something hamas denies. for more on all this, i spoke with our diplomatic correspondent paul adams, who is injerusalem. thanks forjoining us. these reports coming out of gaza paint a grim picture of the humanitarian situation there. what more can you tell us about how hospitals in gaza are coping? well, with great difficulty. they are all pretty much surrounded in gaza city, because the israelis argue these are places where hamas fighters have based themselves, and consequently there have been intense battles going on around us hospitals. the israelis say they are not targeting hospitals per se, and they are trying to get the civilian populations that are clustered around them to try to leave, and also starting to think about evacuating the hospitals themselves, so that israel can concentrate on dealing with hamas. there is a small development on that front this evening. the israelis said tomorrow they are going to evacuate babies from the shifa hospital to a safer location.
Preparing to fight the taliban on the front lines. Also in the program, alice is here counting down to the ecb rate decision. Alice . Youre right, cara. World markets waiting for the European Central bank to unveil exactly how and when it will try to trigger growth in this stagnant block. But is it too little too late or are investors confident that Mario Draghis plan will provide muchneeded economic stimulus . Hello, midday here in london. 7 00 a. M. In washington. 9 00 p. M. In seoul, where an attacker has slashed the face of the u. S. Ambassador to south korea. It was at a breakfast meeting that mark lippert was knifed by a man, calling for the reunification of north and south korea. It left him needed 80 stitches. The north has described the attack as just punishment for u. S. Warmongers. Our correspondent in seoul is stephen evans. Reporter the attack was vicious and serious. Ambassador lippert was struck with a knife at a breakfast meeting the at an arts center in the south korea
And northern europe. Health officials in china have reported the total number of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic has now passed 1,600, with 142 new deaths and more than 2,000 new cases confirmed. In france, an 80 year old chinese tourist has died from the virus after visiting hubei province. Its the first fatality from the disease in europe. It comes as the head of the World Health Organisation said that its too early to know if the outbreak will become a global pandemic. Nick bea ke reports from hong kong. China has declared war on an invisible killer, sending more doctors and soldiers into the worst affected areas. Now, the new coronavirus has claimed its first victim outside of asia. An elderly chinese man who travelled to france. Translation last night, i was informed of the death of an 80 year old patient who had been hospitalised at the bichat hospital since the 25th of january and who was suffering from a coronavirus lung infection. Back in china, all those returning to the