game. there is another aspect of this which is very tragic as wealth, his family life. he is left behind $4. one he was born only last summer. “— $4. one he was born only last summer. —— four daughters. $4. one he was born only last summer. -- four daughters. they are also reports that one of his daughters was in that helicopter crash. and that daughter is a great basketball player herself. she is a teenager. and she has really excelled in basketball and most probably was one who would follow his to —— footsteps. in high school, in college and may be in the wnba. it is really sad that we have lost a gentleman and a great man in this poor and a great ambassador of basketball. thank you very much. joining us very early on in singapore, 5:30am there as asia

wa kes singapore, 5:30am there as asia wakes up to this news, rico interviewed kobe bryant ten years ago and left an enormous impression on him, sharing his thoughts and his reaction to the tragic news that kobe bryant has been killed in a helicopter crash in california. still very few details about why this helicopter crashed. you are looking at the scene of the crash, with smoke rising. five people on board that helicopter, all of whom died in the crash, according to the local sheriff department. so kobe bryant, just 41 years old, travelling in a private helicopter when it crashed and burst into flames, according to local reports. he is the five—time nba champion and widely considered one of the greatest players in the game's history. there have been so many tributes from celebrities, sports

stars, expressing shock at his sudden death, even president trump tweeting saying, terrible news. the identities of the other victims have not been released, but there are reports that one of kobe bryant's other daughters was on the helicopter. that is unconfirmed, but we know that the city of calabasas, just 30 kilometres from los angeles, has said in a statement it was with great sadness that we learned of the death of kobe bryant and four others ina death of kobe bryant and four others in a helicopter crash stop the aircraft went down in a remote field at around aircraft went down in a remote field ataround 10am. aircraft went down in a remote field at around 10am. nobody on the ground was hurt. eyewitnesses told the new site which first broke the story that they heard the helicopter‘s engine sputtering before it went down. the sheriff's department has been sharing pictures of the scene of the accident showing a fire truck and, as we are still watching, smoke

emerging from the hills. the us federal aviation authority has identified the crashed helicopter as the s 76, and it says it is investigating the accident, alongside the national air transport safety boa rd, as alongside the national air transport safety board, as is standard after any air accident in us. officials are to give further details at a news conference. that will be at the top of the hour, in around 25 minutes, at10p uk top of the hour, in around 25 minutes, at 10p uk time. top of the hour, in around 25 minutes, at10p uk time. a top of the hour, in around 25 minutes, at 10p uk time. a huge figure, a huge day, and devastating news for the world of sport. kobe brya nt news for the world of sport. kobe bryant playing his entire 20 year career with the los angeles lakers, he retired in 2016, and his achievements go on and on. in 2008, he was the nba most valuable player, two—time nba scoring champion, and a two—time nba scoring champion, and a two—time olympic champion, so the magnitude of this news across the

basketball world but, across the whole sporting world, right across the globe, because of the popularity of the nba and basketball, particularly in asia, as we were hearing. this is an enormous news story, and very tragic development. reaction coming from all across the globe. we are going to move away from this story for a short time bring you up—to—date from other news, and we will return to kobe brya nt‘s news, and we will return to kobe bryant's death news, and we will return to kobe brya nt‘s death in news, and we will return to kobe bryant's death in a helicopter crash as soon as possible. the chinese government has said it will extend the lunar new year holiday until the second of february to help control the new coronavirus outbreak. the holiday had been due to end on the 30th of january. earlier officials warned that the disease was spreading faster than before. they have established that people can pass on the infection before they show any symptoms, making it much harder to contain. the director general of the world health organization

is on his way to beijing to discussions about the outbreak with chinese officials. our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has this report from hong kong. on the outskirts of wuhan, the race is on to beat the coronavirus. every bulldozer and excavator that can be found is being used to clear land for a 1,000—bed isolation hospital. it must be finished in two weeks. the trouble is, it's needed now. chinese officials today admitted the virus is spreading faster and that it can be passed on by people who show no symptoms. there are now growing calls for the british government you to evacuate its own citizens from the city as the us is already doing. i think the uk government is aware now that all the transport links are closed so i find it a little bit surprising that we're being told to leave if we can when there is no possible route. chinese state tv is showing scenes like this, of people treated

in modern intensive care units. but videos like this one uploaded to the internet claim to show a different picture of hospitals overwhelmed and staff unable to cope. in beijing reporters mobbed the head of china's cdc as he tried to calm the growing sense of panic. this virus is not as strong or as dangerous as the sars virus was, he says, but it's a new virus so we need time to develop treatment. while the chinese government is now taking decisive measures to contain the spread of this virus, many experts think it is already too late. one study suggests that in wuhan city alone by the end of next week there will be nearly 200,000 infections and that is why senior doctors in hong kong are calling on the government to close the border with mainland china. many places in mainland china are not waiting.

these pictures on the internet appear to show villages and towns putting up their own improvised borders, shutting themselves off, making sure travellers from wuhan cannot come in. wuhan itself is now a ghost town. today this was the centre of a city of 11 million people during the biggest holiday of the year. dr larry brilliant is chair of ending pandemics, and was part of the world health organization team that eradicated smallpox. he gave me his assessment of how concerned we should be about the coronavirus. it's concerning, there's no question about that. this is a coronavirus. it is similar to two outbreaks we have had in the past 20 years, one sars in 2002—2003 that sickened 8000 and killed 800.

another, mers, that we had more recently that also killed the same number of people. it seems to be growing more rapidly than i would like and exported already to ten countries. so when you look at china's dramatic reaction and response, you don't see this as any kind of overreaction to what they are dealing with? no, in fact, i think we should all be proud and grateful that china is not doing as it did in the past, hiding cases, is actually responding very vigorously and i think appropriately. and do you think that is because lessons were learned from the sars outbreak back in 2003 about what not to do? i think we have all learned lessons from the sars outbreak, and china is certainly showing that they have learned a lot of lessons. 95% of the 2000 cases are in china. all of the 40—odd deaths are in china or in chinese. and so it is appropriate

that they take these actions how they do. looking at the virus itself, how dangerous do you believe it is? i mean, do we know it's capacity at the stage? it comes from a bad family, as it were. coronavirus is a virus typically found in bats. the sars virus and the mers virus, if you look at a genetic family tree, this virus, this coronavirus sits right between them and very close to sars. it is a zoonotic disease that began in an animal, probably a bat, which spread the disease to a food animal or a wild animal that was eaten in a wet market and humans by butchering the animal probably contracted it and then it became airborne. that's the big problem. it is now airborne and it has been demonstrating person—to—person spread. although the majority of these cases are probably not

person—to—person spread, there are enough now to worry us. he was part of the team that eradicated smallpox, giving his thoughts on how dangerous coronavirus could be. the populist shia muslim cleric, moqtada al—sadr, has called off anti—us demonstrations in iraq today, saying he wanted to avoid internal strife. he'd earlier told supporters to take to the streets of baghdad and other cities. the u—turn comes after 22 anti—government protestors were injured in clashes with the security forces in baghdad. hundreds of people have been demonstrating in the city centre — demanding widespread reforms. here's our arab affairs correspondent, sebastian usher. security forces in baghdad have once again tried to clear some of the main anti—government protest sites. more demonstrators were injured as they faced tear gas and live ammunition. some threw stones and petrol bombs. but their mood was defiant a day after they withstood a major effort

by the security forces to bring their protest to an end. from early in the morning, thousands of students rallied to tahrir square, the epicentre of the demonstrations, and a site that has so far not come under attack from the security forces. elsewhere in iraq, clashes continued as protesters returned to the streets after being forced back on saturday. in nasiriyah, dozens were injured as a huge procession of protesters moved through the city. other major southern city saw similar scenes, in karbala and basra. the protesters were keen to show they remain defiant despite what seemed a big blow to their cause when the powerful cleric, moqtada al—sadr, instructed his supporters to leave the demonstrations. instead, he wanted them to direct their anger once again at the us. but a call for more such demonstrations was quickly withdrawn on the grounds that he didn't

want to cause internal strife. that averted what might have been a showdown. but the rift between the political class and the many iraqis still willing to risk their lives to make their voices heard is only deepening. sebastian usher, bbc news. back to own breaking news. the former us basketball star, kobe bryant, has died in a helicopter crash in southern california. he was 41. live pictures still coming in from california, that town of calabasas, 20 miles outside los angeles, the hillside, the scene of the crash. five people were on board that helicopter near the city of calabasas. what we are also learning in the last few minutes, nbc news is reporting that, in the united

states, that kobe bryant's 13—year—old daughter was also on the helicopter that crashed and has died in that crash. nbc go on to report that a team—mate of kobe bryant's daughter, a parent of the team—mate and the pilot were also killed in that crash. kobe bryant, who has four daughters, one of whom a rising star herself in the world of basketball, we learned that kobe brya nt‘s basketball, we learned that kobe bryant's13—year—old daughter was also on that helicopter that crashed and was killed, but the shock waves from this story going around the world basketball, sport and beyond, because of the popularity of kobe brya nt because of the popularity of kobe bryant and how famous he was. he was one of the all—time greats of basketball. famous sports figures from the us have been paying tribute in the last hour or so. tom brady has tweeted, we miss you already, kobe. the former american football and baseball star deion sanders

says, somebody tell me it ain't so! basketball starjeremy lin tweeted saying, life is too precious. sorry these are out of sync, butjust to give you a sense of a number of tributes coming in. six time nba champion and olympic gold medallist scottie pippen also tweeting saying, iam stunned, scottie pippen also tweeting saying, i am stunned, words can't come close to describing it, just an incredibly sad and tragic day. just to recap, kobe bryant, the basketball star, former player, has died in a helicopter crash in southern california. so many tributes coming in. we have been speaking to many people from the world of basketball. as the news broke, i spoke to ade adepitan, the bbc‘s travel show presenter and former basketball player. kobe bryant is a legend, he surpassed the sport of basketball, he is the man who took over the ma ntle he is the man who took over the mantle of michaeljordan. you know, when michaeljordan retired,

everybody worried about basketball being in decline and losing its stardust and then along came the blackface superstar, athletic, charismatic, intelligent player that kobe bryant was. he went to the la la kers kobe bryant was. he went to the la lakers and he won five nba championships and played this exciting, exuberant fashion that made him just someone that everyone all over the world just wanted to aspire to. right now, i am looking at my whatsapp groups and i've got people who are literally in tears, not just basketball fans but people who are literally in tears, notjust basketball fans but people who knew about kobe bryant and his legacy. it's devastating, devastating news. you said he went to the la lakers. played his entire 20 year career there, he joined them and he stayed there. yes, and when you are a basketball star and a legend, that's what happens. you

stay and you want to create your legacy, and kobe bryant would have looked at the legend or the weight of the la lakers. they were a team that had such history with players like abdul karim shibata magic johnson, people who really turned the world onto basketball, and he wa nted the world onto basketball, and he wanted to be one of those players, and he was there, he was one of those players. he had his shirt retired. people in la will be morning, as will people all over the world, because what he did to that team, he put them back on the map after yea rs of team, he put them back on the map after years of being in the doldrums, when the chicago bulls became the team, because of michael jordan, and then kobe came to la and suddenly la was show time once again, at all because of kobe bryant. what was so special about

kobe bryant as a player? he had everything. he was athletic, you know, he could score from outside, he could shoot, he could take it to the basket and dunk the basketball, but what he was was competitive, extremely competitive. when his team should never have won, he would pick that team up on his shirt tails and ta ke that team up on his shirt tails and take them to victories that they shouldn't have had. he was one of those players that other teams feared. the moment that you knew you we re feared. the moment that you knew you were playing against kobe bryant, other teams would know, yeah, listen, this is going to be... we are more than likely going to be in are more than likely going to be in a tough game, if we even have a chance to win it. i don't know, he was just the ultimate competitor. i

am watching pictures on the tv right now, and i am so distracted. i can see how lively he was, i am watching him scoring and thinking, how can this guy be dead? it's just... him scoring and thinking, how can this guy be dead? it'sjust... i'm shattered by this. bbc travel show presenter and basketball player ade adepitan talking to me earlier, playing tribute to kobe bryant and, as we learn a bit more about what happened in that crash, we are also learning the tragic div element that kobe bryant's13—year—old daughter was also on that helicopter that crashed. —— tragic element. we also learn that nbc news in the us is reporting that a team—mate of kobe brya nt‘s reporting that a team—mate of kobe bryant's daughter, a parent of the team—mate and the pilot were killed. that is coming from nbc news in the united states. so many tributes, so

many thoughts and reactions to kobe brya nt‘s many thoughts and reactions to kobe bryant's death, many thoughts and reactions to kobe brya nt‘s death, and many thoughts and reactions to kobe bryant's death, and the news emerging in the last couple of hours, the crash happening about 10am in la. earlier — i spoke to roland lazenby, the author of the book showboat: the life of kobe bryant. he gave me his thoughts about the life of kobe bryant. kobe bryant was a very creative man, very determined, very wealthy young man. i was there the night he scored his first nba bucket. he bounced into the locker room afterwards and hit me with a soul shape. he had no idea who i was, just some reporter in the room, but i got know him quite well. —— with a sole shape. and his determination, i am sorry if i keep looking up, determination, his will, there were so many things that shaped him. he came into the national basketball association in

america in this world of controversy, as if he were a young manjumping the controversy, as if he were a young man jumping the line. controversy, as if he were a young manjumping the line. he was a teenager, adidas had paid millions to turn professional, and there was all of this bad publicity that was incorrect, assuming that he was trying to do all of this or that he and his family were somehow engineering, and i went in detail. i've written a couple of books about him, but! i've written a couple of books about him, but i went in detail on this biography recently, showboat, and nothing was true, and he never bothered... he never bothered to try and correct the negative publicity around himself, and he could have done it easily. i mean, it was not something that couldn't be cleared up. the people involved, from

adidas, the people who moved everything in his life, it was not kobe or even his family instigating it, but kobe was not concerned at that age about public image. he just wa nted that age about public image. he just wanted to compete, and he had such a pure competitive spirit. he struggled because he also had this very fine creative mind. and sometimes those things work together well, and sometimes they don't, but he was unlike anyone else. i once said, ifart he was unlike anyone else. i once said, if art culture —— our culture could somehow have bottled all the things that kobe possessed in his character, we would probably be selling condos on the moon these days. he had that sort of ability to just transform everything. in the last 30 seconds of our programme,

what was so special about him? why did he become one of the greatest of all time? because he was completely driven, and there was nothing he would not do to be great. he made every single sacrifice. it included some very difficult decisions in his life, but there was nothing he did not do. it was just phenomenal, the way he attacked, the ferocity with which he attacked basketball. roland lazenby, a biographer of kobe bryant, giving his reaction to the news which broke in the last couple of hours. one line coming on in the last few minutes is some tragic developments, finding out the identity of the people on board. one of them is kobe bryant's13—year—old

daughter gianna, who was also on the helicopter that crashed near los angeles, killing him and all four others on board. that is being reported by several major us media outlets. a team—mate from bryant's daughter's basketball team, a parent of the team—mate and the pilot were also killed. that is in reports from nbc news in the united states. kobe brya nt‘s nbc news in the united states. kobe bryant's13—year—old daughter, gianna, was seen as promising in her own right as a basketball player step very tragic news indeed about kobe bryant also being on board that helicopter with his 13—year—old daughter, gianna. let's talk over what we are seeing here, the crash site where the helicopter went down, in the hills of the city of calabasas, in the hills of the city of cala basas, around 20 in the hills of the city of calabasas, around 20 miles, 30 kilometres from los angeles. five

people travelling on board that helicopter. kobe bryant, 41 years old, travelling in a private helicopter. he often commuted by private helicopter, but this crash, this sikorsky s—76 crashed. he is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of basketball, and that is reflected in the tributes. we have seen figures from across the world in all fields, not just the world from across the world in all fields, notjust the world of from across the world in all fields, not just the world of sport from across the world in all fields, notjust the world of sport but politics, too, with president trump tweeting about this shock that everybody is feeling about his sudden death. what we know about what has happened in front of us, the wreckage from that crash, you can see it is still smoking, emergency services arriving very soon on the scene after the crash, but they were unable to do much at all, five people perishing, and the city of calabasas said, it was with

great sadness that we learned of the death of kobe bryant and four others. a news conference is expected from the county sheriff in next few minutes. you are watching bbc news. one thing we haven't seen much of so far this winter is wintry weather. for a few places, that is about to change, because this band of cloud has been working its way eastwards over the last 24 hours or so, bringing outbreaks of rain. behind it, you can see speckled shower clouds racing in our direction, and some rather cold air, so that combination of showers and cold weather will bring some sleet and snow in places. we start the week on a chilly note, with snow for some but not all of us and some ice. it will be drierfor the middle part of the week, but only briefly. it will then turn mild and unsettled later on. let's get into the detail, and monday morning, a rather slippery affairfor parts of northern ireland, northern england and scotland. some ice, but also further wintry showers falling as snow even to relatively low levels for a time.

further south, not quite as cold, so most of the showers falling as rain. a bit of hail mixed in in places. shower activity tracking up through the afternoon across southern england and wales. equally, parts of eastern england and eastern scotland not seeing too many showers, and certainly more sunshine than we've had over the last few days — top temperatures between 5 and 9 degrees. quite a windy day, with the wind if anything picking up through the evening through the english channel, and plenty more showers to take us through monday night. again, i think an icy start on tuesday morning. low pressure in charge into tuesday. this frontal system here doesn't look like much on the chart, but it could generate a further area of rain, sleet and snow, tracking somewhere across the northern half of the uk, which could cause further disruption. tuesday is essentially another sunshine and showers day, another breezy day and another chilly day as well. wednesday is our kind of in—between day. low pressure to the north, frontal systems approaching from the west but, in between, we've got a very transient

ridge of high pressure, so that means for a short time things will settle down. some dry weather and spells of sunshine. the exception is obvious on the chart, some rain and hill snow across scotland, and just signs that things are starting to turn that bit milder. as we head out of wednesday into thursday, we see another frontal system approaching. there is some uncertainty about exactly how this area of low pressure spins up, exactly how far north it will get, and that is important because it determines how quickly this milder air will make inroads northwards across the uk. it certainly looks like we will see rain at times on thursday. some drier, brighter interludes, and signs of those temperatures climbing, particularly in the south, but even further north, parts of scotland and northern ireland 7, 8 or 9 degrees. it looks as if another band of rain will drive its way north—east on friday and, again, that will bring a renewed push of mild air. by this stage, it could be up to 12 in cardiff, 13 in london, and even in glasgow up to around 10 degrees. as we head into next weekend, there is some uncertainty about how

quickly this area of low pressure will clear away. if it hangs around on saturday, it will be breezy and showery, but some computer weather models, like the american gfs model, allow high pressure to build in more quickly, and that would give us a more settled day on saturday. either way, it looks like we will see a drier interlude to start next weekend, but then, through the rest of the weekend and beyond, it looks like rain will return from the south—west and, with that, a return to those mild or, indeed, very mild conditions. so some wintry weather for some of us for a little while.

tonight at ten — china reveals the coronavirus, us basketball star kobe bryant, one of the legends of the game, dies in a helicopter crash at the age of 41. he had a glittering 20 year career, retiring in 2016. the private helicopter he was travelling in crashed in california and burst into flames,