bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: basketball legend kobe bryant dies ina basketball legend kobe bryant dies in a helicopter crash near los angeles. it is being reported that eight others, including his

daughter we re eight others, including his daughter were killed. there were no survivors. a manifest shows there we re survivors. a manifest shows there were nine people on board the aircraft. the pilot plus eight individuals. the death toll from the coronavirus in china rises to 56. the country faces a grave situation. a member of the grenfell tower enquiry resigned. the government reveals the h52 will go ahead even over concerns over rising costs. in football, and liveable —— a stunning

defeat in the foot pole. good evening and welcome to bbc news. one of america's all—time sporting legend, the basketball star kobe bryant has died in a helicopter crash in southern california. the helicopter went down in the hillside outside the city of calabasas, near los angeles. police say they were eight other people on board including kobe brya nt‘s eight—year—old daughter, gianna. brya nt eight—year—old daughter, gianna. bryant paid for 20 years for the la la kers bryant paid for 20 years for the la lakers and bryant paid for 20 years for the la la kers and was bryant paid for 20 years for the la lakers and was one of the greatest players are possible as ever seen. nba champion three times, twice gold—medallist and chosen i7 nba champion three times, twice gold—medallist and chosen 17 times for the

all—star game. 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 lakersjersey. 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. on 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. he was bold enough and brave enough to announce and foolish enough to announce that he would be the greatest and he

did everything possible, humanly possible, to deliver on that promise. 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. but 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. the life and achievements of kobe brya nt the life and achievements of kobe bryant who has died at the age of 41. in the past and what we heard from the la county sheriff who said indications were that were nine people on board the aircraft, including the pilot. we are awaiting

the arrival of the coroners office to assist in the recovery of the remains. as the chief indicator, there were no survivors. we have a ma nifest there were no survivors. we have a manifest that indicates there were nine people on board the aircraft. the pilot plus eight individuals. the pilot plus eight individuals. the revised speculations who the identities are our however it is entirely inappropriate right now to identify anyone but a until the coroner has made the identification through the delivery process and notified the next of kin. it would be disposable to learn about your loved ones from tmz. it is wholly inappropriate so we're not going to be going there. we're going to wait until the coroner theirjob be going there. we're going to wait until the coroner their job and be going there. we're going to wait until the coroner theirjob and we are assisting the families of those who we believe have been impacted. it isa who we believe have been impacted. it is a tough process and our hope goes out to all the members on board, all the families

and god bless their souls. the la county sheriff speaking a short time ago. kobe bryant was one of the most recognised place in the game. he won of the nba championship five times ina20 of the nba championship five times in a 20 year career. he ranks fourth on the old—time scoring charts. he picked up two olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 for the united states. adam silver has paid this tribute... they have been many tributes from some of the biggest names in basketball on social media...

that speak to alan burgin who grew up that speak to alan burgin who grew up in los angeles and is now a basketball scout. he joins us from his home in san diego. you must be really like a lot of people who had the pleasure of watching kobe bryant for so many years. you have no idea. this has been a day where everything stopped. i was doing some shopping andi stopped. i was doing some shopping and i got a text from my wife is said kobe bryant had died. ifelt my

heart sink. there is no words to describe what he meant to the city of los angeles, to so many young men like me growing up who revered him and in some cases idolised him. it is hard to calculate the loss. what was it about him and his personality, his style of play that left such a big impression upon you? growing up, i was in high school when he started with the lakers and the first thing that caught your attention was this ability to ca ptu re attention was this ability to capture his athleticism, his flair for the dramatic and as i grew older and as he progressed, we began a more nuanced look, his ability to play for pain and injury, to persevere, those were things that really resonated with me watching

him for played with injured fingers, knees, shooting free for is on a tonic yearly in the middle of a play—off game which they had to win in order to stay in the play—off. that determination, grit and perseverance, that is something that when people think about los angeles that are not necessarily associated with the city of la. they do not understand the grit, determination and underbelly and he really personified that. we have spoken to a lot of people who wanted to pay tribute to him that many have also talked about the times in his career where the accusations of a sexual offence surfacing, understandably there is an alleged victim involved. of course, it was eventually settled out of court. how much did that follow him around even more recently? i mean, for people that i know, really never came up after everything was adjudicated

in court. obviously there will be discussions outside but for me and my perspective and from people in the basketball world, that happened more than a decade ago and he was... the case was dismissed and people have really moved on. i think his life, the life that he has lived after that, really shows his maturation andi that, really shows his maturation and i honestly think it is not the time really and i honestly think it is not the ti me really really and i honestly think it is not the time really really even discuss that, you know, this is very raw to so that, you know, this is very raw to so many of us. you are believe were lucky enough to meet him. what was that like? i was 15 years old. he had this event called the kba shootout and i went there but there was a 0&a where he was taking

questions with the audience and i raised my hand and i was the first person that he called and asked him a question about how he and the other guard wasn't working and i asked a very serious question. afterwards, as he was leaving, i saw him andi afterwards, as he was leaving, i saw him and i went to high school where he lived at the time and he would practice at our high school gym. i jokingly said, maybe i will cross you over and he gave me the look like, be careful what you wish for. he said, all right, man. and so it was a very inconsequential moment maybe to him but to me i put on my instagram today how it really was a life changing for me. that moment, asking him that question,

kind of reinforce the fact that i wanted to bea reinforce the fact that i wanted to be a journalist. the fact that i told him that maybe i would cross him over, knowing i was not good enough at that point, gave me the fire to improve as a basketball player so that maybe when at that moment came i could do my thing against him, even though i knew that was not going to happen but it stuck with me all these years and i can imagine that there are so many people like me who had that moment to come in contact with him and it really did alter your life. it brea ks really did alter your life. it breaks my heart, my heart goes out to his wife, to his surviving daughters and the entire nba community and the entire city of los angeles because i speak as a native son of la and there are so many of us son of la and there are so many of us who grew up

watching in the championships —— the championships and a big part of our lives is now missing. as a basketball scout you can continue that work and the promotion of basketball and how influential has kobe bryant been in the way you go about that? when i look at high school players, like i said earlier, i do not think i will ever be in the gym with the next kobe bryant but i look at the determination player has, does he give up on place, does he give up if his team falls down. kobe bryant could have been down 30 point in a game and only for a handful of owners could i ever say he has packedit owners could i ever say he has packed it in. most of the time he would continue to fight, continue to find a way and those types of intangibles ina

find a way and those types of intangibles in a player, they are read to find and when you do find them, you appreciate them. we appreciate you talking to us. thank you very much for your time. thank you. david willis joins us from los angeles. we have been hearing from the la county sheriff further details about the crash. tell us what he has been saying. we have heard a shot while ago that kobe bryant, his 13—year—old daughter gianna, herself a rising star in basketball circles and seven other people died in that helicopter crash ina people died in that helicopter crash in a place called calabasas about 20 miles from downtown los angeles. it isa miles from downtown los angeles. it is a thought was taking kobe bryant and gianna from the newport beach area to a training centre, a place

called thousand oaks, which kobe brya nt called thousand oaks, which kobe bryant founded just last year. he had been for the last few years coaching his daughter's gianna's basketball team. a lot of outpouring of grief as you can imagine particularly here in los angeles. for his entire 20 years kobe bryant played for the la lakers. problems as far as actually expressing that grief is concerned because official here are warning people to stay away from the crash site itself. meanwhile, the staples centre which is where kobe bryant used to play is of course off—limits at the moment because the grammy awards are due to ta ke because the grammy awards are due to take place in a couple of hours time. there will obviously be quite a lot of memorials and tributes played to kobe bryant during that ceremony. for the moment thank you

very much. the headlines: basketball legend kobe bryant dies in a helicopter crash near los angeles. it is reported eight others, including his daughter, were also killed. the death toll from the coronavirus in china rises to 56. officials want the spread of the virus is accelerating in the country faces a grave situation. a member of the gran fell tower enquiry panel resigns over links with the firm that supplied the block's deadly cladding. sport, and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. as you have been hearing in the news, tributes are pouring in from the world of sports for kobe bryant, following his death in a helicopter crash. hussein bolt has tweeted that he still can't believe venues, while new england patriots quarterback tom

brady added "we miss you already, kobe". tennis legend billiejean king posted "our deepest condolences to the family and friends of kobe bryant. kobe was one of the best ever to play the game". and manchester city ringer raheem sterling also tweeted "rest easy, legend". —— a winger. shrewsbury town have pulled off the biggest shock of the fa cup's fourth round by coming from behind to draw 2—2 with liverpool. the premier league leaders were two up thanks to curtis jones and this own goal by donald love. substitute josie jones and this own goal by donald love. substitutejosie cummings came on to turn the match around with a penalty, and this strike secured a replay at anfield. manchester united faced a tricky mud bath of a pitch, but eased through to the fifth round with a 6—0 victory. captain harry maguire was one of six different goalscorers. this was his first goal for the club.

we can see everybody wa nted for the club. we can see everybody wanted us to fail today but that doesn't bother me at all. but comes with the territory of manchester united? exactly. i have been a player here, i am in charge of the tea m player here, i am in charge of the team now, so i cannot be up—and—down. i won't be too happy now, of course, but it is not like you sit down and relax. two big games coming up. that's what we are preparing for. man city continue their fa cup defence with a dominant a—man victory over a ten man fulham. they beat the championship side 4—0 to become the first major european tea m to become the first major european team to score 100 goals this season. england's cricketers are on track to wind the series against south africa stop at the close of play on day three of the fourth test, they have set the home side an improbable target of 466. this is trumpeter billy cooper's last test after 16 years of playing for england. was he soundtracking the end credits already? this is vernon philander's last test after nine years for south africa, and he didn't last long this morning, more than 300 runs behind.

no point looking back, thought quinton de kock, as england made them wait and chase. but it's difficult to get away from mark wood. that was so quick it not only bowled de kock but broke one of his bales. wood smashed 35 yesterday, now five wickets to go with it. south africa 183 all out. england could have made the south africans bat again, but instead decided to have a go themselves to further stretch tiring limbs. south africa stuck at it, to their credit. that noise will not have helped the migrainejoe denly has been suffering, and headaches around jos buttler‘s batting are not going away. it was england's sixth wicket. soon england were batting on a cushion of 400 runs, a lead that should secure the series. joe root could allow faf du plessis is that moment. joe root knows that his team

are almost impossible to catch. the hard work has been done, and they still have two days to finish the job. roger federer, novak djokovic and ash barty are all through to the last eight of the australian open. teenager coco gough will not be joining them. the 15—year—old ‘s impressive run brought to an end by fellow american sofia kenin, who won in three sets, canon denying an emotional gough her first grandson quarter—final. day eight is due to get under way in the coming minutes. a rather sad night for basketball and for sport in general. indeed. thank you, tolson. speaking of kobe bryant, the accident in los angeles, michael jordan, arguably the most famous basketball player of all time, has been speaking to the magazine sports illustrated, and he said:

china says the coronavirus which has killed 56 people and infected at least 2000 more is infectious before any symptoms show. health officials there say efforts to contain the disease are now at a crucial stage and thus tougher travel restrictions are being imposed. the province at the centre of the outbreak, hubei,

is an effective lockdown. here, the government says it is looking at all available options to help british people leave china. 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 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. 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 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. families of those who died in the gran fell tower fire say that's the enquiry into the disaster should be paused after one of the review‘s panel members resigned. she stood down yesterday when it was emerged that an engineering organisation she led had received a grant from the company that supplied the accrediting —— cladding for rental. deep government has insisted the second phase of the public enquiry will go ahead tomorrow as planned. the government has given its clearest indication yet that vhs to high—speed rail project will go ahead. a formal review of

the new line, from london to birmingham in the north of england, is taking place, following concerns over rising costs. —— and the north of england. but today the brexit secretary, stephen barclay, said the rail link will be a vital part of the uk's travel network. we have a strong equipment to connecting all parts of the united kingdom. i speed two is a key part of that, notjust for the speed, but more from a capacity point of view on the line, and that is a very clear commitment we have given the north. gut feeling, yes or no? yes. but feeling yes. that was stephen barclay speaking to andrew marr. i have been speaking to andrew marr. i have been speaking to andrew marr. i have been speaking to henry morrison, director of the research group the northern powerhouse project, and he made the case for the project getting the go—ahead. case for the project getting the go-ahead. business leaders in the north of england who feel very strongly, 120 of them including myself, to the prime minister last friday. northern mps feel very strongly and the number keeps going up. i wrote again to the

prime minster privately last week. i think there is very significant support for this project. it is popular with a number of constituency mps along the route in buckinghamshire. —— unpopular. that is not a reason to cancel the uk's most important infrastructure projects. in particular, stephen barclay says, it is critical if we are going to create the necessary capacity to enable the cities across the north, towns from crewe to darlington, to be able to thrive and succeed, and both of those are particularly constituencies with the concerns of mps, it would be very unusual for an incoming to —— government who has been so dependent on the north for its majority to do something so shortsighted. to what extent is it too late to actually pull the plug on hs2. it was supposed cost £56 billion, another national audit office as it will be over £100 billion. at this point there is no point in coming out because it has cost too much. i think £88 billion

is the closest estimate. but is still, because of all the benefits of the project, it has huge economic transformation impact, it is still better value for money than sam ‘s link. iam better value for money than sam ‘s link. i am sure that many of those who commute to work in your studio in london would still defend the project as having been good value for money and having benefited their journeys to work. what i would say is that if you take into account the huge prize of rebalancing the british economy, that will generate by 2050 and extra £1 trillion in terms of economic value to the uk. i do not deny the project is expensive, but we do need to do more to keep the costs under control, which is why we have recommended looking more at the integration between northern powerhouse rail, that east—west line, and hs2, because there are ways to make sure we don'tjust get better value for money but also get the efficiencies on those projects in a morejoined up on those projects in a morejoined up way. when hs2 first was announced ten yea rs up way. when hs2 first was announced ten years ago, george osborne had not committed to any new east—west railway. there were no projects. so

things have changed in the past ten yea rs things have changed in the past ten years and this review has taken note of that, that the government could get a lot more value from what is a significant investment. but if it was not going to have a significant impact, i wouldn't support it. yes, it is very, very expensive, but it is also the only way to get that additional capacity we need stephen barclay mentioned, otherwise prices on the west coast mainline will go through the roof to russian travel at peak time. that doesn't seem like an effective way to enable the north and london to grow together. it sounds like a recipe for basically favouring only the very wealthy and saying to anyone else in the north of england he was going to london or even birmingham it is a luxury that is only the preserve of the rich. i don't think that is a sensible economic strategy and it is certainly not how any other major developed economy in the western world or china or other parts of asia is approaching its transport needs. that was henri murrison from the northern powerhouse project speak to us northern powerhouse project speak to us this evening.

sunday brought us a change in weather tight. after the dry conditions of last week there was quite a bit of rain followed by clear skies on sunday. this was the picture and shipment aisles as the sun went on sunday evening. we've got some unsettled weather on the cards over the next few days and colder weather than we have seen recently. that cold air mass with us, they will be a westerly influence to our weather, and plenty of showers around as well. a chilly start on monday morning, with wintry showers, temperatures below freezing, especially in rural spots. icy stretches for the monday morning commute. sleet and snow, not only over the hills, but down to low levels as well. we could see wintriness in some of the showers. further south in england and wales, showers around here as well. falling as rain, perhaps some sleep over hills and veils. the potentialfor some snow mixed in here. for much of

the midlands, northern england and scotland, quite a good deal of dry weather on monday. elsewhere, plenty of those showers are rustling through on that breeze. wintry with sleet and snow for northern ireland and scotland, falling as rain further south. cooler in recent days, with temperatures best in the afternoon. blustery winds picking up in the evening, particularly in the english channel, the bristol channel, with further heavy showers pushing west to east during monday evening and overnight into tuesday. the potential once again for icy stretches, where we have seen those wintry showers. tuesday will bring us wintry showers. tuesday will bring usa wintry showers. tuesday will bring us a day once again of sunshine and showers. still unsettled, with further fronts coming showers. still unsettled, with furtherfronts coming in showers. still unsettled, with further fronts coming in from the atla ntic further fronts coming in from the atlantic at times. on tuesday, after that cold start to the day, initially a bit of sleet and snow likely to clear away towards the east. some sunshine, but further showers moving in from the

west. high ground over scotland and northern ireland. temperatures certainly colder than recent days. after that chilly start with some snow, and ice around, they will be dry weather on wednesday in particular but mild and unsettled later in the