this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 7pm. the university of york says risk of infection is low, after it revealed one of its students is one of two people in the uk to test positive for coronavirus. i want to reassure our students that we are working closely with the lead agency, public health england, and other agencies to manage the situation. public health england says 203 people have now been tested — with no additional positive cases. bell bongs. the uk enacts its most profound strategic change in a generation, leaving the european union after nearly half a century. the acquittal of donald trump becomes all but certain, as senators vote against calling

witnesses at his impeachment trial. a 19—year—old man dies and a 22—year—old woman is seriously ill, after they're believed to have taken the drug mdma at a student music event in warwickshire. and coming up: josh adams scores a hattrick to seal an emphatic win for wales. sportsday rounds up today's six nations action and the day's other sport in half an hour. good evening, you're watching bbc news. nhs officials are trying to trace people who had close contact with two chinese nationals, diagnosed with the corona virus. the two are being treated at a specialist unit in newcastle. one is a student at york university. elsewhere, 83 british nationals — evacuated from the chinese city

of wuhan yesterday — are spending two weeks in quarantine at a hospital on the wirral. our north of england correspondent, judith moritz reports. life on campus at york university has carried on as normal. but amongst the 18,000 students here, some are worried that one of their peers has tested positive for coronavirus. can you tell me why you're wearing a mask? are you worried? a little — a little nervous because of this. when did you start wearing it here? today. i'm not bothered because i feel like, given the number of students at university, i feel like it might not spread. i don't think there's many students, compared to bigger universities. the student was taken ill along with one of their relatives while staying at this hotel in york on wednesday. the university says they didn't come into contact with anyone on campus while they had symptoms

but investigations are ongoing. we understand this will cause concern and anxiety. but i want to reassurance students, staff, and the wider community, that we are working closely with the lead agency, public health england, and other agencies to manage this situation. the university campus is operating as normal, but extra measures have been put in place — like more hand sanitisers in buildings here, and a hotline which has been set up so that students can ring in if they have any questionings or concerns. —— questions or concerns. the two patients continue to be treated at this hospital in newcastle. today, public health england said it was making good progress in tracing people who have been in contact with them, and there have been no more confirmed case of the virus with 201 people tested negative. we are being looked after to the absolute...

at arrow park hospital in wirral, 83 people have spent their first day of 14 in quarantine, in apartments normally used to house nurses who have been moved to local hotels. as far as we know, we are all both tickety and boo, and in that order. 12,000 cases have been confirmed in china. and around 100 elsewhere. public health officials say the threat in the uk is moderate. judith moritz, bbc news, york. let's talk to paul hunter — he's a professor in medicine at the university of east anglia, and joins me now from norwich. thank you very much forjoining us this evening on bbc news. my pleasure. what is your view on the inevitability and speed with which we have seen cases here in the uk?” think it was almost inevitable, certainly nothing like this is

totally inevitable, but this was certain to happen. we were certainly not one of the first western countries to have cases. so it was going to happen, and it did. can you explain to us a little bit about what the public health england is doing, in terms of its approach with regards to containment? yes, as it stands at the moment, we havejust two cases. the important thing is to make sure that the current cases are nurse in an environment where there will not be any risk to others. in the unit that they are based in is very capable of dealing with patients with this sort of disease. certainly within the uk, we've dealt with cases of sars and middle eastern respiratory system going back over 20 years —— syndrome. the uk is very able to effectively nurse

these people safely and capably. the issue of community contact is more difficult. ideally, ithink issue of community contact is more difficult. ideally, i think public health england's criteria of 15 minutes within two minutes — within two metres is right and correct. and that will undoubtedly capture most of the people who need to be concerned. the issue is, how do you actually go about finding them? they will have been doing extended interviews with the two case is to find out what they were doing since they became ill, and in the day or so they became ill, and in the day or so before they became ill, and try to identify those people. it is never a 100% exact science, so people need to actually still ensure that they are following good advice

about washing their hands properly, and if they think they might have beenin and if they think they might have been in contact. you mentioned the distance of two metres and the timescale of 15 minutes, in terms of contact and infection. where does that come from, that thinking? how long has it been around? the two metres actually comes from work that was done long before i was born. and i'm quite old now! so in the 1940s, people realised that the distance you put hospital beds apart from each other affected the probability that some of these infections spread. and if you were packed a ya rd spread. and if you were packed a yard apart, then infection spread quickly, and if they were two yards apart, infections didn't tend to spread anywhere near as quickly. so it basically boils down to that. nothing in medicine is ever 100% totally black—and—white, but it is

still, i think, totally black—and—white, but it is still, ithink, a reasonable totally black—and—white, but it is still, i think, a reasonable cut off point. we don't know of course with a life span or trajectory of this virus will be. if i can describe it in that way, but how important is the national —— international cooperation going to be in reducing its impact? i think if we are going to prevent it becoming a global pandemic, international cooperation is vital. despite the fact that we are now about 3—4 weeks into this epidemic, there still have been relatively few cases outside of china. and hopefully, if we are able to maintain that, than actually a significant disaster will have been averted. but only time will tell. it

could be about another few weeks to a month before we get some idea of what the ultimate outcome of this outbreak will be, in terms of global public health. professor paul hunter, thank you for your time. my pleasure, thank you. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are dawn foster, a journlist for the guardian, and mo hussein, former chief press officer at downing street. the united kingdom is today beginning a new era outside the european union. at 11pm last night, the legal ties which have bound britain to its european neighbours for almost five decades were cut. in a message released by downing street, borisjohnson said he wanted to unite the country, and expressed the hope that brexit would mark a moment of national renewal. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, reports. a winter's afternoon like any other. and yet symbolically, legally, psychologically — everything has changed. for the first full day in 47 years,

the uk isn't part of the club of our nearest neighbours — a triumph for those who partied here last night. we should celebrate the fact that, freed from the constraints of the european union, we once again will be able to find our place in the world. but look at this — the european flag still flying outside the scottish parliament. those wanting scottish independence claim brexit proves why breaking away from the uk is necessary. we can look the people of scotland in the eyes and say, "look, we really did try to turn this around." but because the people of scotland aren't in charge of events, we are suffering the loss of our european status. and what comes next will be the challenge, but today is just a sad day. in bristol, those hoping to be labour's next leader also expressed their regrets. but the shadow brexit secretary said brexit had taught him that... we need to bring about fundamental

change in this country in shifting power, wealth, and resources. so we need to look forward — leave/remain as a divide is over. from paris today, a letter. "dear british friends," wrote the french president on facebook... but, he added, ease of access to the eu's markets would depend on how many of its rules the uk accepted. i think in a way, none of us are able to take on board the enormity of what has happened. and the words can't describe the uncertainty of the future, both for ourselves and the european union, and in the united kingdom. and for that reason, the scaffolding needed to create that new long—term relationship will soon be as visible as the real thing here. chris mason reporting. donald trump is a step closer to being acquitted in the presidential impeachment

trial after the senate voted against calling witnesses. he has been accused of abusing his power and obstructing congress. 0ne senior democrat accused republicans of being accomplices to a presidential cover—up. from washington, ben wright reports. are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are a9, the nays are 51. and with that vote, the beginning of the end of donald trump's impeachment trial. just two republican senators broke rank with their party and joined democrats demanding more evidence. it was their last chance to try and trip up a president who left the white house for florida last night — more confident than ever that the senate will acquit him of obstructing congress and abusing his power. democrats had been desperate to hear testimony from this man, donald trump's former national security adviser, john bolton. according to the new york times, mr bolton writes in a forthcoming book that donald trump

instructed him to withhold military aid from ukraine in exchange for dirt on democratic rivals. if the president is acquitted with no witnesses, no documents, the acquittal will have no value. but white house lawyers insist their transcript of phone calls between mr trump and ukraine's leader, volodymyr zelensky, show trump did nothing wrong. let me read you what our ukrainian ally said. "it was normal. we spoke about many things. i think when you read it, nobody pushed me." only the third presidential impeachment trial in us history will wrap up next week — with closing arguments starting on monday, and a final vote on wednesday. the republican—led senate is virtually certain to acquit donald trump, who will try and frame this bitterly—partisan saga as a washignton witchhunt, as he revs up his reelection campaign. this is our moment in history... but democrats campaigning in iowa ahead of monday's caucus —

the first poll in this election season — hope voters will pass a different verdict on donald trump's fitness for office come november. that was ben wright reporting — hejoins me now from washington. but the numbers in the senate were a lwa ys but the numbers in the senate were always in trump all ‘s favour, weren't they? they have been throughout this trial, but there was a question throughout much of this week about whether or not the vote on whether to call witnesses would go the democrats's way. that was a straight up—and—down vote that required a majority. it needed for republicans to break ranks and side with democrats for that vote to carry, and for new witnesses to be called. 0pening carry, and for new witnesses to be called. opening up a whole new chapter in this impeachment trial. but in the end, only two did that, susan collins and mitt romney. 0ther

republicans decided this was just far too politically dangerous for them, and they decided not to. and it really does now accelerate the end of this impeachment trial. but you're right, the actual verdict at the end of this has never been in doubt. because for donald trump to be convicted and thrown out of office requires a two thirds majority in the summit democrats senate, which is held by the republicans, and there has never been the numbers therefore the conviction. the outcome has never beenin conviction. the outcome has never been in doubt, but there has been a question over that. but the question is now removed. what is this likely to do for is now removed. what is this likely to do foer is now removed. what is this likely to do for mr trump's support base? he will feel that it galvanises his support base. throughout this trial, he has been on twitter, and front of the microphones describing this all asa the microphones describing this all as a sideshow and a witch hunt, a democrat obsession that amounted to

nothing. that is the message she will be taking on from this into the next nine months of intense electioneering. for the democrats, they feel that even though they were never going to get the conviction, this sort of issues and evidence this sort of issues and evidence this has revealed about donald trump ozment character and his judgement will give them strong ammunition, they feel, heading into the november elections. nobody really knows how this will play out, or whether in fa ct this will play out, or whether in fact anyone will remember this saga come polling day in november, because the new cycle move so quickly. this may all be forgotten. we just quickly. this may all be forgotten. wejust don't quickly. this may all be forgotten. we just don't know at the moment. but when it shows is just how deeply divided and part is in washington is, and the polls that have been done on public opinion about this trial sort of mirror that partisan division as well. if you are a democrat who throughout donald trump was awful, these impeachment hearings have confirmed your view. if you are a trump supporter who

feels has been unfairly vilified, the last few weeks will give grist to your meal, his wealth to stop it doesn't change many people's mines, but we won't know until the next few months pan out. thank you very much. frank bowman is professor of law at the university of missouri, and the author of the book "high crimes & misdemeanors: a history of impeachment for the age of trump". he joins me from washington. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. in your view, thank you very much for being with us. in yourview, how thank you very much for being with us. in your view, how predictable was it that these politicians would decide against bringing forward evidence against mr trump? there was a glimmerof doubt evidence against mr trump? there was a glimmer of doubt for a while, because from a point of view of logic, from the point of view of ordinary process and simple fairness, it was always clear that the witnesses that the democrats we re the witnesses that the democrats were asking for should have been

called. after all, part of trump ozment defence was that the democrats can't prove that he directly ordered aid to be withheld from ukraine. and of course, the reason there was an actual proof of him saying that was because the people to whom he said it had been withheld by the white house. it always made no logical sense to allow him to prevent that testimony. 0n the other hand from a political point of view, republican senators who knew all along that they would vote to acquit him did not want to be ina vote to acquit him did not want to be in a situation of having to hear even more evidence that made their ultimate vote nearly incomprehensible from a logical point of view. so it made political sense, point of view. so it made political sense , even point of view. so it made political sense, even if it was deeply cynical. and more importantly, what we see here with the impeachment proceedings and the trial in the senate, have demonstrated a real danger for the american system of government going forward — one of

the great american parties, their applicants, have essentially bound themselves to a single man. and in his service, they have repeatedly declared that there simply simply not interested in discovering facts — not simply that once the facts are known, perhaps construe them differently than democrats. they simply don't want to hear the facts. why would anybody be surprised by that if they are intent on keeping him in power come the next presidential election? i'm a little surprised because we hear in the united states have some history on this, we have some precedent. the nixon impeachment case and the clinton impeachment case. members of trump ozment party where at least insistent on hearing the facts. once the facts were out, they often disagree about the meaning of those facts and whether or not they rose to the level of impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors. but the republicans have ta ken crimes and misdemeanors. but the republicans have taken this to an entirely new and frightening level.

they simply don't want to know facts that are politically inconvenient. and frankly, and one hates to say this, not all republicans in congress, but a great member, or numberof them congress, but a great member, or number of them have been prepared to stand up and lie about what the facts show. that is really unprecedented in american history and it is deeply frightening, because no democratic government can function if one of its great political parties is essentially declared their allegiance to one man, not even an ideology, but one man, not even an ideology, but one man is important in knowing the facts upon which sensible governmental choices have to be made. if more evidence against trump we re made. if more evidence against trump were to appear, how easy would it be to revisit this? from the point of view of an actual impeachment, politically it might be impossible, but technically he could be re—impeached for this, or other things. the house of representatives can dedicate or impeach a president every day of the week and twice on

sunday. but as a pragmatic political matter, i think this was a single shot. certainly during the course of this current term, if mr trump were to win reelection and other things we re to win reelection and other things were to occur, i suppose those things could be revisited through impeachment in a second term. but let's face it — the framers of the american constitution have created two mechanisms for dealing with a miscreant president. one of these was impeachment, but they made it very ha rd was impeachment, but they made it very hard because of this two thirds majority requirement. in the other one is election. and i think as was observed by your correspondent, the ultimate arbiter of this will be the american people in the upcoming election. i hope that they will watch and have watched what happens here, and concluded two things. first of all, that mr trump has done things that are really inconsistent with the obligations of his office,

his oath of office, and moreover that the party that supports them i'iow that the party that supports them now have really abandoned any pretence of carrying about democratic principles, about caring about the constitutional structure of government, and they will do whatever it takes to keep trump in office and to keep themselves in office. i hope the american people will take that into account and reject the people who have so far abandoned the principles of the american constitution. thank you very much for talking to us. my pleasure. a 19—year—old man has died and a woman is seriously ill in hospital, after they are believed to have taken the drug mdma. a number of others have also been admitted to hospital, after suffering "adverse effects" at a nightclub in leamington spa. lindsay doyle has been there today. the investigation is being coordinated at warwickshire police headquarters here in leek wharton. it was only this afternoon when reports came through that tragically, a 19—year—old man had died and a 22—year—old woman

is seriously ill in hospital after taking the illegal drug mdma. now we know that they were attending a student event at the assembly in leamington spa. the police are stressing they don't know if the drug was purchased in the assembly, or if it was bought outside. but there are deep concerns that there may be other young people who have bought the drug, have taken the drug, and the police are asking them to please seek help if they are feeling unwell. we're working with our partners at the moment to try and identify any other uses of this drug last night. but i would say is that if anybody has purchased this drug and have it in their possession and haven't taken it, please destroy it as soon as possible. obviously we don't know what we're dealing with at the moment, the necessary is being taken in account, in relation to its toxicology, etc. but that is ongoing, so please just be careful and mindful of what you might be taking, if you have this drug in your possession. as the investigations continue, the police are offering

their deepest sympathies to the family of the young man. but the concern, as the inspector said, is if some of that mdma is still around the leamington area. anyone who is feeling unwell is urged to contact their gp immediately or to go to a&e. and anyone with any information about where the drug circulated from is asked to contact warwickshire police on 101. residents to the south, of australia's capital, canberra, have been put on alert, over fears that bushfires may spread. a state of emergency was declared yesterday — the first in the area since deadly fires there in 2003. shaimaa khalil has more. the bushfire south of canberra at this national park behind me has been burning for more than a week now. today was meant to be the worst day. it has already ravaged through 115,000 hectares, about 15% or more of the australian capital territory, or the act. the head of the emergency services here has said there is no immediate

danger to suburbs in canberra but said the situation can change for areas south of the capital. so, in the suburb of banks, where i am right now, people have been told to keep an close eye on fire activity. and you have the combination of sweltering heat. today has been a really hot day. the wind has been picking up in a tinder—dry landscape. that is how things can get worse. the fire itself has been behaving quite erratically, spreading in multiple directions. then, of course, there are the embers. theyjump way ahead of the main front, causing their own fires. we understand that embers from this blaze have caused spot fires in new south wales. that is really what is worrying people in the southern suburbs, the kind of damage that embers can cause. something else has been weighing heavy on people here, and that is the memory of the devastating fire of 2003, when four people were killed and 500 homes were destroyed. that is why the authorities are not taking any chances. a state of emergency has been called

with constant warnings on the radio. we have seen aircraft fly over the blaze, dumping water and fire retardant. the military has been knocking on some people's doors advising people what to do in the case of evacuation. everybody now is watching closely and waiting to see how the fire is going to behave. a majorfire has broken out at an industrial bakery in wakefield. 20 fire engines are currently at the scene of the blaze at westgate retail park. people living nearby have been told to close all windows and doors, but west yorkshire police say no—one was injured in the fire. 2019 brought another year of record—breaking temperatures, rising sea levels, and melting ice caps. but have you ever wondered how scientists know the true extent of the climate crisis? they have to put up with some pretty extreme conditions. our chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt, has been on a tour of the most remote campsite on earth. right, so up here, we have the massive thwaites glacier.

the work these scientists are doing should help us all, giving us a much clearer understanding of how sea level could rise worldwide and that is why we are camping here. this is the residential area, this is where we sleep. these are scott tents, after captain scott. james. how are you? can we see inside? by all means, be my guest. check out his crib. you've got everything you're going to need to be in the tent for a long time. so we've got a light source that also is a heater. we've got a stove... scott himself could have used this. i think he actually used this one. so the idea is that you could get stuck in a tent like this for days and you'd be able to survive for days. we normally have a 20—day food box outside so, if it's a really big blow, you have everything you need to be self—sufficient for a long time. now, we come to the delicate subject of the antarctic toilet. and you have choices here. you've got the pee stick here or the toilet tent.

ok, so what you've got is a big hole in the snow and then this like throne which for some reason — no—one can explain why — is called a johnson box. one more lunch, do you think? yeah. so this is a water treatment plant. the purest water in the world. fresh, glacial water. turn on the furnace. let's get it in. it's pretty basic, we start with a little bit of water to make melting easier and it's fresh antarctic snow, fresh to drink. sausages and rape seed oil. you get them out in the frying pan and, oh, beautiful. spam. this is tinned cheese. slightly processed, slightly plasticky, melt it out, you get a cheese fondu, you get your biscuits in there — oh, it is perfect. special antarctic recipe. the best thing about antarctic camping, the tents? the white and blue colour scheme, i think that's really beautiful. and i decorate my own home with that.

the friends you make, while you're out here struggling. also the sun dogs, the bright crystals that you get in the air, sparkling everywhere and what it does to the sky and the ground. it's just a sense of quietness and peace and it is absolutely beautiful. not taking bookings though. now it's time for a look at the weather with thomas schafernaker. you know they offered us and outside broadcast from antarctica, but we declined. too cold. anyway, here it is exactly the opposite, it is incredibly mild and it will stay mild throughout the night across the south the country. but at the moment there is a touch of frost across scotla nd there is a touch of frost across scotland where the skies have cleared. different picture here in central and southern areas during the early hours of sunday, weather front moving through, introducing mild air. obviously we have the outbreaks of rain, you can see the effo rts outbreaks of rain, you can see the efforts of rain moving northwards through the morning by lunch time,

certainly affecting the lowlands of scotla nd certainly affecting the lowlands of scotland and maybe a bit of snow throughout the mountains there. also some showers in the four crest across western and northwestern areas through the day. —— forecast. but the southeast and lincolnshire have a very silent debacle mild sunday, 1a celsius. showers sunday into monday, then we have some very rough weather on the way for monday ennahda tuesday across northern britain. stormer where weather on the ground, batten down the hatches.