says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail project, which could now cost £106 billion. huge crowds in the iraqi capital call for us forces to be expelled from the country. boris johnson's brexit withdrawal agreement is signed by eu leaders a week before the uk leaves the bloc. one of the uk's biggest supermarkets, tesco, says it'll no longer sell items bundled together using plastic. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm carrie gracie china is taking drastic action to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. the world health organization say they don't currently believe the outbreak presents a global health emergency, but they think it may yet become one. public transport has been suspended in ten cities in hubei province, and temples are being shut over the lunar new year. the restrictions affect at least 20 million people across the region where the virus emerged. so far 26 people in china have died as a result of coronavirus. there have been more than eight hundred confirmed cases across the globe including in singapore, thailand and the us. fourteen people in the uk have been tested for the virus. public health england said five had been given the all clear, while nine were still waiting for results. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in bejiing (sot and sent this update. people are 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 elsewhere, so they have gone to shanghai or they have gone to dalian or beijing, seeking treatment. as they go, they have taken the virus with them. this is why the authorities are concerned that it could become much worse. that the real figure could be very quickly thousands of people infected rather than hundreds. and indeed, it is why other countries in the region are also concerned. earlier, the medical director for public health england, emeritus professor paul cosford, said it would be ‘highly likely‘ there would be cases in the uk. he gave this update on the situation both at home and abroad. these new viruses that emerge from time to time, we do know that they occur. we have a whole range of plans in place for such an eventuality, and that is what is happening here. it's very early days, obviously. this is the coronavirus, coronaviruses range from everything from the common cold through to sars which happened nearly 20 years ago now. we are collecting all the information we possibly can to understand the nature of this virus. the good thing is that the majority of people do seem to be making a full recovery. of course, there are a small number of people who have died in china as a result of this infection, so we are looking at very carefully at what is going on to make sure that we are as prepared as we possibly can be. in terms of testing, we are testing anybody who meets the criteria. we tested five who confirmed negative. we have another nine tests under way. but the numbers aren't the important thing. the important thing is that when somebody who has been to wuhan within the past 14 days and has symptoms, respiratory symptoms that could represent this virus and be infected, then we ask them to phone nhs iii, and we can then arrange testing and any appropriate treatment if it's needed. i haven't got a precise figure for how many people have made contact with their gp across the country, or with nhs iii. but we are very clear that the people who need to be in touch with us are those who have been to wuhan in the past 14 days and have respiratory symptoms stop that's a cough, sneeze, shortness of breath, or a fever. those are the people who may contact with us and them we can deal with them. our scotland corrspondent lorna gordon says the government there has set up an incident team to monitor developments. there are no confirmed cases here in scotland, but five people are being tested for this coronavirus, purely as a precautionary measure. all of them have travelled and returned from wuhan within the last 14 days, and all of them have been showing respiratory symptoms. a number of them are believed to be chinese nationals, and one of them is thought to be a student across in edinburgh. it is not known how many of them are being tested and are in hospital, in a hospital environment. and exactly how many of them are at home. and we don't know exactly which hospitals they are in, but it is understood that at least one of those individuals is in the glasgow area, and as we said, one of them, a student across in edinburgh. let's cross to wuhan where we can speak to kathleen bell who moved there from cheshire. tell us what the situation is like there. under virtual tell us what the situation is like there. undervirtualsiege. tell us what the situation is like there. under virtual siege. yes it is extremely quiet. and it is new year's eve, the year of the rat and usually there is a lot of people out there celebrating. firstly, we would have a family meal, and it can be quiet. usually, there are young people out in the streets. it is like a ghost town. and you yourself going out, or are you taking the precaution of staying inside? i'm staying inside. iwent precaution of staying inside? i'm staying inside. i went out yesterday yesterday to stock up on foodstuffs because it is closed off in wuhan. a lot of supermarkets have got empty shelves, but where i went there were a lot of vegetables there. i'm social media, there are people complaining about prices. but i didn't notice that. the prices i paid with the usual prices. didn't notice that. the prices i paid with the usual pricesm didn't notice that. the prices i paid with the usual prices. it is coming and going a little bit catherine, but we are going to keep trying. do you feel that the authorities are giving you the information in a timely way that you need, and other wuhan residents, or are you feeling concerned that maybe this was dealt with a little late by the time some people had already spread from wuhan around the country and around the world? for chinese hue year, there is actually a mass movement and people tend to go before chinese new year because the trains are absolutely packed. so, you can say that a number of people had already left the major cities to go back to their home towns. we saw on the morning of wednesday to thursday night it was 12 o'clock in the morning chinese time, they announce that the public transport system will be closed at ten o'clock the next morning. so, there wasn't a lot of time to prepare. i think a lot of time to prepare. i think a lot of time to prepare. i think a lot of people went out to buy things like food that morning, but the streets were already very quiet. obviously there's been discussion, as you will know better than many, the comparison between this and the sars virus in 2002 when chinese authorities were accused of being very slow to release public health information in a timely way. do you feel they... they say that they have learned from that lesson and they are determined to get all relevant information out as quickly as possible now. do you feel co mforta ble possible now. do you feel comfortable and reassured, or do you feel they are doing a good job? well, it was only known last week that it could be human to human transmission, and then the regulations have come down quite swiftly since then. nowadays, we have social media and so things are very rapidly known by the whole world. in the days of sars, that wasn't so, and so it was a totally different approach then. i think now, it is a lot more effective than it was when the sars was going on. before i let you go, obviously we hope that everyone there is going to stay safe and that you to. how are you going to celebrate chinese new year meanwhile? what were your plans and what are your plans in the light of eve nts ? and what are your plans in the light of events? i've got some whiskey here so i will probably have a drink this evening but staying. well very happy chinese new year in very difficult and unusual circumstances. we wish you all the best. thank you. right backjust we wish you all the best. thank you. right back just while we wish you all the best. thank you. right backjust while we were talking to catherine, a line coming in from downing street, the prime minister spokesman saying that the uk cobra emergency committee will meet today to discuss the coronavirus. we don't have more on that now, but as soon as we do we will of course bring that to you. dr takeshi kasai, from the world health organisation, has this morning sought to allay fears about the virus's spread. i myself was involved in the sars response in 2003, and i can confidently say that this is very different. for two reasons. one is that, including china, the country has much, much stronger capacity to respond to the outbreak. the fact that china identified and detected this is a known disease and identified this new coronavirus, and more importantly, they shared information, including a sequence, which now allows other countries to test is evidence. the second is that at a global level, we established a system for international health regulations supported by all countries, which now allows member states to share information rapidly about diseases in outbreak. adam kucharski is an infectious disease expert from the london school of hygiene & tropical medicine and joins me in the studio. what is your assessment about all the different players in this puzzle handling it so far? so far, there has been some really quick availability of data happening. in terms of early genetic data and pathogens of when it emerged. every day, we have seen more information thatis day, we have seen more information that is relevant to evidence of the potential for human to human transmission. and other aspects of the biology, the delay between exposure and symptoms which is really key to understanding how this progresses. on the human to human transmission, one of the things that we hear in an attempt to reassure is that there aren't signs of human to human transmission outside china at this point. is that something you can feel people can be confident about? at this early stage, we are not seeing that kind of transmission. it was one of the evidence base is feeding into the decision, that we are seeing a growth of bases —— greater cases in china. other countries are monitoring those individuals and also the context to understand whether there is potential for transmission to happen. what about symptoms, because i'm seeing some social media reports from china saying that the symptoms go beyond some of the ones that we were told about in the first place? that is going to be a really key thing to pin down during this outbreak. in the early stages we are focused on symptoms such as pneumonia, now we have focused on different symptoms and the collaboration between countries is going to be really important in defining them. for sars, most people exposed had severe outcomes of other respiratory infections. a lot of people exposed may have very few who have severe disease. white back on that, one of the things said and repeated so far is that this is affecting the severity, is really focused on older people with batting practice getting pneumonia. do you think that looks like it is still the case? i think what is going to be key with that is looking at the more recent data. those early signals are coming from cases in the last few weeks in december, who were potentially exposed to specific sores on the market. we saw a similar pattern in elderly individuals, but it may be as these things evolve we see different individuals affected. given the potential threat to older citizens, do you think there should be more precautions taking compared to the rest of the community? it's very difficult to say who is at risk. hopefully in the coming days and weeks we will have a clear idea of who is particularly vulnerable and where this transmission might be and where this transmission might be a core occurring. very helpful to have your insights thank you very much for coming in. we will be answering your questions about the coronavirus at 1230. you can get in touch a coroner has found that the death of a seven—day—old baby was ‘wholly avoidable‘ and that the infant and his parents were failed by a margate hospital. harry richford was born in november 2017 at the queen elizabeth the queen mother hospital in margate. east kent hospitals trust has apologised. our correspondent helena wilkinson is at the inquest in maidstone. tell us more. the coroner has been delivering his conclusion into what has been a three—week inquest. harry‘s mother is in court. she has had to be supported by her parents, as the coroner has been giving this conclusion. we know that she went into hospital in november of 2017, went into labour, but the inquest has heard that there was a catalogue of failures in terms of her care. a locum doctor set up a plan for the birth. that failed and then she had to have an emergency cesarean. she went into the operating theatre. a midwife who gave evidence to this inquest said it was panic, there was panic in the theatre. then, an anaesthetist had to try and resuscitate harry. that took nearly half an hour to do. he was then transferred to a different hospital, but he died seven days later. the coroner has this morning been telling the court here today that harry was a much loved baby, that his parents, first—time parents who we re his parents, first—time parents who were enormously excited about having the birth of their baby, and went on to say that harry should be almost two years and three months old. he would have been a bundle of energy causing no end of mystery. the coroner went on to say that instead his family are still grieving and will do so for the rest of their lives. he said that the parents, harry‘s parents, believe that he should not have died. the coroner said, iagree should not have died. the coroner said, i agree with them. he went on today that harry‘s death was wholly avoidable and the parents were failed by the hospital, and more importantly, harry was failed as well. we also heard that the coroner that the hospitals initially said that the hospitals initially said that harry‘s death was expected, and for that reason, a coroner was not informed. the coroner here today said it was because of the persistence of harry‘s parents in the family that the coroner then got involved and ordered an inquest to ta ke involved and ordered an inquest to take base. the coroner going through the conclusions into the death of harry who died just seven days old, here in kent. thank you. it‘s a very sad story. the headlines on bbc news... chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus deathtoll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. a coroner has said that the death of a baby at a hospital in kent in 2017 was "wholly avoidable". ‘a denial ofjustice‘ — foreign secretary dominc raab criticises the us for failing to extradite anne sacoolas. the dunn family says they‘ll fight. coming up in sport, 15—year—old koko graph knocks out the defending champion at the australian open. serena williams is out too. the 23 time grand slam champion is beaten in the third round. her earliest exit in melbourne in 1a years. and the fourth test between england and south africa is just about to get under way in johannesburg following a rain delay. england once again withoutjoffre archer. a rain delay. england once again without joffre archer. england a rain delay. england once again withoutjoffre archer. england have won the toss and chosen to bat. i‘ll be back at half past 11. we have some breaking news from an irish court now which has approved the extradition of two northern irish men charged with manslaughter over the deaths of 39 vietnamese people who were found in the back of a truck near london last october. the british authorities have been seeking eamon harrison who is 23 yea rs old seeking eamon harrison who is 23 years old on those charges and human trafficking as well as those 39 offences of manslaughter. harrison‘s lawyer asked for time to consider the irish court‘s judgment, lawyer asked for time to consider the irish court‘sjudgment, and the judge has deferred ordering his hand over to the uk until february the 11th. over to the uk until february the 4th. as i say, that irish court has ordered the extradition, but has allowed his lawyers a few days to consider thejudgment, allowed his lawyers a few days to considerthejudgment, before actually enforcing the judgment on february the 4th. talking extradition let‘s look at our other extradition story. the foreign secretary dominic raab has said the us rejection of an extradition request for a diplomat‘s wife over the death of teenager harry dunn in a road crash, amounts to a ‘denial ofjustice‘. mr raab has said the uk would have acted differently if it had been a british diplomat in the us, and the uk is ‘urgently considering its options‘. harry‘s family are now demadning a meeting with borisjohnson. buisness secretary andrea leadsom, the constituency mp for harry dunn‘s family, also said the suspect "should come back to the uk". simonjones reports. it was here that harry dunn was killed last august as he was riding his motorbike. he was hit by a car allegedly being driven on the wrong side of the road by anne sacoolas, the wife of a us diplomat. she returned to the us, claiming immunity from prosecution, describing what happened as an unintentional accident. ever since, harry‘s family have campaigned for her to return. they made a direct plea to donald trump at the white house and held a protest outside raf croughton where anne sacoolas was based. now they are told the us will not agree to their extradition but insist they won‘t give up. this extradition request hangs there forever, it‘s not going to go away. this administration will go away and we will wait, if we need to, for the next 5, 10, 15 years. i can assure you anne sacoolas will be coming back one day, this is farfrom over. the home office asked for anne sacoolas to be returned to the uk earlier this month but at the time, the us state department said that would be a highly inappropriate move, so it can‘t have come as a surprise here that the formal extradition request has now been rejected. nevertheless, the government says it‘s disappointed at what appears to be a denial ofjustice. the prime minister had issued this warning last week on breakfast. i think the chances of america actually responding by sending anne sacoolas to this country are very low. that‘s not what they do but we will continue to make every effort that we can. the british government says that it‘s urgently considering its options, but it may now have to rely on the political rather than legal route. a quick line of breaking news on the machete attack that we reported yesterday. the perpetrator has been jailed for 16 years, for what the judge described as a brutal and shocking attack on beep —— un—pc stuart hutton. he was found guilty of wounding with intent yesterday. the construction of the controversial hs2 railway line is billions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule. the national audit office says the department for transport failed to understand how complex and risky the project would be. increasing costs and delays led to a review. the findings of that review will help the government to understand whether it should go ahead at all. it is in two main phases. the first will be from london to birmingham. it was originally due in 2026, but now due to open in 2031 at the earliest. the second phase connects birmingham to manchester and leeds, and that is due to get the final sign off. it won‘t be ready until 2032 of 2033. when the project was first launched it had a budget ofjust over £32 billion. inflation meant that prior —— meant that cost had gone up to 50/50 5 billion. just this week, a lea ked 50/50 5 billion. just this week, a leaked version of the government review said it could cost £106 billion. while the government says it is already acting on the government‘s recommendations are current respondent tom burridge reports. as work to build a new high—speed line goes on in birmingham, criticism from the government‘s spending watchdog over management of the budget for hs2, which has ballooned. today‘s report says the government and hs2 limited underestimated the scale and complexity of this project, and that‘s one of the reasons why the budget has risen so much. this is the vision for that site once a station is built here. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren‘t properly managed, but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they‘ve done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks remain. some conservatives have urged the prime minister to rethink. other seniorfigures say hs2 has to go ahead. this part of the country, the north, turned decisively to the conservative party and the prime minister has talked about levelling up. this is literally the investment that will level up the economy. the cost of the second phase of this project, linking the city to leeds and to manchester, is more uncertain because it‘s at a much earlier stage. a final decision is due next month. tom burridge, bbc news, in birmingham. the uk‘s biggest trade union unite is meeting to decide which candidate to back in the labour leadership contest. rebecca long—bailey and emily thornberry are looking tojoin sir keir starmer and lisa nandy on the ballot to replacejeremy corbyn. the result of the leadership contest will be announced at the beginning of april. our political correspondent, nick eardley is at westminster. i think it is highly likely that they will back rebecca long bailey today. we know that they are pretty left—wing, the leadership of unite are certainly very pro—jeremy corbyn or have been in the past. the expectation is that they will want people to carry on in the same sort of mode asjeremy corbyn. that is definitely being seen as rebecca long bailey. mccluskey, the secretary when he arrived this morning. i think whatjeremy did four years ago, he probably changed british politics forever, and i think he changed the labour party. we now have a clear alternative to a conservative austerity government, a government that actually governs for the rich as opposed to the rest of the people, and whatjeremy corbyn has done with labour, and that is his legacy, is to create this alternative. and you know, i think that‘s the right thing to do. people have a clear choice, and we will see who our members pick, both today and indeed when the election is done. we‘ll find out exactly who unite are backing around six o‘clock this evening, but i think a fairly safe bet at the moment will be rebecca long bailey. that puts her within touching distance of the final ballot. this is the complicated process. we are into phase two where older candidates have to get a backing of either two unions and an affiliate group, or 33 local parties. keir and lisa have that already. there are definitely on that final ballot. rebecca long bailey will be in one way or another. the person really struggling at the moment is emily thornbury. she has a lot of work to do if she is going to get through to the last round. she has the backing of three local parties at the moment, but she needs to get it to 30 if she‘s going to get onto that final ballot. there is still a long way to go in this race then, it is not over until april. we will see a lot of movement in the favourite vision before then.. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. it has been a glorious morning across parts of yorkshire. this weather front did produce a wee bit of rain. for northern ireland and southern scotland, but is dying in death and has just enhanced the cloud. in northern ireland it will brighten up so to the north—east of scotla nd brighten up so to the north—east of scotland in places. one or two showers. favoured spots and the use of the pennines in one or two other areas. temperature is pretty much eight to about ten or 11 celsius if you are lucky. the rain pulls away from the western side of scotland having returned later on and then goes across the western isles later on. it leaves behind some clouds but if you are first thing in the morning on saturday you won‘t be scraping the cars. saturday a bit later today. sunday is a different kettle of fish and will turn wet and windy. hello, this is bbc newsroom live with carrie gracie. the headlines: chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus death toll has climbed to 26 people, and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. the world health organization has declared an emergency for china. here in the uk, health secretary, matt hancock, will chair an emergency response meeting today to discuss measures to contain the virus. 1a people have been tested for the virus with five testing negative and an incident team has been set up in scotland to deal with the threat. a coroner has said that the death of a baby at a hospital in kent in 2017 was "wholly avoidable." an nhs trust is being investigated after significant concerns were raised about maternity services. "a denial ofjustice" — the foreign secretary criticises the us for failing to extradite anne sacoolas, who is to be charged with causing the death of teenager harry dunn. the dunn family says the‘ll continue to fight. this extradition request hangs there forever, it will never go away. this administration will go away and we will wait, if we need to, for the next five, ten, 15 years. the government spending watchdog says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail which could now cost £106 billion — almost double the initial estimation. the national audit office says neither the department for transport or hs2 allowed for all uncertainties. let‘s get all the support now. —— let‘s get all the sporty. play is finally under way in the fourth test between england and south africa injohannasburg following a lengthy rain delay this morning, but england are still withoutjofra archer as he struggles with an elbow injury. he has of course missed the last two tests because of the problem, with chris woakes replacing dom bess as england‘s only change. england won the toss, chose to bat and are seven without loss at the moment. you can listen to the cricket social via the bbc sport website. it‘s been a day of shocks in the women‘s singles at the australian open. serena williams is out, as is the defending champion naomi osaka — who lost to 15—year—old coco gauff. john watson is in melbourne and spoke to us earlier. what a result. we knew she was good, didn‘t we, coco gauff, with that incredible run at wimbledon last summer. she has tapped that in the first grand slam of the get by knocking out naomi osaka, the defending champion. remember, she is just 15. our tennis correspondent russell fuller is with us. we had seen some seismic shocks in the world of tenants, unbelievable? she got her reward for playing a really high—quality first set, having been used to play naomi osaka at the us open where she was quite handily beaten by the 22—year—old, and she won in straight sets, 6—3, 6—4, what was perplexing was that osaka could not keep the ball in college, 30 and full stereo is, many on the backhand, i am scratching my head as to why she played that poorly, but coco gauff is the sort of girl, not yet woman, to take advantage. you can‘t schedule head around it. —— can‘t schedule head around it. —— can‘t get your head around it. not saying serena williams is done just yet but at 38 she is out, you wonder how many more chances she will get to win that elusive 24th grand slam title. she lost in three sets, 7-5 in the deciding set, that is the earliest exit from the australian open. we for 14 years. in the previous two she has reached the grand slam finals of both wimbledon and the us open later in the year, she says she gets better as the egg goes on. i certainly wouldn't say she can't equal margaret court's record, but she is 38, tennis players parnaby record, but she is 38, tennis players parna by have record, but she is 38, tennis players parnaby have more bad days than good days at that sort of age. she did not play many matches last year. pressure is a big part of it, tried equal margaret court's all—time record of 24 grand slams has been a big motivating factor. but ina has been a big motivating factor. but in a sense i think it is becoming an albatross around her neck now. so shocks in the women‘s draw, but no such problems for the defending men‘s singles champion novak djokovic. he comfortably beat japan‘s yoshihito nishioka in straight sets to reach the fourth round. roger federer is playing the australian john millman, it roger federer is playing the australianjohn millman, it is one set all at the moment. manchester united have been fined £20,000 for failing to "ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" during the defeat to liverpool at anfield on sunday. several united players surrounded referee craig pawson after roberto firmino‘s goal was initially allowed to stand, before being ruled out by the video assistant referee. and there‘ll be record prize money on offer for players on the ladies european tour this season. it‘s among a number of changes which have been announced. players will now compete for more than £15 million in prize money, that‘s up by almost £4 million from last year and a record for the women‘s european tour. there‘ll be more tournaments than ever on the calendar this year too — seven more, in fact, making a total of 24 in 2020, that‘s up from just 15 in 2018. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. for now, back to you. the president of the european commission has signed boris johnson‘s brexit withdrawal agreement — a week to the day the uk is due to leave the eu. ursula von der leyen and the european council president, charles michel, put pen to paper to the deal signalling the uk‘s departure. the european parliament is expected to approve the bill on wednesday. our europe correspondent gavin lee gave us this update. all of the fanfare and the fever pitch we had a few months ago, would it happen? it has gone away. basically there is barely a drip of publicity put out from the european commission and council today, very low— key, commission and council today, very low—key, a couple of still shots of the european council building where ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission, and charles michel, the president of the european council, signed the document. they are part of the necessary technical steps given that both sides had agreed to the withdrawal agreement before christmas, it was given royal assent in the uk yesterday, technically signed off, it goes back to boris johnson today, it is on its way to downing street, borisjohnson has to technically sign it and on wednesday next week, the 29th, at six o‘clock, thatis next week, the 29th, at six o‘clock, that is when it goes to the final ratification process with the european parliament and they will need a simple majority, more people out of 751 meps saying yes and no and it pretty much looks certain that the vote will go through. there was a brexit committee yesterday looking at all of the texts and recommending it would go forward, should be voted on without any changes and even the brexit party, while they have not come to a specific decision, the biggest british party in the european parliament, their member on the steering committee yesterday said we will also sign this, he said it is like taking voting for christmas, we think it stinks, he said, but we will vote it through if it means we are out when borisjohnson says, so i think he will —— it will pretty much go through. more on the united states rejecting an extradition request for anne sacoolas. this is harry dunn‘s mother, speaking to cbs. very calm, it is what we had expected, we were mentally prepared for it and have plans in place to try to deal with it. we are quite happy to continue ourfight, nothing. it. we are quite happy to continue our fight, nothing. us it. we are quite happy to continue ourfight, nothing. us all make it go away. it does not matter how long it takes. if it means we have to wait until the next administration infourand a wait until the next administration in four and a half or five years, we will. we hope it will not take that long but we are fully equipped to be able to manage those expectations if it does, and managed to continue to go through this process no matter what. we are not going anywhere. the extradition request will be forever over the head of answer coolers, and we‘re happy to see it through —— figure forever over anne sacoolas‘ head. a statement was put out by the government over nature in their full support of us, we are extremely pleased with that statement. it is wonderful support to us as a family. we are seeing them this afternoon, we will come out and do a press conference after that, we will take each day at a time as we have done for the last four months. charlotte done. —— charlotte dunn. tesco is to scrap plastic packaging on multipacks of tins. the supermarket says the move will stop 350 tonnes of waste polluting the environment each year. tesco says the price of multipack purchases will not be affected. let‘s speak to helen bird, plastics expert, who works for the charity wrap — which stands for waste & resources action programme. she works with businesses, individuals and communities to help them reduce waste and develop sustainable products. thank you very much for talking to us, helen. what is your response to the move from tesco? we're absolutely welcome this move that tesco is making. under the uk plastics pact, an initiative run at wrap, we have a target which all the major brands and retailers that we know and love are signed up to, who are committed to eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging by 2025. this is the right kind of move we would expect retailers to make. isn't it a drop in the ocean, the plastic around tins will not break the back of the problem? i think it is fair to say that this is just one initiative that this is just one initiative that they need to take. this on its own will make some difference to people because it is the type of plastic that often you cannot recycle at home, it is a very volume is type of plastic, but ultimately i think what is encouraging as we are seeing the collaboration between the brands and the supermarkets in tackling this issue. clearly this is just one step but at least it is a step in the right direction. other supermarkets are taking other steps. give us a sense from where you sit which ones you think are working the best? all of the nature supermarkets are signed to the initiative. they are signed to the initiative. they are taking a number of different actions in terms of reducing plastic, such as this measure by tesco. last week we saw a really encouraging announcements by morrisons who are introducing refill in collaboration with the number of brands. all of the supermarkets and, indeed, the projects they sell through them, are working on how they can make the plastic packaging recycling, which is a massive challenge, as well as making sure the packaging contains a higher degree of recycled content. one of the things we often forget is that recycling is all about manufacture, it is really important to have recycled material. what about people who will say how will i get all my tins home? do you think they have a legitimate point in saying can‘t you pack it in something recyclable so i can at least have the convenience at the same time is not destroying the planet? we all have to play our part and play our part in terms of how we buy the projects that we like to buy. a good example is how people can take their bikes to supermarkets rather than using carrier bags or co nsta ntly rather than using carrier bags or constantly buying the bags for life, which is also not helping the problem. thank you so much for joining us. no problem. tens of thousands of people are protesting on the streets of baghdad to demand the expulsion of american forces from iraq. the shia cleric moqtada al sadr called for a million people tojoin the march, close to the us embassy. washington‘s assassination of the iranian military commander, qassim soleimani, in baghdad this month has fuelled tensions. demonstrators are holding signs denouncing the united states —— our middle east correspondent martin patience sent us this update. an extraordinary turnout, tens of thousands if not more for this march which has been called by one of the country‘s most influential clerics. his name is moqtada al sadr and he can deliver a crowd. he is a mercurial politician, but with this march he is showing his strength on the streets, and he is signalling very clearly that he wants american troops out of this country. the dynamics in iraq have of course changed ever since the american assassination of iran‘s commander here qasem soleimani just a few weeks ago. and while everything is peaceful enough at the moment the danger as always is in iraq that potentially a march could trigger a fresh round of violence. the iraqi government is incredibly weak at the moment. its problem is that it is caught between iran, which supports many iranian politicians. in fact, i could say that it controls many of the politicians in the iraqi parliament. and america, on the other hand. so, it finds itself in a very difficult position. there is a strong call for american troops to leave the country, but there are pressures against that, partly from the sunni community in iraq, partly from the kurdish community. they see american forces as a break on their shia militias and the shia politicians like moqtada al sadr. and they are also others that will say, look, if american troops leave this country, not only will the fight against the so—called islamic state be deeply damaged, but that iran will have more influence in iraq as well. those voices aren‘t as loud, but those voices are there as well. martin patience in baghdad. in a moment we‘ll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news. chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus death toll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. a coroner has said that the death of a baby at a hospital in kent in 2017 was "wholly avoidable." "a denial ofjustice" — foreign secretary dominc raab criticises the us for failing to extradite anne sacoolas. the dunn family says they‘ll to fight. i‘m susannah streeter. in the business news... we‘ve had positive snapshot this morning about the health of the uk economy. the uk private sector returned to growth for the first time in five months injanuary as business confidence was boosted by borisjohnson‘s election win, new data has revealed. the early readings of the ihs markit/cips uk purchasing managers‘ index also showed a downturn in manufacturing eased. shares injust eat have sunk nearly 3% following the news that its proposed merger with takeaway.com will be investigated by the competition and markets authority. in an update this morning the dutch giant takeaway.com said it expected the deal which saw it offer 5.9 billion pounds forjust eat, would be delayed by about one week. chinese firm jingye, which came forward to rescue british steel, says it intends to reduce the headcount at the business. up to 500 jobs could be at risk according to joint statement from trade unions including gmb, community and unite the union. they said discussions with the chinese industrialfirm had been "extremely challenging," but acknowledged that "if the business is to survive, change is required." british companies are enjoying their best month in more than a year, according to a survey out this morning. the early readings of the ihs markit/cips uk purchasing managers‘ index showed britain‘s vast services sector returned to growth injanuary for the first time since august, while a downturn in manufacturing eased. it‘s been seen by some as the clearest evidence of a post election boost for the economy. the buoyant figures are expected to deter the bank of england from cutting interest rates next week. britain‘s performance bettered the euro zone‘s for the firsttime since december 2018, as the pmi suggested —— since december 2018. nina skero is chief executive of the centre for economics and business. did you expect this boost to the economy, particularly the services sector? the prediction was for a pick—up at the extent of the pick—up was stronger than most expected. the direction of the move is not so much ofa direction of the move is not so much of a surprise, that the strength is. what does this indicate for the bank of england? will they reassess their position? some members of the monetary policy committee advocated cutting interest rates for a boost to the economy but now we have had these more buoyant figures, will they change their mind? pmis, especially flash pmis, are known to bea especially flash pmis, are known to be a volatile measure, subject to revisions. it is crucial to keep in mind this isjust revisions. it is crucial to keep in mind this is just one of the data points that the bank of england will be looking up. certainly this makes the odds of a cut in interest rates are little bit less likely, that towards the end of 2019 we have lots of other data on inflation, monthly gdp, but i think the chances of a cut probably 5050, we probably will not see a change at the next meeting. these are known as flash figures because they are early readings, but could they be flash in the pan because of the uncertainty surrounding a future trade deal between the uk and the eu?|j surrounding a future trade deal between the uk and the eu? i think that lots of survey —based indicators will probably see a bounce throughout the first quarter of 2020, we are seeing consumer confidence picking up and i think certainly for the next few months we will see stronger readings on a number of indicators as the country works itself out of what has really been a three—year deadlock. will it last for the entire year? it remains to be seen, but for the next few months i think this will not be a one—off and we will see more good news. many thanks forjoining us, that was the chief executive of the centre of economics and business research. in other business stories we‘ve been following, mini nuclear reactors could be generating power in the uk by the end of the decade. manufacturer rolls—royce has told the bbc it plans to install and operate factory—built power stations by 2029. rather like this one. they can be mass manufactured and delivered in chunks on the back of a lorry. but opponents say the uk should quit nuclear power altogether and concentrate on cheaper renewable energy instead. the royal bank of scotland has today announced rbs has today announced a new £1 billion in funding through natwest to support female entrepreneurs in the uk to scale up their businesses. the bank claims it‘s the largest intervention by a uk lender focused specifically on female—led businesses. it‘s also set a target to inspire half a million people to consider starting a business — and offer them the support to help their firms grow. tinder is adding a panic button and other safety features to the dating app. the new functions will include emergency assistance, location tracking, and photo verification. tinder will offer the features first in the us from 28th january, but didn‘t say when they will be available globally. the parent company match group — which also owns plentyoffish, okcupid and hinge — aims to roll out the features on its other dating platforms later this year. let‘s look at the markets. the spread of the coronaviruses trapping investors somewhat. although the world health organization said it was an emergency for china, it held back from saying it was one for the rest of the world, so that has settled things a little bit. the dax in the coquelin are all up. that is all the business news for now, but more coming up later. huge swarms of desert locusts have invaded about a dozen countries on both sides of the red sea, the body of water between africa and the arabian peninsula. the food and agriculture organisation says it is a crisis of international dimensions that threatens food security in the entire region. among the countries where the insects are causing problems is kenya — where they haven‘t been seen for half a century. our senior africa correspondent anne soy reports. from a distance, it looks like northern kenya is burning. but these are swarms of desert locusts, spreading like wildfire across the horn of africa. just one swarm can have more than 200 million insects. these are tiny creatures flying above me. they look harmless, but if you consider that hundreds of millions of them are flying at the same time, the amount of destruction they can cause is unimaginable. ali tells me this is the second invasion of locusts he‘s witnessed in about 60 years. this time he‘s lost nearly all his maize and bean crops. translation: it's painful. we had no rain for several years. when it did finally rain last year we were so happy, but then these insects have come and destroyed our crop. we‘ve incurred huge losses. he says he brought dozens of people here to help ward off the invasion. elsewhere, gunshots, tear gas and whistles. people and governments across the region are desperate to save plants from being devoured. conservation groups are helping track the movement of the swarms. we are flying the coordination, we are looking for the swarms. this is all aimed at helping the local people and helping the national government at least to know where these things are. the kenyan and ethiopian governments are using aerial spraying to try and kill the insects. but with little success. the impact, especially for pastoralists living in the affected area, could be serious. what‘s your biggest fear? conflict. whilst there is no food here, people start migrating. if my grazing land had been destroyed by locusts, i will move to the next one, where i am not wanted. so there might be conflict, which is not good. there might be even loss of lives. a region devastated by years of drought seems to have recovered when it received unusually heavy rains. but that has now brought this misery, leaving communities on the edge. anne soy, bbc news, moyale. horrible story. the prince of wales began his historic first visit to the occupied palestinian territories with a symbolic gesture of unity, walking through bethlehem with muslim and christian leaders. his first engagement on palestinian land was to visit the mosque of omar on manger square. from there, prince charles walked — alongside a bustling crowd of security personnel, religious clerics and the royal entourage — to the church of the nativity japan‘s air self—defense force aerobatic display team has practiced skywriting the olympic rings to prepare for a ceremony marking the arrival of the tokyo games‘ torch. the practice took place on friday, six months to the day ahead of the opening ceremony. the torch will be at the olympia site in greece on march the 12th and arrive injapan on the 20th. this performing team — known as blue impulse — has performed a similar role at the 1964 tokyo games and the 1998 nagano winter olympics. so they know what they are doing! let‘s hear from somebody else who knows what he is doing, phil with the weather! ijust wondered i just wondered who you ijust wondered who you were queueing up! the cheque is in the post! no blue skies this morning u nless post! no blue skies this morning unless you were in the york area. can you believe that, probably not if you have sat under low clouds. but things are changing, slowly into the first part of the weekend, but then from saturday into sunday weather front will swing through, the isobars tighten up, we are heading back into wet and windy fire, which is where we were before the high—pressure settled things down and delivered lots of cloud. the best of the breaks are the north—east of england, north yorkshire, some spots in the north—east of wales, the north—eastern corner of scotland faring quite nicely but the cloud is pretty thick elsewhere and it will thicken across the western side of scotla nd thicken across the western side of scotland to give you bits and pieces of rain through the afternoon and evening and overnight. that works towards the northern ireland, leaving behind quite a bit of cloud, i don‘t think there will be many gaps in the cloud, many of us. we can frustrate with temperatures in the range of four to about 7 degrees also. things will change slowly, scotla nd also. things will change slowly, scotland and northern ireland on saturday, you might notice the isobars closing up, a bit more breeze might help to break up the close again in north—eastern parts of scotla nd close again in north—eastern parts of scotland and i‘m not without hope that some spots in the heart of england and wales will see brightness at times, there could be 12 showers into the south—eastern quarter and here comes the weather front, it does not look much at this stage but it marks the boundary, you probably won‘t believe me, it is relatively mild at the moment compared to what is coming towards us. we will see this across all parts during the course of sunday and into the first part of monday. its peps up and it will be quite heavy rain for a time, spreading into the heart of scotland to the north of england, wales, the midlands and central and southern england. the skies get much brighter behind it, there will be able to sunshine, but notice how temperatures for the way. five, six or7 temperatures for the way. five, six or 7 degrees your daytime maximum. that further towards the south and east you will keep its relatively mild, but we are heading towards cooler weather and a spell, again, at some wetter and windier weather. if you have enjoyed the mild and relatively quiet spell, it is coming to an end. you heard it here first. you‘re watching bbc newsroom live. it‘s midday and these are the main stories this morning. chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus deathtoll has climbed to 26 people, and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. in the uk, the government‘s emergency committee cobra, is beginning a meeting to discuss measures to contain the virus. 14 people have been tested for the virus with five testing negative. a coroner has said that the death of a baby at a hospital in kent in 2017 was "wholly avoidable". "a denial ofjustice" — the foreign secretary criticises the us for failing to extradite anne sacoolas. the dunn family says they‘ll fight. the government spending watchdog says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail project which could now cost £106 billion. huge crowds in the iraqi capital call for us forces to be expelled from the country. boris johnson‘s brexit withdrawal agreement is signed by eu leaders a week before the uk leaves the bloc. the uk‘s biggest supermarket chain, tesco says it‘ll no longer sell items bundled together using plastic. good afternoon. welcome to bbc newsroom live. china is taking drastic action to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. the world health organisation say they don‘t currently believe the outbreak presents a global health emergency, but they think it may yet become one. public transport has been suspended in ten cities in hubei province and temples are being shut over the lunar new year. the restrictions affect at least 20 million people across the region where the virus emerged. so far 26 people in china have died as a result of coronavirus. there have been more than 800 confirmed cases across the globe including in singapore, thailand and the us. 14 people in the uk have been tested for the virus. public health england said five had been given the all clear, while nine were still waiting for results. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in bejiing and sent this update. people are 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 elsewhere, so they have gone to shanghai or they have gone to dalian or beijing, seeking treatment. as they go, they have taken the virus with them. this is why the authorities are concerned that it could become much worse. that the real figure could be very quickly thousands of people infected rather than hundreds. and indeed, it is why other countries in the region are also concerned. dr takeshi kasai, from the world health organization, has this morning sought to allay fears about the spread of the virus. i myself was involved in the sars response in 2003, and i can confidently say that this is very different. for two reasons. one is that, including china, the country has much, much stronger capacity to respond to the outbreak. the fact that china identified and detected this is a known disease and identified this new coronavirus, and more importantly, they shared information, including a sequence, which now allows other countries to test is evidence. the second is that at a global level, we established a system for international health regulations supported by all countries, which now allows member states to share information rapidly about diseases in outbreak. meanwhile in geneva, world health organization spokesperson tarikjasarevic responded to questions about an antiviral or vaccine by saying there is no specific treatment for coronavirus. there is no particular treatment, but it doesn‘t mean that you cannot treat people, because if you look into our clinical guidance, and i was reading at the other day, it‘s really, like, you look what symptoms the person presents to you. so, you look if there is a breathing problem, is it are fever? in severe cases it could go to pneumonia. so, depending on symptoms and stages, you will then provide certain treatment, but there is no particular treatment for this particular virus, just as there is no particular treatment for mrsa which is been around since 2012. there are some trials looking into what could work better, but there is no particular antiviral treatment. same for vaccine, there is no particular vaccine. there is some work being done and there are some trials now for mrsa. we may look at some point whether those treatments and vaccines will have some effect on this new coronavirus. we have a whole range of plans in place for such an eventuality. it is very early days obviously. this is a coronavirus. these range from everything to rip from the common cold through to size which happened nearly to 20 years ago now. we are collecting all the information we can possibly see or understand the nature of the virus. the good thing is that the majority of people do seem to be making a forward recovery, but obviously a small number of people have died in china asa number of people have died in china as a result of this infection, so we are looking carefully at what is going on so we are as prepared as we possibly can be. we are testing anybody who meets the criteria. we tested five who confirmed negative. we‘ve have another nine tests under way. the numbers are not the important thing. the important thing is that when somebody who‘s been to wuhan within the past 14 days and has respiratory symptoms that could represent this virus and be infected, then we asked them to phone nhs111 and we can arrange testing and any appropriate treatment if needed. i haven‘t got a precise number of people who have made contact with their gp across the country or have made contact with the nhs the country or have made contact with the nh5111, but the country or have made contact with the nhs111, but we are very clear that the people who need to be in touch with us are those that have been to wuhan in the past 14 days and have respiratory symptoms. that isa cough, and have respiratory symptoms. that is a cough, shortness of breath, or a fever. those are the people who may contact us and we can then deal with it. in the last hour, the government has said there will be a cobra meeting today to discuss the latest development of the coronavirus outbreak. the government convening an emergency cobra meeting and it is happening as we speak. it is quite interesting looking at the people intending this meeting. we know that advice is being offered to passengers as they come from china into the uk airports. the foreign office is also attending. ministers from scotland and wales and northern ireland office. and the department for education as well. something that we learn this morning from the prime minister‘s official spokesman, is that the reason for the department for education attending the meeting is that universities will be speaking to students as they come back from china. there is an awareness that many students studying here in the uk, and come from china or will be going back to china for the new year, they want to make sure that those students have the right information available to them as well. as it happens, the prime minister will be hosting a chinese new year reception in downing street in the next hour as well. the prime minister himself will not be attending the meeting. we will bring you more from cobra as we get it, and also worth bearing in mind that we have your questions answered about the coronavirus at 12:30pm. with our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar. you can get in touch using #bbcyourquestions, by emailing your questions to [email protected] or texting 85058. texts will be charged at your standard message rate. a coroner has said that the death of a seven—day—old baby was ‘wholly avoidable‘ and that the infant and his parents were failed by a margate hospital. harry richford was born in november 2017 at the queen elizabeth the queen mother hospital in margate. east kent hospitals trust has apologised. it comes after a bbc investigation found at least seven preventable baby deaths may have occurred at the east kent nhs foundation trust group of hospitals in england since 2016. significant concerns had been raised about maternity services at the trust. well the coroner today praised the parents of harry richford for being "calm and dignified" during the inquest. mr christpher sutton—mattocks said harry and his parents had been "failed" by the queen elizabeth the queen mother hospital in margate. thomas and sarah richford spoke to the bbc before the inquest, and said the hospital should be held accountable. he never had his cv checked by the process , he never had his cv checked by the process, so he was employed by administrative centre. it‘s like me or sarah being employed to do surgery on someone. it‘s that level. it doesn‘t feel like a very safe control environment if that‘s the case. if harry was under my care under those seven days i would be held accountable for that. but nobody has at the hospital. our correspondent helena wilkinson is at the inquest in maidstone. it isa it is a very very sad story, and a story with lots of lessons. yes, a lot of lessons, and the coroner today has been very critical of the hospital trust. he opened the conclusions to what has been a three—week inquest saying that the pa rents three—week inquest saying that the parents and how his parents were obviously very excited, first—time pa rents, obviously very excited, first—time parents, and harry was a much loved baby. but there were a series of failings made by the hospital, one of which, there was a locum doctor in charge on that night and the coroner said that he should not have beenin coroner said that he should not have been in charge. we also heard that there was a doctor that took nearly half an hour to try to resuscitate harry, and these were failings that the coroner said and also ruled that neglect contributed to how his death. we have in the last half hour or so had a statement from the east kent hospital trust from the medical director responding to the conclusion here today, and he says, we are deeply sorry and wholeheartedly apologise for our failings in harry‘s care and accept the coroners conclusions and findings. the coroner also said that harry should have been two years and three months old today. he should have been a bundle of energy with no end of mischief. instead, his family are grieving, and they will do so for the rest of their life. the coroner went on to say they do not believe he should have died, and i agree with them. his death was wholly avoid double. we are expecting harry‘s parents to come out of the court very shortly to get their reaction. ajudge in dublin has ruled that a man from northern ireland, who is wanted in connection with the discovery of 39 bodies in a refrigerated container, can be extradited from ireland to the uk. the bodies of 39 vietnamese people were found in the back of a truck in essex in october last year. police are seeking eamonn harrison on charges of human trafficking and immigration offences, as well as the 39 offences of manslaughter. lots more coming up on the channel over the course of the hour but right now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. the foreign secretary says he‘s spoken to the us ambassador to express disappointment about america‘s refusal to extradite the wife of a us intelligence officer. anne sacoolas is wanted in connection with the death of 19 year—old harry dunn, in a road crash in northamptonshire in august. it said it will now carefully consider what action can now be taken. this is how done peasant mother charlotte talking to us earlier. white we are quite happy to continue ourfight. nothing white we are quite happy to continue our fight. nothing is white we are quite happy to continue ourfight. nothing is going to stop asa ourfight. nothing is going to stop as a makers go away. it doesn‘t matter how long it takes. if it means that we have to wait until the next administration then we will. we are hoping it won‘t take that long, but if it does, we are fully equipped to manage those expectations, and managed to continue to go through this process no matter what. we are not going anywhere. the extradition request will be forever over and is a clueless‘s head, and we are happy to see it through. we saw officials this afternoon and they put out overnight their support of us, and we are extremely pleased about that statement. it is a strong statement and one in full support of us as a family. we have seen them this afternoon, and we will come out and doa afternoon, and we will come out and do a press conference after that. we will take each day at a time, as we have done over the last four months. the headlines on bbc news... chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus death toll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. a coroner has said that the death of a baby at a hospital in kent in 2017 was "wholly avoidable". ‘a denial ofjustice‘ — foreign secretary dominc raab criticises the us for failing to extradite anne sacoolas. the dunn family says they‘ll fight. sport now. we start with a full test between england and south africa in stjohn —— in johannesburg. between england and south africa in st john -- in johannesburg. joe root won the toss and chose to bat. he has lost the past seven tosses in a row. it has been a solid start for england. they are 42 without loss. sat cruelly at the crease. you can follow the latest action with us on the bbc sport website and app. a day of shocks in the singles at the australian open coco gauff knocked out the reigning champion. she took just 67 minutes to beat a sucker in straight sets. serena williams is another name to be knocked out as well. she suffered her early east exit in melbourne since 2006. in the men‘s draw, djokovic is through whilst roger federer leads john millman by two sets to one. manchester united have been fined £20,000 to forfailing manchester united have been fined £20,000 to for failing to ensure that their players conduct themselves in an orderly fashion during their premier league defeat to liverpool at anfield on saturday. several players surrounded the referee afterwards and the goal was allowed to stand before it was ruled out by the assistant referee. meanwhile, the manager said remains confident the club see him as the right man to take them forward following back—to—back defeats. right man to take them forward following back-to-back defeats. i'm going to stick to what i am interested to do by the club, and hopefully that will be good enough, and that they can see what we are doing is right. and just got to keep on doing... it is one of thesejobs that you... you know how football is now a days. my conversations with the club having person to. there will be record prize money and the ladies european tour. players will now compete for more than £50 million in prize money. that is up by almost 4 million from last year, and a record for the women‘s tour. there will be more tournaments on the calendar this year as well. sevenin the calendar this year as well. seven in fact. making a total of 24 in 2020, and that is up from just 15 in 2018. that is all your support for now. i will have more for you in the next hour. the construction of the controversial hs2 railway line is billions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule. the national audit office says the department for transport failed to understand how complex and risky the project would be. increasing costs and delays led to the government launching a review of the scheme. it‘s looking at the cost and benefits, and the findings of the review will help the government to decide if the project should go ahead at all. the project is in two main phases. the first will connect london to birmingham. increasing capacity and cutting journey times. it was originally due in 2026 but won‘t open until 2031 at the earliest. the second phase connects birmingham to manchester and leeds. that is still to get final sign off and won‘t be ready until 2032 to 2033. when the project was first launched it had a budget ofjust over £30 billion. by 2015 inflation costs meant the price was £55 billion. the government‘s own estimates think it could now reach £88 billion. just this week a leaked version of the government review reportedly put the costs at £106 billion. the government says it‘s already acting on the watchdog‘s recommendations. our transport correspondent, tom burridge reports. as work to build a new high—speed line goes on in birmingham, criticism from the government‘s spending watchdog over management of the budget for hs2, which has ballooned. today‘s report says the government and hs2 limited underestimated the scale and complexity of this project, and that‘s one of the reasons why the budget has risen so much. this is the vision for that site once a station is built here. the national audit office says risks and uncertainty weren‘t properly managed, but says the budget for phase one of hs2 is now robust. they‘ve done an awful lot of work to understand the cost and they now have a better estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will take to build the railway between london and birmingham. that said, the programme as a whole is at a very early stage and risks remain. some conservatives have urged the prime minister to rethink. other seniorfigures say hs2 has to go ahead. this part of the country, the north, turned decisively to the conservative party and the prime minister has talked about levelling up. this is literally the investment that will level up the economy. the cost of the second phase of this project, linking the city to leeds and to manchester, is more uncertain because it‘s at a much earlier stage. a final decision is due next month. tom burridge, bbc news, in birmingham. with me is tony travers, professor at the london school of economics who sat on panel of the oakervee review into hs2. he was one of the advisers to the recent review. everything that you have seen in the national audit office report, anything surprise you? if anything, it is the extent to which the national audit office lays the blame for the failures to get the costs and are predicted opening time is right pretty squarely on hs to the company, and less on the department for transport. that is clear on the report. why would you let optimists with an incest in the dash and interest in the project be allowed to work on on this. they are paid substantially for their expertise. can you not hold them to these costs ? can you not hold them to these costs? the difficulty is that the company would in effect go bankrupt if you tried to force them to do it for the original sums. the difficulty which you are in question implies, is that each time it is given the go—ahead, it is then read by those apparently on the other side that this is a limitless cast project that can go on for longer amounts of time all the time. so the question facing government now, is how does this project, if it goes ahead, how other costs overseen and by whom if it goes on and if it does go on? let's deal with the if. what is stopping them just throwing it away? the government is committed to away? the government is committed to a radical improvement in transport in the midlands and the north, and although there is a debate about how far this project would in the end rebalance or help rebalance the economy, if this is stopped, there isn‘t much else ready to go. the government does need to go —— the government does need to go —— the government needs to look as if it is doing something for the midlands and the north. we have been told that they have already spent 8 million on it. if they stop it, are they committed to spend more? it. if they stop it, are they committed to spend more7m it. if they stop it, are they committed to spend more? if they stop it, they would have to spend more money on paying off interest and contracts that had already been let. at the moment, seven or £8 billion has already been spent, more would have to be spent to stop it. the question is that what with the liberated money be used for. the government there does not have a plan for what it would do if it didn‘t go ahead with hs2. it is very difficult to say to the midlands and the north to sayjust keep going whatever it costs. because there isn‘t an alternative. the number but the difficulty for the government is that the numbers could go higher than we have already seen. but you can have a project that says it will cost £32 million and then goes up to £106 billion. why can‘t we have a system where people are punished for spending more money and taking more time to do something? if you or i had to committed to delivering something and then travelled or quadrupled the price. absolutely, and not unique to this major piece of railway, but it is true in defence procurement as well. if there are cost overruns, true, you can get rid of some of the top managers in bringing new people, but the companies where you do get big overruns, where you do the work, get more work out of the overruns. that isa more work out of the overruns. that is a further complication. you are explaining the problem really well. i‘m not sure there is the solution. you sound tired. for this project, if it goes ahead, i think the government would have to put in place a sort of permanent review that the department and possibly outsiders would have to keep a bdi on every pound that was spent every day of the week, all year round, all the way through to 20 35 or 2040. otherwise, the cuts willjust drift off again. the report definitely sounds weary. this is the fourth timei sounds weary. this is the fourth time i think that they have looked at this subject. the president of the european commission has signed boris johnson‘s brexit withdrawal agreement a week to the day the uk is due to leave the eu. ursula von der leyen and the european council president, charles michel put pen to paper to the deal signalling the uk‘s departure. the european parliament is expected to approve the bill on wednesday. our europe correspondent gavin lee gave us this update. all of their fanfare in all of theirfanfare in fever all of their fanfare in fever pitch we had just a few months ago has gone away. there was barely a drip of publicity pulled out from the european commission and council today. very low—key, and a couple of shots where the president of the european commission and president of the european council signed the document. these are part of the necessary technical steps given that they had already agreed to the withdrawal agreement just before christmas. it was given royal assent in the uk and technically signed off now. it goes back to borisjohnson today by korea. borisjohnson has to technically sign it. on wednesday next week, at six o‘clock that is when it goes to the final ratification process with the european parliament meant. out of 751 meps saying yes than saying no, and we‘re pretty certain that it will go through. there is a brexit committee looking at all of the text and recommended that it should go forward without any changes. even the brexit party, while they haven‘t come to a decision, the biggest british party in the european there member rupert lowe saying they will also sign this. it is like a turkey voting for christmas. this deal stinks, but it is worth signing so that we are out and borisjohnson says we are out. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with phil. sunday sees quite a radical change. quite a bank stuck to the day across northern ireland and parts of eastern scotland thanks to this weather front. eastern scotland thanks to this weatherfront. brightening eastern scotland thanks to this weather front. brightening skies across northern ireland later on in the afternoon. perhaps a return of some rain into the far west of scotland. some brightness perhaps to the north—east of scotland with some showers. maybe in the north—east of wales two. during the evening and overnight, that rain pulls away from the western quarter of scotland. it is essentially a dry night. it should keep many areas of frost free. there could be some rain and stronger winds getting into the north—west of scotland, may be a passing shower down to the north—west. it is sunday that sees things turning pretty wet and windy too. hello this is bbc newsroom live with me, carrie gracie. the headlines: chinese authorities confirm the coronavirus deathtoll has climbed to 26 people and there are more than 800 confirmed infections worldwide. the world health organization has declared an emergency for china. here in the uk, the government‘s emergency committee, cobra, is beginning a meeting to discuss measures to contain the virus. 14 people have been tested, with five testing negative, and an incident team has been set up in scotland to deal with the threat. a coroner has said that the death of a baby at a hospital in kent in 2017 was "wholly avoidable." an nhs trust is being investigated after significant concerns were raised about maternity services. "a denial ofjustice" — the government criticises the us for failing to extradite anne sacoolas who is to be charged with causing the death of teenager harry dunn. the dunn family says they‘ll continue to fight. this extradition request hangs there forever, it‘s never going to go away. this administration will go away. we will wait, if we need to, for the next five, ten, 15 years. the government spending watchdog says no—one took full account of the risks and complexity of the high—speed rail project which could now cost £106 billion — almost double the initial estimation. boris johnson‘s brexit withdrawal agreement is signed by eu leaders a week before the uk leaves the bloc. the uk‘s biggest supermarket chain, tesco says it‘ll no longer sell items bundled together using plastic. well, as we‘ve reported this morning, chinese authorities are continuing to step up efforts to stop the spread of a respiratory virus that‘s killed 26 people. nine patients in the uk are awaiting the results of tests for suspected coronavirus. you‘ve been sending us your questions about the virus, and here to answer them is our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar. lovely to see you. we have one from linda, if we live in london suburbs, would it be advisable, if possible, to avoid travelling into the city and using the central public transport network until we know more? we are absolutely not at that stage yet, there are no known cases in the uk, people are being tested, thatis in the uk, people are being tested, that is a good thing, it means people have their ears and eyes open and know to come forward and be tested, that is a good thing. there is nothing we need to do differently. if you have travelled to china, particularly the wuhan city, where there seems to be originating from, then you really need to be looking after yourself, checking for symptoms. if anything comes up, contact authorities. but for normal people going about their normal business throughout the country, you can continue doing that with no issue. jason says how deadly is this virus likely to be? would generally well and healthy people be likely to recover from generally well and healthy people be likely to recoverfrom infection? generally well and healthy people be likely to recover from infection? we are still at a relatively early stage of the outbreak, it has only been a few weeks of at —— so scientists do not know how deadly this new coronaviruses. at this stage it seems it is not very deadly. there have been more than 800 cases now and 26 deaths, of course that is too many but in terms of her many infections we know of, thatis of her many infections we know of, that is a relatively low death rate. in context, the last new coronavirus, it was called middle east respiratory syndrome and started in saudi arabia, that killed around a third of the people that we re around a third of the people that were infected. the sars virus in china about 20 years ago killed around one in ten. for this virus we are looking at 3% to 4%. this may change in the future, it is a concerning virus and we need to find out more about it, but it does not seem very out more about it, but it does not seem very deadly at this stage. julie ann wants to know if a passenger arrives, she probably means an air passenger, showing symptoms of the virus, what will happen to them? here in england, public health england are at airports, people are well informed, health officials are well informed about the virus, they know what they are looking for. there was increased monitoring forflight are looking for. there was increased monitoring for flight specifically from wuhan that were coming in, that only lasted about a day also because wuhan stopped flights coming out. there is certainly a heightened sense of awareness from people working in these airport to pick up on these things. i think it simply becomes sick, they themselves will need to contact health facilities, let them know their travel history, where they have been, how they are feeling, they may well be seen in a health facility but they will be isolated. if there is a confirmed case in this country, there are several specialist centres all around the country that would deal with those cases. i have been to one, they are completely isolated, in this country we have some of the best care possible for these sorts of mysterious viruses, little known viruses, so people would be in very good hands. sonam asks if there is a vaccination for the virus? not yet, the world health organization yesterday called for scientists, organisations and governments to put money and time into developing the new vaccine, but there is not one at the moment and that will take time. normally to get it into human tests, it can take one or two years and to get lots of vaccines and know they definitely work in people can take yea rs definitely work in people can take years and years and years. this is an interesting one, i do not suppose it will apply to many people, this viewer says i have students and a teacher from china staying with me next week, i am not sure which city they are from, should i cancel them? you probably need to speak to them and find out which city they are from. if they are from wuhan have been hanging out of lot —— hanging out with lots of friends from wuhan, you may want to think about your options. i think the best thing is to talk to those people, ask them how they are feeling about it, i am sure they have it as well, get a picture before making the decision. that sense i get advice. barbara asks, what is the incubation period for the disease? when does a person become contagious? —— that sounds like good advice. we don't officially know, we think it is around five days, could be slightly more or less, based on previous coronaviruses. it is very important because what we are unclear of is if people are not showing symptoms, are they still infections, will they still infect other people? this is very still infect other people? this is very new still infect other people? this is very new information but we know an infected person is currently infecting between 1.4 and 2.5 people, so we are getting little bits of information. these numbers will probably change as the picture becomes clearer, but finding out how contagious this is and how long the incubation period is is a priority. and esteban asks what is ph range of the people who have passed away as a result of the virus? it has generally been older people with underlying health problems, heart problems, diabetes, people whose immune systems are already compromised, but have, sadly, died from this virus. i think it is between late 40s to well into the 80s, between late 40s to well into the 805, it between late 40s to well into the 80s, it does not seem to be younger, healthier people or children at this point. tulip, that was very helpful. thank you for coming in and taking questions from the audience, we will speak to you again soon. the uk‘s biggest trade union, unite, is meeting to decide which candidate to back in the labour leadership contest. rebecca long—bailey and emily thornberry are looking tojoin sir keir starmer and lisa nandy on the ballot to replacejeremy corbyn. the result of the leadership contest will be announced at the beginning of april. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent nick eardley about which candidate unite was likely to put their support behind. i think it is highly likely that unite will back rebecca long—bailey today. we know that the majority of unite‘s executives are pretty left—wing. the leadership of unite has certainly been very pro—jeremy corbyn in the past, and the expectation is that they‘ll want someone to carry on in the same sort of mode asjeremy corbyn. that, at the moment, is definitely being seen as rebecca long—bailey. have a listen to len mccluskey, the unite general secretary, when he arrived at the tuc this morning. i think whatjeremy did four years ago, he probably changed british politics forever, and i think he changed the labour party. we now have a clear alternative to a conservative austerity government, a government that actually governs for the rich as opposed to the rest of the people, and what jeremy corbyn has done with labour, and that is his legacy, is to create this alternative, and i think that is the right thing to do. people have a clear choice, and well, we will see who our members pick, both today and indeed when the election is done. we will find out who exactly unite are backing around 6pm this evening, but as i say, i think it is a fairly safe bet at the moment that it will be rebecca long—bailey. that puts her within touching distance of the final ballot. this is a complicated process. it always is with the labour party. we are into phase two where all the candidates have to get the backing of either two unions and an affiliate group, or 33 local parties. keir starmer and lisa nandy both have those already. they are definitely on that final ballot. rebecca long—bailey definitely will be in, one way or another. the person who is really struggling at the moment, though, is emily thornberry. she has a lot of work to doif she is going to get through to the last round. she has the backing of around three local parties at the moment, so she needs to get another 30 if she is going to get onto that final ballot. and then there is still a long way to go in this race. it is not going to be over until the beginning of april so i suspect there will see a lot of movement in the favourite position before then. now with all the business news here is susannah streeter. i‘m susannah streeter. in the business news... we‘ve had positive snapshot this morning about the health of the uk economy. the uk private sector returned to growth for the first time in five months injanuary as business confidence was boosted by borisjohnson‘s election win, new data has revealed. the early readings of the ihs markit/cips uk purchasing managers‘ index also showed a downturn in manufacturing eased. shares injust eat have sunk nearly 3% following the news that its proposed merger with takeaway.com will be investigated by the competition and markets authority. in an update this morning the dutch giant takeaway. com said it expected the deal, which saw it offer £5.9 billion forjust eat, would be delayed by about one week. chinese firm jingye, which came forward to rescue british steel, says it intends to reduce the headcount at the business. up to 500 jobs could be at risk according to joint statement from trade unions including gmb, community and unite the union. they said discussions with the chinese industrial firm had been "extremely challenging," but acknowledged that "if the business is to survive, change is required." more than 400 employees have launched an equal pay claim against the co—op supermarket chain in the latest retail pay battle. the co—op shop workers, mostly women, say they are being underpaid compared with warehouse workers, who are mostly men. the claim comes after similar actions against asda, tesco, sainsbury‘s and morrisons. the co—op said it was "confident that our reward practices are fair". chris benson is a partner and head of employment law at leigh day. that is the company representing the women. what kind of pay disparity are we talking about, how much could they be owed ? are we talking about, how much could they be owed? they could be owed £10,000 in total, the average pay shortfall could be one, two, £3 and our depending on the various rates of pay for men in the depots. provides if successful, could this affect other employees who have perhaps worked at co—op in the past? i suspect so, over the coming week we have had about another hundred inquiries, and as the case progresses more will be issued, these 400 i just the first employees who have instructed us. it is said that the men are paid more because theirjobs depend on physical strength. the clubhouse had their pay practices are fair, do you think this is the argument they will put forward ? this is the argument they will put forward? what are clients are not saying is that theirjobs are exactly the same as the men‘s, there isa exactly the same as the men‘s, there is a recognition that the warehouse job is perhaps more physical, but many of our clients, particularly in the evenings, work in the shops on their own. so not only do they unload the lorries, they stack the shelves, serve customers, have to deal with shoplifters, check age and it policies, so in the round we say jobs are of equal value to the co—op and the women should be paid the same. why has this onlyjust come to light given so many pay claims have been taken against retailers? is there a lack of transparency in the retail sector? i think there probably is. most of the supermarkets, all of the ones we are bringing claims, say they have their pay structures but we have not seen, as good practice would be, is a job evaluation study where the jobs are assessed and plucked out and then objectively a decision taken as to what you pay man and women. —— assessed and looked out. thank you for joining assessed and looked out. thank you forjoining us, that was a partner and head of employment law at leigh day. in other business stories we‘ve been following, mini nuclear reactors could be generating power in the uk by the end of the decade. manufacturer rolls—royce has told the bbc it plans to install and operate factory—built power stations by 2029. they can be mass manufactured and delivered in chunks on the back of a lorry. but opponents say the uk should quit nuclear power altogether and concentrate on cheaper renewable energy instead. the royal bank of scotland has today announced rbs has today announced a new £1 billion in funding through natwest to support female entrepreneurs in the uk to scale up their businesses. the bank claims it‘s the largest intervention by a uk lender focused specifically on female—led businesses. it‘s also set a target to inspire half a million people to consider starting a business, and offer them the support to help their firms grow. tinder is adding a panic button and other safety features to the dating app. the new functions will include emergency assistance, location tracking, and photo verification. tinder will offer the features first in the us from 28 january, but didn‘t say when they will be available globally. the parent company match group, which also owns plentyoffish, okcupid and hinge, aims to roll out the features on its other dating platforms later this year. let‘s check with the financial markets. the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed at least 26 people and led to transport links to some chinese cities being closed, is worrying investors. the world health organisation labelling the coronavirus outbreakan emergency for china, where 25 people have died and at least 800 have been infected, but not, as yet, for the rest of the world which eased fears a little on the markets. the ftse 100, the ftse100, the main blue—chip indexin the ftse100, the main blue—chip index in london, is up 1.66%. the dax and the cac 40 also up. shares with a heavy exposure to china or travel industries, like cruise ship companies and airlines have been the hardest hit. that is all the business news from me, much more coming up throughout the afternoon. a man who attacked a police officer with a machete in east london last summer has been jailed for sixteen years. muhammad rodwan claimed he had been acting in self defence when he repeatedly struck the police officer during a routine traffic stop. he was convicted of wounding with intent but found not guilty of attempted murder. pc stuart outten said he believed he would have been killed if he hadn‘t managed to fire his taser. graphic footage from his body—worn camera showed rodwan punching him before grabbing a sharpened machete. the judge said it was a "brutal and shocking" attack. hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting on the streets of baghdad to demand the expulsion of american forces from iraq. the demonstrations were called by shia cleric moqtada al sadr. tensions have been fuelled by anger over the us killing of iranian general, qaseem soleimani in iraq. well, our correspondent martin patience, who‘s in baghdad, explained the influence of moqtada al sadr, the cleric behind the call to stage anti—us protests. he is a hugely influential shia cleric. he is also a populist politician, if you like, and he is a man who can bring tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands onto the street. it is interesting. with this march, he has shown his political hand. he has swung behind the growing anti—american sentiment in iraq, following the assassination of qasem soleimani, the iranian general, and he says that all american forces need to go. so i think what it will do is pile yet more pressure on the iraqi government. the voices calling for american forces to leave are growing louder, but there are other voices, quieter voices who actually want the americans to stay. some of them are kurds in the north or sunnis in the country. the reason they want the americans to stay is to keep a brake on shia populists, a bit like moqtada al—sadr, shia militias, because they believe that they are ungoverned and they have rampant power in the country. and then let‘s not forget the fight against the so—called islamic state. america has been pivotal in that fight, and the feeling is that if american forces pull out of this country, is could well stage a resurgence again. martin patience in baghdad. tesco is to scrap plastic packaging on multipacks of tins. the supermarket says the move will stop 350 tonnes of waste polluting the environment each year. tesco says the price of multipack purchases will not be affected. earlier i asked juliet phillips from the environmental investigation agency whether it was a good move on tesco‘s part. we welcome all steps taken by supermarkets to reduce the amount of plastic they are putting on the shelves. i think it is important to bearin shelves. i think it is important to bear in mind that this is a fraction of the total amount of plastics that tesco is responsible for every year, so we encourage the company to keep working to bring packaging free and refilla ble working to bring packaging free and refillable packaging solutions to the stores. you think this is a good move but not enough? why haven‘t they moved faster in other areas? obviously we see different supermarkets doing different things, why aren‘t they all doing all the things that once? we are seeing an increasing number of companies looking into refillable and reusable packaging trials. these need to be applied at scale to make sure they are available and accessible to customers who want to use them. there is a role for government policy to make sure there is a level playing field and encouraging that eve ryo ne playing field and encouraging that everyone catches up. when you say government policy, g mean setting new rules to insist all the supermarkets do the same things? —— do yes, we are calling for legally binding targets to make sure we are reducing the amount of plastic used and increasing amount of refillable solutions. we have been talking about different supermarkets doing different things, which has proved the most effective so far? we have seen some really innovative work from waitrose, asda and morrisons with refillable packaging where customers can bring their own containers into the store and reuse the many, many times, every time they want to purchase more pasta or fruit and vegetables. i think this isa fruit and vegetables. i think this is a brilliant way that people can cut back on their plastic use. just dealing with the multipack tins issue, the tesco story today, some people would say it would be very inconvenient for lots of people for whom that really matters. the tins are heavy, if they are temping around in peoples bags and they are carrying them around on the bus and someone it will not be easy. what is your answer to that? it is important to make this accessible for everyone and that no one is losing out. there are and that no one is losing out. there a re steps and that no one is losing out. there are steps that companies can take to make sure it is easy and available. there will also need to be a slight shift in consumer behaviour away from the convenience culture we have at the moment. what is your advice to people who would normally pick up a six of baked beans or one of the tubes of tuna tins? what is the alternative? them out one by one? yes and most people will be able to get their heads around it and hopefully it will not cause too many problems. the prince of wales has met the palesitinian president mahmoud abbas on his first visit tothe occupied palestinian territories. earlier he walked through bethlehem with muslim and christian leaders. his first engagement on palestinian land was to visit the mosque of omar on manger square. he urged peace in the region. and no one arriving in bethlehem today could miss the signs of continued hardship and the situation you face. i can onlyjoin you and all communities in your prayers for all communities in your prayers for a just and lasting peace. we must pursue this because with faith and determination, striding to heal the wounds which have caused such pain. it is my dearest wish that the future will bring freedom, justice and equality to all palestinians, enabling you to thrive and to prosper. the prince of wales in the occupied territories. the singer taylor swift has revealed that she previously struggled with an eating disorder as she discussed her "unhealthy" relationship with food. she told us magazine variety she would "starve" herself if she saw a photograph where she thought her stomach was too big and that there were times when she was on tour in 2014 that she thought she might pass out. japan‘s air self—defense force aerobatic display team has practiced skywriting the olympic rings to prepare for a ceremony marking the arrival of the tokyo games‘ torch. the practice took place on earlier today, six months to the day ahead of the opening ceremony. the torch will be at the olympia site in greece on march the 12th and arrive injapan on the 20th. —— at the olympic site. this performing team, known as blue impulse, has performed a similar role at the 1964 tokyo games and the 1998 nagano winter olympics. now you know! next it‘s the bbc news at one with ben brown. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with lucy martin. hello there. for many, today‘s weather looks quite similar to what we saw yesterday on the day before. but we have got a change in the way. high pressure that has been keeping things settled will start to pull away towards the south—east as we move towards the weekend, and there will be all eyes on this cold front which will bring an cold spell of wet weather. more of that in a moment then. here is a picture from earlier. you can see a good deal of cloud for much of the uk. some brightness, the best of which will be fine to the east of high ground. we are going to see more of the same through this afternoon. some patchy rain moving out of northern ireland into western scotland as we continue through this afternoon. a few breaks in the cloud in eastern scotland. north—east england and elsewhere is generally cloudy with some mist and fog, with the cloud and the cloud they can offer some drizzle. —— the cloud thick enough to offer some drizzle. as we go through tonight, that rain pushes a little bit further north, but for most, not a great deal of change to come. there will be plenty of cloud around, some missed, some hill fog, temperatures in the most part not falling too far. so, for most, it will be a frost free night. but into the early hours, we start to see some clear spells further south, but here‘s the temperatures could locally dip away. into the weekend, and high pressure starts to pull away. this cold front starts to make inroads and make its influence felt. so, for saturday, there is a fair amount of cloud around. there are brighter spells across the south and will gradually work their way north, so a greater chance of seeing some sunshine tomorrow, but still predominantly cloudy skies. a few showers in the west, and also that rain pushing into the far north—west of scotland later. the temperatures are similar to what we will see today, but then it is all change as we move into sunday. that cold front eventually works its way southend east,, bringing a spell of rain and a notably colder air mass behind it. —— eventually works its way to the south and east. so there will be rain for western areas first thing. ahead of it, some dry weather but that rain gradually working its way east. behind that front, we will start to see some sunny spells coming through. northern ireland and western parts of scotland, north—west england, one or two showers which could be wintry over higher ground and parts of scotland. it will be a blustery day for everybody with the winds picking up. temperatures staying in the double figures but a noticeably fresher feel behind it. temperatures here are five or six celsius. that takes us into the start of next week where it will turn colder and more unsettled with some wet and windy weather. the death toll in china from the coronavirus rises to 26, with 800 people infected. people in ten chinese cities are being stopped from travelling, but the virus has spread to other countries like japan and the united states. in london the cobra commuting is meeting this lunchtime. we‘ll have the latest from downing street and from our correspondent in beijing. also this lunchtime... a coroner says the death of this baby at a maternity unit in kent was "wholly avoidable". a denial ofjustice — britain condemns the united states for refusing to extradite the woman accused of killing teenager harry dunn.