you like i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: the next phase of the impeachment inquiry into president trump — the house of representatives will begin hearings in public. it's about the truth. and what is at stake? what is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy. investigators in pakistan say a passenger's cooking stove was responsible for a train fire that killed at least 70 people. i'm nuala mcgovern in london. also in the programme: as african swine fever spreads, international experts call

it the greatest threat to commercial livestock in a generation. and a special bbc investigation reveals domestic workers being sold in kuwait via an online slave market on platforms provided by google, apple, and facebook. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london and 9:00 in the evening in washington where the impeachment inquiry into president donald trump has entered a new, and more heated phase. the us house of representatives voted to formalise the process and move towards public hearings. the vote was the first formal test of support for impeachment and went along party lines.

laura trevelyan has this report. on this vote the yays are 232, the nays are 196. a historic moment. a house of representatives votes to formalise an impeachment enquiry into the president. ..on the table. did donald trump create a high crime and misdemeanour in trying to strong on the ukrainian president into investigating joe biden? that's the accusation. the house divided almost entirely on party lines. only a couple of democrats voted with the republicans. nancy pelosi, the house speaker, was never an enthusiastic supporter of impeachment. now she says the enquiry is essential. i don't know why the republicans are afraid of the truth. every member should support allowing the american people to hear the facts for themselves. this. . .that is really what this vote is about. it's about the truth. and what is at stake?

what is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy. republicans have focused more on the process in congress, rather than the accusation that the president abused his power in that phone call with ukraine's leader, volodymyr zelensky. house republicans say this is an unjust attempted coup against their leader by democrats who fear losing to him in 2020. not only did every single republican reject this soviet—style impeachment process, but we were even joined by democrats who couldn't stand it anymore. if you look at where we are right now, we're at an important point in history. clearly there are people that we serve with that don't like the results of the 2016 election. the president's political ally in britain, nigel farage, had mr trump is a call—in guest on his radio show today. the us leader says he did nothing wrong. because it's a hoax. and, you know, high crimes and misdemeanours? well, what's a high crime and misdemeanour when you have a very

appropriate conversation? now, fortunately, we have the transcript. this vote allows the house to discuss the evidence against the president, with public hearings and a vote. if it passes, then us senators act as jurors in a trial. and if two—thirds of senators find him guilty, donald trump will be removed from office. the first time that would have ever happened. but if the vote goes along party lines, which right now seems likely, the president will be safe. but nothing is certain and public opinion could shift doing the hearing. 0ne things for sure — buckle up for the partisan fight to come. laura trevelyan, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at our other main news this hour. 0fficials investigating a deadly fire that swept through a train pakistan say it started when a gas cylinder being used by passengers to cook breakfast exploded. more than 70 people were killed. survivors said it took almost 20 minutes for the train to stop and dozens of people jumped as it moved to try to escape the flames.

the train was travelling from karachi to rawalpindi. 0ur correspondent farhat javed reports from southern punjab — you may find some of her report distressing. the flames ripped through three crowded carriages, trapping dozens of passengers who were on their way to a religious gathering. many of the injured were brought to this hospital in bahawalpur. some on the train were sleeping when it caught fire. rubina's husband pushed her out of the window to save her life. but she is critically injured. translation: smoke filled up everywhere and it was hard hard to breathe. i pushed my wife out of the train and then tried to jump but people fell on me.

dozens have suffered burn injuries and dozens were killed. these are some of the passengers whojumped off the burning train when it was on fire. they are traumatised for horrific scenes they have witnessed, but they are more worried about their loved ones who are still missing. train accidents are common in pakistan, but this one is said to be one of the worst in the last two decades. the cause of the fire is unclear. officials blamed a group of passengers who were cooking breakfast on a gas cylinder when it exploded. but some who were there dispute this and blame an electrical fault. prime minister imran khan has ordered an immediate inquiry but few here believe anyone will be held to account. farhat javed, bbc news, south punjab. also making news today, the so—called islamic state

has confirmed the death of its leader, abu bakr al—baghdadi, for the first time, and named his successor. this comes a day after the us released footage of the raid in syria's idlib province that killed al—baghdadi. iraq's president barham salih has said in a televised address that the prime minister has agreed to resign if political parties can agree on his replacement. it comes as tens of thousands of people take part in anti—government protests, and more than 250 have been killed in clashes with security forces. wildfires spreading across california reached near los angeles on thursday, destroying homes and forcing evacuations. the region faced a second day of winds that fanned flames and displaced thousands of californians. the us national weather service said conditions were "extremely critical and life threatening". four men have been arrested in australia after police

found over $200 million worth of drugs hidden inside imported hot sauce bottles. the authorities searched a consignment of chilli sauce that was shipped from the us to sydney and discovered 400kg of crystal methamphetamine. the world organisation for animal health is warning that a global outbreak of african swine fever could kill a quarter of the world's pig population. they say it's the biggest threat to commercial livestock in a generation and food shortages and rising meat prices are likely. imogen foulkes has more details. swine fever originated in africa, but for months now it has been raging across asia. it's not harmful to humans, but it's catastrophic to pigs — spreading rapidly,

almost always fatal. there is no treatment, vaccines are at a very early test phase. right now the only way to stop the spread is containment and the culling of infected animals. in china, the world's leading pork producer, over a million pigs have been culled. many millions more are believed to have died of the fever itself. translation: i think that in the short term we are not heading towards an improvement. we will continue to have more outbreaks in the infected countries. neighbouring countries are at high risk and for some the question is more of when they will be infected. swine fever has spread to vietnam, south korea, the philippines, eastern europe has had cases, too, and now western europe is preparing. but this is a virus that can survive in infected frozen meat and in vehicles that have transported infected livestock. meat shortages and price rises are already happening. and the virus just

keeps on spreading. 50 countries are now affected. some animal health experts suggest a quarter of the world's pigs, hundreds of millions, could die. imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva. swine fever originated in africa, but for months now it has been raging across asia. —— an investigation by bbc news arabic has found women being put up for sale online in kuwait as domestic workers. a un expert has described it as "an illegal online slave market" the investigation found that instagram — which is owned by facebook— along with apps available on google and apple are being used to trade people without their knowledge or consent. one app user even offered to sell a 16 year old girl to the bbc‘s undercover team. jess kelly reports. in the gulf, women employed as

domestic workers are being sold on line by apps approved and provided by google and apple. bbc news arabic we nt by google and apple. bbc news arabic went undercover in kuwait to expose this shocking and —— disturbing on line trade. it's a trade made possible by silicon valley tech giants. if google, at all, facebook 01’ giants. if google, at all, facebook orany giants. if google, at all, facebook or any other country is promoting apps like these, hosting apps like these, they are promoting an on line slave market. the bbc team spoke to 57 users of an app called asale. it is available on google play and the apple app store. divesting workers are sold on asale alongside cars and

tvs . are sold on asale alongside cars and tvs. the team found violations of international and domestic laws on human trafficking and slavery. most women have no idea they are being advertised for sale on line. one app user tried to sell a child to our team. and another, a policeman, encouraged them to break two weighty laws. in the gulf, a domestic worker's visa is tied to the sponsor. worker's visa is tied to the sponsor. they cannot quit theirjob 01’ sponsor. they cannot quit theirjob or leave the country without their sponsor's permission. that's the problem with that kind of system, is that the employer is thinking that they already worker but it doesn't, it shouldn't be the situation. kuwait has some of the strongest

laws to protect domestic workers in the region. but apps like asale, instagram and in saudi, haraj, allow lawyers to sell the sponsorship of these workers for a profit. no legal action has been taken against the policeman or the women who tried to sell us a child. they both declined the bbc‘s request for comment. asale has now removed its domestic workers section. they gave us domestic workers section. they gave us the following reply. kuwait's government didn't comment further. facebook, which owns instagram : but we found hundreds of

posts on instagram using similar hashtags being used to sell domestic workers. apps and other countries are still offering domestic workers for sale. haraj, the commodity abused in saudi arabia, did not provide us with a statement. both google and apple told the bbc that this type of behaviour is no place on their application stores and that they are working with app developers to better prevent illegal activity like this on the platforms. jess kelly, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we'll have more on the rugby world cup, which has been held in asia for the first time. we'll be talking to some fans who're very excited about the final between england and south africa.

indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. only 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm nuala mcgovern in london. our top stories. the lower house of the us congress has approved the next stage of the impeachment inquiry into president trump — public hearings. the white house continues to insist donald trump has done nothing wrong. the authorities in pakistan have blamed an exploding cooking gas canister for a fire on a train that killed more than 70 people. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times features a dramatic shot of shuri castle in flames. firefighters battled the blaze for more than 10 hours,

but all of the main structures were destroyed. the castle onjapan‘s southern island of okinawa was originally built 500 years ago. no injuries have been reported so far. the philippine daily inquirer also has a striking image on its front page of a hotel in the town of kidapawan, taken after the country was hit by a second earthquake in three days. in the uk, the guardian leads with a report that human rights lawyers are preparing a landmark case against british american tobacco on behalf of hundreds of children and families from malawi over alleged poor working conditions. let's get more now on our top story — the us house of representatives has voted to formalise the impeachment inquiry against president donald trump, and move towards public hearings.

lets bring in chris with more details. republicans are furious that this is moving to another stage. they do not want anything like an impeachment process and what has happened today is the us house of representatives has stamped their authority in pushing ahead with the impeachment enquirys. we have had closed—door sessions taking place for some time now in which damaging testimony has been leaking out. now it will be very public. some televised hearings and there will be a lot of evidence put into the public domain. democrats are doing their best to push forward with this and there is no doubt at this stage it is eventually leading to an impeachment vote to president trump ‘s reaction is no big surprise sitting he is furious. we have state m e nts sitting he is furious. we have statements from his campaign saying that this is an attempt to remove a

president for strictly political reasons. the press secretary says it is unfairand reasons. the press secretary says it is unfair and unconstitutional and fundamentally un—american. but it is by the rules and democrats seem determined to push this. this is a long process as you have said before. you have the house democrat controlled but more support in the senate than for mr trump. how do you think, and our people talking about how this may affect 2020 election?” don't think there is any doubt that over the next few months it will have a deeply political process. this is not a criminal trial. this asa this is not a criminal trial. this as a political trial essentially accusing the president of some kind of wrongdoing. if we get to the point when it goes to the senate. so the house impeaches the president with a vote if we get to the point and then after that it goes to the senate whether senators act as a jury. as i say, it is a political

trial and therefore you will see party allegiances on deep display. of course, the allegations against donald trump involved one of those people who is standing to try and become the democratic candidate for president, the man who will try to ta ke president, the man who will try to take on donald trump, joe biden. the president has been accused of doing his best to try and pressure the ukraine into launching an investigation into the former us vice president and his son, hunter biden, who had business dealings in the country. this could get very nasty and there is no doubt that it will lay the way for a really bitter election in november 2020. it started last month in tokyo with 20 teams hoping to win the top prize in world rugby. now 6 weeks, 43 matches, and 275 tries later, we're on the verge of knowing who'll take home the webb ellis cup when england take on south africa in the rugby world cup

final in yokohama. but no matter the result, it's been a thrilling tournament so far — the first to be held in asia. let's cross live to tokyo to our correspondent wyre davies. the anticipation is building up for this weekend. i am in the middle of tokyo's famous pedestrian crossing and it is a glorious day here. it has been a glorious month for rugby injapan to a few hiccups along the way but it has been a successful tournament and a lot of excitement ahead of the big game tomorrow. england the south africa. i am now joined by two fans who live here in asia to harry andjim. harry, do you think england will win this world cup? you were not alive the last time they unfortunately, do you think there is a chance for england to win tomorrow and why was to mark

if england play like they did against new zealand they will be a difficult team to beat. it was a impressive display of rugby and i would like to see the game. england are the overwhelming favourites. a universe that they have already played their game of the tournament last week and will not have it in them tomorrow? i don't think that will be the case but i am hopeful. jim, you came here for the quarter—finals and semifinals to do expect england to make it this far? ido expect england to make it this far? i do believe they had the performance in them. we only came up for the semifinals we were swept up in it last week and instead of coming back to singapore last weekend we remained an extra weekend for the finals. captivated to be here and to experience at all to japan does have a rugby tradition. they had a great world cup last time around but this is the first rugby world cup in asia. you think it has inspired people? do you think rugby in the region can go from here?

japan's performance in particular has been inspirational. we are seeing rugby growing strongly across asia and in singapore to we have seen the growth of the game in singapore from two pubs to 11 or 12 to there are no about 2500 players in singapore to more and more people are getting involved in the game and the profile from this tournament is fantastic for the game generally across the region to you are involved with rugby in singapore.- more asian players taking on the game, if not the 15 aside, women's and seven aside as well? schools play a lot of sevens in particular. we see the growth of the girls contact game in singapore coming through and a lot of the local multicultural environment that rugby is saying. you and your father did not have tickets for the final. how much did you pay for the tickets?”

have no idea. we have category b tickets in the face value is 70,000 yen, just under $700 us. we got them yesterday and were lucky enough to find a gentleman who was prepared to let them go to us at face value. we are lucky to some fans are paying a lot more. i understand so. it has caused a lot of angstrom some of the prices being paid. lastly, harry, south africa, i know they are underdogs for this game but they have a tight defence and they restricted wales in the semi—final. what is the score for tomorrow? england by nine points. thank you very much for the both of you. we have a prediction that from harry that england will win. there is a game tonight, wales who sadly did not win the semi—final playing new zealand for the third place position. but the big game is

england trying to win the second world cup, south africa the third sitting that is here injapan and it has been a very successful world cup for asia—pacific and the excitement continues to build. i hope the weather holds in tokyo for that extraordinary game. thank you so much. so nice to spend a couple of minutes in tokyo with him and his guest. this has been newsday. i'm nuala mcgovern in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us because we'll have more on the rugby world cup, which has been held in asia for the first time. some said that was a big risk. so has it paid off for the sport and forjapan? we'll find out. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. there are burgers — and then there are burgers. this is said to be the biggest in thailand. it weighs around six kilos and contains 10,000 calories. if you can eat it inside nine minutes — you'll win a 10,000 baht prize — that's about $330.

the restaurant owner warns patrons not to eat it too quickly — in case they choke. the first few days of november looks set to bring some wet and blustery and potentially some stormy weather across some parts of the uk. certainly unsettled outlook thanks to an area of low pressure. this is friday's weather chart and you can see the low drifting in from the west. a band of rain, the frontal systems spiralling around below. but with that low we will develop a south—westerly flow across the uk so at least free time it will feel milder. a mild start to the day on friday and with that, outbreaks of rain drifting north—eastwards into northern england pushing northwards across scotland. and then a slice of dry and potentially bright weather

before another band of rain pushes into northern ireland, wales and the south—west through the afternoon. it will be breezy but not especially windyjust yet top temperature of 9— 16 degrees. during friday evening, the band of rain will continue to drift north—eastward. some dry interludes but the wind will become an increasing feature across the north and also down towards the south and the south—west that wind turning strong and gusty as we get into the first part of saturday morning. an area of low pressure as we reach saturday will deepen. uncertainty about its exact shape and exact position but it looks like there will be a swathe of strong wind potentially on the southern flank of the low where you see those white lines, all of those isobars squashing together. it is likely we will see strong wind blowing across the southern half of england and parts of wales, also a slice of windy weather

across northern scotland and we will see a band of wet weather spiralling around. equally there could be some dry and bright interludes and in the centre of our area of low pressure some light wind. around the edges to the north and particularly the south, gusty conditions and we could see wind gusts reaching 70 mile an hour or more close to the south coast of england. so very stormy conditions are possible. worth bearing in mind if you do have plans for saturday and temperatures between ten and 12 degrees. moving out of saturday into sunday the low pressure is still with us but not quite as many white lines, not as many isobars by this stage so the wind will be a little lighter. it will still be breezy and there will still be some outbreaks of rain but for the second half of the weekend at least a better chance of seeing dry weather and some spells of sunshine in those highs of 11— 13 degrees.

i'm nuala mcgovern with bbc world news. our top story. the impeachment inquiry into donald trump has moved to a more public phase, after a vote in the democrat—controlled house of representatives. it means future hearings will be televised. but republicans have denouced the investigation — and president trump has called it a witch hunt. more than 70 people have died in a fire which swept through a train in pakistan. officials say the blaze was caused by an exploding gas cylinder being used by passengers cooking breakfast on the karachi to rawalpindi train. and this is on bbc.com. two studies show measles has a devastating impact on the body's immune system, that could make it harder to fight infections for years. the virus can cause the body to forget how