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Coronavirus: Death toll passes 100
China has put more restrictions on travel as it tries to stem the spread of the flu-like coronavirus. The death toll has increased to 106, with more than 4,500 cases confirmed across the country.
Most of the deaths have been among elderly people or those who had respiratory problems prior to becoming infected.
The US has urged people to “reconsider travel” to China. So far, there have been 47 confirmed cases outside China, but none of them have been fatal. Amid a fast-changing situation, the BBC has put together a visual guide to the coronavirus.
And we have updated our guide to the dangers it poses.
Huawei: UK to decide on 5G involvement
The UK’s National Security Council will decide later whether to allow the Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply equipment for the country’s 5G network. The US has said it will review intelligence-sharing operations if the UK agrees to use the company.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera writes that the decision involves “balancing significant but hard to quantify long-term risks with real short-term economic costs”. Read his take on the situation.
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Beeching cuts: £500m fund to restore lost railways
Following the Beeching report in the 1960s, more than 5,000 miles of British railway track closed, while more than 2,300 stations disappeared. The government is today setting up a £500m fund to restore some of what was lost.
There will be £21.9m for two railway lines and a New Stations Fund. The government is also giving £1.5m to develop proposals for the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line in Northumberland, and £100,000 for the Fleetwood line in Lancashire. Communities can apply for money to restore links elsewhere.
Labour says the £500m is far from enough, and that it would only restore 25 miles of railways. Here’s a reminder of what the Beeching report did to Wales.
Tears and relief as the UK’s MEPs bid goodbye
By Emma Harrison, politics reporter
As the clock strikes 23:00 GMT on Friday, the 73 MEPs who represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the European Parliament will bid farewell to their roles.
For some of them, there is only delight and relief as the UK approaches Brexit. For others, there have been tears and goodbye hugs.
“How I am feeling is how somebody feels when you have a redundancy and a bereavement at the same time,” says Green MEP Molly Scott Cato, who has represented South West England since 2014.
In contrast, Brexit could not have come soon enough for Jake Pugh. “We are delighted,” says the Brexit Party MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber. “We were hired to be fired.”
What the papers say
There is much coverage of a US prosecutor’s claims that the Duke of York has provided “zero co-operation” during the inquiry into his former friend, the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Daily Mail reports that the remarks have caused a “sensation”, while the i says the attorney has called the “Duke of York’s bluff”. Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph says Boris Johnson is likely to “defy” the US by allowing Chinese firm Huawei to become involved with the UK’s 5G network. And the Financial Times leads on Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s warning that the UK may have to make concessions over fishing during negotiations over a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. Read the newspaper review in full.
Daily digest
Prince Andrew “Zero co-operation” given, says US prosecutor
‘Get Ready for Brexit’ Watchdog queries impact of £46m campaign
Northern Ireland All MoTs suspended with immediate effect
‘I’m not called Michael’ Insurer apologises over wrongly naming thousands of customers
If you see one thing today
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Neil Martinson
Work, protest and play on the streets of Hackney
If you listen to one thing today
If you read one thing today
Journey to the ‘doomsday’ glacier
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Lookahead
17:00 Stars arrive for the National Television Awards at the 02 Arena in south-east London.
Evening The winner of the 2020 Costa Book of the Year award is announced.
On this day
1986 The US space shuttle Challenger explodes just after take-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven astronauts on board.
From elsewhere
‘Like a bad dream’: Bilpin’s day of reckoning (Sydney Morning Herald)
What’s tangling up the humpback whales? A food chain snarled by climate change (Los Angeles Times)
Travellers reveal their favourite ‘alternative’ must-visit landmarks (Daily Mail)
The 2020 Grammys felt like a party thrown by your dad (Slate)
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