enthusiasm for what can be the worlds biggest single day election. the us house of representatives votes to impeach homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. president biden calls it �*unconstitutional.’ also in the united states, a long—delayed $95 billion bill gets the senate's approval for aid to ukraine, israel and taiwan. and in gaza, the situation remains desperate in rafah — as american, egyptian, israeli and qatari officials meet in cairo — to discuss a possible ceasefire and hostage deal. we start in indonesia,

where voting has just begun for what is the largest and most complex one day election in the world. the current president, joko widodo has served the maximum two terms in office — meaning this will the first leadership change in a decade. more than 200 million citizens are eligible to vote for around 20—thousand political positions. let's go to steve lai now, who's injakarta for us this morning. polling is up and running for the polling hours are from 7am to 1pm a six hour window. worth noting in indonesia spans three different time zones so parts of indonesia there is a two hour time difference. we will have more of what to expect from the polls and a bit. i want to get you up to speed with some of the candidates and main talking points. arejoined

by a southeast asian correspondent and has a wealth of knowledge. let's talk about the front runnerjoko widodo. he is now 72 years old. he's also — he is now 72 years old. he's also been _ he is now 72 years old. he's also been aiming for the presidency for a long time for the effect those who have dealt with them over the years, he was — with them over the years, he was clearly ambitious decades ago. _ was clearly ambitious decades ago, he is a former special forces _ ago, he is a former special forces commander, he was many years— forces commander, he was many years in— forces commander, he was many years in the — forces commander, he was many years in the military. he has been — years in the military. he has been accused of a whole array of human— been accused of a whole array of human rights abuses and to gilly— of human rights abuses and to gilly and — of human rights abuses and to gilly and kidnapping of an activist _ gilly and kidnapping of an activistjust be for gilly and kidnapping of an activist just be for 1998. gilly and kidnapping of an activistjust be for 1998. he was — activistjust be for 1998. he was the _ activistjust be for 1998. he was the son in law of the authoritarian leader. he has very— authoritarian leader. he has very much changed his image. he used _ very much changed his image. he used to— very much changed his image. he used to project a very hard, nationalist, sometimes islamic identity~ — nationalist, sometimes islamic identity. he doing that on his head — identity. he doing that on his head and _ identity. he doing that on his head and he's coming to the voters — head and he's coming to the voters very much is an older figure. — voters very much is an older figure, slightly comical which is been — figure, slightly comical which is been effective. critically

he's — is been effective. critically he's got _ is been effective. critically he's got the support of incumbent presidentjoko incumbent president joko widodo. that's incumbent presidentjoko widodo. that's really taken the steam — widodo. that's really taken the steam out of the campaign by the candidate backed by the largest— the candidate backed by the largest pdi ip. he'd been counting onjoko largest pdi ip. he'd been counting on joko widodo's support. once you switch sides, he's _ support. once you switch sides, he's been — support. once you switch sides, he's been in third place with the other— he's been in third place with the other candidate is a former governor— the other candidate is a former governor of jakarta. the other candidate is a former governor ofjakarta. sort of governor of jakarta. sort of governor ofjakarta. sort of professorial, very smooth on the campaign trail. he's got the campaign trail. he's got the backing of islamic groups who've — the backing of islamic groups who've not played such a big rote — who've not played such a big rote in — who've not played such a big role in this election as previously. a lot of people are very— previously. a lot of people are very impressed by his fluency in the — very impressed by his fluency in the articular sea in which he expresses his policies. this is his third _ he expresses his policies. this is his third attempt _ he expresses his policies. this is his third attempt to - he expresses his policies. ti 3 is his third attempt to run for the presidency. he lost tojoko widodo in the previous two elections you mention he's not at the backing of the incumbent president and that's

highlighted by the fact that joko widodo's son is now his vice presidential running mate. some people would say this tooi

representatives has let's break down for you their packaging, $60 billion for ukraine. ia billion for israel's war against hamas ten billion dollars for humanitarian aid in conflict zones, including gaza plus there's more than eight billion for taiwan and other us allies in the indo—pacific. senate republicans remained divided on the bill and previously voted it down. the bill now heads to the republican—controlled house of representatives, where its fate remains unknown. presidentjoe biden urged the speaker of the house, mike johnson to allow the foreign aid package to be put to a vote. early this morning as the united states senate voted overwhelmingly by a margin of 7229. to move forward the by partisan national security bill. now it moves to the

house. i called the speaker to let the full house speak its mind and not allow a minority of the most extreme voices in the house to block this bill even from being voted on. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal explains just how significant this moment is, with the bill passing the democratic controlled senate by 70 to 29. republicans have said it wouldn't pass. it needed 60 votes. you said there are about 70. that in and of itself is some sort of victory. it has taken more than a week of a floor debate, four months to get to the stage. now we're at this point were basicallyjust going by what president biden has said, those that pass this

bill are almost during the house to not pass it. and almost saying that if you don't pass this it will harm multiple allies of ours. we will see what happens next because it has to go through the house, the speaker of the house, the republican mikejohnson republican mike johnson indicated it republican mikejohnson indicated it will probably not go anywhere. he can either bring the package to a vote in the chamber, amended, send it back or ignore it entirely. we might be in a situation where i could take weeks, months if it all it will land on president bidens desk for it to be signed. there are many republicans who question constantly supporting ukraine. certainly those republicans were more to the right of the party and very loyal to the former president donald trump. he is the front runner for the republican parties presidential candidacy. he has made it quite clear he doesn't want to continue supporting ukraine. many are influenced by his view

on it. the speaker of the house mikejohnson has denied that's the case. that is some of the politics for is the big issue of border security. that was part of the bigger bills was part of the bigger bills was part of the bigger bill. this is a narrower bill. many republicans don't want to give foreign aid without border security attached to it. those are some of the politics playing out in the background of all of this. in the middle east, talks continue in a fresh bid to secure a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. un secretary—general antonio guterres warned a major israeli miltary operation in rafah could have "devastating consequences" — and was likely to leave aid operations in the area "at death's door". it comes after an israeli government spokesman called for un agencies to — in his words — co—operate with its efforts to evacuate civilians from a war—zone.

meanwhile, senior officials from the us, qatar, egypt and israel have started talks in cairo in a fresh bid to try to nail down a ceasefire deal that would be acceptable to both israel and hamas. since the start of the conflict in gaza, at least 339 health workers and paramedics have been killed while trying to save the lives of others. that's according to the health ministry which is run by hamas — designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government. the israel defence forces told the bbc that "any claim that they intentionally target red crescent or medical workers is baseless and untrue and that they act in accordance with international law." during the first six weeks of the war, a journalist who lives in gaza called feras al—aj—rami started called feras al—ajrami started filming for bbc arabic the lives of paramedics working for the palestinian red crescent in the north of gaza. one of them is alaa al halaby, who's worked as a paramedic for the last eight years. this is his account of life in gaza. just to warn you, there are very distressing scenes

throughout this report.

just to tell you the team in the ambulance survived. he works with the red crescent in rafah and in the north of gaza. you can watch bbc our backs gaza ii you can watch bbc our backs gaza 11 emergency rescue on the bbc iplayer. we turn our attention to pakistan. political parties have announced they will form a coalition government. candidates loyal to the former prime minister imran khan won the most seats but not enough for a majority. now his rivals appear to have confirmed a deal to keep him out of power. in neighbouring india last meeting to eight minute talks to protest for farmers have ended

without a breakthrough. farmers union officials complained that ministers failed to take their demands of more government support seriously. the authorities in delhi have banned large public gatherings for a month. tear gas was fired and huge concrete barricades put up to prevent the farmers from reaching the capital of the city. the government wants to prevent a repeat of demonstrations which ended just two years ago after severe disruption. 0ur colleague sent us this report from delhi. i'm on a major highway that connects delhi to some of the northern indian states. normally this would be full of cars. instead you have barbed wire. you have metalfences, concrete barriers. this is a scene that's being repeated on different highways across the city that connects them to any northern indian state. it's an indication ofjust how seriously the government is taking these protests. they don't want to see a repeat of the last time farmers were

protesting. they were doing that for a year. this time the government is saying look, were going to have to put in and to the protest as soon as possible. at the farmers are really adamant about making their voices heard. around the world and across the uk this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. a trip to a rural country pub is a lovely way to spend an afternoon for the driver that's afternoon for the driver that's a hard or soft drink only. at this pub they are now marketing themselves as a destination for dry drinkers. they've developed a mock tail or non—alcoholic cocktail menu and have a range of low or no alcohol beers insiders with wine and fizz coming soon.— insiders with wine and fizz coming soon. insiders with wine and fizz cominu soon. , ., . , ., coming soon. the products on offer or have _ coming soon. the products on offer or have grown _ coming soon. the products on offer or have grown leaps - coming soon. the products on offer or have grown leaps and | offer or have grown leaps and bounds in a relatively short space ofjunk of time, five

years. the country road in the new forest with the people want to come here and be able to drive back home and go on a walk and enjoy the forest. at walk and en'oy the forest. at this walk and enjoy the forest. at this independent distillery they make dorset gin and coffee look your but they've now developed a no alcohol gin alternatives.— developed a no alcohol gin alternatives. ., ., , alternatives. for more stories from across the uk head to the bbc news — across the uk head to the bbc news website.— news website. you are live at bbc news — news website. you are live at bbc news. let's _ news website. you are live at bbc news. let's take - news website. you are live at bbc news. let's take you - news website. you are live at| bbc news. let's take you back to indonesia where up to 200 million people are heading to the polls to elect the companies next president. we can get you live pictures of a polling station in indonesia where polling is currently under way. voters casting their ballots in jakarta. under way. voters casting their ballots injakarta. for more on all of that let's cross over the steve lai who joins us from jakarta. steve come over to

you. jakarta. steve come over to ou. �* , jakarta. steve come over to ou. ~ , jakarta. steve come over to ou. a , ., , jakarta. steve come over to you. as you show they are ollin: you. as you show they are polling stations _ you. as you show they are polling stations are - you. as you show they are polling stations are up - you. as you show they are | polling stations are up and running today. they will be open to 1pm local time. just to give you a sense of the scale of what's involved with a 17,000 islands that make up the entirety of the indonesian archipelago. the logistics are incredibly challenging. indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world following india and indonesia. india and the united states, rather. before the election took place i had a chance to catch up with election expert and she told me some challenges that indonesia faces in carrying out this election. indonesia is a very big countrv _ indonesia is a very big country. it is very complex, not — country. it is very complex, not only— country. it is very complex, not only for the election commission but also for voters in etectro- _ commission but also for voters in electro— participants. the total— in electro— participants. the total number of polling stations in indonesia is more

than — stations in indonesia is more than 820,000 polling stations across — than 820,000 polling stations across indonesia. we also have across indonesia. we also have a potting — across indonesia. we also have a polling station abroad in the other— a polling station abroad in the other countries. it's a very big — other countries. it's a very big election. actually, in one potting — big election. actually, in one polling station the maximum number— polling station the maximum number of voters is 300 voters. that _ number of voters is 300 voters. that is— number of voters is 300 voters. that is why— number of voters is 300 voters. that is why we have many potting _ that is why we have many polling stations. we that is why we have many polling stations.— that is why we have many polling stations. we seen a lot of campaigning _ polling stations. we seen a lot of campaigning play _ polling stations. we seen a lot of campaigning play out - polling stations. we seen a lot of campaigning play out on - of campaigning play out on social media. has it been a challenge to control some of the messages coming out? i understand this information has been quite a factor in this election. been quite a factor in this election-— election. it's become a challenge _ election. it's become a challenge because - election. it's become a challenge because we | election. it's become a - challenge because we don't have specific— challenge because we don't have specific regulation on that. because _ specific regulation on that. because based on institutions say the — because based on institutions say the economic say yes, we're still democratic company two countrv — still democratic company two country but a flawed democracy. that's _ country but a flawed democracy. that's the — country but a flawed democracy. that's the situation in indonesia. and with the

situation where the law, regulation, our constituency —— constitution is violated in the constitutional court. i think it makes— constitutional court. i think it makes our democracy worse. as mentioned in, talking about polling stations. it’s polling stations. it's interesting - polling stations. it's interesting because| polling stations. it's l interesting because of indonesia is large population, 204 million they actually have 820,000 polling stations, which means each polling station only needs to collect votes from up to 300 voters. which is why the polling times are only six hours, which seems relatively short compared to the big population. because they are so easily accessible to most voters it does make the voting process quite quick put up the challenge then comes to count all of these votes was on the official results may only come out up to 35 days after the elections but the quick count as we're hoping will come out sometime this evening which

could give us an indication of two who the next president of indonesia will be.— indonesia will be. thank you for that update. _ indonesia will be. thank you for that update. talking - indonesia will be. thank you i for that update. talking about the economic aspects of the election. let's turn to the us where we bring you breaking news, the house of representatives has narrowly voted to impeach homeland security making him the first cabinet member to face impeachment and a years. the republican led chamber voted 214 to 213 for the measure after in earlier attempt at a failed last week. to try and understand more about this development let's cross over to peter bowes joining us from los angeles. peter, thank you for being with us. is itjoe biden comments coming, calling the vote a blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship and a political

stand. how do you see this development?— stand. how do you see this develoment? ., , ., development? there are strong oinions development? there are strong opinions on _ development? there are strong opinions on both _ development? there are strong opinions on both side _ development? there are strong opinions on both side of- development? there are strong opinions on both side of this - opinions on both side of this argument. just to explain how it's come about, the view from those republicans that voted in favour is that mr mayor has has in effect failed to do his job properly as a homeland security secretary by not imposing immigration law correctly at the us border they are arguing he hasn't done hisjob properly and for that they believe he should ultimately lose hisjob. that's with the impeachment process is for. this isjust the beginning of that process with the vote in the house of representatives. what happens next is a trial in the senate. the bar is much higher than the senate. it has to be a two thirds majority to find someone guilty during an impeachment trial. that seems extremely unlikely to happen. the

reaction from the other side and homeland security reflecting what presidentjoe reflecting what president joe biden reflecting what presidentjoe biden has said. this is unconstitutional and a petty political game according. procedures a speaking, what happens next?— procedures a speaking, what happens next? there will be a trial in the _ happens next? there will be a trial in the senate. _ happens next? there will be a trial in the senate. this - happens next? there will be a trial in the senate. this is - happens next? there will be a trial in the senate. this is a i trial in the senate. this is a process that will take some time. historically over the years we've seen impeachment trials perhaps most when a president or somebody in extremely high office has been impeach. i'm thinking of donald trump, bill clinton and it is “p trump, bill clinton and it is up to the senate to decide based on the evidence whether that person is guilty. as i say, the bar is much higher, there must be a two thirds majority before someone can be found guilty in the upper house. this is a process that

is going to pan out during a time when immigration is arguably the hardest debated issue at least an american domestic politics ahead of the election in november. i domestic politics ahead of the election in november. i wanted to come to _ election in november. i wanted to come to that _ election in november. i wanted to come to that because - election in november. i wanted to come to that because as - election in november. i wanted to come to that because as you j to come to that because as you said, an issue that's been in focus what kind of political narratives can we expect given this development going forward to the elections? i this development going forward to the elections?— to the elections? i think this is only going _ to the elections? i think this is only going to _ to the elections? i think this is only going to intensify - to the elections? i think this is only going to intensify the debate. intensify on both sides. when you look at the reaction, as i quoted from president biden, the department of homeland security calling this unconstitutional, calling this unconstitutional, calling this petty. the heart of the debate as far as impeachment is concern is whether whatever the democrats and perhaps around the country think of the homeland security secretary in terms of him doing hisjob the argument, does this rise to something that was illegal, did

he break the law and what he did or indeed didn't do on the border. as we move closer and closer to the election clearly this is going to play into the debate, especially when this comes into wider american politics when we look at reporting on the bill to provide money for ukraine and one of the key issues they are from the far right of the republican party is they would rather see money spent on the us southern border and money to help ukraine in its fight against russia. this is going to intensify all of these debates as we approach november.— debates as we approach november. ., ,, , ., , november. peter, thank you very much. before we go a quick reminder of our top story. we're looking at indonesia where voting has begun. were getting live pictures from a polling station in indonesia. more than 200 million people over indonesia 17,000 islands are to vote, the election was he voters use the

president and vice president as well as a legislator. the current front runners is a former defence minister, a retired general and of course there is economic issues that are at stake. including unemployment aspects, something we will look to discuss in a short bit on asia business report for the stay on with bbc news. hello. it's wet, it's mild. if anything, it's going to get even milder across some parts of the country. but this story is not true for scotland — it's been quite the opposite. at the moment we've got clear skies. it's very cold in the highlands. and early on wednesday morning, temperatures in some spots could be as low as —8 degrees celsius, but not in northern ireland, england and wales.

the air current is coming in from the southwest. weather fronts are crossing us here. a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain. so the clear skies will be across scotland through the early hours and this is where we've got also light winds. we recently had some snow showers as well in the last 24 hours. so hence the temperatures are pretty low, close to the ground. but just to the south of that, we have the weather fronts, that thick cloud, layers of cloud, outbreaks of rain. 10 degrees in the south, around about 6 by the time we get to belfast and a couple of degrees above freezing in the morning in glasgow and edinburgh. so here's the forecast for wednesday. now, these weather fronts or rain—bearing clouds will be shifting northwards through the course of the day. again, some wintriness across the highlands. i think to sum up wednesday, rain possible almost at any time, almost anywhere across the country. but also one or two glimmers of sunshine. temperatures should reach 14 or 15 degrees celsius, i think, across parts of england. and then on thursday, a more substantial area of rainfall crosses scotland. this is actually a cold front, so the air behind

it is slightly cooler. ahead of it, here around east anglia, lincolnshire, the south east, where the sky's clear with a bit of sunshine, it is possible that temperatures may reach 16 or 17 degrees celsius. not unheard of this time of the year. in fact, it's happening more and more often. so, why so mild? well, if we track this airstream, you can see the air�*s coming in all the way from portugal and spain, in fact, the canaries. and you can even trace it back all the way into the subtropical atlantic — a really mild air mass streaming our way over the next few days. but i mentioned something about a cold front. here it is, as it moves over the uk during the course of friday and then introducing something a little less mild. it's not going to get cold, it'sjust not going to be as mild. let's have a look at the outlook, then, over the next few days. so, the peak of this mild spell will be around thursday. but after that, it looks as though those temperatures will ease a little bit. staying on the mild side, and overall, the weather very changeable with rain at times.

one of asia's largest democracies heads to the polls. we'll have special coverage from jakarta all morning as indonesians cast their votes. signs the us economy is still running hot sees investors worrying that a rate cut might be further away than anticipated.

hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. voters in southeast asia's largest economy — indonesia — have begun casting their votes for the country's next president. polls opened at 7am local time across the archepelago. but whoever wins will have big challenges ahead — including improving growth and creating jobs. injakarta, my colleague steve lai has the story. the current president bos chief of staff says indonesia is what is known a middle income trap where it is struggling to get to the next level. he spoke to my colleague injakarta. we are trapped in this middle

income — we are trapped in this middle income trap for 17