this is the briefing — i'm susannah streeter. our top stories: donald trump celebrates his impeachment acquittal but democrats say the result has no merit. china says 563 people have now died from coronavirus — with 28,000 confirmed infections. a line is crossed in germany as the far—right afd helps a mainstream party win control of a state parliament for the first time. in business, choked! the us brings in a ban on flavoured e—cigarettes — as the vaping industry faces a growing health backlash. we'll also be hearing from one of the founders of airbnb

on how they plan to address concerns about the social impact of the business. a warm welcome to the programme — briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. as fruit flavoured e—cigarettes are banned in the united states from today — we're asking for your opinion on vaping. us lawmakers blame the trend for introducing a new generation to nicotine — but many people say it's helped kick their tobacco habit. tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing.

as widely expected, the us senate has ended the impeachment trial of president trump by finding him not guilty of abuse of power and obstructing congress. donald trump was impeached by the house of representatives, where his opponents in the democratic party are in the majority — but the republican majority in the senate has cleared him, so he has evaded the attempt to remove him from office and will fight for re—election in november's election. this report is from chris buckler in washington. guilty! despite the protests and the many accusations, donald trump was never going to be found guilty. this divisive president split the senate just as he has split the american public there. senators, how say you? is the respondent, donald trump guilty or not guilty? you? is the respondent, donald trump guilty or not guilty7m would have needed two—thirds of senators to remove him from

office and his party has a majority in the chamber. in the end only won —— one broke ranks. mitt romney, who developed delivered a passionate speech was the sole member of the president's party to find in guilty of the first charge that he abused his power to try and benefit himself politically. the president asked a foreign government to investigate a political rival. the president withheld vital military funds from that government pressure it to do so. republicans claim democratic leaders rushed into impeachment and although they tried to talk up the success of getting mitt romney to talk with them, many people believe the acquittal is a gift to a president running for re—election. president running for re-election. no, not at all. this was seeking the truth. history, if you believe that right prevails and we know we we re right prevails and we know we were right and we know they knew they were wrong as they we re knew they were wrong as they were evidenced by the hiding and shaking in the cloak room and shaking in the cloak room and being unwilling to listen

to the other side. polls suggest that in recent days, president trump ‘s approval ratings have been rising and the white house is presenting this impeachment is an attempt to overturn the will of the people who voted him into office in the first place. people who voted him into office in the first placelj really office in the first place.” really do believe that the democrats keep trying to run down this president because they know they can't run against this president. i think they tried to beat this president because they know they cannot defeat him. president trump is due to deliver a public statement later today. expected to be nothing short of a victory speech to he believes he has been exonerated and vindicated in this whole impeachment process has backfired on the democrats. 0n process has backfired on the democrats. on twitter, the president posted a mockup of a time magazine cover in which he wins elections for decades to

come. mr trump wins elections for decades to come. mrtrump can wins elections for decades to come. mr trump can only serve to terms but it is clear he believes the outcome of this trial has made a second one much more likely.. 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 563 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. let's get more on this now — our correspondent stephen mcdonelljoins us from beijing. as well as the news of the bed shortages we have also got really strict travel restrictions placed on citizens in china. can you outline what they are not able to do now.

basically this is a city by city response and so governments right across this country are taking different measures to try and stop the flow of people in an attempt to slow the spread of this potentially deadly virus. some examples. in the south—east, close to shanghai, one city is saying that one member of every household and leave every two days to go shopping and the like. here in beijing the government has announced that group dining, things like weddings and birthdays, a band for the time being. in the province where the outbreak first started they are cutting the power to lifts in high—rise buildings to try and discourage people from going out into the

streets. and for foreign correspondent with ns, we are told that we now have to report any travel outside the cities we live in, in my case that is beijing, and then when we return from anywhere in china, we have to go into two weeks quarantine if that were the case it would mean, i guess, that reporters will either have to stay in the city in which they reside or will they be in they reside or will they be in the same boat i am in now and need to work from home for at least two weeks.. thank you very much for that update. many correspondent having to stay put and report on the developing situation from their own homes, from officers and restricting their travel as well. that's brief you on some other stories making the news now. former mayor pete buttigieg has maintained his lead over bernie sanders after the democratic party in iowa announce more results

of the caucus. 92% of the results are now declared which was plagued by computing problems. elizabeth warren and joe biden remain in third and fourth place respectively brazil's president jair bolsonaro, plans to introduce legislation to allow commerical mining on indigenous lands. mr bolsonaro has long promised to open up indigenous areas to exploitation, arguing that their protection has hindered development. most indigenous leaders say such projects would undermine their communities and wipe out their cultures which are already threatened by illegal mining and logging. we start with vaping — it breathed new life into the tobacco industry — but it's now being choked by global backlash. from today fruit and dessert flavoured pods for e—cigarettes are banned in the us. they've been blamed for a surge in use by teenagers — as concerns grow about the health effects. jane foley, currency

strategist from rabobank, joins me now. this really is a market story as well because when you look at companies like juul which floated at a significant price, their share price has dropped dramatically. since this legislation was introduced and the board through. a few years ago these companies were considered to be the next big thing, vaping was considered to be safe and a good alternative and another good line for the tobacco industry. in the last few years there have been more and more incidents of reports of people getting ill and lung diseases, that sort of thing. it is not clear whether these reports are of people using illegal products but there has been backlash in the us and other countries. this report from the washington post indicates that in the last 30 days, 28% of high school kids have they put and that is a problem. they use the word

epidemic to describe what is happening to the youth culture in the us. so this is the root of this partial ban. and this is why we are also seeing other lawmakers are saying the band simply does not go far enough and you need much tougher legislation against some of these companies. do you think voluntarily they may change the strategy? some have voluntarily changed already so perhaps there will be some more progress in that way. particularly the flavour, there is flavoured vaping that has attracted high school children. some companies have moved away from flavours and the band todayis from flavours and the band today is for pods for flavours, so fruit flavours for instance, the men fell and the tobacco flavour remain the same but it is only the pod that has been banned in some lawmakers are suggesting that, hang on, kids will move to other product. 0pen tank et cetera. and this is why there is such a debate over whether or not this band

really does go far enough. and we will discuss that story and many others in the business pages and in paper a little later on this morning.. in germany a political storm has erupted after the leader in the eastern state of thuringia was ousted on the back of votes from the far—right alternative for germany party, or afd. in a surprise result, a candidate from the economically liberal free democrats was narrowly elected, defeating the left—wing incumbent. there've been protests and calls for a fresh election, as rich preston reports. protests outside the party headquarters in thuringia after their leader was elected to power with support from the far right afd party. it is the first time a state leader has been elected with the help of the anti—immigrant been elected with the help of the anti—immigra nt alternative for germany. germany just make

german media have called a political earthquake. a bunch of flowers were thrown in protest. kenrick defeated the left wing in cumberland by one vote and while voting is anonymous, analyst say the fact that afd's anonymous, analyst say the fact that afd‘s own candidate received zero point show that its members aligned behind kenrick. last september, a court ruled that the afd‘s state leader could legally be termed a fascist. translation: it is an unacceptable reach to be elected prime minister with the votes of the af d and especially with the vote of that man. the free democrats say they did not think they afd backing and will not work with the party. translation: support from the afd is the pricing but it is not motivated by agreement on the issues. the

results prompted demonstrations and calls for a new state election. coming just one week after events to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, the leader of the german party called it a bad day 41 back and forward germany. an emergency meeting has been called for this weekend. —— a bad day 41 back and a bad day for germany. —— day for thuringia. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: hollywood legend kirk douglas has passed away at the age of 103. 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. mission control: ..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. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: at the end of his impeachment trial, the us senate has acquitted

president trump of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. just one republican senator voted to convict. more than 560 people in mainland china have now died as a result of the new coronovirus. the number of people infected has reached 28,000. irish prime minister leo varadkar is facing a tough 48 hours of final campaigning, ahead of the country's general election on saturday. when the taoiseach, who is openly gay and of mixed race, became leader he was seen as a symbol of modern ireland. but now he faces possible defeat, while there appears to be growing support for the irish republican party sinn fein. our ireland correspondent chris page has been following the campaign. i learned is ambitious for its light to shine globally. the city of galway is the european capital of culture for 2020 ——

the country of island. this is the country of island. this is the eu nation most affected by brexit but it sees itself as having a different rhythm from its us neighbour, the uk. the moment when britain ripped itself out of europe, we are a proud european nation and the values of welcome and a progressive approach are really interesting. the coastline on the edge of the atlantic will ta ke ce ntre the edge of the atlantic will take centre stage. the west of ireland is in line for development in an effort to spread more wealth to the regions. ireland has the fastest growing economy in the eu and galway seems to be feeling the benefits of that. across the country, opposition parties are emphasising issues like the shortage of housing, problems with the health service and a rise in the pension age. all that means is that the current prime minister is behind in the polls. leo varadkarjust does not have a high profile at home he has become well—known abroad because of his role in the brexit process. he said that

with trade—offs coming up, a change of government may be risky. the message i'm trying to put across really to irish farmers and food sectors and fishing communities and the 200,000 people who work in industries and jobs that depends on trade with the uk is that brexit is not done yet. but the favourite to replace leo varadkar says he is more than capable of dealing with brexit. what difference will they be in terms of an approach with leo varadkar why would you doa with leo varadkar why would you do a betterjob? there has been a national consensus on brexit we would like a trading relationship between britain and europe that would be as close to the current situation because anything else would be damaging to the irish economy. firmly left—wing party also has good polling ratings, sinn fein ‘s political opponents point out it was linked to paramilitary violence to conflict in northern ireland but the party highlights its

all in the peace process and sinn fein strongly wants both northern ireland to lead the uk and unite with the irish republic. particularly with the younger people they say it is exciting because it gives us the opportunity to fix things that are broken. the mood music in this election suggests a shift is likely. a coalition will be needed to form a government that politicians will have to work in harmony after vote rs will have to work in harmony after voters give their verdicts. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later on thursday. we start in brussels, where christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, will appear before a committee of the eu parliament. it's the first such appearance since britain exited from the european union. only an hour or so later, crew members from the international space station are due to touch down in kazakhstan. among them will be nasa

astronaut christina koch, among them will be nasa who has just completed the longest ever single space—flight by a woman. later on in new york, president trump's special adviser, and son—in—law, jared kushner will present his middle east peace plan to the un security council. the proposals have been welcomed by the israelis and condemned by the palestinians. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports ccentre. hello there. i'm tulsen tollett and this is your thursday sport briefing, where we start with the footballing news that tottenham came from behind to beat southampton 3—2 in their 4th round fa cup replay. lucas moura had levelled matters at 2—2 with 12 minutes remaining before son heung min earned and then scored the penalty that sees jose mourinho's team set up a last 16 clash against norwich city. we played against a team that

was the best team on the pitch, they were better than us but we deserve to win because we were in the limits. they had their best tea m in the limits. they had their best team and players and one more day to rest, they were fresh and you could feel the freshness. they are a very good tea m freshness. they are a very good team with a very good coach so difficult for us but i think we we re difficult for us but i think we were in our limits. bayern munich are through to the quarterfinals of the german cup after a 4—2 win over fellow top flight side hoffenheim. after both sides traded own goals, thomas muller put the holders ahead before a robert lewandowski double his 34th and 35th goals of the season so far, helped take them into the last eight. the kansas city chiefs have been celebrating their first super bowl win since 1969 as they took an open top bus parade through the city on wednesday before holding a victory rally at union station. the chiefs defeated the san francisco 49ers 31—20 on sunday after they came back from 20—10 down scoring 21 unanswered points in the final quarter led by mvp patrick mahomes.

a late breakaway from niccolo bonifazio gave the italian victory on stage two of cycling's saudi tour. bonifazio made his move in the final kilometre and just had enough to hold on, ahead of german phil bauhaus and nacer bouhanni of france. stage one winner rui costa retains the overall lead but only by a second ahead of heinrich haussler. barcelona will aim to close in on a 31st copa del rey title on thursday when they face athletic bilbao in the quarterfinals. real madrid are also in action. they face real sociedad in the last eight. zinedine zidane's side, who are currently top of la liga, haven't won the tournament since 2014.

translation: it is a final, not quarterfinal, it is a final. only one game. they were not come here to give in. we need to be very close focus, concentrated from the first minute. they are a very good team. they have been proven so during the whole season. they play very good football and they will come to play very well. phil mickleson will begin the defence of his pebble beach pro—am title on thursday, with a number of well known golfers and celebrities taking part, including jordan spieth, matt kuchar, ice hockey player wayne gretzky and musician macklemore. as we saw earlier, kansas city was packed with fans for the chiefs' super bowl victory parade. before it got under way, though, crowds witnessed a dramatic car chase. a joyrider decided to take a spin on the parade route before being stopped by armed police. two people were arrested, and thankfully there were no injuries.

you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team, that is your thursday sport briefing. a very busy day ahead for sport. the hollywood legend kirk douglas has died at the age of 103. his son, the actor michael, paid tribute to him, saying: "to the world, he was a legend, but to me and my brothers he was simply dad." lizo mzimba looks back on his life. for the first time in my life, people cheering for me! he made his name as a washed—up boxer. champion earned him the first of three oscar nominations. he played a ruthless, selfish, fiercely—driven upstart, a bit like kirk douglas himself. i can beat him! you know i can beat him! the ruthlessness and drive came from his childhood. he was born issur danielovitch demsky, the son of illiterate

russian immigrants and brought up in extreme poverty. what other way could we have done it in the first place? the easy way. now why should we do that? he enjoys playing villains more than heroes — like a journalist at a mining disaster who wouldn't let anything get in the way of a good story. if you want a big human interest story, you've got to give it a big human interest ending. the critics applauded his roles in paths of glory and lust for life, in which he played vincent van gogh. but his lust for power earned him many enemies. he set up his own production company and hired and fired at whim, but he also defied the anti—communist witch—hunts in hollywood, crediting a blacklisted writer with the script for spartacus. i'm spartacus! spartacus was about a slave who rebelled against the roman empire, just as douglas himself often defied hollywood.

i didn't want to become a tycoon or anything. i wanted — it gave me a chance to do movies i wanted to do. like, i wanted to do spartacus, i wanted to do a movie about vikings, paths of glory, even though they have been quite successful, it wasn't easy to get the financing for them and all that but that's why i had my company. i had a call from jim lindsay the other day, dad. what's he calling you about? kirk's son michael douglas became as big a star as his father and both appeared on screen with michael's son, cameron. by that time kirk had had a stroke. kirk douglas had craved affection from his own father but never received it. in the end he became the founder of a hollywood dynasty and one of hollywood's greatest stars. kirk douglas has died at the age of 103. tributes have been

pouring across hollywood and right across social media as well. twitter in particular. stay with us here on bbc news, so much more to come. the next few days are looking settled and you could call it the calm before the storm which is expected to arrive during the weekend. i purchased still with us, retreating further eastwards but enough to influence most of the uk with lighter winds and settle conditions. the weather fronts starting to make inroads from the atlantic. light winds will make a cold frosty start with mist and fog around which could be problematic and stubborn to clear so a few places can stay cold and grateful, for most of us, sunny spells and variable cloud are most of that across northern ireland and scotland, temperatures topping out at

seven or eight degrees and through thursday night, a similar story, rather dry and variable cloud, a little bit of clear spells but a bit more of a breeze developing, not quite as cold and frosty but because of the breeze, less likely to see mist and fog two reaches until friday morning, increased chance of sunny spells for much of the country, not a bad day at all. the wind will be picking up across the western areas and the first of a series of fronts will arrive bringing rain and temperatures lifting, 10 degrees also in the west. as the weather front moves across the weather front moves across the country during friday night, a spell of windy weather as well, and eventually it should clear the east of the country saturday morning and then a window of fine and sunny weather for saturday, certainly for the first half of saturday, the best weather of the weekend but the next frontal system will arrive, this one with more energy, bringing stronger winds and gals developing west and

also heavy rain and snow on the hills. that begins to work its way eastwards and as we head through saturday night it will become windy for all and severe gales developing in the west and developing rain and snow on the hills. sunday, the met office have named the system early and most models agree with the scenario, likely to see a swathe of damaging winds across much of the country, along with some heavy rain as well. saturday night into sunday, storm likely to have impact across the country where destruction and please set tuned to radio for weather forecast.

this is the business briefing. i'm susannah streeter. choked! the us brings in a ban on flavoured e—cigarettes — as the vaping industry faces a growing health backlash. plus — cleaning house. airbnb tidies up its image ahead of a $30 billion stock market listing this year. we hearfrom one of the founders and on the markets: there has been a record high for some indices in the united states to the s&p 500 and the nasdaq. the dow jones states to the s&p 500 and the nasdaq. the dowjones also up significantly..