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, killing five people including his 13—year—old daughter. tributes to kobe bryant have been pouring in from around the world. we will bring you all the latest from oui’ correspondence. will bring you all the latest from our correspondence. also tonight. china reveals the coronavirus, which has claimed 56 lives, is infectious before symptoms show, making it harder to contain. a cabinet minister signals the high—speed rail link hs2 will be given the green light, despite spiralling costs. the dangers of smart motorways which operate without a hard shoulder. the government is set to act after dozens of deaths in five years. and on the eve of national holocaust memorial day, we hear from the germans who helped save their fellowjewish citizens. translation: we didn't see this as heroic. we saw it simply as a way of helping someone, no matter how or why they had got into trouble.

good evening. one of basketball‘s all—time great players, kobe bryant, has died in a helicopter crash in southern california. it's understood his 13—year—old daughter was also killed. reports say his helicopter went down in fog near los angeles. he spent his 20—year career with the los angeles lakers before retiring three years ago. chris buckler reports. whether they cheered him orfeared him, all basketball fans recognised kobe bryant as one of the sport's greatest players. his entire 20—year career was spent in an la lakers jersey. his death on the outskirts of the city has left

people across the united states grieving. he was on board a helicopter with four other people when it crashed in calabasas. the sheriffs office says no one survived the accident. one of his daughters, gianna, was travelling with him and also died. his list of achievements is long. 0n all—star, and nba champion and an olympic gold medallist. he was unashamedly competitive and was deeply frustrated when his playing career was cut short by injuries. since his retirement from basketball, he had put his considerable energy into business ventures and charity work, particularly pushing health and education causes for children. president trump and a series of celebrities and sports stars have been paying tribute to a man who worked to overcome inequality and promote women's sport. nowhere was kobe bryant more inspiring than on the court. when he left basketball, the los angeles lakers retired his jersey.

they knew he was irreplaceable. and our los angeles correspondent david willis joins me now live. david, people still absorbing the shocking news. what more can you tell us? kobe bryant's debt has been confirmed by the team he played for 20 the la lakers and we also know that on board that helicopter was one of his four daughters, mcadoo, who was a rising star in the basketball field. it is thought that purpose ability was a factor in that crash but it is being investigated by the federal authorities. meanwhile, kobe bryant's death has led to an outpouring of grief in los angeles. fans have taken to the sta ples angeles. fans have taken to the staples centre where he used to play, and the mayor of los angeles has been speaking, for the entire city, tweeting, that they are struggling to find the words that express the magnitude of shock and

sorrow that we are all here feeling right now. david willis, many thanks. china says the coronavirus — which has killed 56 people and infected at least 2,000 more — is infectious before any symptoms show. health officials there say efforts to contain the disease are now at a crucial stage, and that tougher travel restrictions are being imposed. the province at the centre of the outbreak, hubei, is in effective lockdown. here, the government says its looking at "all available options" to help british people leave china. rupert wingfield—hayes reports. 0n 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 1000—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. state television is showing scenes like this, of people being 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 try and 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's why senior doctors

in hong kong are calling on the government to close the border with mainland china. the british government, meanwhile, is under pressure to evacuate britons stranded in wuhan, as the americans are doing with their citizens. i think the uk government is aware now that all the transport links are closed. so, ifind it a little bit surprising that we're being told to leave if we can when there is no possible route. across central china, the sense of panic is rising. these pictures and videos posted on the internet appear to show villages and towns putting up their own improvised borders, shutting themselves off, making sure travellers from outside 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. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in hong kong. 0ur china correspondentjohn sudworthjoins me from beijing.

john, how worried should we be? this is a massive challenge. the chinese president xijinping described the situation today as grave. the problem is the authorities know that the current figure of 2000 or so infections is ina very figure of 2000 or so infections is in a very real sense and historic slapshot, because in a very real sense and historic sla pshot, because of in a very real sense and historic slapshot, because of this long incubation period of up to two weeks, the fact that people remain infectious during that period and the opportunity this virus has had to spread. the mayor of wuhan admitted that up to 5 million people may have left that city in the run—up to the chinese new year break. in the past few hours we've had the official announcement from the authorities that the chinese new year holiday is to be extended by another week, to delay the moment of another week, to delay the moment of

another mass migration as people rush back into the cities, and there will almost certainly be a huge economic impact as a result of all of this as well as, online, what you can detect is a rising sense of concern that this may not have been handled as openly and efficiently as it could, and as the infection rate rises that rising sense of anger will be something else to watch. john southworth, they are, in beijing, thank you. —— john sudworth. the government has given its clearest indication yet that the hs2 high—speed rail project will go ahead. today the brexit secretary stephen barclay said he had a "gut feeling" it would be approved. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is here with me — theres a review underway — and it's one of the big issues the government's facing this week. borisjohnson has some big decisions to ta ke borisjohnson has some big decisions to take and they fall into the damned if he does, damned if he doesn't category. some of his new mps want hs2 scrap. interesting what

steve backley said, first of all as a cabinet minister, yes, it was his gut instinct that the project would go ahead and secondly he argued that it isa go ahead and secondly he argued that it is a key part of borisjohnson‘s levelling agenda, bridging the north—south divide, and the argue is that if he derails it now he would be going back on some of his commitments. but the gut isn't a pa rt commitments. but the gut isn't a part of the body that makes decisions, so don't take this as some kind of official announcement. borisjohnson must decide whether to let the chinese company huawei into our 5g network. you'll upset the american administration if he does, and the project will be delayed and more costly, if he doesn't. and we will not have long now to find out who he is to upset. —— who he is prepared to upset. families of those who died in the grenfell tower fire say the inquiry into the disaster should be paused after one of the review‘s panel members resigned.

benita mehra stood down yesterday when it emerged that an engineering organisation she led had received a grant from the company that supplied the cladding for grenfell. the government has insisted that the second phase of the public inquiry will go ahead tomorrow as planned. two 21—year—old men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a footballer who was attacked during a night out. jordan sinnott, who was on loan at matlock town, was found unconscious in retford in nottinghamshire, in the early hours of saturday morning. another man remains in police custody. the uk's network of smart motorways is set for an overhaul by ministers, after an investigation by the bbc‘s panorama programme discovered that 38 people have been killed on them in the last five years. smart motorways don't have a hard shoulder, and drivers who break down can be trapped in the speeding traffic. richard bilton reports. smart motorways were meant to ease congestion, open up the hard shoulder for traffic,

monitor with technology, close a lane when there's a problem. we've got huge problems on the m1 at the moment near sheffield... it is an accident. but lives are being lost. jason mercer stopped on the m1 after a bump with another driver. the cameras didn't see them. the lane wasn't closed. they were both killed. they should have been picked up as stationary on the motorway by detectors, camera operators and they weren't, and that lane wasn't closed until after they were dead. without a hard shoulder, the vehicle in trouble has nowhere to go. this van on the inside lane doesn't spot a car in trouble. jesus! and this one onlyjust misses a broken—down vehicle. this is a police officer trying to divert cars out of lane one...

and nearly being hit. there are emergency lay—bys but they can be miles apart. we put in a freedom of information request for one stretch of the m25. 0ne warning sign was out of action for nearly a year, 336 days. there was also a 20—fold rise in near misses — 72 in the five years with the hard shoulder, 1,485 in the five years without. the government has told panorama that 38 people have been killed on smart motorways in the last five years. a review into the smart network is under way. if we are going to have smart motorways, we have to have smart motorways that are safe and in my view they need to be safer than the conventional motorway. the results of the review will be announced shortly but panorama

understands radar technology will be introduced across the network, along with more emergency lay—bys, to try to improve safety on the motorways where a breakdown can kill you. richard bilton, bbc news.