This is bbc news. The headlines. The death toll from the coronavirus in china rises to 56. Officials warn the spread of the virus is accelerating and the country faces a grave situation. As the United States announces plans to fly some of its citizens home, the Foreign Office is urging britons to leave the province where the outbreak began and advising against further travel there. A member of the Grenfell TowerInquiry Panel resigns over links with the firm that supplied the tower blocks deadly cladding. More than 35 people are dead after the powerful earthquake in eastern turkey. More than 1,600 are injured. Three million brexit coins go into circulation on friday to commemorate the day britain
leaves the european union. Harry maguires first goal for Manchester United sets them on their way in the fa cup against tranmere, as they win 6 0. That and rest of the days sport in half an hour. The government has said it is looking at all options to help britons leave areas of china, where the coronavirus has killed 56 people and infected at least 2,000 more. The United States is flying its consular staff out of wuhan, where the virus first emerged. China has stepped up travel restrictions and banned the sale of wildlife, as it attempts to control the spread of the disease. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield
hayes has sent this report. 0n the outskirts of wuhan, the race is on to beat the coronavirus. Every bulldozer and excavator that can be found is being used to clear land for a 1,000 bed isolation hospital. It must be finished in two weeks. The trouble is, its needed now. Chinese officials today admitted the virus is spreading faster and that it can be passed on by people who show no symptoms. Chinese officials today admitted the virus is spreading faster and that it can be passed on by people who show no symptoms. There are now growing calls for the British Government to evacuate its own citizens from the city as the us is already doing. I think the uk government is aware now that all the transport links are closed so i find it a little bit surprising that were being told to leave if we can when there is no possible route. Chinese state tv is showing scenes like this, of people treated in modern intensive care units. But videos like this one uploaded to the internet claim to show a different picture of hospitals overwhelmed and staff unable to cope. In beijing reporters mobbed the head of chinas cdc as he tried to calm the growing sense of panic. This virus is not as strong or as dangerous as the sars virus was, he says, but its a new virus so we need time to develop treatment. While the Chinese Government is now taking decisive measures to contain the spread of this virus, many experts think it is already too late. 0nce Study Suggests that in wuhan city alone by the end of next week there will be nearly 200,000 infections and that is why senior doctors in hong kong are calling on the government to close the border with Mainland China. Many places in Mainland China are not waiting. These pictures on the internet appear to show villages and towns
putting up their own improvised borders, shutting themselves off, making sure travellers from wuhan cannot come in. Wuhan itself is now a ghost town. Today this was the centre of a city of 11 Million People during the biggest holiday of the year. And rupert also explained how wary we should be about the spread of the virus. Certainly people should be watching the development of this virus closely, but panicked, no. There are always two things with novel viruses like this that jumped from animals to human. Two questions to be asked. One is how easily do they spread from human to human . And the other is how fatal, or how deadly, are they . In the case of this coronavirus,
it seems to spread very easily from human to human. Thats why we are seeing it spreading so fast in china. But the good news is the mortality rate seems to be very low. Around 2 3 of people who catch it. So it is possible we will see it spread across china and it is possible it will spread around the world. But the good news, as i said, the mortality rate seems to be low and there are doctors now working on a vaccine. We do have good viral treatments now, much better than in previous pandemics, if you think back to the 1918 flu virus that killed upwards of 20 Million People. Its not going to be like that. So, people should be concerned and should watch out for the developments, but no need to panic. Meanwhile here, the department of health says that it has carried out 52 tests for coronavirus. All have come back negative. The government says it is monitoring the situation closely and will continue to work with the World Health Organization and international community. Earlier, we spoke to professor peter piot who is the director of the London School of hygiene tropical medicine. He explained more about the virus and how it spreads. There are so many unknowns still about this new virus. It is a completely new virus, and it is remarkable that less than two weeks after the first cases occurred on december 29th, that on the 9th of january already the virus was isolated. One of the Big Questions is, how infectious is it . Can you contaminate someone when you are still in the incubation period . If that is the case, we would go for a major epidemic, if not a pandemic. We are at the early stages, lets not forget that this virus was isolated only a few weeks ago and it is very new, but we cant take any risks. What is clear is that the virus is spreading much faster than we anticipated at the beginning. It is all over china, we have cases in a number of countries, although no secondary cases have been documented in countries like thailand or france or singapore. That is a big unknown as well, but we cant take any risks and we need to make some really serious Contingency Planning in case there is a major spread of this new coronavirus. Families of people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire have welcomed a decision by a member of the Inquiry Panel to resign. Benita mehra stepped down yesterday, after it emerged she had links to a company that supplied the cladding on the tower block. Our Home Affairs Correspondent danny shaw reports. Every year since the grenfell fire, people come to remember those who lost their lives. They hope the Public Inquiry thats been set up will provide answers as to how the fire took hold, but now there are fresh concerns about the process from survivors and the bereaved after an Inquiry Panel member resigned with hearings about to resume. Benita mehra, who is an engineer,
was going to provide expert advice to the inquiry. But it emerged she had a past link to arconic, the company which supplied the external cladding for the tower block. The inquiry has found the cladding did not comply with building regulations and was the principal reason for the rapid spread of the fire. Ms mehra said herformer role as president of the womens engineering society, which had accepted a donation from arconics charity, had caused a serious concern to the families. Its highly unfortunate that this has now happened. The bereaved and survivors should not have been put in this situation. We should be starting the inquiry for phase two with two Panel Members and now we only have one. The grenfell united group welcomed
ms mehras resignation but accused the government of failing to carry out basic checks before appointing her. It said a new panellist with expertise in Community Relations must be found urgently. The government has given its clearest indication yet that the hs2 High Speed Rail project will go ahead. A formal review of the new line from london to birmingham and the north of engand is taking place, following concerns over rising costs. But today the brexit secretary Stephen Barclay said the rail link will be a vital part of the uks transport network. We have a strong commitment to levelling up all parts of the united kingdom. Hs2 has that from a capacity point of view on the line. Gut feeling, yes or no . Yes. 0ur Political Correspondent iain watson says ministers are usually more cautious
on such a divisive subject. Some of these new northern mps want this project cancelled and want the money diverted elsewhere. 0ther influential voices, such as the conservative mayor of the west midlands, are saying this project must go ahead. What i thought was significant about what Steve Barclay said, he said this was a key part of the levelling up agenda. Boris johnsons attempts to close the north south gap. The implication being the government would be failing to deliver on a key promise, if hsz hits the buffers. Just a brief word of caution. After Stephen Barclay said yes it would go ahead, downing street emphasised this was a gut reaction. Apparently politically, if not anatomically, we shouldnt read too much into the entrails. A Murder Investigation has been launched after the death of a non League Footballer in nottinghamshire. 25 year old jordan sinnot, who played for matlock town, was found unconscious in retford after a night out. A 27 year old man has been arrested and remains in police custody. A man has been awarded £100,000 in compensation from Police Scotland after he was wrongly arrested, handcuffed and spent four nights in custody. Gary webb, from dumfries and galloway, said when Police Arrested him in 2015, they had a warrant for someone else. The police have offered an unreserved apology. Emergency teams in turkey are continuing to search for survivors of fridays earthquake in which more than 35 people are known to have been killed. With the latest, heres richard galpin. She is just five years old, and covered in blood, but this girl is now safe. The rescue team pulling her out from under the smashed blocks of concrete and other debris brought down by the earthquake. For the rescue teams, speed is now essential to save lives in freezing temperatures. This emergency worker using a mobile phone to speak to a family trapped underneath the debris, telling them they must keep awake. In the light of morning, the extent of damage was revealed. This, just one of 30 buildings to have been brought down. And hundreds of aftershocks over the past 2a hours have added to the fear in this earthquake prone region. Some of the homeless have now found shelter, as the temperature at night drops to 10 degrees. 0thers, though, are out on the streets. Richard galpin, bbc news. The baby food manufacturer cow and gate is recalling 15 of its products sold in tesco stores because of concerns that some of them could have been tampered with. Customers who bought 200 gram jars of food for babies aged over seven months are being told not to use them as they may pose a safety risk. Cow and gate products sold in other supermarkets are unaffected. The government is set to overhaul the smart Motorway Network after revealing 38 people have been killed on them in the last five years. Smart motorways dont have a hard shoulder and drivers who break down can be trapped in the speeding traffic. Bbc panorama has found that on one section of the m25, near misses have increased 20 fold since the hard shoulder was taken away. Richard bilton reports. Smart motorways were meant to ease congestion, open up the hard shoulder for traffic, monitor with technology, close a lane when theres a problem. Weve got huge problems on the m1 at the moment near sheffield. But lives are being lost. Jason mercer stopped on the m1 after a bump with another driver. The cameras didnt see them. The lane wasnt closed. They were both killed. They should have been picked up as stationary on the motorway by detectors, camera operators and they werent, and that lane wasnt closed until after they were dead. Without a hard shoulder, the vehicle in trouble has nowhere to go. This van on the inside lane doesnt spot a car in trouble. Jesus and this one onlyjust misses a broken down vehicle. This is a Police Officer trying to divert cars out of lane one. And nearly being hit. There are emergency lay bys but they can be miles apart. We put in a freedom of information request for one stretch of the m25. 0ne warning sign was out of action
for nearly a year, 336 days. There was also a 20 fold rise in near misses 72 in the five years with the hard shoulder, 11185 in the five years without. The government has told panorama that 38 people have been killed on smart motorways in the last five years. A review into the Smart Network is under way. If we are going to have smart motorways, we have to have smart motorways that are safe and in my view they need to be safer than the conventional motorway. The results of the review will be announced shortly but panorama understands Radar Technology will be introduced across the network, along with more emergency lay bys, to try to improve safety on the motorways where a breakdown can kill you. Richard bilton, bbc news. The headlines on bbc news the death toll from the coronavirus in china rises to 56 officials warn the spread of the virus is accelerating and the country faces a member of the Grenfell TowerInquiry Panel resigns over links with the firm that supplied the tower blocks deadly cladding. More than 35 people are dead after the powerful earthquake in eastern turkey more than 1,600 are injured. More now on our story that a member of the Grenfell TowerInquiry Panel has resigned after it emerged she had links to a company that supplied the cladding on the tower block. Earlier, our home affairs correpsondent danny shaw sent us this update from the site of the tower in west london. The Cabinet Office has responded by saying that due process was followed in this appointment and that all procedures and checks
which should have taken place did take place. Officials have also made it clear that the do not believe that benita mehras links with arconic would have affected her impartiality in any way. The second phase will go ahead tomorrow without her. Joining me now to comment on that is a man who lost six members of his family in the Grenfell Tower fire. Thank you very much forjoining us. What is your response to what the Cabinet Office has said . All checks were carried out . It was very upsetting and disrespectful in the way that we found out. That they hadnt done their check. It is a big embarrassment. They should have done thorough checks well before. It is totally disrespectful, you know. How has it affected your confidence in the process . Well, it just shows. By them not doing theirjob in the inquiry, but theyre supposed in the inquiry, what theyre supposed be doing, everyone has the position what theyre supposed to be doing, if theyre not doing it, it doesnt give you much confidence. Would you like to see her replaced with someone else or would you like to see a pause before the second phase of the enquiry, before someone else is fine too as engineering expertise . There definitely needs to be a pause. The Prime Minister promised this extra panel. This is what the families have been fighting for. I hope they keep to their word. This shows another failure in what they see and do, two different things. Would you like to see someone who has engineering expertise or Community Relations expertise . You definitely need someone with community, but then again you have to look at the terms of reference. If the terms of reference are going to be changed, they have to suit the terms of reference. And that is what we and everybody must be looking at. Its very important. Do you believe this can go ahead tomorrow as planned . It shouldnt do. The government made a promise for the extra panel and its not there. So it shouldnt do. That will be totally disrespectful and unacceptable for a lot of everybody, as core participants. Tell us about your situation now. Its two and a half years on. Have you been rehoused . Are you beginning to get your life back on track . Its very hard because there are always recurring problems and new problems that come up. So we are never having time to ourselves. The housing is another big problem. I am waiting to be hosed. Its not acceptable what theyre doing and how they are treating people. You certainly have our sympathies and thoughts. Thank you very much
for your contribution. So, as you can see here, one person is saying that inquiry should not go ahead tomorrow, despite the governments claims it will go ahead on time. The second phase of the inquiry which is looking at the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower and issues regarding building regulations. President trumps defence team have opened their case in the Senate Impeachment trial, accusing the democrats of seeking to overturn the result of the 2016 election. Mr trump denies allegations that he abused his power and obstructed a congressional inquiry. From washington, our correspondent Chris Buckler reports. As the future of his presidency has been facing a congressional challenge, donald trump has been to davos to meet world leaders, to florida to speak to supporters, and ignored other events in washington to attend a pro life rally. Perhaps that is a sign he is looking past this
impeachment trial and already thinking about drumming up votes for this novembers president ial election. Inside congress, his legal team have been arguing that, in bringing this case, the democrats were not really concerned about mr trumps behaviour in office. Instead they claim that they are trying to overturn the vote that put him there in the first place. They are asking you to tear up all of the ballots across this country, on your own initiative, take that decision away from the american people. At the start of proceedings, democrats delivered a more than 28,000 page record of evidence and arguments that donald trump abused his power. But the republican majority inside the senate makes it inconceivable that President Trump could be removed from office. What i have learned through all my years in politics and in life, if you are right and keep fighting for the truth, you will prevail. A couple of miles away in the white house, a confident mr trump was tweeting and encouraging his supporters to tune into televised proceedings. He also made some comments about the democrats that his lawyers would not have got away with inside congress. They will continue making their case tomorrow and you can expect their arguments to become a little more pointed, a little more political and perhaps a little nastier. Chris buckler, bbc news, washington. Police in South East London say they are aware of racist and anti semitic graffiti which has been scrawled across a number of buildings. The graffiti, which has appeared on a bank in blackheath and outside a takeaway in charlton, depicts stars of david, swastikas and White Supremacy insignia. Local mp Matthew Pennycook says, these crimes are a stark reminder of the rise in White Supremacism and jew hatred in our country. Greenwich council has described the defacements as shocking. People in two italian regions are voting in elections that are being seen as a showdown between the government and the far right party of matteo salvini. His anti immigrant and populist
league party is hoping to make big gains in northern emilia romagna, and the southern region, calabria. Emilia romagna is considered the spitirual home of italian socialism, and has been governed by the left since the second world war. A victory there could help the League Leader to become Prime Minister. Its pretty tough for any teacher trying to keep a classroom full of Primary School children fully engaged, so imagine how hard it must be for one whos profoundly deaf, relying on Sign Language and lip reading. But thats exactly the challenge for alysha allen at a school in north london, and shesjust won an award for her achievements. Our reporter has been to meet her. They were looking at my hands and already i had got them. This is a typical maths lesson for year twos in alyshas class. Even though shes profoundly deaf, she teaches at a Mainstream School using british Sign Language and lip reading. She has just received a National Award for her outstanding teaching methods. Itjust breaks it down for them visually. So today. Its notjust for maths, it helps the skills to grow. We have to say, good morning, look at each other during the register. Their friends look at them. They say good morning to each other, eye contact. Alyshas is not the only class that uses british Sign Language at this school. Every single pupil learns it. We are going to have a little peek at the zebras, a year five class, and see what they are up to. It is very rare for all children in a uk school to learn british Sign Language. The head teacher here introduced it 2. 5 years ago. Initially there were some reservations from some parents when she started. However, i think when they see how amazing she is and the progress the children make, and how quickly they pick up the different signs, and for a lot of the children now, they have learned Sign Language for a couple of years, so they have already got some of that knowledge as well. And then there are other adults in the classroom, supporting different children and supporting across the whole classroom, and they see that actually, its a team effort as well, and everybody is supporting and working together for the best of the children. Its my favourite thing to do at school it makes me feel happy. If you learn how to sign, you can communicate with deaf people. Alysha started as a teaching assistant at a special needs school before training as a teacher. Anybody thinking about becoming a teacher, think about it and do it. Because children need more role models. And anybody whos deaf and is thinking they cant do it, you can lets return now to our top story concerns over the spread of coronavirus. And tonight, its emerged that the director general of the World Health Organization is on his way to beijing to meet chinese officials and Health Experts about the outbreak. Well, Larry Brilliant is the chair of the organisation ending pandemics, and was part of World Health Organization team that eradicated smallpox. He was also an advisor on the film contagion which depicted a virus spreading from china around the globe. Hejoin me from his homejust outside of san francisco. Welcome to the programme. Thank you
for having me. What is your assessment of what has happened so far . Everyone watching this must be so far . Everyone watching this must be so grateful that the learned lessons from the sars outbreak in 2002 2003. It wasnt handled as well. It took longer to find out information. They are behaving energetically and actively. Over 90 of the cases and almost all of the deaths have been in china involving chinese people. It must be very difficult, this full moon festival is like christmas. They are cancelling it, for all intents and purposes, to quarantine upwards of 13 Million People. Its the right thing to do, but the world should look upon it with gratitude. The World Health Organization, its pa rt the World Health Organization, its part in this, including the fact
that has yet it has not declared this a Global Health emergency, what your assessment of that . So, they have had two meetings of the special Committee Formed in large part because of what happened in previous pandemics. This is the committee that does or does not declare a Public Health emergency of international concern. The two meetings, and i listened in on both of those meetings, the committee was split almost 50 50, whether to call this a global Public Health emergency. On the side of not calling it global, as i said earlier, almost 95 of the cases are occurring in china. Of those exported to australia, malaysia, hong kong, the United States and france, it is usually a sorrow usually a solitary case that until this morning there had not been
secondary spread. We have now had secondary spread. We have now had secondary spread. We have now had secondary spread in malaysia and australia. So this is a different set of facts than the committee was dealing with when it met on thursday. And i suspect the reaction to these new data points will be to behave very aggressively and to bring the resources together that the declaration would bring. One of the declaration would bring. One of the elements of this which has emerged in the last 48 hours or so is the fact that it can spread from somebody who carries it but doesnt yet demonstrate any symptoms. How troubling is that to you . Its very troubling. If you think about it, if you already have the disease and youre in the hospital and are being contained and then you can spread, you can control that spread with oxygen you can control that spread with oxyg e n pressure you can control that spread with oxygen pressure unmasks and containment gowns. But if youre on an aeroplane and you dont even know you have the disease yet and you are
in contact with lots of people in crowds and you are still a spreader or even a super spreader, those are things to really worry about. Those are some of the things that will be looked at by the committee right now. This is new information. We didnt have that even a week ago. And were still not certain how much that actually we dont even know the actual incubation period of this disease yet. Sars was to 70s. This looks like it is longer. You mention stars. When it comes to the comparison in this business of it incubating and it not being obviously they are but still spreading when its not obvious there, that is different from sars, isnt it . And its also different from a baller . Its very different from a baller . Its very different from a baller . Its very different from a baller. It baller is only transmitted by blood and bodily fluids. Not by ear. Sars was a respiratory disease. I actually
think its very similar to sars