you're watching bbc news at nine with me, geeta guru—murthy — the headlines: scotland's finance secretary derek mackay quits hours before the budget — he admits he acted "behaved foolishly" in messaging a 16—year—old boy on social media. the government wants to rush through new rules in less than three weeks in a bid to prevent a terrorist from being automatically released early from prison. thejustice secretary insists it's not a knee jerk reaction. it's not muscle—clenching, "we're tough, this is all about punishment". this is about public protection. it's the first of a government to get that right, and that's what we're doing. president trump is cleared of abuse of power and obstructing congress after an impeachment trial which bitterly divided the united states. china says 563 people have now died from coronavirus — with 28,000 confirmed infections. i'm spartacus. i'm spartacus! hollywood legend kirk douglas dies at the age of 103, after a film career spanning seven decades. back on the buses. £170 million to reverse a decline in england's bus network, with plans for more frequent services, bus lanes and the first all—electric bus town. and in sport — tottenham come from behind to beat southampton in the fa cup. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. scotland's finance secretary has resigned after a newspaper revealed he had been sending messages to a 16—year—old boy. derek mackay was due to present the scottish government's budget at holyrood this afternoon. the scottish sun printed a series of messages he sent the boy on social media over a six—month period, inviting him to dinner and to attend a rugby event. derek mackay has issued a statement, he says: our correspondent, james shaw, is in glasgow. what more is known about this? well, what the scottish edition of the sun newspaper is recounting is the story of the six months were by derek mackay was in contact with this 16—year—old boy. he contacted him out of the blue around six months ago, and spoke to him and sent messages. they had conversations on instagram and facebook and it seems that derek mackay was in some way trying to establish a relationship with the boy. he invited him to dinner, as you have said. he invited him toa dinner, as you have said. he invited him to a rugby event. and now, whatever his thinking was then, he accepts that his behaviour was foolish, as he puts it, and he has apologised unreservedly to the boy and his family. but clearly, it is hugely damaging for him and the scottish government, coming as it does on the day of the scottish budget. has there been any reaction from the family or people around them? not that we have heard as yet. we do know from the sun's account of the story that his mother was extremely angry when she discovered that these conversations had been taking place. derek mackay is 42 yea rs taking place. derek mackay is 42 years old, a divorced father of two. the boy is 16 years old and the sun newspaper says mr mackay new that this boy was only 16. but the newspaper says that the mother was furious that these conversations we re furious that these conversations were going on and on their account of the story, she called for derek mackay to resign, and that is what has happened. what is the political impact likely to be? it certainly looks damaging at this point. it couldn't have come at a more awkward time for scotland's finance secretary, the most important day of his year, when he supposed to deliver his budget. the scottish government's spending amounts to about £34 billion a year. he was due to announce that spending plan for 2020-2021. that will to announce that spending plan for 2020—2021. that will now not happen. he will be replaced by the public finance minister, a morejunior scottish minister, kate forbes, stepping in at the last minute. but whether it has wider repercussions for the scottish government is too early to tell. at the moment, they are at the stage of damage limitation, trying to manage this extremely embarrassing and awkward situation as effectively and carefully as they can, to ensure that the scottish government can carry on doing itsjob. that the scottish government can carry on doing its job. thanks very much. the government wants emergency legislation ending the automatic release of convicted terrorists rushed through parliament in less than three weeks. ministers are said to be concerned about a shopkeeper from sunderland who is due to be freed at the end of the month, after being jailed for posting messages supporting the islamic state group, and calling for shia muslims to be burnt alive. it's understood that there are five other convicted terrorists due for release before the end of march. our political correspondent, chris mason, is at the ministry ofjustice. chris, the government has been under fire for not acting earlier. what is being proposed now? yeah, there is a real political imperative now for the government to be seen to be acting quickly because of the parallels connecting the last two terror attacks in london. usman khan, the attacker at london bridge at the tail end of november, and then sudesh amman at the weekend in streatham in south london. both of them had been convicted of terror offences and had served time in prison. crucially, they had been released, as is conventional, halfway through their sentences. the view in government over the weekend, at the highest level, i was told, was that there was an acknowledgement from the prime minister that any member of the public thinking, why are these men out on the street, had the same instinct as the prime minister. so a real desire to change the law, in particular because of one case, the case of mohammed zahir kahn. he is from sunderland and is 42 years old. he was convicted of encouraging terrorism and inciting religious hatred. he was charged and arrested in 2017 and sentenced to four and a half years. he is due to be released halfway through his sentence at the end of this month, three weeks tomorrow. the hope from the government is to change the law quickly enough to ensure that he is not released. they think they can do it by the day before, the 27th, three weeks today. here is the justice secretary robert buckland. it's got to go through both houses of parliament, but it is emergency legislation, and therefore time will be found to make sure we get it onto the statute book as quickly as possible. it's not a muscle—clenching "we're tough, this is all about punishment". this is about public protection. it is the firstjob of government to get that right and that's what we're doing. but as i understand it, this isn't going back to a system where you would have more indefinite periods of sentencing so that whilst prisoners were inside, they could be assessed to see if they should be released at all? this is specifically about, in the case of terror offences, ensuring that those convicted of them serve the full term that they are handed down at sentencing rather than the convention of being released halfway through. there are plenty who say that might help resolve this issue, but it isn't the catchall panacea. why? firstly, eventually these people are going to reach the end of their sentence and therefore potentially at that stage still pose some risk, so there are questions around the management of offenders after their release. we saw the metropolitan police commissioner cressida dick talking about this yesterday. then there is the bigger concern which has gone on for the best pa rt concern which has gone on for the best part of 20 years, which is the whole business about how you go about handling terrorist offenders, the whole debate around control orders and tpims, mechanisms for managing offenders like this. and the far bigger philosophical discussion that goes on of security against liberty in the context of a western liberal democracy and how that balancing act is pulled off. but right now at the heart of government, the focus on this issue of convicted terrorists and the point at which they are released is because of the striking similarity in the circumstances surrounding the two terrorists involved in the two most two terrorists involved in the two m ost rece nt two terrorists involved in the two most recent attacks in london. so to clarify, if these changes go through, if you are given a four year sentence but there is still a worry about whether you should be released, you are going to be released, you are going to be released anyway, is that correct? is there any likelihood that that system could change given that we have heard so many concerns about whether you can deradicalise people at all? the specific that is being talked about right now is ensuring that those who are sentenced to a particular length of time serve that full sentence if it is a terrorist —related offence. in other words, it isa —related offence. in other words, it is a mechanism to ensure that those people who are convicted terrorists but are about to be released can be keptin but are about to be released can be kept in prison. it is worth inserting the caveat that plenty think this could be subject to a legal challenge, that you are changing the law midway through somebody‘s sentence, changing the conditions upon which they are legally detained. as you say, there are bigger questions which will be coming their way of mr buckland and others at the ministry ofjustice around their overarching approach to how you handle terrorists, before, during and after conviction. clearly, a huge number of questions are being asked. thanks very much. more than 560 people in mainland china have now died as a result of the new coronavirus. the number of people infected has reached 28,000. stringent measures are being taken across the country to restrict the spread of the disease. our correspondent robin brant joins us from shanghai. the numbers are going up. is there any sense as to when a peak might happen? no, there isn't. let's talk about those numbers. they are climbing ata about those numbers. they are climbing at a rate that we have seen ona climbing at a rate that we have seen on a daily basis now, certainly over the last week. roughly 20% increases on the figures released in the previous 24 hours. these are the chinese government official figures and we are reliant on those. 563 now dead, 28,000 confirmed cases. consistent increases every 24 hours at the moment. no sign that it is peaking, certainly no sign that it is dissipating. and the bulk of these cases, both people contracting these cases, both people contracting the virus and people being killed by it, is in a province to the west of where i am speaking to you, and that city of wuhan. and is there any idea as to how long these knock—downs are going to go on? are we talking months? the key period is these 14 days that everyone agrees now is the incubation for this type of coronavirus. crudely speaking, if you can lock people down for 14 days and they don't present any symptoms, thenit and they don't present any symptoms, then it would appear that those people are in the clear. there was a concern that some people appear to be passing on the virus before they themselves showed any symptoms. that has been challenged in the last couple of days but there still remains a lot of ambiguity surrounding that. let's talk about the measures that national governments are putting in place. we are getting reports in a city not farfrom here, more than 1000 kilometres from wuhan. they are forcing some people in that city to stay in their house. only one member of the family is allowed out every 48 hours to get supplies. here in shanghai, we have evidence of some cases of people who have been to hubei province in the last couple of weeks who are now being visited by the authorities are sometimes dressed in full protective garb, asked to sign a letter of commitment saying they will abide by self isolation at home for that two—week period. and in beijing, there is some evidence of larger gatherings being banned. this is all part of an effort to stop people travelling, gathering and try and prevent the spread of this virus. we have also seen concerns in hong kong, with increasing numbers affected there. some people want to be shut off from mainland china. yeah. hong kong is semi—autonomous in terms of its status, but it is part of china, and yet there is intense pressure on the authorities there to shut itself off. this is mainly because of the way that hong kong was disproportionately affected by the sa rs disproportionately affected by the sars outbreak 18 years ago. quite a high number of people died. there is a lot of pressure on carrie lam and the senior political leadership from many in the medical profession to shut the borders, close the city of two mainland visitors. that isn't happening at the moment. there have been stringent restrictions put in place. some borders have been shut. quarantine will start on saturday in hong kong for any visitor coming from the mainland, a two—week period of quarantine. but nonetheless because of what they call the optics, the pr, the idea of closing the body completely has not been done by the authorities in hong kong —— closing the border completely. the headlines on bbc news... scotland's finance secretary derek mackay quits hours before the budget — he admits he "behaved foolishly" in messaging a 16—year—old boy on social media. the government wants to rush through new rules in less than three weeks in a bid to prevent a terrorist from being automatically released from prison. thejustice secretary insists it's not a knee jerk reaction. president trump is cleared of abuse of power and obstructing congress after an impeachment trial which bitterly divided the united states. in sport, son heung—min's late penalty secures spurs' spot after beating southampton in the fa cup. celtic beat motherwell 4—0 to extend their winning run since the winter break to six games and they remain seven points clear at the top. and we look ahead to this weekend's six nations clashes as england look to bounce back from last week's defeat to france and eddiejones names his squad to take on scotland in the cup. more on those stories after 9.30. the white house has called president trump's acquittal at his impeachment trial a full vindication and exoneration. senators voted along party lines in the republican—dominated chamber, and prosecutors failed to gain the two thirds majority necessary to convict mr trump on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. the democratic minority leader, chuck schumer, said the acquittal was without value as the republicans had refused to allow any witnesses. chris buckler reports from washington. trump is... guilty! despite the protests and 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. senators, how say you? is the respondent, donald john trump, guilty or not guilty? it would have needed two thirds of senators to remove mr trump from office and his party has a majority in the chamber. in the end, only one broke ranks. mr romney, guilty. mitt romney, who delivered a passionate speech, was the sole member of the president because my party to find him guilty. the president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. the president withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. republicans claimed democratic leaders rushed into impeachment and, although they tried to talk up the success of getting mitt romney to vote with them, many people believe the acquittal is a gift to a president running for re—election. not at all. this was seeking the truth. history, if you believe that right prevails, we know we were right prevails, we know we were right and we know they knew they we re right and we know they knew they were wrong, as evidenced by the hiding, shaking in the cloakroom and even being unwilling to listen to the other side. polls suggest that in recent days, president trump's approval ratings have been rising. the white house is presenting this impeachment as an attempt to overturn the will of the people who voted him into office in the first place. i 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 impeach this president because they know they can't defeat president donald trump in november 2020. president trump is due to deliver a public statement later today, expected to be nothing short of a victory speech. he believes he has been exonerated, vindicated, and that this whole impeachment process has backfired on the democrats. on twitter, the president posted a mock—up of a time magazine cover in which he wins elections for decades to come. mr trump can only serve two terms, but it's clear he believes the outcome of this trial has made a second one much more likely. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. the latest results from the democratic caucasus in the us state of iowa show the left—wing senator bernie sanders and the centrist former mayor, pete buttigieg, almost tied in first place. both candidates would have 11 delegates from the state. elizabeth warren, who came in third place, would have five. i'm joined now by greg swenson — a partner at investment bank brigg macadam, and member of republicans overseas, a group for republican supporters who live and work outside of the united states. so president trump survived the impeachment process, which was eminently predictable. but the evidence that was presented surely will or could cause political damage when people go to the polls later this year? possibly, it might work to damage him more on the coast. california, new york and washington, but he was never going to win those places anyway. so it either proves that he did something inappropriate that he did something inappropriate that clearly wasn't impeachable and the bar has been lowered on impeachment, which has long—term implications, or he didn't do anything wrong. either way, the whole impeachment process was doomed from the start. and it was set all along that impeachment was a bad idea. this clearly wasn't bipartisan. but it is difficult for that process to be bipartisan. it is presented as a legal trial, but it is totally political. of course, it is totally political. of course, it is very much a political instrument. you don't have to commit a crime. with bill clinton, at least there was a crime committed, and the same with nixon. but it doesn't necessarily require that. it is very political. but with both nixon and clinton impeachment, it was bipartisan. you had republicans come over the wall in 1974 and you had many democrats, the wall in 1998. you had mitt romney. that was not much of a surprise because there we re much of a surprise because there were some scar tissue between senator romney and obama which goes back a few years. so there was no love lost. it was too bad, it would have been nice to have a perfect record in the sense. he voted to acquit on one, but not both. and in the house, there was not one republican that came over. so this backfired on the democrats. not surprising, given that it is a election period and people look at for their own careers and progression within the party. we have had the state of the union as well, fairly extraordinary scenes, president trump not shaking nancy pelosi's hand as you would normally expect. again, it is the schoolyard brawl kind of argument, who started it, who lowered the bar more? i don't think mrs pelosi helped herself at the end of the speech. she ripped it up. it didn't look good. the handshake thing was somewhat unnoticed. she didn't properly introduce him at the beginning, so there is some coldness between them, to say the least. but her sheer hatred of the president came through at the end. that is not going to help her. she is polling at 40, he is at 49. i don't think she will do well after that scene. obviously, the white house say this isa obviously, the white house say this is a vindication and exoneration, but we are now seeing the process of the democrats choosing their leader. iowa has been chaotic, but if they choose someone who does present a realfight, choose someone who does present a real fight, than the choose someone who does present a realfight, than the politics choose someone who does present a real fight, than the politics will change halfway through this year for the us. there are nine months to go. it isa the us. there are nine months to go. it is a lot of time and if the election were today, i think the president would win comfortably. that is clear. he is polling at 49. he came out of this impeachment well. during the impeachment process , well. during the impeachment process, he went from his usual cap of 45 and the gallup poll had him at 49a of 45 and the gallup poll had him at 49 a few days ago. he had 600,000 new voters. the other thing is what happens behind the polling. he had a rally in wisconsin are you week to go. 20,000 people showed up. 5000 of them were not from wisconsin. but just in the wisconsin crew of 20,000 58% were not republicans and 27% did not vote in 2016. these are some interesting numbers that are flying under the radar. thanks very much. the hollywood legend, kirk douglas, has died at the age of 103. during an acting career that spanned six decades, kirk douglas made more than 80 films. he secured three oscar nominations for best actor, and in 1996 he was awarded an honorary oscar for lifetime achievement. he'll be best remembered for the 1960 classic, spartacus. lizo mzimba looks back at 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? the way we could we have gone in the first place? the easy way. now why should we do that? now, why should we do that? he enjoys playing villains more than heroes, like thejournalist 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. sir, would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion? the critics applauded his roles in films like paths of glory and in 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 never thought of becoming a tycoon or anything. i wanted — it gave me a chance to do movies that i wanted to do. like, i wanted to do spartacus, i wanted to do a movie called the vikings, paths of glory. you know, those are movies — they were not easy, even though they have been quite successful, it was not 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 suffered 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, who's died at the age of 103. £170 million is being invested in england's bus network. local authorities will be invited to bid to become the first town with an all—electric bus fleet, and there'll be money to restore services which have been cut. our transport correspondent tom burridge reports. buses in london have been a big success. they're heavily subsidised, and the mayor decides which routes and sets fares. but in the rest of england, council funding for buses has fallen by more than 40% over the past decade. today, a move by government to buck that trend. there will be more money for superbus networks. one is already in place in cornwall, where a mix of lower fares, frequent services and lots of bus lanes has driven success. campaigners who have called for more funding for years say today's announcement is a positive step, but more action is needed. transport is the highest contributor to carbon emissions in this country. we need to see greater investment in public transport, particularly buses. that takes people out of their cars and polluting forms of transport and electrifies the transport system so we can reduce emissions and improve air quality. councils in england can now apply for £50 million to create the first town with an all—electric fleet. there will also be more money for on demand buses which can be ordered via an app. two out of three public transport journeys in britain are made on a bus. the bus has been on the decline. now a sign that that could change. i can speak now to ben colson, chair of bus users uk, a charity which promotes inclusive public transport and better planning standards, and resolves passenger complaints — he is in our central london studio. what is your response to these announcements? of course it is welcome. it marks a sea change in the decade and a half of decline in bus funding, so that is really welcome. and your peace has already summed up the reasons why it is so important. it is beneficial to the economy, it is beneficial to the environment, but it is also beneficial to those people who are socially isolated as a result of decline or in many rural areas, withdrawal of bus services altogether. so it is a good first round. how do you justify spending a lot of money on a rural bus network if there are not many passengers and it is not making much money, but you wa nt to it is not making much money, but you want to keep people connected? you have just answered your own question. you want to keep people connected. there is so much evidence that by keeping people connected, you would use social care costs and health care you would use social care costs and health ca re costs you would use social care costs and health care costs that make you reduce social and health costs because their general well—being is improved. there's a trade—off between different budgets, of course. you need to look at things holistically and get the right balance. apart from that, there is evidence like cornwall and other exa m ples were evidence like cornwall and other examples were properly arranged buses can cut through the congestion, because congestion is the big killer with this. and they do attract people. so you can convert people from using their cars for each and every trip to a different mindset where they use their cars for those trips that are necessary. an interesting research came out in the last couple of weeks about millennial males, people in their twenties and 30s, who would have been the archetypal car using generations gone by. no longer so, there was a real change taking place. to make that sea change work and to make our community is more sustainable, yes, electric buses are pa rt sustainable, yes, electric buses are part of that, but it is also a mindset change. and that offers a real opportunity. and are there specific proposals that you would like to see that we have not heard of? i think it's a question of how some of the sections of the funding will be specified in detail. the devil is in the detail. for example, £30 million to help bring back services that have been withdrawn. i am not being critical of that, but it isa am not being critical of that, but it is a good headline statement. then it is down to the department for transport to decide how they are going to specify that the local authorities. some local authorities like cumbria, they take the view that they don't want it, so let's make sure they don't get it and use it for something else. so i would like to see that detail, which will come and we have to wait for that, but the detail will be the real indication of how well this is going to be spent and therefore, how good it will be. and do you have an idea of which region or which town might be good for the all electric bus trial? there are going to be so many. it's a difficult question because the all electric bus trial also means hybrid or otherforms of low emission buses coming in on country routes from outside. so a town which is a hub of a large rural area probably is ruled out by that. so it is likely to be a town in a more urbanised area. so i guess we are going to see some part of one of the conurbations or nearby being the most likely place. thanks very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. the most of us today dry with sunny spells. breezy out towards the west and after quite a sunny start in northern ireland, we will see a bit more cloud developing through the day. temperatures ranging from 6—9. through the evening and overnight, the high pressure dominating our weather starts to move away towards the near continent. the isobars cling together so turning windier. friday morning starting chilly, not much fog. a fair bit of sunshine. towards the west we've got some patchy rain and drizzle and more persistent rain and strengthening winds. the wind will be a feature. if you're travelling overnight saturday into sunday, he will have severe gales, storm ciara on our shores and some of those winds will be damaging. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. scotland's finance secretary derek mackay quits hours before the budget — he admits he "behaved foolishly" in messaging a 16—year—old boy on social media. the government wants to rush through new rules in less than three weeks — in a bid to prevent a terrorist from being automatically released from prison. thejustice secretary insists it's not a knee jerk reaction. this is not muscle clenching, we are tough, this is all about punishment. this is about public protection. it's the firstjob of government to get that right and that's what we are doing. president trump is cleared of abuse of power and obstructing congress after an impeachment trial which bitterly divided the united states. china says 563 people have now died from coronavirus — with 28,000 confirmed infections. i'm spartacus, i'm spartacus. hollywood legend kirk douglas dies at the age of 103, after a film career spanning seven decades. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. and one of our top stories has got a lot of people talking online — that's the death of the oscar winning actor kirk douglas. he's currently the top social media trend in both the uk and the rest of the world — gathering more than 200,000 tweets. the stage and screen actor was well—known for a range of roles, including the 1960 classic spartacus. one of the last stars of hollywood's golden age, kirk douglas made more than 80 films over six decades. he was also the father of oscar—winning actor michael douglas. michael said in a statement on his instagram page: "it is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and i announce that kirk douglas left us today." "to the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies. but to me and my brothers, joel and peter, he was simply dad." as news of kirk douglas' death spread, colleagues throughout hollywood and beyond have responded to the news on social media, including his daughter in law, catherine zeta jones. the actor posted a photo of herfather in—law, writing, "to my darling kirk, i shall love you for the rest of my life. i miss you already." star wars actor mark hamill also paid tribute, saying "kirk douglas was one of the biggest stars of all time and a brilliant actor with an unforgettable, blazing charisma." he also praised the actor for playing an instrumental role in helping end the hollywood blacklist. and actor rob reiner said that "kirk douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of hollywood." "my love goes out to my friend michael and the whole family." another story that has been getting lots of traction overnight is the news that president donald trump has been cleared in his impeachment trial. it ends a congressional bid to remove him from office that bitterly divided the united states. earlier today, allan lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at the american university was asked on bbc world news, whether it was a mistake to impeach trump. it wasn't a mistake at all. if we look back at past impeachment of andrewjohnson and bill clinton, the resignation of richard nixon, in no case did their party win the next election. in fact, the democrats lost in 2000 after the impeachment of clinton in an election they easily should have won. and trump did not get the acquittal that he wanted. for the first time in the history of a presidential trial, a member of the president's own party voted to convict and remove him from office. this was not an obscure republican senator. this was mitt romney, the former republican presidential nominee, who gave an extraordinary speech condemning the president. we have been covering the events in the us and will continue in the coming days. i want to show you some of the most red and most watched stories. the scottish finance secretary quitting amid messages claims which is the story we've been just bringing you, derek mackay who has quit after claims he messaged a 16—year—old boy. this story broke on the scottish sun and the newspaper has also reported the boy's family are very understandably unhappy. we have yet to confirm any family reaction but that is getting a significant amount of interest. and on the most watched, in the irish elections there has been a lot of focus on ireland given brexit in the last couple of years but leo varadkar, a new interesting face in ireland, but under threat in the election taking place this weekend on saturday. we will be bringing you up—to—date on that. and one that caught my eye, maths and physicists might not be the first people you would think to consult about the perfect coffee but apparently a team of researchers is challenging conventional espresso wisdom. they say fewer coffee beans, ground more coarsely, is the key to a consistent drink that isjust coarsely, is the key to a consistent drink that is just as strong. i definitely need one. that is it for the morning briefing, now the sport. good morning. the draw for the fa cup fifth round is finally complete. spurs took their place in the last 16 with victory over southampton last night. danny ings had put his side 2—1 up in the second half, but that lead didn't last too long. lucas moura blasted the ball past the southampton defender to level it at 2—2. then the referee gave this penalty, var didn't overrule it and son heung—min netted it to win it for tottenham to send his side through to face norwich in the 5th round. jose mourinho was very happy with his performance. i think i did very well, honestly, i think i did very well because i had to manage a team with so many difficulties. i knew that they could give us just what they gave and four matches to go over two rounds, really hard for the boys, so i think they deserved this happiness. it is massive, obviously we take every competition seriously but the fa cup is special and obviously we are out of the league cup now so it's a cup we believe we can go all the way in and we want to do that. in the scottish premiership, rangers beat hibs but celtic remain 7 points clear at the top after beating motherwell 4—0. callum mcgregor with the pick of their goals. it's the fa cup that is all over this morning's back pages. let's start with the mirror. they've gone with the headline "special son." a nod to manager jose mourinho there. it's son heung min again in the express. son's top gun. also talking about james ward—prowse's gory injury last night. son is on the back of the times but they're also looking ahead to this weekend's six nations and the war of words between the english and scottish camps. "we hate you too", they say. today we'll find out the squad for that match on saturday as well as what should be huge clash between the reigning champions wales — who take on ireland — after they edged scotland in dublin last week. one thing wales and ireland have in common is the fact that they are both under new head coaches. and eddiejones will be announcing his matchday 23 shortly — as they look to bounce back from their defeat to france last sunday. there'll be no anthony watson, manu tuilagi or charlie ewels — all out with injury ahead of that showdown at murrayfield. the chinese grand prix in april is now a major doubt after authorities suspended all sporting events in shanghai becuase of the coronavirus. formula 1 bosses met to discuss the viability of the race. next month's formula e race in the country has already been cancelled. meanwhile, the international olympic committee have dismissed fears of the virus, after the organisers of the tokyo games said they were seriously concerned about its effect. the ioc said they were in contact with the world health organisation and had full confidence that tokyo 2020 were in control of the situation. 20 cases have been found in tokyo. 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. i just want to draw your attention to a post from lewis hamilton overnight. he and his dad suffered a masive fall out about nine years ago. but seems their relationship is on the mend. the formula 1 world champion says they're spending some quality time together. he posted this picture on instagram saying "family is the most important thing in the world. you can't chose your family but you can make it work with them no matter your differences." a busy day ahead with those six nations squad announcements this morning, we'll have all the details later on bbc news and on sportsday at 6.30. while over on 5 live sports extra, there'll be commentray of the second round of matches in the superleague tonight. it's a repeat of last year's challenge cup final — warrington and st helens. there'll also be live text commentary on the bbc sport website and app. that's all your sport for now though. bye from me. the average household's water bill will drop by about £17 a year in england and wales. water uk, the industry trade body, said the average annual bill will fall by 4% from april. the regulator ofwat said the drop was down to the fact it had "demanded greater efficiency" from firms. let's cross to our shrewbury studio and speak to tony smith who is chief executive of the consumer council for water, an independent organisation which represents water consumers in england and wales. why has this announcement come and why are we seeing bills go down?|j think at last the regulator has listened to regulators and listen to us listened to regulators and listen to us and now we are seeing bills very reasonable. as important as that, there are a lot of improvements the water companies have been required to make. things like reduction in interruptions and leakage. this is a good dealfor customers. white why haven't those changes been made before now? well, we've been arguing for some time that ofwat has been too generous towards the water companies. things have been improving. this isn't entirely new but we don't think that in the past they've been tough enough particularly on efficiency and on the cost of financing the water companies. things have been improving but probably not at a fast enough rate. this deal, we've tested it with customers and over 80% like it. both from the point of view of the price but also what they are going to get for it. it seems that people will have their bills cut on average by £17, if your bill is around the £400 mark. is that something that people will notice? could more be done in future?” think this is hopefully the start of a continuing pressure on water companies. actually, not that many customers want a reduction in their bills, what they are interested in is making sure that the service is safe, reliable. not just is making sure that the service is safe, reliable. notjust today but into the future. it is as much about the bills remaining flat or in some cases reducing, but also making sure that the service remains safe and good and giving customers what they want. in terms of environmental concerns going forward, how does britain compare with other countries? actually in terms of the environmental improvements, they've been going on for quite a long time. really since the time of privatisation there's been a lot of money spent on improving the environment which has had a lot of impact on the coastline around britain, on rivers. there is still work to do but we have made a big step and that is why it's been a lot behind why bills have risen in the past, its not just behind why bills have risen in the past, its notjust to do with the regulator being a bit generous, it's also to do with improvements that have been made. there are more environmental thing is that companies have to do in the future, including reducing greenhouse gases. but we started on that path and i think if we can carry on like this with the regulator being tougher i think hopefully water customers will benefit long into the future. tony smith, thank you. the headlines on bbc news. scotland's finance secretary derek mackay quits hours before the budget — he admits he "behaved foolishly" in messaging a 16—year—old boy on social media. the government wants to rush through new rules in less than three weeks — in a bid to prevent a terrorist from being automatically released from prison. president trump is cleared of abuse of power and obstructing congress after an impeachment trial which bitterly divided the united states. the foreign secretary dominic raab is in australia at the start of a tour to promote free trade deals following the uk's departure from the eu. he's also due to visitjapan, singapore and malaysia over the next few days. shaimaa khalil reports from canberra. britain is looking to forge new trade deals with old friends. the fa ct trade deals with old friends. the fact dominic raab is here is significant because this is the first major ministerial visit after the eu and the uk officially divorced. we've got a trade relationship already worth £17 billion but we've got potential to do so much more. that is why we have recommitted to launching negotiations between our two countries as soon as possible. australia will be part of the first wave. business is here now have a chance to get back into the uk market which they lost a big chunk of when the uk joined the market which they lost a big chunk of when the ukjoined the eu. agriculture you can bet is going to bea agriculture you can bet is going to be a major point in any agreement that australia has with britain. beef exporters for example are going to be watching this closely because they have been quite constrained in they have been quite constrained in the amounts they are able to export to the uk because of eu restrictions. now that this is no longer an issue, they have a chance to get back into that market and crucially diversify from the asian market, especially with the economic impact of the coronavirus. climate change is also going to be one of the major points to talk about with the major points to talk about with the australians and the brits. britain wants to play a bigger role globally when it comes to climate change. they are hosting a big summit later in the year. here in australia it has been politically quite contentious, especially with the context of the bushfires. the foreign secretary is then going to japan, singapore and malaysia. why are they doing all of this? effectively because by leaving the eu, the uk has walked away from its biggest trade partner. while they figure out a way to deal with the eu business—wise, they are sending out a big message saying we are open for business elsewhere in the world. an investigation is beginning in turkey after a plane crashed while landing at an airport in istanbul, leaving at least three people dead and more than a hundred injured. the aircraft — which belongs to the turkish airline pegasus — skidded on the runway in heavy rain. video footage of the crash shows the fuselage breaking up and bursting into flames. bill hayton reports. this is the moment a pegasus airlines boeing 737 arriving at speed and in wet weather lost control, skidded and overran the runway of istanbul's sabiha gokcen airport. high winds and heavy rain may have been a factor. the plane then fell down a bank. the impact of the crash split the plane's fuselage into at least three sections. translation: unfortunately, the pegasus airlines plane could not hold onto the runway due to poor weather conditions and skidded for around 50—60 metres. it fell from about 30—40 metres high. the jet had made a short flight from a western city and on board were 183 passengers and crew. three people are known to have been killed by the crash and over 150 others injured. turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into what happened but as they comb through the wreckage it is clear that as bad as it was, the consequences could have been much, much worse. irish prime minister leo varadkar is facing a tough 48 hours offinal 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. ireland is ambitious for its light to shine globally. the city of galway is the european capital of culture for 2020. this is the eu nation most affected by brexit but it sees itself as having a different rhythm from its nearest 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 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 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. a firmly left—wing party also has good polling ratings. sinn fein's political opponents point out it was linked to paramilitary violence during the 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 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 voters give their verdicts. let me show you some pictures both a capsule which has landed carrying a crew of three from the international space station and it includes christina koch, a record—setting us astronaut landing in kazakhstan. she has now broken the record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman. 328 days in space. extraordinary. they touched down in a snow—covered steppe in kazakhstan along with the other astronauts. 328 days, record—breaking mission. they launched into orbit last march and the mission was extended after the original span of six months. i can't imagine what it must have been like to finally come down to earth. she looks very happy. congratulations to that team. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon. good morning. we've got some wild weather on its way for the weekend, storm ciara is going to move in. more details and a second. today it is the calm again, dry conditions with sunny spells. still some fog patches around greater london and the home counties. high pressure dominating things today. light winds, lots of fine weather and sunny spells. the fog will lift up but it may be a bit cloudy for some as we go into the afternoon. maximum temperatures up to a roundabout 9 degrees. there will be some fog reforming across central and southern areas tonight but with clear skies turning quite chilly. some frost to take us into friday morning. temperatures down to freezing across many areas and that fog will be with you. the fog should lift fairly quickly. lots of sunshine across scotland, england and wales with mcleod moving into northern ireland. one or two spots of rain —— with mcleod moving into northern ireland. on friday evening, that cloud in the west moving in. one or two spots of rain in the far south—east. for most parts of england, wales and scotland starting off on england, wales and scotland starting offona england, wales and scotland starting off on a fine night for the weekend. this area moving in, some heavy rain across northern ireland and the west of scotland. this rain isjust the start of storm ciara along with gales developing across northern and western areas. that rain spreading to the south—east with the strong winds as we go through the night. storm ciara is likely to cause problems over the weekend. gales, may be severe gales with disruption lightly and damage possible. it is worth staying tuned to the forecast over the next couple of days. this area of low pressure, the isobars, lots of them across the uk. very strong winds. we won't have seen winds for strong for a while. 60—75 for england and wales in land. maybe 90 mph in exposed areas. these are damaging winds. heavy rain moving eastwards. big waves, stay tuned. bye— bye. hello, it's thursday, it's ten o'clock, i'm joanna gosling and we're live from new broadcasting house. scotland's finance secretary derek mackay has resigned with immediate effect after allegations emerged that he sent hundreds of messages to a 16—year—old boy. it could not have come at a worse time for scotland's finance secretary derek mackay, on the day of his budget announcement. it emerges that he has sent hundreds of text to a teenage boy. this programme has learned of dozens of cases where women who thought they were having a "complete mesh removal" found that some of the material that had been causing them debilitating pain had been left behind. we'll talk to two women who say they both had complications