i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: the democrats move forward with their impeachment inquiry against the us president, saying he's abused his power. it's a hoax. it's a big, fat hoax. today i am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment. it's a hoax. it's a big, fat hoax. the number of measles deaths around the world reaches a new high. it's a preventable disease, so what's going wrong? i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme: in moscow, we report on the major international investigation involving two russian nationals in one of the largest cases of cyber theft.

and what happens to indigenous villagers in indonesia when palm oil plantations take over? voiceover: live from our studios in london and singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, iam in the morning in london and 8pm in washington, as donald trump is set to become only the third president in us history to face an impeachment trial in congress. the democrats have said they will start drafting what are called articles of impeachment, accusing the president of abusing his powers for personal gain. there are major obstacles ahead, but it's a significant moment in a troubled presidency. nick bryant reports from washington. on capitol hill today,

the battlelines started being marked out for an epic political fight. a process likely now to lead to the trial of donald trump, a constitutional spectacle seen only twice before in the turbulent history of america. the democratic house speaker, nancy pelosi, is now ready to move forward with drafting the articles of impeachment, a charge sheet, in effect, accusing the president of high crimes and misdemeanors. sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for america, today, i am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment. the democrats havee accused donald trump of undermining american democracy by trying to get political dirt from the president of ukraine, volodymyr zelensky, on his rival, the former vice president, joe biden, using us military

aid as an inducement. but donald trump arrived home from this week's nato summit saying the democrats are crazy and if they're going to impeach him they should do it fast so the country can get back to business. reporter: are you worried about what impeach — impeachment might have on your legacy? no not at all, no. no, it's a hoax, it's a big, fat hoax. don't you accuse me... it's become an impassioned and polarising fight, and america's most powerful woman was asked if she hated america's most powerful man. i don't hate anyone. i was raised in a way that is a heart full of love, and always prayed for the president. and i still pray for the president, i pray for the president all the time. so don't mess with me when it comes to words like that. it's beginning to look a lot like donald trump will be impeached by christmas and start the new year with a trial in the senate, where his republican allies have the votes to deliver a not—guilty verdict. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at some

of the day's other news. much of france has been brought to a standstill on thursday as a result of one of the biggest public sector strikes for years. the strikes have been called in opposition to president emanuel macron‘s plans to reform pensions. lucy williamson is in paris. tear gas today masked the real danger facing president macron. not the risk of a vehicle on fire in central paris, but the risk of a silent majority, set alight by opposition to his pension reforms. most marched peacefully against the offer of longer working lives and smaller pensions, their quiet anger directed more at politicians than police. translation: they sit in the national assembly and sleep most of the time, and they earn 5,000 euros a month. we're in the street, breaking our

backs, working overtime. ask them how much a baguette costs, they don't know. the big question is whether anger over pension reforms will ignite into wider discontent, both with the economic situation and with president macron himself. the biggest threat to mr macron is the country uniting against him. this battle is likely to be his toughest yet. tonight in paris, minor scuffles between radical groups and police, but the government says it can no longerjustify paying billions of euros to subsidise special pension rights for public—sector workers. the new system will be more equal, it says. but protesters say it's the workers who will pay, and that in mr macron‘s france, some parts of society are more equal than others. lucy williams, bbc news, paris.

also making news today: nearly 140 bushfires are raging in the australian state of new south wales, with the most severe burning in sydney. at their peak on thursday evening, there were seven separate fires in different areas of the city. firefighters battled them until the early hours of friday morning. 0fficials warned that many parts of the city would be blanketed with smoke. as lebanon's political and economic crisis deepens, more than 1,000 filipinos in the country have signed up to take advantage of their government's offer of free repatriation. the philippines embassy said the scheme was a response to numerous requests for help. in china, a recent survey has shown growing pushback against facial recognition technology. some 74% of respondents said they wanted the option to be able to use traditional id methods to verify their identity rather than facial recognition. the technology has been rolled out in train stations, schools and shopping centres across china.

more than 50 polar bears have descended on a village in the far north of russia. all public activities in the village have been cancelled, and schools are being guarded to protect residents. conservationists say climate change could be to blame, with weak coastal ice forcing the bears to search for food on land rather than at sea. a major international investigation involving british and american police has uncovered one of the largest cases of suspected cyber theft ever detected. charges have been filed against two russian nationals who are alleged to have used malicious software to steal millions of dollars across a0 countries. daniel sandford reports.

on one of the main boulevardes in central moscow, an audi r8 blocking traffic, while it does a series of doughnuts. police say these high—performance and highly expensive cars belong to members of a cybercrime group known as evil corp. a group responsible for two of the worst computer hacking and bank fraud schemes of the last ten years. this is 32—year—old maksim yakubets, with his lamborghini huracan and his personalised number plate, which in russian reads, "thief". today, the fbi charged him with being the leader of evil corp, which is suspected of stealing more than £75 million from customers all over the world. yakubets is a true 21st century criminal, who, with a stroke of a key and a click of a mouse committed cybercrimes across the globe. he's earned his place on the fbi's list of the world's most wanted cybercriminals. the group seems to be able to operate without punishment in

russia. the us says maksim yakubets helps the russian intelligence agency, the fsb, with its malicious cyber programme, so that might be why. yakobets spent £250,000 on his wedding. the national crime agency says evil corp poses the most significant cybercrime threat to the uk. and some members were identified through social media boasting. the fundamental weakness that organised crime has is that they are driven by money and they are driven by greed. and we have been able to gain evidence in the uk of a real—world footprint of people seeking to draw down the funds from these offenses, and also people who are exhibiting a very extravagant lifestyle online. evil corp even had its own lion cub. its two leaders have now been charged in america, but as long as they don't leave russia, there's no chance of them standing trial. daniel sanford, bbc news.

the authorities in samoa have closed all non—essential public services as part of attempts to combat a measles epidemic that has killed more than 60 people. but cases of measles have been growing worldwide. acording to the world health organization and the united states centers for disease control and prevention, more than 140,000 people died from measles in 2018. that is 18,000 more deaths than in 2017. over the last 18 years, measles vaccination alone is estimated to have saved more than 23 million lives. but globally, only 70% of children receive the crucial second dose of the vaccine. this is a preventable disease but why are the number of people dying going the wrong way? here's dr robert linkins, a measles and global immunisation expert from the cdc, which helped to compile that report.

it certainly is going the wrong way and it's a tragedy because every single one of the 140,000 deaths that we estimated occurred in 2018 were preventable. and so what is going wrong? what is going wrong is that we're not achieving the levels of vaccine coverage that we need to prevent outbreaks of measles. we need 95% coverage in populations with two doses of vaccine. typically, the first is given at 12 months and the second at 15—18 months throughout the world. but there is some variability between countries on that. and we're not achieving 95% coverage we need with those two doses of vaccine. and is that because in some countries they just can't get their hands on the vaccine? people are in different areas, it's not available? what's going on? i think there are two things

going on, and i think for most of the world the issue is vaccine access. that includes not only vaccine stock—outs, the vaccinne actually not being available, which is actually not the bigger part of the problem. the bigger part of the problem with access is that governments don't have the infrastructure that they need to safely deliver a vaccine that requires a cold chain and a trained health worker to actually safely administer the injection. and what about in areas, countries, where the vaccine is available, but take—up is dropping off? well, i think that's an issue of out of sight, out of mind. if you don't see measles, for example, in this case, for a while, i think people tend to think it's not a serious disease or if a disease that really — we're not at risk for any more. and that in fact is not the case and that's what we've seen in samoa, as you mentioned, but throughout the world, unfortunately.

and alongside that there has been this growth of conspiracy theories, anti—vaxxers, people who just reject all the evidence in front of them. that's right. and they're very challenging to deal with, and i think as public health profeesionals, we have the responsibility to ensure that parents like myself have access to the information they need, that is real and true and scientifically—based. and one of the tragedies of all of this is that children are particularly susceptible. that's correct. why is that? and that's why we're seeing most of the deaths. they have a less mature immune systems and they are often exposed to other factors. it can provoke a more severe illness

if exposed to the virus. for example, malnutrition is a risk factor for measles mortality. you know, unfortunately, we are still seeing malnourished children throughout the world. those children are at greater risk of dying from measles than if they were well nourished. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: what happens to indigenous people in indonesia when palm oil plantations take over the forest? also on the programme: it might look like a banana stuck to a wall, but it's actually been bought as a work of art. we'll reveal how much this fruit—fantasy fetched when it went up for sale. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i am feeling so helpless, that the childrens are dying in front of me and i can't do anything.

charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippie cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11am this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. our top stories. donald trump has hit back

at democrats in the house of representatives, who have announced articles of impeachment against him. he says he will win a trial in the senate. the us says it's charged leaders of an alleged cybercriminal group based in russia, with links to moscow's intelligence services. the organisation, known as evil corp, is alleged to have stolen tens of millions of dollars worldwide. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the japan times, and it reports that japan has approved an economic stimulus package worth $239 billion. the government is spending big on public works projects to bolster infrastructure in the wake of recent natural disasters. the financial times is reporting about the world's biggest oil company, saudi aramco, which has raised a record $25.6 billion. the money raised by the state—owned

producer breaks the record set by chinese e—commerce group alibababa in 2014. and on the philippine star's front page, the philippines has ranked second among countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2018. the report was presented at the un climate summit in madrid. japan ranking first and germany in third place. now lewis, what stories are sparking discussions online? if you like coffee — but you worry about the amount of waste created by take—out beverage containers — then this mightjust be the answer you've been looking for — edible cups! they're made of vanilla—flavoured biscotti — they're said to be leak—proof — and they're being trialled by air new zealand to try to reduce the amount of waste on board its planes.

indigenous people in indonesia are being left with little land to farm and loss of livelihood when palm oil plantations take over their ancestral land, according to a new report. human rights watch accuses the indonesian government of turning a blind eye to the problem through weak laws, poor government oversight and lack of regulation of companies wanting to expand their oil palm plantations. the report focused on plantation operations in two regions of indonesia — the west kalimantan province, and jambi province on the island of sumatra. let's hear from one of the villagers from west kalimantan province, who was resettled after a palm oil company obtained permits to cultivate and clear the forest for a plantation. translation: they said they would provide for us and that the village would be prosperous but once they entered,

they did nothing. before the company came, we never bought rice. we had our own farm so we never bought vegetables. if we compare our past life to the present, it is harder now. the author of the report juliana nnoko—mewanu explains more about local people's lives. their lives have gotten a lot more difficult. the people, the communities that i visited, men and women, children in these communities were struggling to survive with no land, really bad water, things had just gone downhill since the plantations expanded in their area and most of them said the government wasn't doing anything. the government had not provided any alternatives for these communities and the company also are not doing anything to provide alternative land for their needs or compensation.

juliana, interesting you say the government offered very little protection for these people. were they telling you any particular stories around being forced off their land? was there an agreement between themselves and the companies ahead of them leaving the land? the two communities that were highlighted in the report had very minimal interactions with the companies. any interaction that happened between the companies and the community was after most of their forests had been cleared so there wasn't really any opportunity for consultation to lay out what they would need to make sure that their lives are not disrupted the way they are currently. how, in your opinion, though, should the indonesian government be helping to facilitate and perhaps regulate these oil palm companies? well, there are a number of options.

the government could ensure that all companies consult with communities that they want to locate a plantation in, or expand their plantations. communities should be consulted, involved in the decision—making on how the plantation would be set up. alternatives need to be provided for these communities to ensure that they don't suffer. going ongoing monitoring needs to ta ke going ongoing monitoring needs to take place. monitoring by the companies or by the government to make sure there is no on going harm, people suffering from establishment of the plantation or any part of its operation. we approached the indonesian government for a statement and they declined to get back to us. a spokesperson for pt aal — which is majority owned by astra international and operates injambi province — says the company has for many years provided a comprehensive programme of support, which includes

the provision of food, medical care, housing and education. it is aimed at improving the lives of the 0rang rimba and helping them to be self—sufficient. the company also says it is embarking on new discussions with ngos about how it can provide access to land on a sustainable basis. two british pilots have landed back in the uk after flying around the world in a newly restored spitfire. theirjourney, in a plane originally built in 1943, started and finished at goodwood aerodrome in southern england. they stopped off at 100 locations in 30 countries. robert hall reports. the green grass of home. the silver spitfire and her team have created flying history, a flight around the globe marking british engineering prowess and a partnership of man and machine that served the cause of freedom during world war ii.

no wonder emotions were running high at goodwood today, particularly for the pilot mattjones whose child, arthur, was born during the journey. as we came across the channel and saw the white cliffs it was another emotional moment and we had trouble keeping control with tears running down my face over what we had done and we were coming home and how it must have felt in the day for those guys doing the same thing. two greatest symbols of freedom in the world. flying in carefully planned stages, the silver spitfire covered well over 23,000 miles above some of the world's most iconic landscapes. it defied typhoons and mechanical issues to become a star wherever it landed. the longest leg was a 3.5 hour 830—mile trip across the saudi arabian desert. it is quite noisy, the cockpit is exceedingly noisy and there is no

heating or cooling so in the desert it got pretty hot and over the alps it got very, very cold. the flight is finally over. but its legacy is another spitfire legend. cup of tea ? now — if you like art, and you're a fan of fruit, and you have several hundred thousand dollars to spend... then this is the story for you: this is a banana, taped to a wall in a gallery in miami beach by the artist maurizio catellan — and so far he has sold two of them, for $120,000 each. and he's put a third one on sale for $150,000. given that he bought the fruit from a local grocery store, he's presumably making quite a profit for his efforts.

so — with that sort of incentive, i thought i'd have a go myself. there we go. i have been trying to flog this for a few hours but no—one has bitten. how about you? would you spend hundred and $20,000 on a banana ? spend hundred and $20,000 on a banana? i spent 19 singapore cents on this one. that is about 50p in the uk, maybe 70 us cents. that is about it. i think it will make a great first. a far more sensible idea. —— make a great first. great first. a far more sensible idea. -- make a great first. -- brea kfast. before we go, we'd like to bring you a bit of holiday cheer from the grounds of the white house. president trump and the first lady have been

hosting the annual lighting of the national christmas tree. the tradition dates back to 1923, when president calvin coolidge walked from the oval office to push the button to light his tree. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. the week is ending on an unsettled note. in fact, it's going to be somewhat of a weather rollercoaster ride as we get one day wet and windy and the following day, a little bit calmer with some sunshine. friday looks like being one of those windier, wetter days as we'll have low pressure in charge. lots of isobars on the charts, weather front too indicating outbreaks of rain but what you will notice, it's going to be very mild for the time of year particularly across england and wales as we start to pick up our breeze from the south—west. so a blustery start to friday, outbreaks of rain across southern areas eventually clearing away. start to see a bit of sunshine developing but lots of showers into the north and the west, some of these spreading further south and east through the day. a blustery day like i mentioned pretty much everywhere but it will be a mild one for

central and southern areas especially, 11—13 degrees. something a bit fresher pushing into scotland, that's because the winds will be pushing to a north—westerly and as we head through friday night, it stays blustery, particularly across northern areas with further showers and there'll be drier interludes with a few clear spells but because of the breeze, it shouldn't be a cold night, temperatures no lower than 5 or 6 degrees for most of us. so into the weekend, the start of the weekend actually doesn't look too bad because we've got this bump of high pressure that will settle things down before the next wet and windy spell moves in into the saturday night. a dry start of a central and eastern areas, a bit of sunshine, variable cloud, and i think that's how they will pan out, mainly dry with variable cloud and some sunshine but these weather fronts will arrive across the north—west of the country, increasing wind, outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and scotland, maybe just one or two showers putting into western england and wales. temperatures again, most of us double figures just about. and then through saturday night, the next frontal system moves

through to bring a spell of wet and windy weather and as we head on into sunday, it looks like the main rain band should clear the south and east through the morning and then it's a largely bright day, sunny spells and blustery showers, most of these in the north and west where they will be quite heavy at times, maybe some wintriness over the higher ground, again, quite cool across the north, single figure values here, about 10—12 degrees across the south and east. and then it turns very windy later on sunday, especially in the south—west, a spell of severe gales for a time as that low pressure clears away. aas we head into monday, another bump of high pressure which should best settle things down so it should largely dry with some sunny spells, lighter winds too before the next frontal system moves in on tuesday to bring another round of wet and windy weather.

our top story:

us president donald trump has hit back after democrats in the house of representatives announced articles of impeachment against him. democrats say the president abused his power for personal political gain. but donald trump says he will win a trial in the senate. there's been a sharp rise in the number of cases of measles worldwide. the world health organization says nearly 10 million people were infected last year by a disease which can be easily prevented by vaccination. and this story is trending on bbc.com. new zealand's national airline says it is trialling edible coffee cups in a bid to reduce the amount of waste on board its planes. the cups are made from vanilla —flavoured biscotti and are apparently leak—proof. that's all. stay with bbc world news. more on our web site

bbc.co.uk/news and the news app.