this is bbc news. i'm nancy kacungira. our top stories: china faces growing isolation, as the coronavirus claims more than 300 lives and hong kong's health workers call for the border with the mainland to be closed. britain outside the european union. the prime minister prepares to put forward his plans for international trade after brexit. president trump rallies his supporters as he's set to be acquitted in his impeachment trial. bushfires threaten parts of the australian capital, canberra, as a state of emergency is declared.

hello and welcome to bbc news. thousands of hospital workers in hong kong plan to begin five days of strikes from monday, demanding the authorities do more to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. they want the border with mainland china to be closed. russia is the latest country to announce entry restrictions on chinese citizens. it has halted their visa free travel and also stopped issuing them work visas. james ra nsley reports. wuhan and its surrounding cities remain on lockdown. some are let through if they meet certain criteria, and others have to beg to be let out. translation: i'm very upset because they are treating patients with coronavirus, but my daughter has leukaemia and she also needs to be treated by a doctor. they are eventually let through, but many residents have been denied passage. and now the united states,

where there are confirmed cases of the virus, has stepped up its own efforts to contain the outbreak. the president has signed a presidential proclamation temporarily suspending the entry into the us of foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the 2019 novel coronavirus. china has called the travel ban unkind, and insists it can contain the virus. there is no reason for measures of unnecessary interfere with international travel and the trade. as foreign governments continue to evacuate the citizens from will hutton, countries like australia, russia, japan, pakistan and italy have also announced similar travel bans. health officials say the coronavirus is more contagious than china's similar sars epidemic in 2003. but it is not as deadly, and they are warning

against countries closing their borders. whenever people want to travel, they will, and if the official paths are not open they will find unofficial paths, but the only way to control, to check fever for example, to identify travel is to try to monitor who is coming across your border, and to see whether they have any signs of infection, is through official border crossing points. as china races to build hospitals for those infected with the virus, it fears further isolation from the rest of the world could make matters worse. james ra nsley, james ransley, bbc news. chee chen is assistant professor at the yale school of public health. he told me more about the transmission of the virus. this transmission has been occurring at a very fast speed. already ranging more than 20 countries and reaching five regions of the who assigned regions of the who assigned regions and this is human to human transmission. so this is very worrisome. so this is why the day before the who

emergency meeting was declaring public health emergency of international concern. and since then there were new developments, especially some countries wanted to ban or restrict travel with china and also the trade. so both the trade and the travel. so the travel and human transportation has been restricted since then. just on the travel ban, the world health organization says this is not a good idea, but what all the —— are the alternative strategies that could be used 7 alternative strategies that could be used? yeah, the who reiterated it's not good to impose any further restrictions u nless impose any further restrictions unless it is evidence—based. so the travel restrictions can cause harm and can hinder information sharing, which is worrisome because we really need to share the latest development of that epidemic.

and also the medical supply trains can be cut and we already know there is a large shortage of medical supplies in the epicentre. and those travel ban ‘s so far are inconsistent with the international community's consensus stop only travel ban ‘s may now be very specifically and be factored because those travel ban ‘s can because those travel ban ‘s can be done, they are not impossible. travellers can still travel across the country, but unofficially. which is bad. also they can accelerate the spread of the virus through different ways than official ways, underground ways. so the who was recommending more international cooperation in screening at the official border crossings of countries. for example, we can strengthen the screening on the

chinese border and the us border and other countries nearby, canada, mexico. so that's enforcement of the policy across countries, across government ‘s, which would be more helpful than a broad measure of banning travel. so better screening of a travel ban. just how dangerous is this for health workers? we have seen for health workers? we have seenin for health workers? we have seen in hong kong they are calling for strike action. thus also a concrete threat to the health workers, especially, i would say, in the epicentre or other surrounding regions in china, because the health system is already very crowded. and the screening process is not efficient. so people with minor diseases and with severe diseases are all flooded into the hospital. so that might be a concern. but for hong kong, they also have a very large

population so due to the fear oi’ population so due to the fear or panic people may go to hospitals because of all kinds of reasons, because of their worry and concern. so that may also make the health system more stretched. so a share some of the concerns of the health workers and the labour union. but i think more effective ways need to be strengthened, for example other care systems. so some could be brought down to the minor level —— local level without going to the hospital. professor chee chen speaking to me there. britain's prime minister is to address foreign diplomats and business leaders on monday in a speech on his plans for international trade after brexit. borisjohnson will confirm that he wants to negotiate a free trade deal with brussels. president macron of france pledged continuing friendship, but said the level of access to the eu's single market would depend on how many of its rules britain accepts. chris mason reports.

a winter's day 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. 0n on monday the prime minister will set out how he plans to do this. he was a relatively loose arrangement with the eu, similarto arrangement with the eu, similar to the one canada has. and he was to negotiate deals with countries such as the united states and japan at the same time. but look at this. the european flag still flying outside the scottish parliament. plenty are deeply upset at what's happened. those wanting scottish

independence claim brexit proves why breaking away from the uk is necessary. we can look the people of scotland in the eye 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 is going to be the challenge, but today is just a sad day. from paris today, a letter. 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 onboard the enormity of what has happened, and the words can't describe the uncertainty of the future, for both ourselves and the european union, and indeed 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, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the un children's agency says the fighting in north—west syria is creating an unprecedented child protection crisis. unicef estimates that there've been more than 300,000 children among those forced to flee their homes in idlib province since early december. iraq's new prime minister, mohammed tawfiq allawi, has immediately signalled his support for protesters who've been demanding an overhaul of the entire political system. he's been appointed by the president after rival parliamentary parties failed to agree on a candidate. some protesters have already rejected mr allawi. america's top diplomat mike pompeo has become the first us secretary of state to visit belarus for a quarter of a century. he's seeking to normalise ties at a time of tension between belarus and its closest ally, russia. mr pompeo told the belarusian president alexander lukashenko that it was not about choosing between washington and moscow.

president trump is a step closer to being acquitted in his impeachment trial after the us 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 president trump's impeachment trial. just two republican senators broke ranks 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 advisor, john bolton. according to the new york times, mr bolton writes in a forthcoming book that president 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 the president and ukraine's leader, president zelensky, show the president did nothing wrong. let me read you what our ukrainian ally said. "it was normal. we spoke about many things. "i think, and you read it, that 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 president trump, who will try and frame this bitterly partisan saga as a washington witch hunt, as he revs up his re—election 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 president trump's fitness for office, come november. ben wright, bbc news, washington. frank bowman is professor of law at the university of missouri, he says the decision not to allow evidence to be brought against the president was predictable. it will never be a surprise when, as i think is going to happen, he will be acquitted. it ought to be, perhaps, a small surprise that the republicans were so utterly resista nt to republicans were so utterly resistant to actually hearing that is. on the other hand, the cynical political calculation from their perspective was that

the evidence, the witnesses that the democratic managers from the house want to do here, would inevitably have produced negative information. there is no question about that. i mean, logic tells you that. if the witness has been withheld by the white house could in fact exonerate him donald trump would give them limousines down pennsylvania avenue to testify. it's plain they would have testified in ways that would have hurt his case. it republicans wouldn't want to hear it, because they are pretty much bound at the hip to this man, to president trump. they going to acquit him. and to hear additional evidence was simply make the embarrassment greater. so it is a little bit disheartening. there was at least, seem to be a moment or two during the past week, when enough republicans might break from the party lying to allow witnesses, but in the and senator mcconnell managed to pressure his caucus sufficiently to keep them in

line. well, democratic senators have been calling this trial a sham. a little earlier senator bernie sanders tweeted that he had never seen a trial without witnesses. is there any chance this whole process might be revisited? there is no practical chance, i think. revisited? there is no practical chance, ithink. in theory, the house of representatives could re— impeach him, either for this representatives could re— impeach him, eitherfor this or other matters, but i think certainly during the current term that is, basically speaking, impossible. buti think is going to happen and the house managers reiterated this point multiple times during the last few days, is that additional evidence about the ukraine affair is going to keep leading out, notjust in the form of mr boulton‘s book, but it turns out last night, after the vote not to subpoena witnesses, the white house put out a sort of late—night

announcement that, oh, by the way, there's been a just as we got 12 or 13 e—mails directly relating to the lead into this ukraine aid withhold and the president's involvement in but we re president's involvement in but were not producing it. these kinds of things are going to drip out time after time in the ensuing months i think to the president and the republican split was considerable embarrassment. professor frank bowman from the university of missouri speaking with me earlier. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the coronavirus. we're in hong kong, where a new health union is threatening to strike unless the authorities close the border with mainland china. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents

concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. ..four, three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: china faces growing isolation

as countries around the world impose travel bans and suspend flights to stop the coronavirus. britain outside the european union. the prime minister is preparing to outline his plans for international trade after brexit. thousands of nurses, doctors and hospital staff in hong kong have voted in favour of strike action which could start as early as monday. there are currently there are currently 12 there are currently 12 confirmed cases in the city but there are worries the number could rise. mariko 0i reports. tensions are high. this city feels on edge. almost every one is wearing a face mask. this new epidemic brings back memories of the sars outbreak of 2003, which killed nearly 300 people here. as coronavirus spreads,

some medical staff want the government to stop mainlanders from entering the territory. this union says it represents 18,000 medical staff who work for public hospitals. that is more than a fifth of the total of public health workers. the hospital authority employees alliance is a new union that was formed late last year, during the pro—democracy protests. 60% of the members are young nurses, and it grew rapidly in the last few week, since the outbreak. they've just voted to walk out from monday morning, unless the government gives in to their demands. they will be negotiating with the authorities on sunday, but if the strike goes ahead it would add to the pressure on hong kong's leader carrie lam. the move is highly political.

one of the group's leaders says the possible strike is their response to the government's uneffective measures. the whole action or strike is to prevent, because the government do not do the right thing, to prevent outbreak, and also, that is why, what we would do, we are not requesting for democracy at moment. even this medical emergency has been politicised. in a city that has experienced so much political upheavals in the past year. and you can keep up to date with latest developments on the coronavirus by visiting our website. just go to bbc.com/news, or download the bbc news app onto your smartphone or tablet. there are also a number of handy background articles on subjects like the process of quarantine and what lessons health officials learnt from the sars outbreak in 2003.

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 on friday — the first in the area since deadly fires there in 2003. the territory's emergency services chief says she is keen to avoid panic — but said that evacuations may be necessary. the bbc‘s shaimaa khalil has more. the bushfire south of canberra in the namadgi 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 16,000 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 could change for areas south of the capital. so in the suburb of banks, people have been told to keep a close eye on fire activity. you have the combination

of sweltering heat — today has been a really hot day — the wind picking up, and tinder—dry landscape. that is how things can get worse. the fire itself has been behaving erratically, spreading in all 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 worries people, in the southern suburbs, the damage that embers can cause. something else has been weighing heavily on people here and that is the memory of a devastating fire in 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, there are 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 doors, advising them on what to do in the case of evacuation. everybody now is watching closely and waiting to see how the fire is going to behave.

let's return to brexit now. the uk is now free to negotiate and sign new trade deals with countries like the united states. so what is the view of brexit in the us? jane 0'brien reports from new hampshire. the silverfountain the silver fountain t parlour in dover, that is dover new hampshire, isa in dover, that is dover new hampshire, is a popular place for ladies who lunch. here in new england they feel close to the old country, and not only because of the familiar names and tradition of tea. political upheaval of exit is something they can also relate to.|j understand how they may be kind of thick of being part of all the other european nations but that's their strength. the other european nations but that's their strengthlj the other european nations but that's their strength. i think brexit is a very sad situation and it will be tragic for england. i feel that england is

going to be ostracising themselves from the rest of the world at a time when it is more important for us to be global andl important for us to be global and i think this isjust a backward move, similar to the us. new england's relationship with the uk has had its up and downs over the last four centuries. the briton is america's fifth largest trading partner. international business expert peter lane says the us is vital to the british economy. but brexit has created its —— uncertainty. economy. but brexit has created its -- uncertainty. as we look forward over the next years these trade relationships evolve, we need to remember that it evolve, we need to remember thatitis evolve, we need to remember that it is a rubiks cube. as the eu and the uk negotiate, thatis the eu and the uk negotiate, that is one side, the uk and the us, another side. but then each group has other relationships that will be impacted. so it is notjust straightening out one side, it will take several years before this settles and we know what the world will look like.

tourism is another important link. british visitors spent $141 million in new england every year. brexit should not affect that. but despite the uncertainty, some things never change. a nice cup of tea, for instance, on either side of the atlantic, can always be counted on to soothe the nerves. and a reminder of our top story. there has been another bigjump in story. there has been another big jump in deaths from the new coronavirus in the chinese province of hubei where the outbreak began. nearly 2000 new cases have been confirmed sitting nearly 300 people across china have now killed by the respiratory illness. it is now classed as a global hills emergency and has spread to more than 20 other countries with russia and sweden confirming their first cases. usjapan

confirming their first cases. us japan britain germany confirming their first cases. usjapan britain germany and other nations have already advised there citizens to not travel to china.. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @kacungira. the second half of the weekend is looking changeable across the uk with rain on the way, that should sweep across the uk through the morning with a bit of sunshine in the forecast as well. looking at the forecast through the early hours and rain already across the south—west of the uk and through the night making its journey towards the north of the country but never reaching scotland, in fact most of scotland, in fact most of scotland, that is, at five in the morning is clear and there is also a touch of frost. it is a different story in the south where it is mild and wet and you can where it is mild and wet and you can see where it is mild and wet and you can see where the heavy rain is, at five or six in the morning. by that time the

weather will have improved already across the far south—west of the country and then by mid—morning we have some sunshine in the midlands and by late morning even some sunshine reaching parts of yorkshire. but the far north of england and scotland are in for a wet morning and afternoon and the possibility of a bit of snow falling across the scottish hills. a mild afternoon in the south, around 14 degrees. we also have showers in the forecast in the west of the country and those will continue into the evening hours on sunday. the forecast for monday and a nasty area of low pressure is forecast to sweep across scotland meaning severe gales on the way and the wind will pick up early on monday across the western isles of scotland, touching gale force very soon in the morning and basically through the morning into the afternoon those winds will build and we will see heavy rain sweeping through, possibly some snow across the mountains and to the south of that it is dry and

bright and maybe the southern counties getting a little dose of snow to that we will focus the wind, very strong indeed, reaching 80 miles an hour in gusts around the western isles of scotla nd gusts around the western isles of scotland and then monday evening into early tuesday we expect the worst of the weather to tra nsfer expect the worst of the weather to transfer to eastern parts of scotla nd to transfer to eastern parts of scotland and here you can see gusts of around 70 miles an hourfor gusts of around 70 miles an hour for murray gusts of around 70 miles an hourfor murray and aberdeenshire and it is expected to be windy inland and these winds could cause some delays and structural damage in places as well. on thursday in the wake of the weather system again some nasty when possible affecting eastern parts. that high pressure will build not until the following day on wednesday. some very windy weather to come through monday and tuesday and then coming down across the uk on wednesday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: more countries have imposed travel bans on china because of the new coronavirus. over 300 people have now been killed, with 45 new deaths confirmed in the last few hours. health workers in hong kong are to go on strike until the border with the mainland is closed. britain's prime minister is to address foreign diplomats and business leaders to set out his plans for international trade after brexit. francois macron, the french president, said the level of access to the eu's single market would depend on how many of its rules britain accepts. president trump is a step closer to being acquitted in his impeachment trial after the us 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.