this is bbc news. the headlines at 7: the death toll from the coronavirus rises to 41, with authorities in china struggling to contain the outbreak, as millions travel for the lunar new year. there are now known cases of the virus in france and australia, and a state of emergency has been declared in hong kong. benita mehra, a newly—appointed member of the grenfell tower inquiry panel, resigns after being linked to the charitable arm of the firm which supplied the tower block's cladding. donald trump's lawyers have begun their defence of the president in his impeachment trial in the senate — they say he's done nothing wrong. they're asking you to do something that no senate has ever done and they're asking you to do it with no evidence — and that's wrong,

and i ask you to keep that in mind. the search for survivors continues after a powerful earthquake hit turkey — at least 22 people have been killed and more than 1200 injured. a charity offering mental health support to military veterans says it can't take on any new cases, due to a funding crisis. south africa end the second day of the 4th test on 88—6, after england posted a commanding total of 400. good evening. china's president has warned that the spread of a potentially deadly new virus is accelerating,

with his country facing a "grave situation". coronavirus has killed at least 41 people and infected more than 1300 since the outbreak began in the city of wuhan. severe travel restrictions have been imposed in many areas. here, the department of health says 31 people tested for the virus have been given the all clear. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonnell has been to the province of hubei — much of which is under strict quarantine — and sent this report. the approaches to hubei province, like scenes from an apocalyptic movie. only after a temperature scan can you pass these checkpoints. the unwell are not allowed to travel. what's more, the lockdown is spreading. roads out of the infection zone are being closed. so, basically, that's the border that way.

the police have told us that we can drive in but we can't drive out, so it seems that this whole province, where the coronavirus first broke out, is now going to be locked down. we cross the border and drive through ghost towns. instead of lunar new year celebrations, people are in survival mode. 0n the first day of the year of the rat, all these shops are closed, there's pretty much nobody on the street here. this is just one of the towns you come across when you first enter the province, and peoplejust don't know for how long it's going to be like this, for how long they have to stay indoors or risk being infected with this potentially deadly coronavirus, which causes pneumonia. hospitals here have been flooded with patients. there are thousands who are unwell but are not sure if their symptoms mean it's the coronavirus.

one man inside this hospital speaks to us from his hospital bed. he said he hasn't been told if he's contracted the potentially deadly virus, but he's worried he could catch it anyway from others in his ward. i wish him a speedy recovery, and the police arrive, as if on cue. plus local officials want us to leave. they will not confirm if a provincewide lockdown of 60 million people is about to start. so, as night falls, they escort us back across the border. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, hubei. let's talk now tojonathan ball, who is a professor of virology from the university of nottingham. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. it strikes me there are still a lot of unknowns around this virus which generates concern. what do you make of the estimates we are looking

at at the moment, up to 11,000 potentially getting infected? it's very difficult to put a hard number on it. i am aware of those estimates, they seem to be at the high end but i think what's absolutely certain is that the rapidity of this outbreak is pretty unprecedented in terms of a corona virus epidemic. i think you touched on an important point. there are many unknowns about how this virus is spreading. also, what is the best approach to bring it under control? so, give us a sense as a virology test. when something like this hits, what is the detective work that you start to look at? in terms of trying to identify those infected, that is a really big challenge. with previous outbreaks, particularly sars, one of the indicators of those who are likely to spread and

transmit the virus to other people, people who had the virus had fever. the airairports, if people who had the virus had fever. the air airports, if you scan for a fever, then you had a reasonable idea that they might be infected. at the moment, there are reports coming out from china that there are lots of or potentially a symptomatic infection. what that means is people don't show outward signs of disease and unfortunately, there also some concern that these people might in fa ct concern that these people might in fact transmit the virus to other people. so identifying those individuals and therefore stopping them set up chains of transmission isa them set up chains of transmission is a huge concern. the suggestion from you seems to be these pictures we see of people being zapped on the forehead with the temperature monitors at airports only can go so far. is it possible to see the virus a nyway far. is it possible to see the virus anyway and somebody who is asymptomatic? are there hidden tests ?

asymptomatic? are there hidden tests? there are tests. you can detect for the presence of the virus but the virus has to get levels which are high enough for the detection. the other key issue here is people only start developing symptoms if they are going to develop symptoms. after a few days of incubation, and again, we don't know what the period of incubation is that this novel coronavirus, it could be two days, ten days or more. whilst everett‘s being incubated, the person won't show any outward signs and if they are then travelling around china or potentially travelling to other parts of the world, they can be carrying that infection with them. what would make the difference in somebody‘s make up as to whether they carry the virus but are not at all affected by it and somebody who becomes very, very poorly and possibly even dies? unfortunately, we have absolutely no idea of what the determinants are. why some people not only show symptoms that actually develop very serious symptoms, pneumonia and can even die

whilst others can be infected and be totally harmless. so this idea about how long it might take to clear somebody‘s system, even if they have shown no symptoms, we don't know if the answer? unfortunately, we don't know. i think the things we are doing, for example, in the uk and other parts of the world, is in truth the best we can do. that is to actively monitor people who have travelled to the worst affected area, to wuhan, and to ask them to be vigilant, to monitor themselves for the appearance of symptoms. but, of course, if there is asymptomatic infection, then unfortunately even that won't work. looking at the family, if that is the right word, of the coronavirus, we talk about similarities with sars. what can scientists predict about how the presence of this kind of virus may change and develop and the kind of challenges it might prove to provide in the future? well, we do like to

use similar viruses. you are right, they are in the same family. we do like to use them to try and predict how these viruses will behave. in 2002, we saw the emergence of sars. more recently, in 2012, another coronavirus in the arabian peninsula. but at the moment, this virus doesn't seem to be fitting the pattern that they have shown. importantly, pattern that they have shown. importa ntly, the pattern that they have shown. importantly, the pattern where most transmission is associated with severe disease. i think a real concern, as well, is this virus seems to be showing quite a reasonable amount of human to human transmission. so one person gets infected, patient b, passes it to patient b and they pass it to patient b and they pass it to patient c. unfortunately, that is quite challenging and allows the virus not only to spread from human to human but gives it the opportunity to mutate, potentially to evolve and further adapter for transmission in humans. but i don't wa nt to transmission in humans. but i don't want to frighten people and scare them but these are all realities.

just a final thought. we are looking ata just a final thought. we are looking at a china like —— country like china that seems to have mobilised quickly, they are busy building hospitals in ten days, they have resources and the ability to move reasonably fast. what is the potential for problems with viruses of this kind if they were in other parts of the world? i think you have hit the nail on the head in terms of some of the major concerns about other parts of the world. for example, at the moment we have seen the virus turn up in very developed countries, where they have fantastic health infrastructure, they had good surveillance, so we can identify infections and deal with them. if you imagine an infection like there's going to a part of the world where the infrastructure isn't so good, then it becomes a whole lot more difficult to identify and control. 0k, fascinating talking to you. i wish we had a little longer. thank you very much indeed. to other news now.

a newly—appointed member of the grenfell tower inquiry panel has resigned after she was linked to a charitable arm of the firm which supplied the tower block's cladding. benita mehra tendered her resignation to the prime minister borisjohnson, saying she recognised and respected the "depth of feeling" among some about her appointment. grenfell survivors and bereaved family members had threatened to boycott the inquiry if benita mehra remained on the panel. president trump's lawers have been setting out his defence, at his impeachment trial in the us senate. mr trump is accused of abusing his power and obstructing congress. the president's attorney said his accusers had no evidence, and their real motive was to undermine mr trump's re—election campaign. from washington, chris buckler reports. as the future of his presidency has been under debate, president trump has been to davos to meet world leaders, to florida to speak to supporters, and ignored other events in washington to attend a pro—life rally. perhaps that's a sign that he's looking past this

impeachment trial and already thinking about drumming up votes for this november's presidential election. and certainly, inside congress, his legal team have been making a point of notjust defending their client but also using this deeply political trial to attack his opponents, the democrats. they're asking you to tear up all of the ballots across this country, on your own initiative, take that decision away from the american people. democrats delivered a more than 28,000 page record of evidence and their argument, that donald trump abused his power. but the republican majority inside the senate makes it inconceivable that president trump could be removed from office. what i have learned through all my years in politics, and all my years in life — if you're right and you keep fighting for the truth, you will prevail. we would be derelict

in our responsibility if we didn't fight for the truth. on twitter, mr trump encouraged people to tune into america's news networks, who have covered every minute of this trial. although the publicity—awa re president is said to be upset that his defence team were given saturday to begin setting out their case. mr trump calls it a death valley for tv ratings in the states. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are martin lipton, who's the chief sports reporter for the sun, and the broadcaster and psychotherapist, lucy beresford. a rescue operation is under way in eastern turkey, where an earthquake has killed at least 22 people, with many more missing. more than 1000 people have been injured in elazig province. teams are working in freezing temperatures, to reach survivors

buried under collapsed buildings. 0ur correspondent richard galpin reports. the powerful earthquake struck this eastern region of the country last night... ..causing hundreds of casualties. in the darkness, people screaming for help as buildings collapsed. in the light this morning, the scale of destruction revealed — this, just one of 30 buildings to have been brought down. already, though, there are many rescue teams on the ground, working frantically to save those trapped under giant slabs of concrete and other rubble. and they are having some success. this elderly woman pulled out alive today, amongst a0 to have been saved. but there is much more to be done.

this rescuer speaks on the phone to a family trapped under a collapsed building, telling them they must stay awake — don't let anyone sleep, she says. since last night, there have been hundreds of after—shocks, adding to the fear. many people now have no choice but to sleep outside, away from any of these buildings, in temperatures as low as minus eight degrees. richard galpin, bbc news. a man and his ten year old daughter have died in a house fire in hull. fire crews were called at breakfast time this morning. neighbours say they tried to break the door down but couldn't get in. jo makel has the details. neighbours had tried to raise the alarm but it was already too late. a father pronounced dead at the scene, his ten—year—old daughter taken to hospital. she later died.

i tried to break the door down, but them composite doors are a bit strong. i was banging on the windows shouting, shouting through the letterbox, banging on the window to try and get some attention, but there was nothing. then the fire brigade came and obviously they broke the door down. so... you never expect things like this, do you? there was three fire engines and a lot of smoke coming out the house. it's quite shocking and cliche, you never think it's going to happen, do you? down this street or, you know... but it's shaken me and my wife up. firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had gone into the house on wensley avenue — a quiet, family street. they'd hoped to save those inside. now, investigators from humberside police and humberside fire and rescue service are trying to work out what caused the blaze. specially trained dogs have also been at the scene. the dogs assist our fire investigation officers and our police colleagues, in trying to detect any presence of something that might have contributed to the fire's development.

but it's there to rule in or rule out anything that may contribute to fire development. it's a tragic event in any circumstance and our thoughts are with all those involved. it's likely the work to investigate this tragedy will continue into tomorrow, as a family and community begin to grieve for those that have been lost. jo makel reporting. the headlines on bbc news... the death toll from the coronavirus rises to 41 — with authorities in china struggling to contain the outbreak, as millions travel for the lunar new year. benita mehra, a newly—appointed member of the grenfell tower inquiry panel, resigns after being linked to the charitable arm of the firm which supplied the tower block's cladding. donald trump's lawyers have begun their defence of the president in his impeachment trial in the senate — they say they say he's done nothing wrong.

police in portsmouth say they are "extremely concerned" for the mother of a newborn baby found dead in a street this morning. 0fficers says they want to ensure the mother gets the appropriate help and care. mike apps reports. police were called here to the junction of victoria street and old commercial road atjust after 6:15 this morning, following the discovery of the body of a recently born baby. just a stone's throw from the birthplace of charles dickens and the portsmouth muslim academy. there's been a large—scale police presence here through the course of the day. we've seen officers making door—to—door inquiries, sniffer dogs searching front gardens, a large amount of activity around the tent and also officers combing the bushes of a nearby park. i've been speaking to a resident who lives just a few doors down from the police corden.

i couldn't believe it, to be honest, that... yeah. no one knows, obviously, the full story but i hope that if someone needs help, that they get it and, yeah, it's just horrible all round. it's not a nice situation for anybody. hampshire police say they are extremely concerned about the welfare of the mother of the child and they have released a statement making a direct appeal to her to get in contact with them. detective chief inspector simon baker has said, "i know this must be a very distressing time for you, "but i want to make sure you're getting the right help and care. "i understand you may be frightened but it's important that "you get in touch with us." police also want to hear from anyone who has concerns about anyone who has recently been heavily pregnant or has very recently given birth. mike apps, bbc south today, portsmouth. a royal marine who got into difficulty during a training exercise on the cornish coast earlier this week, has died. the recruit — who hasn't been named — had been critically ill in hospital

since being found unconscious in the water at tregantle beach near plymouth on tuesday night. an investigation into his death is continuing. the uk's leading mental health charity for military veterans, combat stress, has said it is unable to deal with new cases because of cuts in funding. the charity, which helps treat servicemen and women suffering from complex mental health problems, has lost millons of pounds of support from nhs england. 0ur correspondent chi chi izundu reports. they're known as tough and resilient, but years on the front line can take its toll, with some military personnel like paul smith facing battles with their mental health. i was verbally abusive to my wife, my children. i alienated them. i'd walk round and i'd be looking at escape routes, i'd be looking for people carrying weapons. at night, i'd go to our bedroom and hide behind the bed and cry my eyes out.

i'd have nightmares. i'd have flashbacks. paul says the leading charity for veterans‘ mental health, combat stress, saved his life when he was referred to it — but now, because of funding cuts, the charity says any new referrals from england and wales won't be taken on. it receives around 2,000 referrals for treatment every year, but its income has fallen from £16 million to £10 million in this current financial year. we have decided that we need to make sure we can meet the needs of everyone who is currently in our system, and we are not going to take referrals in england and wales, where we have the greatest risks of safety, if you like, for the near future. all new referrals will now be redirected to the nhs. in a statement, the nhs said providing the best care for veterans is its number one priority, but veterans ministerjohnny mercer said he would hold an urgent meeting with combat stress to discuss the situation. chi chi izundu, bbc news.

last year, nearly seven million of us used ‘buy now pay later‘ companies to help spread the cost of online purchases for clothing and shoes. firms like klarna and clearpay allow people to delay payment, or split the cost over a number of months — but debt charities are warning that people aren't being given enough information about hidden fees. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has more. checking out, but paying nothing. millions of us are now opting to spread the pain of a purchase. some of the biggest online stores now give a choice to delay payment for an extra few weeks — no extra fees, and with next to no checks. unsurprisingly, it's a popular click with shoppers. so, let's get shopping. i do think this scheme is great, because you could get stuck for money and think, oh, but, i really want this for an event that's coming up, but i know i'm going to get paid at the end of the month, and i've got enough money to stretch.

it's making us feel like we're getting more of a deal, and it's bringing them more money. if you're sensible, and you're responsible, and you can keep up with your finances, then why not? we found out that payments through the biggest three companies have nearly doubled over the last year. new zealand firm laybuy have seen a big demand from shops to get the option added to their online checkout. for the retailer, they are seeing an average order value uplift. people are spending more, then, because they can spread the payments? the average order values are significantly higher as a result of paying by laybuy, yes. most of these companies have been operating for a few extra years down under, so the australian regulator has published this big review. and they found that 60% of customers are under 3a, and that some customers can become financially overcommitted because of it. the financial conduct authority here have told me they don't regulate any firms not charging interest, but they are monitoring the markets. debt charities are already

concerned customers aren't being given enough information. we want to ensure that the people who are using these products know the terms and conditions they are signing up to. if you don't know when the payment terms are going to kick in, or what charges or fees are going to be associated with it, you can't be making a wise choice. not keeping up with repayments can damage your credit rating, and with customer numbers growing so quickly, it's a problem that could increase. colletta smith, bbc news. transport bosses say that more than £3.5 million is being lost in london every year because of fare—dodging on routemaster buses. those passengers most often don't pay when they get on using the middle and rear doors. so from today, new rules are being introduced on some routes to tackle the problem. thomas magill has the story. it was boris johnson's flagship transport project for london during his time as mayor in 2012. the new

route master gave passengers the ability to hop on and hop off at any point along its route and board through its front, middle and rear doors. but with its convenience, problems also with people not paying. it's not fair, you know? you can see most of them, they use the back door. i watch in the mirror and see them. some of them go to the back door and go upstairs. so once they go upstairs, they sit down. you can hear when they tap. i'm listening for the tapping but no tapping, if there is no noise at all, i know they evade the fare. at all, i know they evade the fare. at a cost of £350,000 each, the buses we re a cost of £350,000 each, the buses were controversial from the beginning. some had conductors that they were ditched to save money. then the hop on and hop off facility was stopped, leading to some condemning them as a waste of money. and now another change, in a bid to tackle the huge cost of fare dodgers. from today, the 55 and this route, the 267, will ban customers

from boarding via the middle and back doors in an effort to cut fare evasion, which transport for london says costs over £3. 5 evasion, which transport for london says costs over £3.5 million a year on routes that use the route master bus. it's important to recognise their evasion on london's buses is comparatively low compared to other cities but we still want to do better. it's important everyone makes theirfare. better. it's important everyone makes their fare. people should touching and we need to collect the correct fare from everyone that uses the services so we can continue to invest in london's transport system. at the same time, it makes it easier for those people with wheelchairs and buggies to get on and on the bus. stickers and announcements on buses affected will inform passengers of the new rules which will be introduced on all 35 routes by the summer. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. weather changes on the way as we go

through the next few days. a lot of quiet weather this last week with high pressure in control. it's been a mainly dry. a lot of sunshine to start the week, more cloud at the end of the weekend the sun is about to come back but there is a catch. a speu to come back but there is a catch. a spell of rain first and when the sun appears it will feel colder and there will be showers. look in the atlantic, there are showers coming and it looks very wintry but by the time they get to us they will be mostly rain but still some snow showers into the start of next week. through the rest of this evening and tonight, a good deal of cloud, some patchy rain and drizzle. more substantial rain to northern ireland and western scotland as the night goes on and temperatures staying well above freezing, no frost out there. the breeze picking up across there. the breeze picking up across the uk. part and parcel of the changes coming from this weather front. we put on the colours to represent the feel of the weather, the cold air following behind the rain as it pushes east tomorrow with no showers and also some patchy rain and drizzle. more substantial rain to northern ireland and western scotla nd to northern ireland and western scotland as the night goes on in temperatures staying well above freezing, no frost out there. the

breeze picking up across the uk. pa rt breeze picking up across the uk. part and parcel of the changes coming from this weather front. we put on the colours to represent the feel of the weather, the cold air following behind the rain as it pushes east t tomorrow with no showers and also some way quickly in northern ireland in the morning, pushing across scotland, wales, england, not reaching the far south—east of england until late in the day. behind that, brighter skies. the lion's share of the sunshine in northern ireland and. so, the rain, out of the way quickly in northern ireland in the morning, pushing across scotland, wales, england, not reaching the far south—east of england until late in the day. behind that, brighter skies. the lion's share of the sunshine in northern ireland and scotland. behind the rain, it will feel colder once it is cleared, the wind adds to the colder feel of things. into the colder air, some showers across the uk tomorrow night. focusing on northern ireland, northern england and scotland, it will be cold enough snow on hills. scott and with a few centimetres in places and an icy start on untreated surfaces on monday morning. don't be caught out by that. during monday, you can see there is some sunshine around. but it will feel colder. still quite windy and there will be these showers, especially in the south and west. many merge to give longer spells of rain near the south coast of england. those temperatures 110w coast of england. those temperatures now into single figures, feeling

colder in the wind. it is going to be relatively chilly. not dramatically so but relatively chilly to start next week. there will be some frost at times over night but notice how those temperatures are recovering later in the week and particularly across england and wales is for some of us it gets very mild. even later in the week i'm still windy and still wet at times. that is your latest forecast, more just before apm. at times. that is your latest forecast, morejust before apm. —— 8pm.

hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines: the death toll from the coronavirus rises to 41 — with authorities in china struggling to contain the outbreak, as millions travel for the lunar new year. benita mehra, a newly—appointed member of the grenfell tower inquiry panel, resigns after being linked to the charitable arm of the firm which supplied the tower block's cladding. donald trump's lawyers have begun their defence of the president in his impeachment trial in the senate — they say he's done nothing wrong.