viewers may find the images, upsetting. he has described his terrifying swim after fish leapt out of the sea, brace yourself for the picture... it is fairly extraordinary. the fish jumped out of the sea and went through his neck. it is astonishing he has managed to survive that. he was thrown into the water, had to desperately swim to shore and get to hospital which was 90 minutes away. his survival was thanks to his quick thinking friend and some good surgeons, according to the story. and another to quickly take a look

at, some of these we have been reporting of course, the italian regional election coming up at the weekend but the story at number four is quite interesting about the question of donated spurn, eggs or embryos. people were promised lifelong anonymity if they donated before 2005 but the rise of home testing dna has changed the possibilities of identifying people service is a piece which looks that at that and says that by last year approximately 26 many people worldwide had taken a dna test you can buy one off the shelf, and that will rise. and the question about whether that is going to effectively remove the anonymity of sperm donors, so quite an interesting piece. that's it for today's morning briefing. but we will keep you across everything else coming in.

sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. we'll begin with the australian open following a huge shock this morning with seven time champion serena williams knocked out. john watson is in melbourne for us and john, this is a tournament where serena is normally very comfortable. and also coco gauff has knocked out the defending champion? and that is where we will start. what a result. we knew she was good, coco gauff, after that incredible run at wimbledon last summer put that she has topped that this time round in the first grand slam of the year by knocking out defending champion in the women's singles, naomi osaka, and remember that she isjust 15. russell fuller it with me put some seismic shocks today in the tennis world but we start with coco gauff, unbelievable performance. world but we start with coco gauff, unbelievable performancelj world but we start with coco gauff, unbelievable performance. i think roger federer might be feeling slightly apprehensive walking out onto the rod laver arena right now but gauff got her reward for playing

a high—quality first set, serving superbly and having got used to playing naomi osaka at the us open when she was handily beaten by the 22—year—old, and she won in straight sets but what was impressive was the fa ct sets but what was impressive was the fact that osaka could not keep the ball in court put 30 unforced errors, many on the back and put i'm scratching my head as to why she play that poorly but coco gauff is the sort of girl, not yet a woman, to take advantage and she's in the la st to take advantage and she's in the last 16 of the australian open product she is 15, unbelievable. talking about the future of tennis right now, naomi osaka and coco gauff could not say serena williams is donejust yet gauff could not say serena williams is done just yet but at 38 she is out, and you wonder how many more chances you will get to win that elusive 24th grand slam title. she was beaten in three sets, 75 in the decider, the earliest exit from the australian open for 14 years for her

from the austrian open put she points out that in the previous two years she has reached grand slam finals at wimbledon and the us open late in the anti—said she gets better as the year goes on. i would not say she cannot at least equal the record of margaret court but she is 38, we have more bad days than good days, tennis players and the re st of good days, tennis players and the rest of us. she did not play at many matches last year, a combination of schedule and injury. i think she needs to play more often and pressure is a big part as well. trying to equal that all—time record of 24 grand slam singles titles has driven heron, be of 24 grand slam singles titles has driven her on, be a motivating factor and it is what has kept her oi'i factor and it is what has kept her on touri factor and it is what has kept her on tour i think now it is becoming an albatross around her neck. absolutely and we know how good some of the others are, coco gauff for example put it finally, caroline wozniacki, anotherformer example put it finally, caroline wozniacki, another former champion here, a lovely moment for her, retiring after the tournament. she went out today but was given a fantastic sendoff. is happy to go despite the pain of losing in a

designing set to onsjabeur of tunisia. she decider at the end of la st tunisia. she decider at the end of last year that her race is run. she is 29 which does not sound old but she doesn't suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, she had been world number one, former australian open champion, started playing at an early age and she wants to move on. she is married, she wants to start a family, wants to raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis, i'm sure shall be back in tennis in the media so she has a lot planned but always an emotional moment when a player like that, such a popular player, browse out put it on good presentation, left the court with the danish flag around her shoulders to the refrain of sweet caroline! many thanks for that. as party went through as well, novak djokovic. roger federer in action but we all know who we will be talking about —— as party went through. coco gauff, 15 years old. —— ashleigh barty.

liverpool are on course to smash manchester city's record points tally in the premier league. they're 16 points clear at the top of the league after beating wolves 2—1, roberto firmino with the late winner. they've won 22 of 23 games this season, and if they carry on at this rate they'll easily pass the 100 points that gave man city the league title in 2018. plenty of reaction to liverpool's win in today's papers. the guardian has gone with "bobby dazzler. firmino's late winner keeps liverpool's juggernaut rolling towards the title". daily express says, "reds take firm grip on the title", also with a nod to manchester united's difficult week following back to back defeats. "sort it out ole" they say. and the mirror concentrates on liverpool's 40 game unbeaten run in the league saying it goes "on & on & on & on"

there was a shock in the fa cup last night as tranmere, who play in league one, beat watford of the premier league. their third round replay went to extra time at prenton park, and it was striker paul mullin who was the hero for tranmere. it sets up a real glamour tie for them — they now host manchester united in the fourth round, that game's going to be played on sunday. the fa cup fourth round gets under way tonight. bbc radio 5 live will have commentary of northampton vs derby county, with coverage of qpr v sheffield wednesday on sports extra. the weather has got in the way of the first day of the final test between south africa and england. as you can see from this picture, it's very wet at the wanderers injohannesburg, no play so far. one man who's hoping there will be plenty of cricket over the next few days is billy cooper. he's one of the most famous members of the barmy army, and after 16 years of touring the world with england, he's

hanging up his trumpet. the former england captain michael vaughan among those to pay tribute to him on social media, calling him "one of england's best players". on that note, nearly time for me to go public but there will be coverage of the first day of the final test match on the bbc sport website and app and a full round—up at 6:30pm this evening on the bbc news channel but that's all for now. more now on the european commission formally signing off the brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of the uk leaving the eu next week. meps are expected to approve the agreement on wednesday. gavin lee is in brussels. we are into the final week, took us

through the moves. all of the fa nfa re through the moves. all of the fanfare and fever pitch we had a few months ago, it would happen, it has gone away. basically, there is barely a drip of publicity put out on the european commission and council today, very low key, a couple of still shots from the building where ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission and the president of the european council, jean michel, signed the document, the technical steps given they had already agreed to the withdrawal agreement before christmas. it was given royal assent in the uk yesterday, technically signed off now for the eu council and commission put it goes back to borisjohnson and commission put it goes back to boris johnson today, and commission put it goes back to borisjohnson today, i'm told its on its way to downing street and borisjohnson has to sign it and on wednesday next week, the 29th at 6pm, it then goes to the final ratification process with the european parliament. they need a simple majority, more people out of

the 751 meps saying yes than know and pretty much looks certain that it will go through put it there was a steering committee yesterday, a brexit committee looking at all of the and recommended it good would go forward and should be voted on without any changes and even the brexit party, while they have not had a specific decision, the biggest party in the european parliament from britain, that member on the mod said that they would also sign it. they think the deal stinks, they said, but they will vote it if it means that are out when boris johnson says we are. i think it's going to go through. thank you. italy's far right leader, matteo salvini, is hoping to cause a political shock on sunday by winning control of emilia romagna, a stronghold of the left since the second world war. if his league party wrests control of the region, it could prompt the italian government to fall and elections

which polls say mr salvini — a populist known for his anti—migrant policies — would almost certainly win. our italy correspondent mark lowen reports from emilia romagna. security, migration, urban decay. a city's challenges become political tools when elections loom. in ferrara, stronghold of italy's left since the second world war, it is the key to the far—right league party winning the mayorship last year. the deputy mayor has just told me that people here are dealing drugs. and they've just gone into the building. they've gone away. and they've gone.

for migrants living here, the new hard—line administration is sowing fear. it makes me feel intimidated. maybe they don't want the foreigners. sometimes my child used to ask me, mummy, why is it that the police always come? i say i don't know. the league is hoping success in ferrara will spur victory in the regional election on sunday, wresting control from the left after 75 years. that could topple the government and sweep the populist far—right matteo salvini to power. campaigning nearby, the rock star of italian politics drives home his message. if the far—right wins here, in this area, it's a complete political earthquake. it means, if he wins here,

he could win anywhere in italy. loved, but feared too, in a region where some feel the echoes of past battles against fascism. what he stands for, like hate and discrimination, it's not what we want. we passed this, these kind of thoughts, 70 years ago when the war ended. this is one of italy's richest regions, but stagnant growth and an ageing population has fed hungerfor change.

played out here is the fight for italy's, for europe's, political identity. mark lowen, bbc news, ferrera. huge swarms of desert locusts have invaded about a dozen countries on both sides of the red sea, the body of water between africa and the arabian peninsula. the food and agriculture organisation says it is a crisis of international dimensions that threatens food security in the entire region. among the countries where the insects are causing problems is kenya — where they haven't been seen for half a century. our senior africa correspondent anne soy reports. from a distance, it looks like northern kenya is burning. but these are swarms of desert locusts spreading like wildfire across the horn of africa. just one swarm can have more than 200 million insects. these are tiny creatures

flying above me but don't they look harmless. but if you consider that hundreds of millions of them are flying at the same time, the amount of destruction they can cause is unimaginable. ali tells me this is the second invasion locus he has witnessed in the about 60 years. this time he has lost nearly all his maize and bean crops. translation: it is painful. we had no rain for several years. when it did finally rain last year we were so happy. but then these insects have come and destroyed our crop. we have incurred huge losses. he says he brought dozens of people here to help ward off the invasion. elsewhere, gunshots, tear gas and whistles. people and governments across the region are desperate to save plants from being devoured.

conservation groups are helping track the movement of the swarms. the flying, the coordination and looking for the swarm are aimed at helping the local people and helping the national government at least get to know where these things are. the kenyan and ethiopian governments are using aerial spraying to try to kill the insects, but with little success. the impact, especially for pastoralists living in the affected area, could be serious. what is your biggest fear? conflict. whilst there is no food here, people start migrating. if my grazing than had been destroyed by locusts, i will move to the next one. there i'm not wanted. so there might be conflict, which is not good, and there might be even a loss of life.

a region devastated by years of drought seemed to have recovered when it received unusually heavy rains, but that has now brought this misery, leaving communities on the edge. anne soy, bbc news, moyale. tesco is to scrap plastic packaging on multipacks of tins. the supermarket says the move will stop 350 tonnes of waste polluting the environment each year. tesco says the price of multipack purchases will not be affected. let's speak tojuliet phillips from the environmental investigation agency. she co—authored the supermarket report‘ along with greenpeace looking at plastic waste. good morning. is this a good move from tesco? yes. we welcome all steps from tesco? yes. we welcome all ste ps ta ke n from tesco? yes. we welcome all steps ta ken by from tesco? yes. we welcome all steps taken by supermarkets to reduce the amount of plastic on the shelves. i think it‘s important to bearin shelves. i think it‘s important to bear in mind that this is a fraction of the total amount of plastics that

tesco is responsible for over a year put it we encourage the company to keep on working to bring packaging free and refillable packaging solutions to the stores. you think this a good move but not enough? why haven‘t they moved faster in other areas? we see different supermarkets doing different things but why aren‘t they all doing all the things at once? we are seeing an increasing number of companies are looking into refilla ble number of companies are looking into refillable and reusable packaging trials and this is really welcome. they need to be applied at the scale to make sure they are available and accessible to customers who want to use them. i think there was a role for government policy as well to make sure that there is a level playing field and encouraging anybody to catch up. when you say government policy, do you mean setting new rules to insist that supermarkets do the same things? that‘s right. we are calling for a legally binding targets to make sure that we are reducing the amount of plastic use and also increasing the

amount of refillable solutions. we have been talking about the different supermarkets doing different supermarkets doing different things but which so far has proved the most effective? we have seen some really innovative work from waitrose, asda and morrisons. with refillable packaging where customers can bring in their own containers and use them many times, every time they want to purchase more pasta orfruit and vegetables. i think this is a brilliant way that people can cut back on the amount of plastic they are using. some people will say, just dealing with the multipack tins issue and this tesco story, some people say that will be inconvenient for a lot of people for whom it really matters. the tins are heavy and if they‘re tumbling around in your bags and you have to carry them home on the bus, it will not be easy so what is your answer to that complaint? i think it is very important to make sure it is accessible for everyone and no one

is losing out. i think there are steps companies can take to make sure it is easy and available. there will also need to be a slight shift in consumer behaviour as well, away from the convenience culture we have at the moment. what is your advice to people who normally would pick up may be a six—pack of baked beans or one of those tubes of tuna tins, what is the alternative? counting them out one by one?” what is the alternative? counting them out one by one? i think that's it and most people will be able to get their heads around it and hopefully it will not cause too many major problems. we will have to leave it there but thank you very much forjoining us on the issue. let us know what you think as well on the issue of plastic packaging and supermarkets, where you go and what is working for you. now look at the weather with phil.

am grappling with the concept of juggfing am grappling with the concept of juggling with my tuna tins but i‘m sure i‘ll coat! i hope you cope with the weather today, it is that continuation of the still seem we have seen much of england and wales certainly in the past few days. and for that we have had to thank the high—pressure. if you have had a bit of rain in southern scotland and northern ireland, it was the re m na nts of northern ireland, it was the remnants of that front. it is an improving picture today but not quite the end of the weather front put it comes back to the north—west of scotla nd put it comes back to the north—west of scotland through the afternoon put it further north and east, brightness with a passing shot put at the best of the sunshine in england and wales in the north—east, which i started well, and the north—east of wales put overnight, not much changes, but the rain moves from the north—west to the northern isles and then away. a lot of cloud overnight, misty and murky to start the weekend. given that cloud, i don‘t think you will be scraping the ca rs don‘t think you will be scraping the cars first thing. saturday, not much

change. but through sunday, we end up change. but through sunday, we end up with quite an active weather front spreading wet and windy weather across all parts of the british isles.

hello, it‘s friday, it‘s 10 o‘clock, i‘m joanna gosling and we‘re live from new broadcasting house misogynstic and legally inaccurate — that‘s what a leading women‘s charity says about comments from a family courtjudge that a woman hadn‘t been raped because she didn‘t take any ‘physical steps‘ to stop the man. family courtjudges could now get training on the "appropriate" way to deal with sex assault allegations — we‘ll be getting the reaction of a leading family barrister and the charity women‘s aid. public health officials says it‘s highly likely cases of coronavirus will be seen in the uk. 14 people are being tested here as the death toll in china rises to 26. we are not advising people to use facemasks as i speak at the moment but of course we monitor extremely carefully all the developments. these are early days

yet with this virus.