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

there's been another big jump in the number of cases of coronavirus in china. officials say 304 people have died so far, with nearly 2000 new cases confirmed, bringing the total to more than 1a,000 cases. countries around the world have closed their borders to arrivals from china, but global health officials have advised against such measures. 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 their citizens from wuhan, australia, russia, japan, pakistan and italy have also announced similar travel bans. mongolian nationals in wuhan were evacuated and returned hope on saturday. 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. 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. a quick look at some other news: 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. the israeli military says it's hit a number of targets in the gaza strip belonging to the palestinian militant group, hamas. it said it took the action after a number of rockets were fired from gaza, aimed at israeli civilians. french police have arrested 23 people in montpellier during clashes with youths latching onto to the yellow vest protest movement. a police trade union said that the youths smashed shop windows and attacked a fast food outlet. four police officers and a man in a wheelchair were injured. this weekend marks the 64th consecutive weekend borisjohnson is to address foreign diplomats and business leaders on monday, in a speech on his plans for international trade after brexit. the british prime minister 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. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. 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! on monday, the prime minister will set out how he plans to do this. he wants a relatively loose arrangement with the eu, similar to the one canada has, and he wants 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 on the flagpole 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're suffering the loss of our european status." what comes next is going to be the challenge, but today is just a sad day. from paris today, a letter... "dear british friends", wrote the french president on facebook. "the channel has never managed to separate our destinies, "brexit will not do so either." 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 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. alongside a trade deal, the uk and the eu must also agree a deal on how to cooperate when it comes to their security. with lives at stake, it is a big priority for both sides, but withjust 11 months to the end of the transition period, how much can be achieved? 0ur europe correspondent jean mackenzie reports. inside this laurie, the did bodies of 39 vietnamese people, smuggled across borders last 0ctober smuggled across borders last october to reach the uk. this was an international criminal operation. as countries fight these increasingly complex crimes of trafficking as well as drug smuggling and terror, more and more they are having

to work together. thousands of police operations are run from here every year, so in there, police from across europe are sharing information, resources and strategies. but when the uk leaves the european union, it loses its membership there. until 2018, it was run by this brett, sir rob wainwright blue every day, border officials are laying on the fact that they can check instantaneously certain eu systems, for example. rely on agencies to deal with international criminal problems. so in that sense, if you replace it with nothing, yes of course that would be a major security challenge for the uk. and it is not just these challenge for the uk. and it is notjust these police operations. the eu has a whole load of systems that make it easier to identify, track, and extradite criminals stopping the uk could lose access to massive databases that hold millions of pieces of data from

fingerprints and dna and allow list to track suspects as they move between countries. so in this next round of negotiations, both sides have a critical task. they have to agree a new way of working together that protect their security. how much bargaining power do you think the uk will have when it comes to security? i think they have some bargaining power, more than in the trade, but if you want to participate in certain agencies, you have to also think about that you have to participate in the policies. they have to live up to the union rights standards and the data protection standards. we are going to have to create something new that hasn't been done before to a certain extent. i do think, though, the period of terror atrocities that europe has gone through over the last 5— seven years focuses the mind, sol

over the last 5— seven years focuses the mind, so i am an optimist in nature. i think we can still get there but there is an awful lot of work still to be done. the government the security of the uk is its top priority. the next 11 months will share what concessions is prepared to make to keep people safe. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: an amazing find, a scientific expedition to the galapagos islands discovers two species of a tortoise previously believed to be extinct. 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. 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, its 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 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: boris johnson prepares to outline his plans for international trade after brexit.

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. we're joined from new york by grant leaity, unicef‘s deputy director of emergency programmes. thank emergency programmes. you forjoining us here on thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. first of all, explain to us exactly where the fighting has been. where is the main issue right now? good morning. in the course of the last week we have the syrian government taking extremely strategic stronghold, and this was widely seen as one of the beginnings of the resistance in

syria, and it is very close to idlib city. what we have seen is since the beginning of december, there have been increased aerial bombardment in this area. however, with this recent incursion, we have seen 260,000 people displaced over the course of the last few days. so this is clearly a significant shift in the dynamic in the north—west. significant shift in the dynamic in the north-west. and of course this, as you have said, is having a huge impact on children in particular. indeed. you mentioned, of course. . . indeed. you mentioned, of course... we have a civilian population overall of about 2.8 million in the north—west, and we have an estimated 1.2 million children in need, in need of humanitarian assistance. it shouldn't be

forgotten that at the moment we have a very harsh winter in this part of syria, so people, especially displaced people, some of them are now living in parks and heavy rainfall, so it really is an acute situation for people on the move. so what exactly is being done to help, what can be done to help these people? it is extremely challenging environment. you are aware that there still are two crossings through which we can bring in humanitarian supplies from turkey into the north—west. the third crossing that we used to have in the north—east has been closed, but right now, our specific concern is for the north—west. of course apart from ringing

supplies in, the difficulty is for the partners... it is extremely dangerous conditions on the ground to work to bring assistance. however, this is still possible to the north of idlib city at this present time. the authority, the syrian government has announced the next military objective will be to ta ke next military objective will be to take an importantjunction between the m4 and m5 motorways, and this would give them control of an access going right through alpo, which is a significant gain in territory for the syrian government —— aleppo. tell me about the conditions in which these children are living right now. asi children are living right now. as i mentioned before, one of the aggravating factor is is the aggravating factor is is

the harsh winter, but of course, if we are looking to the areas closer to the hostilities, we have seen some very significant aerial bombardment over the past few weeks, and these are the likes of barrel bombs, cluster bombs, so of barrel bombs, cluster bombs, so this is an extremely dangerous environment, which is what is provoking the displacement. and so we mentioned earlier that our concern is for the protection of children, and even in schools and hospitals, as we have seen for some time in syria, now these are not off—limits for aerial bombings. 0k, grant, thank you very much for joining 0k, grant, thank you very much forjoining us. thank you so much. thank you for your time. let's get more now on the

coronavirus. health officials say the risk to staff and students at the university of york is low after it confirmed one of the first two people to test positive for coronavirus in the uk has been studying there. public health england said it was making "good progress" in tracing people who have come into close contact with the two chinese nationals. 0ur north of england correspondentjudith moritz reports. life on campus at york university has carried on as normal today, 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 the mask? are you worried? a little. a little nervous because of this. when did you start wearing it here? today! i'm not totally bothered, because i feel like given the number of students at the university, i feel like it might not even spread.

i don't think there's many students compared to other 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 it doesn't believe they came into contact with anyone on campus whilst they had symptoms, but investigations into this are ongoing. we understand this development will cause concern and anxiety, but i want to reassure our students, staff and the wider community that we're 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 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 cases of the virus, with 201 people tested negative. we're being looked after to the absolute maximum... meanwhile, at arrowe park hospital in wirral, 83 people have spent their first day 01:14 in quarantine in apartments normally used to house nurses, who've been moved to local hotels. as far as we know, we're all both tickety and boo, and in that order. 12,000 cases of the virus 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. and don't forget, you can keep up to date with latest developments on all our stories by visiting our website. just go to bbc.com/news. 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. here's our australia correspondent shaimaa khalil. 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's 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's 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, where i am right now, people have been told to keep a close eye on fire activity. you've got 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 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's really what worries people in the southern suburbs, the kind of damage that embers can cause. something else has been weighing heavily on people here, and that's the memory of a devastating fire of 2003 when four people were killed and 500 homes were destroyed. that's why the authorities are not taking any chances. a state of emergency has been called, there are constant warnings on the radio, we've seen aircraft fly over the blaze, dumping water and fire retardant. the military has been knocking on some people's 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.

a scientific expedition to the galapagos islands has discovered two species of the galapagos tortoise, which were previously believed to be extinct. it's an exciting find for scientists who say one of the young female tortoises could be related to ‘lonesome george', a gentle giant who died almost eight years ago and was thought to be the last of his kind. freya cole reports. nestled into the crevices of the volcan volcano, the highest peak of the galapagos islands, are 30 prehistoric giants. until this moment, scientists thought they ceased to exist. translation: 29 have genetic ancestry of the extinct floreana tortoise. and one female juvenile tortoise is of genetic ancestry of the extinct pinta tortoise.

the last remaining pinta tortoise died eight years ago. his name was lonesome george. he was 100 years old and he didn't produce any offspring, although scientists tried for years. but this new discovery could help track down a direct descendant. scientists also hope to facilitate breeding of both the pinta and florea na tortoises to help grow numbers of the fragile species. translation: hopefully, in the very near future, we can bring back two species that were extinct and with captive breeding and scientific work, we can recover them. it's an exciting opportunity to rebuild the ecosystem. itjust might be slow going. freya cole, bbc news. that is a story that has taught us that is a story that has taught usa that is a story that has taught us a lot. not funny at all. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcmaryam.

thank you for watching on your company. goodbye. —— and for your company. hello. well, the second half of the weekend is looking changeable across the uk with rain on the way, that should be sweeping across the uk through the morning with a bit of sunshine in the forecast as well. looking at the forecast through the early hours then, and rain already across the south—west of the uk and through the nights, making its journey towards the north of the country, but never reaching scotland, in fact most of scotland, that is, at 5:00 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 see where the heavy rain is, at 5:00 or 6:00 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 in for a wet morning and afternoon and the possibility of a bit of temporary snow there falling across the scottish hills. a mild afternoon in the south, around 1a degrees. we also have some showers in the forecast in the west of the country. those will continue into the evening hours on sunday. now, the forecast for monday and a nasty area of low pressure is forecast to sweep across scotland. that means severe gales on the way and the winds 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 too, possibly some snow across the mountains.

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 80mph in gusts around the western isles of scotland, and then monday evening into early tuesday, we're expecting the worst of the weather to transfer to eastern parts of scotland, and here you can see gusts of around 70mph for murray, aberdeenshire and it is expected to be windy inland and these winds could cause some delays and some structural damage in places as well. on thursday, in the wake of this weather system, again, some nasty winds possible affecting eastern parts of the uk. that high pressure will build not until the following day on wednesday. some very windy weather to come through monday and tuesday and then calming down across the uk come wednesday. that's it from me. goodbye.

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. 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. one senior democrat accused republicans of being accomplices to a presidential cover—up.