welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. our top stories: growing anger in china: quarantine squads detain people suspected of having the coronavirus, as the death toll continues to rise. president trump fires two senior officials who testified against him at his impeachment trial. democrat presidential candidates hold their latest debate in new hampshire ahead of a key vote on who should take on donald trump in november. and heating things up in antarctica, as scientists record its hottest ever temperature. the chinese authorities are struggling to control

an outpouring of public grief and anger at the way they treated a doctor who tried to warn the world about the dangers of coronavirus. hundreds of millions of people have viewed social media posts about dr li wenliang who has died after contracting the illness while treating infected patients in wuhan. controls and restrictions are increasing across china where almost 720 people have now died. our correspondent, jon sudworth, reports from beijing. shouting in some cities, those suspected of being sick are being rounded up, with multiple unverified videos showing the quarantine squads at work. it's all adding to a growing sense of disbelief and dread. "i don't want to be taken away like that," a child can be heard saying. screaming but now the fear is turning to anger. doctor li wenliang was one of the first to report signs

of the new strange virus, but his online posts were censored and the police made him sign this confession, along with seven others, for spreading rumours. his death from the virus in this wuhan hospital has prompted an outpouring on social media. the hashtag "i want freedom of speech" viewed almost 2 million times before being blocked. "doctor li was the first whistle—blower, but no one cared," this man tells me. are you angry? "yes, a bit," she says, "but more hopeless — if they'd listened to him the situation would be better now." on a beijing river bank, we find a tribute to the doctor. "goodbye, li wenliang," it says. there can be no doubting just how sensitive a moment this now is for chinese‘s ruling

communist party. ——is for china's ruling communist party. the already simmering concern about the mishandling of the crisis exploding into a public wave of anger and grief. in the death of a doctor, the systemic failings have been laid bare. the response, though, is likely to be more censorship. these videos of wuhan‘s hospitals, the conditions inside, and the people queuing for masks were taken by a blogger — chen quishi. i spoke to him earlier this week. what's your thoughts about how long you will be able to continue providing independent reporting from wuhan? "i am not sure," he says. "the censorship‘s so strict, people's accounts are being closed down if they share my content." his family say he's now disappeared. in this public health disaster, there are real political risks

and the orders are already being sent out — maintain stability, tighten control. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. let's bbc news, beijing. work our way through this for let's work our way through this for a few minutes. joining me now for more on this is professor william schaffner who's in florida. he's professor of infectious diseases at vanderbilt university medical centre. professor, as you have probably seen china has sent these so—called foreign teens odds would hand, taking anyone u nwell to would hand, taking anyone unwell to isolation centres and hospitals. from a scientific point of view, what do you make of this tactic? —— so—called quarantine squads across wuhan. it is the largest so—called public health experiment in human history, to isolate such a large number of people, it reaches 50 million, and then to so reaches 50 million, and then to so strict enforce this quarantine. the whole goal of course is to interrupt the

transmission of this virus, to reduce its transmission, so that fewer people in wuhan become infected, fewer people outside of wuhan in china, and of course fewer exploitations to other countries around the world. it is most severe, i would hope, that this severity results in a reduction in transmission. do you to work? i expected to work to some degree. it will not be like a switch, turning off the light, but i certainly think by confining people, by reducing the interaction of persons with other people, some reduction in transmission will result and we should soon, i hope, see a reduction in cases and a reduction in cases and a reduction of exploitations of this virus to other countries.

then perhaps, they will ease up on these restrictions. there have been fewer reported infections in mainland china in the past two days, is it too soon to red anything into that very short figure? caution, caution. perhaps it isjust due toa caution. perhaps it isjust due to a reduction in testing capacity. we will have to see whether this is sustained, and whether this is sustained, and whether it is validated. so as we say, my fingers are crossed, hoping for the best. professor, what other measures would you recommend china take? at the moment, they need to divert an awful lot of resources to caring for the sick. because it has been widely reported that people who are ill are not receiving sufficient care. and thatis receiving sufficient care. and that is where a great deal of attention needs now to be direct. in order to gain the confidence of the country and for humanitarian reasons. thank

you professor, fascinating to talk to you. president trump has sacked two senior officials who gave testimony during his impeachment inquiry. the us ambassador to the european union, gordon sondland, issued a statement saying he had been told he was being recalled from his post. earlier, lieutenant—colonel alexander vindman was escorted out of the white house following his dismissal. our north america correspondent, peter bowes has the details. alexander vindman was the first to go. he was on the national security council as an expert on ukraine and he was also listening in on that now famous 5july telephone conversation between president trump and his counterpart in ukraine, that is the phone call where president trump asked for a favour, and according to colonel vindman that was improper and he was concerned about what he heard during that phone call, and he relayed this to the congressional investigation. his lawyer says he has been

sacked for telling the truth and the lawyer also added in quite a detailed statement that he was, the president was "exacting revenge" against his client who was apparently marched out of the white house. and then just a few hours later, gordon sondland, the us ambassador to the european union said he had been told by the president that he was being recalled from his position, he also gave evidence to that congressional investigation and he told congressmen and women that he had been telling a ukrainian expert that he believed the president was motivated politically when he withheld that aid and that it was, in effect, a quid pro quo scenario because he wanted, in return, an investigation on this political rival or likely rivaljoe biden. he is out of a job as well. within two days of the president being acquitted of those charges, those impeachment charges, two senior officials who said damaging things against him are out.

fresh from the embarrassment of iowa, democrat candidates hoping to take on president trump in november's us election are taking part in another televised debate. on tuesday, supporters in new hampshire will get to choose which person they want to support. all eyes are on pete buttigieg and senator bernie sanders, who came out ahead in iowa — and leading the polls in new hampshire. jane o'brien is in manchester, new hampshire for us. an apology because we keep dragging you away from the debate to ask you what is going on in the debate. that apology given, what is going on? your timing is actually impeccable because yet again we have just gone to a commercial break, so you are all right at the moment. yes, this has been a very spirited debate, far more so very spirited debate, far more so than the previous ones. we

have just seen senator amy klobuchar from minnesota fighting for her political life, she is way down in the polls and this could be her last chance to show she is a vital candidate. pete buttigieg one in iowa and he is, his closest rival bernie sanders is doing well in new hampshire. he is topping the polls here, so those two have been going head—to—head. but i have to say the gloves have not really been off in this debate, even yet. i think the sense that the party needs to be united, they need to really portray a strong front if they are going to be donald trump and not alienate the supporters of the other candidates is still the most important thing for them. we have not seen the kind of visceral had to have debates that we might have expect it given the rising stakes in this campaign. but even so, it has been energetic, it has been passionate at times, and voters

who want to see their candidates portray themselves ina more candidates portray themselves in a more personal way, i think, will have got something tonight. former vice president joe biden, had a terrible result in iowa, he said it was a gut punch, is he fighting backin a gut punch, is he fighting back in new hampshire? it was really strange, at the beginning of the debate he conceded he had had a bad time and then went on to say that you know, he almost might lose new hampshire. seeming to acknowledge the fact that is in acknowledge the fact that is in a perilous situation. losing these early primary states is not a winning strategy, so i'm not a winning strategy, so i'm not quite sure where he was going with that. but for him he has strong support in the southern states, he has strong support among african—american voters, so it would not all be overfor him if he didn't do well, but it is still not a good look. and what he loses is the confidence of donors. he needs money more than any of the other candidates, he has not a lot of cash. bernie sanders is out raising him, he

has $25 million raised in january alone, so joe has $25 million raised in january alone, sojoe biden has a lot to catch up. jane, this time we will let you go back to the debate, thank you for joining us in new hampshire. and you can keep up to date with the latest developments in the race to challenge president trump on our website. you'll also find a feature on who's leading in the polls, and a simple guide to the us primaries. that's all at bbc.com/news — or you can download the bbc news app. let's get some of the day's other news. the united nations is warning that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the province of idlib in syria. aid agencies estimate that nearly 600,000 people have been forced from their homes in the past two months. syrian government forces backed by russia continue to seize ground from the rebels. a senior united nations envoy says spain is utterly failing people in poverty. philip alston had a twelve—day tour of the country. he highlighted a housing crisis of what he called stunning

proportions. he said a completely inadequate social protection system left large numbers in poverty by design. prince harry and his wife meghan have appeared for their firstjoint public engagement since quitting as working members of the british royal family. harry gave a speech at this hotel in miami at an event organised by american bankjpmorgan chase. the fee — if there was one — has not been disclosed. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: as the film world prepares for the oscars, one female director tells us why hollywood is "unconsciously" racist. there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many

muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'ba by doc' duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories. head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: quarantine squads in china are detaining people suspected of being infected by the corona virus as authorities confirm more than 700 deaths.

two key witnesses in donald trump's impeachment have been removed from their government posts. antarctica has recorded its highest temperature since readings began. an argentine research station located at the tip of the antarctic peninsula recorded a temperature of 18.3 degrees celsius. the peninsula is one of the fastest—warming places on earth — temperatures there have risen three degrees over the past half—century. i'm joined now by professor james renwick, a climate scientist at victoria university of wellington. professor, 18.3dc, that is almost t—shirt whether. can we trust the figure? yes, we can trust the figure? yes, we can trust the figure? yes, we can trust the figure. this station is run by the argentinian meteorological service, it held the previous record of 17 point forjust a few the previous record of 17 point for just a few years the previous record of 17 point forjust a few years ago. i was pa rt forjust a few years ago. i was part of the team that

investigated the records they very closely, so we know it's a very closely, so we know it's a very well—maintained side and it's very likely this new temperature record will be taken as correct —— 17.4. so, yes, does seem like t—shirt weather, it is antarctica, but the very northern tip of the antarctic peninsula falls just outside the antarctic circle. so in the southern ocean, is a little bit more exposed to the warmerair little bit more exposed to the warmer air from little bit more exposed to the warmer airfrom the little bit more exposed to the warmer air from the mid— latitudes. so it gets above freezing there quite often. are you surprised by the new record? a little. because the previous record was only five yea rs previous record was only five years ago. it'sjust previous record was only five years ago. it's just a one—day record, so these day to day temperatures to jump around quite a lot. so i expected the previous record to not be exceeded for at least a decade or so. exceeded for at least a decade or so. so yes it is a bit of a surprise, and an indication of how quickly the ocean is warming up. what mitre tell us

about antarctica and about the climate general, that new record? —— what might it tell us? it isjust one day at one station, but it does fit the general picture of a warming planet and, indeed, general picture of a warming planetand, indeed, a general picture of a warming planet and, indeed, a warming continent of antarctica. a number of places around the antarctic continent now i'll warming up and we know that the south pole had its warmest year on record last year, along with a number of places around the world. so it fits the pattern of general warming, that picture around the world, climate change, we know it's down to human emissions of greenhouse gases. so it's another alarm bell, iwould say, that we are seeing very significant change all over the world and if we want that change to stop and we want to the extremity of the fires, droughts, the floods, and we really need to go and start reducing emissions of

greenhouse gases globally. and very briefly, professor, how long you this record to last was yellow that's a great question. given the last one was only around four a few yea rs, was only around four a few years, perhaps in the coming decade we will see it exceeded again. i suspect we might see it exceeded, yes, within the next ten years or so. professor james renwick, thank you so much for speaking to us. my pleasure. botswana has raised more than $2 million from its first auction of licences to hunt elephants since lifting a ban last year. the auction allowed companies registered locally to bid for the right to kill ten elephants. the government says the hunting will take place in the areas where there has been the most conflict between elephants and humans. conservationists fear it could fuel poaching — as nomsa maseko reports. botswana, home to 130,000 elephants, more than any other country. with this year's hunting season less than two months away, the government has sold seven

licenses for a kill of ten elephants apiece in controlled hunting areas, and hunters will be allowed to export the trophies. bidders in the online auction who must become companies registered and botswana are expected to each put down a refundable deposit of $18,000 usd. shortly after coming into office in 2018, president mokgweetsi masisi revoked the hunting ban, which came into force in 2014. he argued that with an increasing human population, elephants were threatening people's lives and crops in rural villages. but animal activists have condemned the move. they say hunting is not an effective long—term population control method. many rural communities believe a return to commercial hunting will help keep the elephant population away from their villages and bringing much—needed income and place

is not suitable for a high—end tourism. nomsa maseko, bbc news. this weekend, nasa and the european space agency will launch a mission aimed at giving us a better understanding of the sun. the spacecraft will come so close to the sun that special measures have been taken to make sure it can withstand the heat, as our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. incredible images of the sun, it's turbulent surface revealed in fiery detail. the view of our star is about to get much better. this is solar 0rbiter, it is jam—packed with instruments and will take images from closer to the sun then any spacecraft has before. temperatures will reach 500 degrees which has meant using of unexpected materials. obviously it gets extremely hot. we had to develop special technologies and coatings for the spacecraft because the environment is going to be so hostile. one of the coatings we had to develop was based on baked

animal bones and that is at the front of the heat shield to stop it from getting too hot. solar 0rbiter has a long and difficult journey ahead. after leaving the earth, it will take about two years to get into prime position, orbiting closer than the planet mercury to the sun, but every time the spacecraft passes behind our star, it will lose contact for weeks — and if anything goes wrong, it could be burned to a crisp. but gradually the spacecraft will lift its position, letting us see the sun's polls for the first time. what i love is that you can see the fantastic structure on the site here, a structure that is lofted up into the atmosphere which we call the prominence. at the royal astronomical society, solar records reveal dramatic activity, which can impact us. it's called space weather, and can knock out navigation and communication satellites and cause power failures. in the same ways we have terrestrial weather

in the earth's atmosphere, we have space weather in the sun's atmosphere. so, we are excited about getting up close and personal with the sun so we can understand the origins of space weather and ultimately develop our physical knowledge so we can better predict space weather in the future. the spacecraft‘s instruments will be switched on soon after launch and it will take years for all of their results to come back. only then will we be able to truly shed light on our star. rebecca morelle, bbc news. hollywood is preparing for the film industry's biggest night of the year, the oscars on sunday. but like other award ceremonies this season, it's facing criticism for failing to recognise people of colour. among the omissions is the director of the acclaimed film harriet, a biography of harriet tubman, who helped free hundreds of slaves in the american south. 0ur arts editor will gompertz has been to meet the director, kasi lemmons. god was watching but my feet was my own. running, bleeding, climbing, nearly drowned.

nothing to eat for days and days but i made it. i thinkjust having a black woman in the title role has been challenging, you know, for hollywood, you know. you be ready. but why is it challenging? i think that just believing that women in leading roles, women, not to mention black women, can be... ..can really be a box office draw, a woman—led picture, you know, can make money at the box office and be successful. her film harriet did just that, although it did take a very long time for the movie about the famous 19th—century abolitionist to get made. in hollywood, i learned that, actually, people are frightened easily... intimidated is the word i should use. people are very intimidated of black women. i need thoughts here, it's almost like, i need ideas. would you say hollywood is intrinsically racist and sexist? well, yeah, of course, i mean, we have to look at it, it's very provable. i think people are

unconsciously racist. just hold on. and suck in. a feeling that hollywood perpetuates racial stereotypes goes back a long way, with classics such as gone with the wind caricaturing a black woman as a deferential domestic servant, known as mammy. so she would often be this sassy black woman with a kind of broken vernacular, so a lot of "honey child" and things like that. hattie mcdaniel won an oscar for her performance. that was 80 years ago. cynthia erivo could win for playing harriet on sunday at an academy awards where she's the only person of colour to be nominated in the acting categories. it's embarrassing, you know? hollywood, that is supposed to be, you know, this is our dreams, this is our best self, this is our most aspirational self that we are presenting and, hopefully, related to who we really are in the time capsule of this moment, so it's bizarre, it's weird and it's embarrassing.

it does take time to change but the feeling here as we approach sunday's academy awards is, for the oscars, that time really is up. will gompertz, bbc news, los angeles. just to reassure you we will have full coverage of the oscar results here on bbc news. it is monday morning for a lot of the rest of the world. i will even be here in the seat to tell you who one. a man has been placed underjudicial investigation in paris for stealing a mural by the street artist the mural, depicting a masked rat weilding a box—cutter, was taken in the middle of one night last september. two men used a metal cutter to remove it from the back of a car park entry sign just outside the pompidou centre where it had been put up a year earlier. police arrested three men in connection with the theft earlier this week, and have now released two of them. the mural itself has not been recovered.

if you know where it is you can reach me on twitter. i'm @jamesbbcnews. hello there. we've got some very strong winds indeed coming our way this weekend. all courtesy of storm ciara, which will arrive on sunday. that's when we are going to see the strongest winds, with met office warnings already in force. these could yet be updated through the weekend so make sure you stay in touch with the forecast over the course of the weekend. now, storm ciara itself will develop under an incredibly strong jet stream, one of the strongest atlanticjet streams i've seen, with the winds in the jet stream 250 miles an hour. that is what will make this intense area of low pressure on sunday, which is storm ciara. before we get there, over the next few hours, we will see the winds pick up as well. it will become quite blowy. a band of rain pushes east in intensity, followed by some blustery showers across western areas. because it has been quite a windy start on saturday morning.

temperatures between 4—8 celsius. the rest of saturday, there'll be a fair bit of sunshine for a time, especially across england and wales, but further north across ireland and scotland, the cloud will thicken through the afternoon. outbreaks of rain and hill snow in scotland and strong gusts of wind. northern ireland and scotland. they could reach up to 70 miles an hour. strong enough to cause some disruption. from there it becomes very windy overnight as well across england and wales. a band of rain pushes its way in. storm ciara doesn't really start arriving until later on sunday. let's take a look at ciara, here it is on the pressure charts. you can see how tightly packed the isobars are on this weather system, always a sign of strong winds. the strongest winds will come along in two batches, but really, it is going to be windy on sunday, pretty much across the whole of the uk, with gusts for most of us in the range of something like 60—80 miles an hour. we are going to see some impacts, some disruptive weather, on sunday.

the strongest winds for scotland, along through the afternoon, certainly on the southern flank of this area of low pressure. that is where we will see the sign of strong winds. notice how that comes through, especially through the central belt, late in the day on sunday. that could cause problems. further south for england and wales we have got a cold front that is going to be bringing a squally band of heavy rain through, and that is ahead of this band of rain where we will get the strongest wind gust. with gusts of 60—80 miles an hour, and the strongest winds potentially lasting some 6—9 hours, the risk of impact just increases. transport disruption is to be expected. whether on roads, rails, at airports or even the ferries, we could see significant problems on sunday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: quarantine squads in china are detaining people suspected of being infected by the new corona virus while authorities in beijing have banned large social gatherings to control the outbreak. the number of deaths from the epidemic has jumped to over 700 — surpassing the toll from the sars outbreak two decades ago. democrat candidates trying to be the one to take on president trump are holding a debate in new hampshire. on tuesday supporters there will get to choose which one they support. all eyes are on pete buttigieg and senator bernie sanders. two key witnesses in donald trump's impeachment have been removed from their government posts. lieutenant—colonel alexander vindman has been sacked from his white house job, the us ambassador to the european union, gordon sondland issued a statement saying he was being recalled from his post. coming up in around 10 minutes time, newswatch, but first on bbc news