this is bbc news. i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at 11:00: not guilty — the president of the united states is not guilty of the second article of impeachment. president trump is acquitted by the senate of all charges at his impeachment trial. the white house calls it a "full vindication and exoneration". president trump releases this tweet tonight and says he will make a public statement tomorrow. in other news: millions of people are placed under travel restrictions in china as beijing steps up its efforts to contain the coronavirus as the death toll rises to 560. here, the government launches an eight week consultation over whether failing to pay your tv licence should be treated as a criminal offence.

one person has died and more than 150 are injured after a plane skids off the runway at an airport in istanbul, breaking into three sections. and at 11:30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers, with our reviewers giles kenningham and maya goodfellow. stay with us for that. good evening. in the last few hour the us senate has found president trump not guilty of abuse of power and the obstruction of congress in his historic impeachment trial. donald trump had been charged with high crimes and misdemeanours by the members of the house of representatives but, as expected, the republican majority in the senate cleared him, which means he'll fight for reelection in november.

0ur north america editor, jon sopel, reports. senators, how say you? is the respondent, donald john trump, guilty or not guilty? a process that started last september came to an end today with senators voting one by one on the two articles of impeachment. mr alexander, not guilty. miss baldwin? guilty. and then the verdict. it is then ordered and adjudged donald trump equated of the charges and said articles. —— aquitted. but the wall of republican unity was broken by mitt romney. the former presidential candidate with a bombshell speech, said he would vote to convict the president of the abuse of office. the grave question the constitution tasked senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanour.

yes, he did. with the impeachment process now behind him, donald trump is seeing his approval ratings inching up. the republican party is standing right behind him and the democrats have had a shocking few days after the shambles of the iowa caucus. it's all turning out to be a very good week for donald trump. cheering and last night he delivered a highly partisan state of the union address that could have been for a republican rally. but the shadow of impeachment couldn't be missed as donald trump pointedly snubbed the democratic speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, who led moves to impeach the president. her outstretched arm ignored. and there speakas much disdain was etched on her face as the president made his remarks. and then, in an extraordinary act of defiance, or petulance,

opinion is divided, nancy pelosi ripped up her copy of his speech. in his speech, the president focused on the strength of the economy, something he hoped would be his trump card in this election year. jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging and our country is thriving and highly respected again. applause but to look at the faces of those listening. loving from one side, loathing from the other. a microcosm of america, a foretaste of how bitterly contested this election will be. jon sopel, bbc news. the chinese authorities are warning that they face a severe shortage of beds and equipment to treat the growing number of people with coronavirus, as it spreads rapidly across the country and abroad.

china says 560 people have now died, tens of thousands of others have been infected. meanwhile thousands of passengers and crew on two cruise ships have been placed in quarantine after a number of people on board tested positive for the virus. john sudworth reports from beijing. wuhan is a city at war, with an invisible enemy. and they're trying everything they can to defeat it. state media is now full of images of an heroic struggle — the brand—new hospitals held up as proof it's one they're winning. but xiao huang is not so sure. it took him days to find his grandad a bed in this hospital corridor. shortly after this video was taken, he was dead. he fears his grandmother, who also has the virus, is dying too.

"if they'd been admitted earlier, of course, things would have been better", he tells me. wuhan is overwhelmed by illness, with hundreds more cases than available beds, and these patients hooked up to makeshift drips. one woman, who doesn't want to be identified, tells me that her uncle's death won't even be counted in the official statistics. "there are so many cases like his", she says. this is the death certificate. he never made it to hospital. all of this might have been prevented. in mid—january, knowing the virus was already spreading fast, the authorities allowed this massive community banquet to go ahead, putting the economy and political stability ahead of public health. with the epidemic raging,

travel records show five million people were able to leave wuhan before the city was finally locked down. with infections now taking hold across china, other cities have begun imposing restrictions. in nanyang, hangzhou, wenzhou, harbin only one person per household is allowed out to buy food once every two days. the increasing disruption is why some countries, including the uk, are advising people to leave. others are getting out anyway. yeah, quite a bit disappointed but i think it's ok because they're trying to keep us safe. the cost of all this is immeasurable. this was the middle of beijing in what should be the middle of a working week. the ruling communist party knows that as well as economic, there are political risks in all of this. that deep public anger that officials didn't do enough to tell people what

they knew soon enough, which is why we've seen the highly unusual step of the ruling politburo admitting this week that mistakes were made. the big question now, of course — can they fix this? with the propaganda in overdrive, the remotest corners are getting the public health message, but china faces a long journey yet. here the government is chartering one more flight to get uk citizens out of wuhan. the government is prepared for more. the world health 0rganization prepared for more. the world health organization is appealed for £500 billion to help fight the coronavirus.

this cruise ship, off yokohama near tokyo, has become a floating quarantine for 3700 people. the passengers, some of them british, are being confined to their rooms for the next 1a days, after several tested positive for coronavirus. it's just an extended two—week cruise, but it's not going to be a luxury cruise — it's going to be like a floating prison. the novel coronavirus was first officially notified in wuhan at the end of december, but it had been circulating there for weeks, which helps explain why the outbreak spread so quickly. the official number of coronavirus cases has rocketed to almost 25,000. it's rising by several thousand a day within hubei province, where nearly all cases and deaths have been — just two of nearly 500 have been outside mainland china. 25 countries around the world have reported cases. now, this outbreak is still largely confined to china, but the key question is, will it become a pandemic, which means a global epidemic?

for that, we'd need to see sustained person—to—person spread of this disease in other countries. that hasn't happened yet. it's simply too early to know whether this virus can be contained and a pandemic prevented. the world health organisation has called for more than £500 million in donations to help fight the spread of the disease. this is not a time for fear. this is not a time for panic. it's a time for rational, evidence—based action and investment. these labs in north london have tested nearly 500 patient samples for coronavirus. only two people in the uk have tested positive. it's thought the virus may be less contagious than seasonal flu.

the transmission, as far as is understood from current evidence, is face—to—face. when a patient coughs on someone who is not infected, they can become infected from the droplets that occur in that cough. it's not propelled by a sneeze, which aerosolises virus in the air and spreads it from person to person at a distance. unlike flu, that may help prevent the spread of coronavirus, and reduce the risk of a pandemic. fergus walsh, bbc news. let's return to our main story now. the us senate has found president trump not guilty of abuse of power and the obstruction of congress in his historic impeachment trial — which means he'll fight for reelection in november. since the result, donald trump has tweeted an animated video, giving his seventy two million followers an insight into hisjubilation following his acquittal.

(music playing). i think ithinka i think a rather wry suggestion he is now unstoppable. let's talk to our washington correspondent, gary 0'donoghue. tell us more about the reaction to the news this evening. tell us more about the reaction to the news this eveninglj tell us more about the reaction to the news this evening. i was trying to get the music. the reaction has been, well, predictable. the white house has said it is a total exoneration and vindication of the

president and they also had a sideswipe of mitt romney calling him a failed presidential candidate. he was the one vote out of 200 votes that was out of line on one of those articles so that the white house not happy about that. the president also planning tomorrow here at the white house to make a statement at 12 noon oui’ house to make a statement at 12 noon our time. we will get his words and reaction in that statement. you can clearly see from that to eat, a rather astonishing tweet, really, that he believes this has made him invincible. i am lovely involved it is in the whole of the mountain king. ——in the whole of the mountain king. ——in the whole of the mountain king. this this now mean he can focus his attention on the

presidential campaign?” focus his attention on the presidential campaign? i think it does. in many ways, the legal process , does. in many ways, the legal process, the quasi— legal process is over. there will be some hangover from it, for example, one of the house committees is threatening to subpoena john bolton, the former national security adviser, who did not appear as a witness in the senate trial so that might carry on. but i think, in purely electoral terms, this is something the president can use, of course. he has been using impeachment at his rallies already now he could say going forward, look, they have tried to get rid of me and they have not been able to do it. don't let them try. if you think about his appeal back into thousand 16, it was as the outsider, the non— washington person, the one who would drain the swamp. the point is, once you have

been president forfour swamp. the point is, once you have been president for four years, it becomes a bit stale. you can now reinvigorate, refresh that idea of being in the outsider because he will say the establishment, the opposition, they all tried to get rid of me and they failed to give me four more years. do you think we will see a change of strategy for the democrats as well because clearly the approach has been very much to target them and and all that stands for and what they would see as his dubious behaviour. are they going to have to try a different tack now? it is an interesting question. 0verhanging the whole race for the democratic nomination is the question of who can beat donald trump. that is almost true of the party that is trying to get back into the white house. the question is always that. it is even more so this because it is all about donald

trump. the democrats will tell you they will argue on healthcare policy, the economy is pretty strong at the moment, the president is making a lot of that at the state of the union last night, they will argue about immigration and other issues as well. they will argue about whether or not these trade deals are for real, whether the middle—class is feeling squeezed in any sense so these issues will be out there but i think this election would be about donald trump and whether america wants four more yea rs of whether america wants four more years of donald trump or if they are ready for a change. i think that is the battlefield that donald trump wa nts to the battlefield that donald trump wants to fight it out and i think the democrats would want to fight it on that battleground as well. good to talk to you. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: not guilty — president trump is acquitted by the senate of all charges at his impeachment trial. the white house calls it a "full vindication and exoneration." in other news, millions of people

are placed under travel restrictions in china, as beijing steps up its efforts to contain the coronavirus as the death toll rises to 560. here, the government launches an eight week consultation over whether failing to pay your tv licence should be treated as a criminal offence. let's get more on that. the way in which the bbc is funded and how that money is collected looks set to become a major talking point in the weeks ahead. the government is launching a public consultation and a key issue will be whether failing to pay the licence fee should still be a criminal offence. the culture secretary, baroness morgan, is arguing that in the digital age the way we get our news and entertainment is changing and the bbc may have to change, too. here's our media editor, amol rajan. right, back to the studio floor... it's almost a century old, yet the chances of the bbc existing with its current funding

model for another decade are receding — fast. the health of our oceans is under threat... three—quarters of the bbc‘s money comes from the licence fee, a compulsory payment for households who watch live television or the iplayer. it means bbc programmes, such as those starring sir david attenborough, are funded not commercially or by the state, but by the public. this morning, the culture secretary made the case for reform in the context of a revolution in global media. the bbc has a current charter that runs until 2027. there's always a review midway, and what we'll be doing is particularly looking at the amount of the licence fee now and this issue around whether there should be decriminalisation of licence—fee evasion. the bbc says its focus is programmes, not prosecutions. there are some myths that need to be busted here. the current system works effectively. only a small number of people are prosecuted, and a tiny proportion of people — five in england and wales last year — went to prison not for failure to pay a tv licence, but for failure to pay a number of fines.

it's fashionable to say that the bbc should be more like netflix, a subscription service worth around £125 billion today. but the comparison is lazy. netflix has racked up billions of debt on a spending spree and has negative cash flow of around £2 billion annually. where would the bbc get access to that kind of finance? and moving to a subscriber base would change the very nature of the bbc from a universal service to one tailored just to those willing to pay. the bbc licence funds content across tv, radio and online. but the younger you are, the less of it you consume. i don't think people really watch tv nowadays. and everything's online, isn't it? so... i know you can access bbc online, and that's free. i don't think we should be paying for it. i think that's outdated now. i think it's fine for the services that you get. ithink... we pay sky monthly, but a lot cheaper, and stop prosecuting people.

# step into christmas... the bbc still produces big hits from gavin and stacey... to flea bag. but ultimately it can't do more and more with less and less. amol rajan, bbc news. in turkey, one person has died and more than 150 people have been injured after a passenger plane skidded off the runway in istanbul. the plane broke into three pieces. the boeing 737, operated by the turkish low—cost carrier pegasus airlines. 177 people were onboard. the landing that ended in tragedy. the landing that ended in tragedy. the boeing 737 skidded and overran the runway. seen from the roadside, the runway. seen from the roadside, the impact of the crash visibly split the plane's use allows into

several sections. —— fuselage. translation: unfortunately, the plan hold onto the runway due to poor weather conditions and skidded for around 60 metres. it fell from 30—110 metres high. onboard were 183 passengers and crew who had flown in from the country's western province. for rescue teams, the scale of the task before them as they comb the wreckage for survivors becomes task before them as they comb the wreckage 0ver rvivors becomes task before them as they comb the wreckage over 100 )rs becomes task before them as they comb the wreckage 0ver100 people imes task before them as they comb the wreckage 0ver100 people injured, apparent. 0ver100 people injured, none of them critical, but circus officials have reported at least one person has died. there will be an investigation into what has happened and many who will say it could have been much, much worse. rich preston,

bbc news. —— turkish officials. ajudge in spain has ordered an indedendent investigation to be held into the deaths of three british family members, who drowned in a hotel swimming pool near fuengirola. 52—year—old gabriel diya, his nine—year—old daughter comfort, and 16—year—old praise—emmanuel, died on christmas eve at the club la costa world hotel. the initial police report concluded that the incident was a tragic accident, partly blamed on the family not being able swimmers. voters in ireland go to the polls this week in a general election. three years ago, when leo varadkar who is openly gay and mixed race became the irish prime minister, he was seen as a symbol of modern ireland. but now he's facing a possible defeat, while there appears to be growing support for the irish republican party sinn fein. here's our ireland correspondent emma va rdy. the ancient west of ireland has seen rapid change.

!z:!z;;:!.; res-seas'él-s; 3a?!» ,, . ~ capital of culture. gay pride, remembers a less liberal city. i came out as lesbian. i didn't know the word lesbian, and i didn't know what coming out was. leo varadkar has been symbolic of ireland transformed. the legalisation of abortion under his premiership, a watershed moment. yes, there's been enormous, huge, positive change, and it is wonderful, particularly for our young generations, but we have a hell of a way to go. homelessness, our healthcare system. there's been an awful lot of cuts in leo varadkar‘s time, too. the high cost of living, hospital overcrowding and a major shortage of housing are turning people away from the main parties, while polls have indicated a dramatic increase in support for sinn fein. i think that the housing crisis is so big that people are going out

to vote on that topic. graduate niamh has struggled to rent a place. there are families that are living in emergency accommodation, and then you've got the other part of it, where there's the likes of me and other working professionals that are young that are just looking for a room to live in. hello, and you're very welcome to prime time: the leaders' debate... after a poll by the irish times suggested sinn fein were now in the lead, the irish broadcaster rte was forced to make a late change and include sinn fein president mary lou mcdonald in last night's debate. but in large parts of ireland, the party still struggles to shake off its historical links to the ira. i think they've become the voice of the left in ireland, but their history makes it difficult for a lot of people to be able to reconcile their progressive policies with their bloodied past. younger people are judging based on policies. sinn fein's past is less important? ah, yeah, i guess so, i mean, i'm focusing on the future. the surge for sinn fein has become

the shock of this election, but because of the party's old connections, fianna fail and fine gael insist they won't go into coalition with them, and no party is expected to win an overall majority. brexit hasn't been a major topic. there's broad agreement about the country's approach, but whoever emerges as taoiseach will influence the trade deal the uk is hoping to achieve. and while scars still remain from ireland's strict past, it's the new social problems that's driving voters' thirst for change. emma vardy, bbc news, dublin. shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry has told the bbc that she fears she is being "squeezed" by her rivals — sir keir starmer and rebecca long bailey — for the labour leadership. she said under her leadership the party would be "more professional", and there would be a "leap of credibility". in the latest in our series of interviews with the leadership candidates, she has been talking to our political editor laura kuenssberg. the whole approach is just wrong. an awful lot went wrong for labour.

she's lagging behind her rivals in this race. people are giving us their e—mails... but could emily thornberry, london mp and shadow foreign secretary, be the person to put it right? the labour party doesn't need to go through some kind of great existential crisis about who it is that we are. i think we know who we are, and we're proud of it. i think whatjeremy brought to us was an authenticity and an ability, and a confidence to speak from the heart. i think there were some terrible tactical errors in relation to the general election. and i have been open about the disagreements i had. you were in the room... yes. you were part of the team that led the labour party to an historic defeat. do you think, then, this isn't a crisis for the labour party? no, but i think what we should be doing is not going back to having this crisis about who are we, what are we doing? i don't disagree with anything that was in the manifesto, i'll be honest with you. but there was far too much of it. there was far too much of it.

we were announcing four orfive policies a day. i mean, i couldn't keep up with it, let alone anybody else. you were part of the misjudgments that got the party to that place. so, i ask again, why should you be, how can you be part of the solution? what i'll say is that politics is a team sport. and i was part of a team. and i did what i could do to try to make things go the right way. but, in the end, it is a matter... all you can do is advise if you're not the leader. i believe that it is my duty to stand up at this stage and say, i can help sort things out. with me as leader, we would be doing things in a different way. how would it be different? we would be more professional. we would be more believable, we would be more credible, and people would say, oh, thank goodness, the labour party's back. there's a lot of meet and greet to do. she's less than a fortnight to scoop up support from unions or local labour parties to get into the last round. thank you, thanks a lot. bye— bye. the contest has been dominated so far by two others, keir starmer and rebecca long—bailey. why do you think

you're so far behind? unfortunately, the labour party can very easily fall into the good old way of fighting things in the labour party — its left versus right. for the leader to take us forward, we need to have the best candidate. and so, to a certain extent, it's a good old—fashioned squeeze. and i've had people saying to me, ‘well, emily, i was going to support you, but we've got to stop keir starmer, so i'm voting for rebecca long—bailey.‘ and then i've had other people to saying to me, ‘i was going to support you, but i can't, because we've got to stop rebecca long—bailey, so i have to vote for keir.‘ and i'm going, ‘hang on, hang on, isn't the thing to do to vote for the best candidate?‘ do you have any tory friends? rebecca long—bailey said she didn‘t think she did, and keir starmer told us of course he did. i think i probably have some tory friends. particularly members of my husband‘s family. but i‘ve never kissed a tory in that way. that would be true to say. making it to the top job right now seems unlikely. but emily thornberry has rarely gone down without a fight. laura kuenssberg, bbc news.

the papers are coming up in a moment. now it‘s time for the weather with ben rich. hello there. if you‘re making travel plans for this we go next week, it‘s worth staying with me until the end of the long—range forecast because there is some stormy weather on the horizon. in the shorter term, what we have is the calm before the storm. high pressure in charge of the scene throughout thursday. the airaround high the scene throughout thursday. the air around high pressure moving in this clockwise direction. so that will always allows to pull quite a lot of cloud in. where you are closest to the centre of the high, we have late winds. fog could linger for quite a time on thursday morning, some of that quite dense. that fog tends to lift in most places then we will see some spells of sunshine. always very amounts of cloud in northern ireland and western scotland, the odd spot of rain. temperatures 7—9d, may be lower if you are stuck with fog for any length of time. these frontal systems will squat in from the

atla ntic systems will squat in from the atlantic and ahead of those fronts we will see the wind starting to pick up. that means there won‘t be so much fog on friday morning, a better chance of breaking up the cloud and seeing some sunshine. late in the day we was this i was given to western areas where it will also start to turn milder. a band of rain will move the run friday night, should be clear by saturday. so we start the weekend in decent shape but here comes a band of heavy rain from the west. as we go through the day, with that we was the increasingly strong winds. through saturday evening there is likely to bea saturday evening there is likely to be a swathe of gales in north and western areas but pushing eastwards throughout the night. and that is just the start of it. what we have over the usa at the moment is an area of very stormy weather, rain and snow here. now, that is going to be picked up by a powerfuljet stream. we are expecting wind speeds in thejet stream. we are expecting wind speeds in the jet stream, higher the atmosphere, to reach 270 miles an hour, supercharging the atmosphere, denting that lump of