this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: the countdown begins. britain's parliament votes for a december general election to try and break months of deadlock over brexit. "slow genocide" — that's what the church of england calls nigeria's environmental crisis. we have an exclusive bbc investigation. a senior white house official tells the impeachment inquiry into donald trump he witnessed firsthand the president pressuring ukraine's government to investigate joe biden. confectionery couture — we take a look at the parisian fashion show where the clothes are all, stylish, sugary, and made of chocolate.

whatsapp goes to court, the messaging app is suing an israeli cyber—surveillance company over claims it helped governments hack into people's phones. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme: gatwick airport is trying different boarding methods such as window seats first, starting at the back, to cut down boarding time. so we'd like to know what bugs you most about air travel? what frustrations do you have, and how would you resolve them? get in touch, just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing.

let's get started. mps at westminster are gearing up for britain's first pre—christmas election campaign in nearly a century after voting to go to the country on the 12th of december. they're hoping to to seek a way out of the brexit impasse. borisjohnson said the public must be "given a choice" over the future of brexit and the country. labour leader, jeremy corbyn, pledged that his party take on what he called the vested interests holding people back. here's our political correspondent, nick eardley. ready for even more political debate... the ayes to the right, 438, the noes to the left, 20. so the ayes habit, the ayes have unlock! that vote was and is backing a general election on december 12. parliament has split when it comes

to brexit, and no mps think an election is the way to break the deadlock. there is only one way to restore the esteem in which our democracy is held. and to recover the respect in which parliament should be held by the people of this country, and that is finally, to offer ourselves to the judgement of the people of this country. not eve ryo ne the people of this country. not everyone in labour was convinced about an election. dozens of mps refused to back one last night, the jeremy corbyn said he was ready. we are going out there to fight an election campaign, and i can't wait to get out there, on the streets, in every town and village in this country, labour will be there giving a message of real hope when this government offers nothing. the campaign messages are already being rolled out. brexit will be key, but there will be a lot more to decide on, too. as the united kingdom, a family of nations are strong together working within the eu, we can reshape our

together working within the eu, we can reshape oui’ economy together working within the eu, we can reshape our economy and harness the technological revolution and build a better and brighterfuture. and that is the message the liberal democrats will be taking to this country in the general election. democrats will be taking to this country in the general electionlj welcome the opportunity of an election. because, make no mistake, the election that was my coming, is going to be the right of scotland to determine its own future. 0h, six weeks of intense campaigning starts 110w weeks of intense campaigning starts now to decide who will be back here in mid—december. the truth is, general elections don't always go according to plan. nothing is certain. anything could happen. there are big questions to be answered, but for the next few weeks, politicians will try to persuade you that they have the a nswe rs. persuade you that they have the answers. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. so in the uk we are set for a pre—christmas general election, there is so much detail and analysis on our website. do take a look, including a look at how your mps

voted late yesterday. but also theirs. let me highlight this particular aspect. uk general election, a really simple guide. i personally love these. it's a fantastic outline of how this process will work, et cetera, and all sorts of detail. that picture will — hopefully that picture will load injust a moment. but you get the gist, a simple guide. i will twea k the gist, a simple guide. i will tweak this as well so you get the link. it is all there for you on bbc online. —— tweet the link. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: the london fire brigade is preparing to respond to criticism of its role in the grenfell tower fire following the first official report on the disaster more than two years ago. the findings of the public inquiry are being published today, but key sections of the report were leaked on tuesday. the united states, britain and 21 other countries have demanded that china immediately allow the un human rights chief into xinjiang.

they want beijing to stop the arbitrary detention of uighurs and other muslim minorities in complexes in the region. beijing describes them as "vocational training centres" aimed at diverting people from extremism. anti—government protesters in lebanon have been celebrating after the prime minister, saad hariri, submitted his resignation. the president, michel aoun, has yet to announce whether he's accepted it. there's been nearly two weeks of nationwide protests against corruption and the state of the economy. another 1.5 million people in california look set to lose power as wildfires threaten cables across the state. strong winds have been fanning the flames, and thousands of people in los angeles have been told to evacuate homes and businesses. and whatsapp is suing an israeli surveillance firm, accusing it of helping government spies break into the phones of about 1,400 people. the messaging service — which is owned by facebook —

says nso group helped in the targeting of diplomats, dissidents, journalists and officials on four continents. nso strongly denies the allegations. we will have more detail on that in the business briefing. the archbishop of york has said that a slow environmental genocide is taking place in southern nigeria's bayelsa state. speaking in an exclusive interview with the bbc as part of a commission investigating oil spills in the niger delta, drjohn sentamu said that oil companies needed to end a culture of double standards in nigeria. the bbc‘s mayeni jones travelled with the commission earlier this year and sent this report. this was once a thriving ecosystem. and oil spills have devastated these shores. translation: it is the oil. if the oil. even if you manage to catch a

fish, it is not fit to eat. there area fish, it is not fit to eat. there are a few that are ok, and that is what we eat. but on others, their heads are the only things that are left. they are so slim! they have no flash. —— flash, so it's hard for us to feed ourselves. bayelsa was where oil was first discovered in nigeria in the 1950s. it's completely change the lives of people in these communities. the water and the waterways in bayelsa state are essential to the way people live here. they bathe in it, it's a source of their livelihood, it's where a lot of where their food comes from. oil spills can mean devastation not just financially, but also in terms of their health. according to the bayelsa oil and environmental commission chaired by the archbishop of york, oil companies are ultimately responsible for the environmental damage here. they want to set up guidelines for oil instruction that will protect

local communities. you know, people talk about environmental degradation, i think that is too wea k degradation, i think that is too weak a phrase. for me, really, looking at the environment, and as i looked at peoples lives, i've come to the conclusion that this is a very slow environmental genocide, really. but oil companies say many spills are caused by vandals, tampering with installations. local activists believe they have their reasons. we are angry. we have grown used to sorts of life, we have skilled young boys and girls, people are hungry. people are suffering. we see them come into our land and then we are locked away from our fisheries for oil wells. how do we expect these people to survive? oil spills have been happening in the niger delta for decades. with the attention of the international community very much elsewhere, it is unclear who will enforce the commission was make new guidelines. but if nothing changes, the

prospects for future generations here are unlikely to improve. mayeni jones, bbc news, bayelsa. donald trump's attempts to fight off moves to impeach him have suffered a serious setback. firsthand evidence from a senior white house official that he was so troubled by the president's phone call with the ukrainian leader that he reported his concerns to a superior. lieutenant colonel alexander vindman is the first serving white house official to speak to the congressional inquiry. 0ur north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. donald trump has sought to characterise them as do—nothing democrats trying to tear him down over what was a perfect call. he's called it a "lynching" and says it is people giving evidence are never trumpers and that is what he accused lieutenant colonel vindman of being today. except that lieutenant colonel vindman

is a decorated war hero, injured in iraq and turned up at the hearing in his military uniform. and it's hard to characterise him as some kind of party hack who wants to destroy the president. he served both republican and democratic party administrations so that makes it more difficult. and what he said in his testimony was devastating. he said, "i did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a us citizen." the us citizen he is referring to is of course donald trump's democratic rivaljoe biden and his son hunter, over his business dealings. and he said there was no national security justification for it, turning ukraine into a partisan issue, which it shouldn't be, and he said the president's interest in ukraine and joe biden predated this particular phone call. in other words, he has flatly contradicted what the president has said. not only that, the white house has tried to put a ban on officials giving evidence to this impeachment investigation. they have given evidence and it

hasn't been favourable to the president. that isjohn that is john sobel, that isjohn sobel, of course. there has been other testimony about the ukraine phone call why is this so problematic for the president? rebecca legrand, is an attorney who specialises in government investigations. because one after the other there are public servants, or lieutenant colonel vindman, a military veteran has come before committees in the house saying that they were disturbed in real—time about what donald trump was doing. and a parallel foreign policy seems to be running that was focused, instead of on protecting us security or the security of our allies, focused on digging up dirt on his opponents. and focused on trying to reiterate the findings of every intelligence agency that has looked at it that russia interfered with the 2016 elections. that has been incredibly disturbing and witness after witness has gone

before congress and said that's what they observed. but i think this is the process you would expect. starting off with private meetings and interviews and will become very soon it appears, or public proceedings in the house was i think will be of great interest of the american people who will actually get to hear this testimony or parts of it first hand. rebecca legrand, thank you very much. let's return to our main story: after weeks of debate and a last—minute brexit delay, mps at westminster have voted by an overwhelming margin to hold a general election in december. with me is kulveer ranger, who is senior vice president for strategy and communications for atos. you are also a member of the conservative party, used to be with borisjohnson when he was mayor of london. and you are excited about the prospect? i am. i know a lot of people in this country will be sort of wearily saying, oh, my god,

another election. and it is something that we have... we have had a few. this will be the third election in four years and there was a fixed term parliaments act to make sure that elections were meant to be every five years. so i'm not sure how that has worked out, really. but this election really does feel like it needs to happen. brexit has been casting a huge shadow over parliament, its proceedings, the country, the country hasn't been able to debate anything else and politicians haven't been able to make decisions but anything else or anything really, moving forward. so there has been deadlocked, stagnation, people have described it asa stagnation, people have described it as a zombie parliament, a living dad parliament. this election will aim to clear the air, to get some real direction for the main political parties who all have their positions now. well, some have on brexit. some clearer than others. some clearer than others. the conservatives say they will be pushing into the deal borisjohnson has they will be pushing into the deal boris johnson has got. they will be pushing into the deal borisjohnson has got. the lib dems are very clear they want to remain an campaignfor are very clear they want to remain

an campaign for remain. as for the labour party, it is unclear as to where they stand, i would say. the first election for many, many years in the month of december. the papers are playing on the whole theme of christmas, as it were. so if we look at some of the run pages, some of them are hilarious, i must say. the daily mirror, "it's time to stop the turkey." with borisjohnson there. then the telegraph, jingle polls. with the turnout, i imagine the turnout will be large this time, and across—the—board, notjust older voters, but the young as well?|j voters, but the young as well?” think there are so many variables, but the issue is there probably should be quite a motivated electorate. the british people have been hearing about brexit, the world has been hearing about brexit for 3.5 years. if this election is a defining moment in the, probably a milestone in where brexit goes for

britain, then i think people will be motivated to come out. but they will also be other issues. national issues, policies that will be debated and general elections are important. it's interesting, actually, because when i was looking at the simple guide to the uk general election, it says one of the most important issues this time? brexit is clearly number one, followed by the national health service, then the economy, then crime, the kind of thing. but when you say the people want to get involved at this time, that is the hope. we've seen them in their thousands in the streets testing both for and against four weeks and weeks, haven't we? no matter what people say, and there's lots of brexit fatigue, people are still keen to express their opinion, and we have seen that with as you rightly say the protest and the debate. the media isn't covering this because they want to, there's an appetite to understand what's going on, and to influence, and what's the biggest moment to influence a decision like this? a

general election. yes, there's a sense of weariness about the political debate but at this moment in time, a very important general... all general elections are important, even more so in terms of brexit, but the other policies as well. for us political geeks, it will be exciting. you will be back later for our our news briefing, kulveer ranger, thank you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a full round—up of today's sport, including a bad day on court for the women's world number one tennis player. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday she'd spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it. every drop of my blood would contribute to the growth of this nation". after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear,

no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. mission control: booster ignition and lift—off of discovery, with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. well, enjoying the show is right. this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: britain's parliament votes for a general election on the 12th december to try and break months of deadlock over brexit. a senior white house official tells the impeachment inquiry into donald trump he witnessed first—hand the president pressuring ukraine's government to investigate joe biden.

the us house of representatives has voted to recognise as genocide the mass killing of about 1.5 million armenians in the ottoman empire a century ago. the move is widely seen as a rebuke to turkey over its recent incursions into northern syria. the house, which is controlled by the democrats, voted 405—11 in favour. the killings happened between 1915 and 1923. david willis explains the significance. it is historic, but largely symbolic because there is unlikely to be a similar vote in the senate. i think what it does is it highlights the growing frustration on the part of lawmakers from both parties here — democrat and republican — over the actions of the turkish

government in recent years, not least the purchase of a russian missile defence system in contravention of us sanctions and, of course, that assault on northern syria, where kurdish forces have been allies of the united states. so what we've seen here is something that turkey has long lobbied against on capitol hill, this resolution which i think will cheer a lot of armenian americans. there are said to be up to 1.5 million of them here in the us. david williamson based in washington there for us. —— david willis, raised in washington there for us. —— based in washington there for us. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm mimi fawaz, and this is your wednesday sport briefing. barcelona are back on top

of the league in spain. two goals from lionel messi helped them beat real valladolid 5—1. there's new leaders of serie a as well. inter go abovejuventus, for now. romelu lukaku with the pick of their goals in a 2—1 win at bresha. bayern munich survived a scare at second—tier bockum in the german cup. they came from a goal down to win 2—1. thomas muller's 89th minute goal making the difference between the two sides. kiki bertens pulled off an upset to beat world number one ashleigh barty at the end—of—year wta finals in shenzhen. bertens is a replacement for naomi 0saka, who has pulled out with injury. after losing the first set, she came back to win and will now play belinda bencic next. bencic beat petra kvitova in the day's other match — the swiss prevailing in three sets against the two—time wimbledon champion. us open finalist danil medvedev has been knocked out of the paris masters. it ends a run of six consecutive finals for the russian, who's risen to number four in the world. he was beaten byjeremy chardy.

the frenchman lost the first set but fought back. the 32—year—old took the next two to reach the third round in paris for the first time in his career. novak djokovic and rafael nadal both enter the action at the paris masters on wednesday. the pair are in a tight race to finish as world number one at the end of the year, but djokovic, who is the defending champion in paris, says he's trying not to concentrate on that. i don't try to think about it too much because then, you know, there's calculations and paying attention to how he does and how he plays, it just takes the focus off the main thing, which is trying to take the most out of my performance and actually do thejob most out of my performance and actually do the job and win a tennis match. then the rest of the things are in god's hands and we'll see how

it goes. more english league cup ties on wednesday. liverpool have the visit of arsenal, and chelsea host manchester united. frank lampard's men have won seven consecutive matches in all competitions, so what's their priority? will target them all. i know what you're saying, it's one that comes the earliest in the year, you find yourself quickly potentially in the quarter—finals if you win, so we will target them all and certainly give a professional approach where we wa nt give a professional approach where we want to win every game and know we want to win every game and know we are up we want to win every game and know we are up against a tough opponent tomorrow. we'll give the same focus as we gave ajax last week and will give ajax next week. every game must be, asa give ajax next week. every game must be, as a chelsea player, something you give absolutely everything to try and win. and how about this tease on twitter from zlatan ibrahimovic? it has been viewed thousands of times. spanish fans getting a big hint about his next move.

0la, espana! guess what, spain. i'm coming back. such a colourful character! you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, mimi fawaz, and the rest of the sport team, that's your wednesday sport briefing. that is indeed! we end on a rather sweet note, with the 25th paris chocolate fair and some rather incredible, and edible, creations. here's gareth barlow with a taste of what went on. it's chocolate coach your. more cocoa than chanel. more melt in your mouth than maxi skirt. edible clothes celebrating the sweet stuff. translation: i made 2000 chocolate pearls, then i covered them in different textures, like crushed cocoa or cocoa powder, then i pierced all the bells and threaded elastic through them to make a

pattern. to open the 25th paris chocolate fair, designers from around the world made clothes to champion cocoa producing countries, such as peru and the philippines. there is, though, one challenge with chocolate clothes: making sure you don't eat there more melt them before you get home! gareth barlow, bbc news. what happens if you're having a hot flush? that's what i want to know? anyway! we've been asking for your thoughts about this story, which we will unpack later in the programme. you can see it on bbc online: what they have been trialling is get those people with window seats on first, then people at the back, et cetera. what do you think? many have beenin cetera. what do you think? many have been in touch, brett says, "there are numerous studies on this and random boarding is the most effective way. you cannot change

people. most bring on too much and spend too much time sorting out stuff and they are swapping seats. it is chaos. i will see you soon. the middle of the week across the uk is looking fairly quiet on the weather front. once again, a lot of bright if not sunny weather on the way for the majority of the uk. but not everywhere, because in the south—west of the country, different story here. it has been damp, it's been raining for the last 24 hours, mostly on and off, light rain, that's exactly what we're going to have on wednesday and you can see the clouds here, that's a weather front that's basically stuck, it's kind of stalled across this part of the uk. so for cornwall and devon, we've got the light outbreaks of rain. so for cornwall and devon, we've got the light outbreaks of rain. possibly pembrokeshire, the isle of wight too. we've got the milder conditions here — nine degrees in the morning,

whereas the clearer skies have led to a frost at this stage in northern england and scotland. you can see the blue colours out in the countryside as low as —3 or —4 degrees, but for most of us, nowhere near as cold. so here's the forecast for wednesday — still rain from penzance, plymouth, exeter, maybe the far south—west of wales too, but for the rest of us, it's a bright day with easterly winds, mostly easterly and light but noticeable, and it will feel chilly. those temperature, ten in glasgow, ten or 11 in london. a little below par for the time of the year. let's have a look at the forecast for wednesday night into thursday. thursday, of course, is halloween and the weather front in the south—west has made some progress into northern and eastern areas of the uk. with this progression also comes slightly milder air. initially, we'll feel that milder air in south—western areas of the uk. so this is the forecast for thursday, and we've got some light outbreaks of rain, only very light in south—western areas. more than anything, on thursday a lot of us will notice increasing amounts of cloud and spits and spots of rain, mist and murk in places, spooky halloween weather,

that kind of thing. and those temperatures again around the 10 degree mark. then a big change on the way as we head towards the end of the week and into the weekend. big low pressure basically parks itself across the uk. stronger winds, heavy outbreaks of rain and multiple weather fronts heading our way. so the outlook from around about friday onwards is looking very unsettled, but quite often when low pressure arrives, it also brings slightly milder, windier weather. bye— bye.

both for and against four weeks and weeks, haven't we? this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. whatsapp goes to court — the messaging app is suing an israeli cyber—surveillance company over claims it helped governments hack into people's phones. driving towards an automotive mega merger, fiat chrysler and peugeot owner psa in talks for a possible $50 billion team—up. and for financial markets worldwide, they are in a holding pattern as investors wait for the latest decision from the us central bank on interest rates.