let's get more on this story from our correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonell. he stock markets, though, in asia have responded quite positively. i suppose it could have been a lot worse. yes, well, i mean, there's no doubt that this headline is going to... this headline figure is going to... this headline figure is going to get some attention. i mean, the lowest gdp growth in china for three decades. it's not nothing, and it does seem to show a softening of the domestic demand here, and also the trade war really kicking in and having an impact on chinese exports. the reason people don't think it is that bad is because, firstly, it is within the government's target range anyway for last year. and secondly, some economists think that the trade war may have actually done the chinese economy some favours. that's because the years of breakneck growth here, which delivered this vast mountain of unserviceable debt, that's all going to come to an end. and so policymakers have been trying to sort of stepdown demand, step down expectations, to deliver a more sustainable c

stephen mcdonell in beijing.ent's cobra committee is meeting in the cabinet office to discuss the threat to the uk from coronavirus. our political correspondent, jessica parker, is in downing street. yes, and the prime minister appeared on the steps of number or a short while ago because he is hosting a reception to celebrate chinese new year. a short time ago the chinese ambassador to the uk arrived at downing street for that reception and said the chinese government is doing everything it can to curb this crisis. the cobra meeting, an emergency meeting, started at midday. that is being chaired by the health secretary, matt hancock. cobra meetings are when key ministers and officials come together to coordinate the uk response to a crisis. among those attending are people from the foreign office, the department for transport, of course, there passengers travelling from china back to the uk are being offered advice as they land. and the department for education attending as well. one of the reasons we understand

stephen mcdonell reporting there from wuhan province.ration is under way in eastern turkey, where an earthquake has killed at least 22 people. more than a thousand people have been injured. teams worked through the night in freezing temperatures, to try to reach those buried under collapsed buildings. rescuers say 39 people have been pulled from the wreckage, with more than 20 feared to be still trapped. football clubs in the uk have been accused of being too dependent on sponsorship from the gambling industry. the sports minister nigel adams said teams needed to look at different sources of income, given the social problems caused by gambling. his criticism comes after a deal was announced between the fa and betting companies to show some matches exclusively on their websites. last year, nearly 7 million of us used buy now, pay later companies to help spread the cost of online purchases for clothing and shoes. firms like klarna and clearpay allow people to delay payment, or split the cost over a number of months — but debt charities are

stephen mcdonell in beijing. for more information on the coronavirus, visit our website.rticles and video, this piece by our health correspondent james gallagher on how worried we should all be about the coronavirus. bbc.com/news for all that. on day two of donald trump's impeachment trial in washington, the us senate is hearing opening arguments as the prosecution makes its case that the president should be removed from office for abuse of power and obstructing congress. mr trump denies using american military aid to pressure ukraine into helping discredit one of his democratic party rivals. the lead impeachment manager, the democrat adam schiff, set out the prosecution case. the documents and testimony that we were able to collect paints an overwhelming and damning picture of the president's efforts to use the powers of his office to corruptly solicit foreign help in his re—election campaign, and withhold official acts and military aid to compel that support. over the coming days, you will hear remarkably consistent evidence of president trump's corrupt scheme and cover

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has been to hubei, where the virus was first diagnosed — andthis report. the approaches to hubei province are like scenes from an apocalyptic movie. only after a temperature scan can you pass these checkpoints. the unwell are not allowed to travel. what's more, the lockdown is spreading. roads out of the infection zone are being closed. so, basically that's the border that way. the police have told us that we can drive in but we can't drive out. so it seems that this whole province where the coronavirus first broke out is now going to be locked down. we cross the border and drive through ghost towns. instead of lunar new year celebrations, people are in survival mode. on the first day of the year of the rat all these shops are closed, there is pretty much nobody on the street here. i mean, this isjust one of the towns you come across when you first enter the province and people just don't know for how long it's going to be like this, for how long they have to stay indoors or risk being infected with this potentially deadly coronavirus, which ca

let's talk this through with stephen mcdonell who is beijing for us. there been any reaction from china on this at all? the chinese government has welcomed this and why wouldn't they? it is a correct decision on the part of washington they say to stop labelling china as a currency manipulator. many observers will see this as much about politics as it is about economics. it seems to be an olive branch from washington to beijing in the run—up to the signing of this phase one part of the trade agreement to break the trade war deadlock between the economic world superpowers. for some it seems confusing. four years of the us government has been saying that china has been artificially manipulating its currency to make exports more attractive. as recently as august, this was like an official designation. now we are led to believe, because of china says we will not do this anymore, that is enough for the us and the us treasury has removed that designation. one way of looking at it though is that it kind of doesn't really matter because china does not ca re if

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has been to hubei, in central china.ke scenes from an apocalyptic movie. only after a temperature scan can you pass these checkpoints.

linked to weakening domestic demand and trade tensions with the united states. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonellou reading these figures? well, they will certainly make people sit up. i mean, you see a figure that is the lowest in three decades, what's happening with the chinese economy, people will be asking. well, of course, it's the slowing of domestic demand and the trade war. how could the trade will not have some sort of impact on the chinese economy? however, funnily enough, it is not such a bad news story, and some economists might even say that the trade war has kind of helped the chinese economy. that's because policymakers here for a long time have been trying to step down demand here, to step down the economy, to break away from the yea rs of economy, to break away from the years of this sort of debt fuelled, unsustainable growth, to a more modern economy. to have, you know, hi—tech industries and the like, a service driven economy. and if this trade war has kind of forced the hand of some people a bit, well, maybe so be it. and i don't think they are going to be necessarily hitting

idea how long the lockdown will last, adding to a sense of concern. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonellas visited the province near to the exclusion zone around wuhan. still in a pretty dire state. hospitals are calling for donations from people in terms of face masks, the provincial government has ordered millions of facemasks, so somewhere they are churning them out on the production line. special military medical teams have arrived to bolster the local teams and also teams from shanghai. but the problem isjust so huge and the lockdown area, if you can call it that, is getting wider. we are just across the border from hubei. but this is also a place very much at the heart of the emergency. all of these cars are either from this small city or they have had to pass a screening point to enter. cities along this border area in the region are doing similar things. in some smaller villages and towns, they have taken it upon themselves to say, anybody who is an outsider, who does not live there, they cannot come in. they are locking down the village. they are deciding, we are going to as a g

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has been to the province of hubei, where the virus was firstted, and sent this report. the approaches to hubei province, like scenes from an apocalyptic movie. only after a temperature scan can you pass these checkpoints. the unwell are not allowed to travel. what's more, the lockdown is spreading. roads out of the infection zone are being closed. so, basically, that's the border that way. the police have told us that we can drive in but we can't drive out, so it seems that this whole province, where the coronavirus first broke out, is now going to be locked down. we cross the border and drive through ghost towns. instead of lunar new year celebrations, people are in survival mode. on the first day of the year of the rat, all these shops are closed, there's pretty much nobody on the street here. this is just one of the towns you come across when you first enter the province, and peoplejust don't know for how long it's going to be like this, for how long they have to stay indoors or risk being infected with this potentially deadly coronavirus, w

stephen mcdonell is in beijing for us. what's the latest from their? asian station, which is the old est outside asian station, which is the oldest station in beijing, where you can probably see behind me, people are moving through, travelling in big numbers, going home forthe lunar new year. there is news that this virus can actually be spread from person to person is a concern when you have millions of people travelling around china, and also gci’oss travelling around china, and also across the world for that matter, and that is why there are these new screening procedures being put in place at train stations and airports. with millions on the move, i guess it can only spread? yeah, well, for example, even overseas we have now australia joining singapore, japan, thailand, and south korea and screening flights coming out of wuhan. a lot of chinese people travel to a country like australia, and thailand as well. millions of chinese travellers go to thailand, have been to thailand already, so at this time there will be a big influx of passengers from he

thank you, stephen mcdonell, in beijing for us.dbly, the coronavirus is causing concern around the world. we can help you put that risk in context. there's lots of information on our website, including this explainer on how a city can be put into quarantine. that's all at bbc.com/news, or you can download the bbc news app. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. at least 13 people are now known to have been killed in storms that have ravaged parts of spain. four people are still missing after storm gloria triggered floods and swept away roads. prime minister pedro sanchez flew over some of the worst hit areas and later told reporters that climate change had played a part. us senators have been accused of falling asleep, playing games and breaking other rules during president trump's impeachment trial. the senators are acting as the jury to decide whether the president should be removed from office. the trial has heard that mr trump's alleged abuse of power threatens american democracy. the us government has ig

stephen mcdonell has now crossed over to the neighbouring henan province and told us how authoritiesre battling to control the virus there. the us president's attorney said his accusers have no evidence in the real motive was to undermine his re—election campaign. chris buckler said the democrats were continuing to make their argument with resolve, even though they may not have the numbers in the senate to be successful in impeaching the president. donald trump was mccoys did try to counter some of the arguments made by the democrats' impeachment team, but mainly they try to set at a bigger picture argument, that the democrats weren't really concerned with abuse of power or that mr really concerned with abuse of power orthat mrtrump really concerned with abuse of power or that mr trump had not been behaving inappropriately in office was not instead they claim they were more concerned with overturning the vote that put him in that office in the first place. they are asking you to tearup all of the first place. they are asking you to tear up all of the ballots across this country on yo

simon jones, bbc news. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonell is heading west out of beijing towardsuhan. he tweeted as he went — saying that chinese cities bordering hubei province, where the outbreak started, appear to be going into semi—lockdown. he also tweeted this photo taken on board a high speed train heading towards hubei province — it would normally be completely full around the lunar new year holiday. and he also posted this video of screening at a check point close to the border with hubei — where he and his colleagues had their temperatures checked before being allowed to proceed. he sent this report once he arrived in the province. this is hubei province, where this virus this is hubei province, where this vii’us emergency this is hubei province, where this virus emergency started. as you can see, it's pretty quiet on the first day of the year of the rat. all of these shops are closed. there is pretty much nobody on the street here. when we came in, the police said we could enter this province, but they wouldn't let us back out. what this shows is that it looks like the

stephen mcdonell has been following the story in beijing for us.ning of a trade deal tomorrow, this is perfect timing, isn't it? yes, this has and is definitely being seen at least in pa rt is definitely being seen at least in part a political rather than economic decision, an olive branch from washington debating in the lead up from washington debating in the lead up to the signing of that first phase of an agreement which it is hoped will eventually end the trade war between the world 's two largest economies. some will be sceptical, wondering how is it that after years of the us saying that china is a currency of the us saying that china is a currency manipulator, that the gain is being kept artificially low in order to make exports cheaper, donald trump speaks about this all the time, how do you suddenly make the time, how do you suddenly make the decision that now, officially, you are not a currency manipulator? but according to the us treasury, the chinese government has promised to stop these kind of, what they would say, are anti—competitiv

stephen mcdonell is in beijing. and the us—china trade issue, no great surprise? yes, i think we saw this coming, people predicted it, and yet there will be headlines that china has just posted its slowest, its gdp growth for three decades, now, people will think what is going on in china, this is one of the great drivers of the world economy? it is a dampen being of domestic consumption and the trade war with the us really kicking in, in terms of having an impact on exports. but, the reason people aren't panicking here is there are sections of the economy which are still holding up pretty well. retail sales and the like, and also, some economists think that actually, funnily enough, the trade war might have been helping china's economy, because policy makers here for a long time have been trying to slow down growth, to have better, more sustainable growth, rather than the break neck growth from before, which was fuelling this credit boom, and people couldn't make the repayments. so this is hopefully leading to a mo

stephen mcdonell. the world health 0rganization explained the levels of concern.only two weeks ago. so we still don't know much of its features. we are not having enough information to determine how exactly it is being transmitted, what is the source of the virus, how severe it is. so there is still a lot to learn. however, the good thing is that it has been identified very quickly that china has shared genetic sequence of the virus, so it helped other countries to start testing people. and we had exported cases in thailand, japan and korea. so it is obviously something that everyone needs to monitor. we need to understand really how many people will get severely ill. we have had a couple of casualties, as you mentioned in your report. really we are trying to work with countries to help them monitor this virus and treat those who get sick. time for a look at the headlines. the duke of sussex says there was "really no other option" to stepping down as a senior royal. it was prince harry's first speech since the announcement that he and the duchess of sussex intende

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing.of this crisis. health screening is in place at transport hubs across the country. public celebrations marking the lunar new year are being cancelled and the inconveniences in considerable. but most people are welcoming decisive action from the government. china is a very strong country. it can definitely control the virus. also, a vaccine will be developed. we are very confident. i think this thing will almost certainly go away in the near future, like sars in 2003. now the government's job is to prevent the spread. i think it will disappear by itself. in wuhan where the outbreak started, hospitals are stretched to the limit. the stress on the system is starting to take its toll. i have a fever and a cough so i‘m worried i am infected. i don‘t know the results but i am concerned. i am a bit nervous i have the virus. wuhan is a very large city with a large population. the medical capacity of wuhan alone cannot withstand the outbreak of the virus. it needs the support of the whole count

stephen mcdonell is in beijing, where large gatherings to celebrate the chinese new year have been cancelledhen, what's the latest there? right across china celebrations which are normally associated with the lunar new year are being called off. as you mentioned, the temple fairs in beijing cancelled. in guangdong cinemas have been closed for the duration and many cities near wuhan following the lead of that city where the outbreak of the coronavirus first happened and have shut down all public transport systems within the city and leaving the cities. one the problems is the health system in wuhan has been swamped with people and some have been sick have left wuhan to go to shanghai or beijing or dalian seeking treat and, they've taken the virus with them. we've had people who have died in hubei province, it is the province that rings beijing and in the north—east of china, we've heard of another death. people have died, it's spreading to other parts of china. this is why authorities are taking these drastic measures. i don't think anybody believes it's going to stop the problem. they arejus

we ca speak now to our china correspondent stephen mcdonell. n, how worried are people about this virus? certainly everybody sat up and paid attention when a couple of hours ago chinese officials came out and announced they were now nine people dead, at least 440 people infected. they are saying the reason that the infection numbers are jumping they are saying the reason that the infection numbers arejumping up they are saying the reason that the infection numbers are jumping up so quickly is that they are getting better at identifying who has the coronavirus, a potentially deadly violence which causes pneumonia. worryingly, these officials have suggested that the virus could mutate, making it more contagious and some chinese scientists have even suggested that nobody travels to nor leaves wuhan, a city of 11 million people, and all of this at the height of the chinese new year, the height of the chinese new year, the most important festival in this country. it does show the extent to which there is concern and potentially, we have heard from th

well as the united states, and today a case was confirmed in nepal. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonellm beijing. you cannot move around china at the moment without being aware of this crisis. screening is in place around the country. public celebrations marking the lunar new year is being cancelled and most people are welcoming decisive action from the government. translation: china is a very strong country and can definitely control this virus and a back seat will be developed, we are very confident —— a back seat will be developed. i think this will be going away in the near future. like sars in going away in the near future. like sars in 2003. i think it going away in the near future. like sars in 2003. i think it will disappear by itself. where the outbreak started, hospitals are stretched to the limit. a stress on the system are starting to take its toll. translation: that you're fever and a cough, i ready i am infected. wuhan isa and a cough, i ready i am infected. wuhan is a large city with a large population. the city itself cannot withstand the peak of the virus alone. it need

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in bejiing (sot and sent this update. pretty worried about it, and are frankly relieved that the authorities are taking such drastic measures to try and bring the situation under control, or at least stop it from getting worse. i mean, right across china, events which you would normally have during the spring festival have been cancelled. in beijing, the temple fairs that you normally have at this time of year are called off. in guangdong province, cinemas are closed for the entire period, and in shanghai they are preparing to shut down disneyland. and in the province next to wuhan, other cities, more cities are following the lead of wuhan, shutting down all public transport. that means nobody coming in and out of those cities. even within the cities, nobody moving around. we've now had people who have died outside of wuhan as well. somebody in hubei province quite close to here, another person in the north—east. as people in wuhan have struggled to find a spot in the hospital, people have been sick and travelled elsewher

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in bejiing and sent this update.pretty worried about it and are frankly relieved that the authorities are taking such drastic measures to try and bring the situation under control or at least try and stop it from getting worse. right across china events which you would normally have during the spring festival had been cancelled. in beijing, the temple fairs that you normally have at this time of year have been called off, in guangdong province cinemas closed for the entire period. in shanghai they are preparing to shut down disneyland. and in the province next to wuhan, other cities, more cities are following the lead of wuhan, shutting down all public transport. that means nobody coming in and out of the cities, even within the cities, nobody moving around. we now have people who have died outside wuhan as well, somebody in a province quite close to here, another person in the north—east. people in wuhan have struggled to find a spot in the hospital, people have been sick, they have travelled elsewhere, they've gone

from china, our correspondent stephen mcdonell has the latest. wuhan is in a virtual lockdown.ple, you are not allowed to enter any public space without a mask. all public transport has been closed. the last flights in were already half empty. the final train services are also eerily quiet. normally, the lunar new year rush would mean you can't get the tickets. translation: here, we are at the very epicentre of the virus. maybe it's best not to travel. translation: i'm confident our government has the situation well in hand, that the situation will be quickly brought under control. the wuhan shutdown has made this emergency suddenly very real for people right across china. triggering memories of the 2002 sars outbreak, which led to more than 600 deaths. neighbouring cities are also stopping train services, as well as closing bars and restaurants. these drastic measures have been welcomed by the world health organisation. the sequencing was done quickly, but more importantly, it was shared immediately, and that's why korea, japan, thailand will be able to diagnose the new corona

we will talk to our health editor in a moment to see if we should be a lump at first, stephen mcdonell. the reason people are especially worried about this virus is that, as you can see behind me, the chinese new year means that hundreds of millions of people are on the move. they are crisscrossing china and flying out overseas. attitudes here over the last 48 hours had completely changed to towards this sickness because of the mass migration. two days ago we found it difficult to speak to a traveller who was that concerned. now you have people lining up to bite and face masks, they are cancelling trips or having them cancelled for them to predict for example, north korea has announced that all tour groups coming into the neighbouring country have been cancelled for the lunar new year. in wuhan, tourgroups cancelled for the lunar new year. in wuhan, tour groups have been cancelled in terms of leaving the city where the sickness first started, or the outbreak was detected. and of course people will be worried when you have an announcement like today when officials say they are worried a

now, over the past few weeks you might have seen our china correspondent stephen mcdonell on your screensmera man edward lawrence wrote on twitter: "waking up to another day of quarantine. it feels like a very boring episode of big brother, and now my netflix account has stopped working." let's look at what you are reading and watching. the number one story, the flight to evacuate britons out of wuhan, the area which is the epicentre of the coronavirus, that flight epicentre of the coronavirus, that flight has been delayed. as you heard, the mod flying in literary medics on a repatriation flight, hoping to get those people back to the uk soon. at two, the news that the uk soon. at two, the news that the widow of kobe bryant has been speaking about the devastating loss of her husband and her 13—year—old daughter. moving on to the most watched. number one. that story we we re watched. number one. that story we were bringing you about prison officers being assaulted. danny shaw talking to two prison officers about their experience and how it has affected their lives, beyond the prison. at hom

our correspondent stephen mcdonel visited nanyang station — about a five—hour journey from the now closed—off big lunar festival migration is about to start. all those people who went home to see their families for the lunar new year break, well, they are now returning to the big cities, hundreds of millions of them, now in hubei province, where it broke out, of course, they will not be coming back so easily, but everywhere else, like in this province, henan, there are people who have been sick with a virus. they all have to go back. coming into train stations, people are wearing face masks, using hand sanitiser and the like. clearly, the officials here are being very precautious. they are checking people's temperature when they come in. so, here is a family about to come in. they will give them their tickets and be checked on their way into the station. when people arrive back in cities like beijing, though, life will not automatically go back to normal. for example, schools, they are delaying classes. that is kindergarten schools and universities, all imposing a bit of a sort of safety peri

let's talk to our chinese correspondence who is in beijing. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonell you're in a period of quarantine, having been to wuhan itself? a lot of people at the moment are not returning to work in china, big companies like toyota, samsung have said theirfactories are companies like toyota, samsung have said their factories are not reopening after the lunar new year break. ikea has said its shops won't open yet and have totally full don't come to work and if you can, work from home. —— told people. iwas in the province where people are supposed to not go to work because of the risk that you could be passing on the virus to other people. this is applying people all over china. companies are saying we are not reopening, the official holiday period is being extended, schools, universities and classes have been cancelled for the moment. they are trying to when that will be safe. and for them to start again. you can imagine the economic impact in china will be absently enormous. just look at who they province alone, 60 million people, locked down in that province,