welcome to bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: police in india arrest the owner and manager of a factory where over a0 people died in a fire. calls for new security measures in the wake of a deadly shooting at a us navy base in florida. russian athletes face sweeping sanctions for another doping linked scandal. officials in moscow refuse to say who's to blame for it. and we visit ethiopia for a lesson in what can be done to restore environments damaged by human activity.

hello and welcome to bbc news. police in delhi have arrested the owner and manager of a factory which caught fire on saturday night. at least 43 people were killed in the blaze. many were migrant workers using sleeping quarters in the building. pratiksha ghildial reports from delhi. the blaze broke out on the ground floor of this multi—storey factory in the early hours of the morning and then quickly spread to other levels. rescue services say at least 100 people were sleeping inside the building at the time and died due to suffocation. i have been able to see some of them but i haven't been able to spot them all. this is a really congested and densely populated area of delhi. the alleyways behind me to narrow to be

accessed by fire engines. as a result, they had to fight the blaze from a distance of about 100 metres. the country's prime minister, narendra modi, described the fire is extremely horrific and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. those who survive the blaze are now being treated in the city hospitals. translation: the rescue operation was a challenge because it was congested and there was lots of smoke and lots of plastic burnt inside. it was difficult to carry out the rescue. fire accidents are common in india. there many buildings lack proper fire exits and illegal construction. the cause of the fire is uncertain and an enquiry has now been launched into the incident. pratiksha ghildial, bbc news, delhi. the us defence secretary, mark esper, has ordered a review of the screening process

forforeign military in the us after a saudi soldier launched a deadly attack at a florida navy base. the gunman, mohammed saaed alshamrani, who was training at the pensacola site, killed three sailors on friday. gareth barlow reports. shot dead in the prime of their lives. 19 and 23. the third victim was 21 years old. a saudi military training, mohammed saaed alshamrani, killed the trio and injured eight others and the fbi says it was a suspected act of terror. we are as we do in most active shooter investigations work with the presumption that this was an act of terrorism. this allows us to take advantage of investigative techniques that can help us more quickly identify and eliminate any

additional potential threats to the rest of our community. us military has provided training for international forces for decades that it's pensacola base. mohammed saaed alshamrani was one of around 200 international students currently enrolled. the florida governor has called for tougher scrutiny. you have foreign military personnel coming to our base. they should not be doing that if they hate our country and i know that i talk with the secretary on friday, they are doing a big review about how all this stuff is done in terms of vetting, but my senses is that more needs to be done. saudi arabia has pledged to fully co—operate with the enquiry, but some american politicians have cleansed and the security relationship between the two countries. in the meantime, the investigation into the shooter's motives continues. a senior us democrat says his party has a "rock solid" case for impeaching president trump

and a jury would find him guilty in three minutes flat. jerrold nadler, who chairs the house of representatives judiciary committee, said his panel could file specific charges by the end of the week. the committee will hold a public hearing on monday with the focus on alleged wrongdoing in mr trump's dealings with ukraine. the democrats accuse president trump of abusing the power of his office. he's repeatedly denied this. he refused every single document, he told everybody in the executive branch, do not co—operate, do not answer, do not testify. no president has ever done anything like that. so this is a defiance of the role of congress given by the constitution for impeachment. but again, he put himself above the country, he sought to get foreign interference against the integrity of our election and this is a matter of urgency to deal with because we have to make sure that the next election is conducted

with integrity and without foreign interference. adam schiff, the intelligence committee chairman who is also managing the broader inquiry, told us media that there was proof that the president sought ukraine's involvement in us elections and that he tried to obstruct investigations into that request. it has always been my strategy in a charging decision and impeachment of the house is essentially a charging decision to charge those that there is the strongest and most overwhelming evidence and not try to charge everything, even though you could charge other things, so that is my guiding philosophy. there is overwhelming evidence that the president sought to coerce ukraine into interfering in our election, essentially sought to cheat in our next election by getting a foreign government two a.m.. firefighters in australia are trying to contain fires before hot and windy conditions return to fan the fla mes windy conditions return to fan the flames the next few days. australia is experiencing a devastating start to its fire

season due to the effects of climate change. courtney bembridge reports. authorities are calling it a mega fire. five fires have merged and it has become too big to tackle. the front is 60 kilometres long and so far, more than 300,000 hectares of bush has been burnt. the fire is now the size of australia's largest city, sydney. firefighters say it could burn untiljanuary or even february unless there is some heavy rain soon. but with none in the forecast, emergency services are being stretched to the limit. we have got literally, more than1 million hectares burning across new south wales at the moment and we have gotjust under 2,000 firefighters and personnel working on these fire grounds and we have got communities up and down the coast that are all being impacted by these fires. residents were told to pack up and leave before it's too late. putting your life on hold is the hardest thing, you know, you go out during the day and you don't know whether you're going to be able

to get back in in the afternoon. the fire is burning about an hour north of sydney, bringing toxic smoke and ash falling from the sky. the fire season has hit harder and earlier than previous years due to climate change. since the crisis began in september, six people have been killed, more than 700 homes destroyed and an estimated 2 million hectares scorched. firefighters are bracing for more high temperatures and strong winds this week, a dangerous combination likely to make the situation much worse. courtney bembridge, bbc news. with just three days to go until the general election, political leaders have spent the day on the campaign trail, emphasising their key messages. prime minister borisjohnson called thursday's vote a historic chance to move forward, while the labour leaderjeremy corbyn said his party is offering an ambitious plan to transform the country. here's our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. the cabinet's orders today — hit the phones. and a surprise call for someone.

hello, mr walker. hi, it's boris johnson. well, at least it wasn't a phone prankster or con artist, though his opponents claim borisjohnson‘s a bit of both. just four days to go and he's after more votes and more trust, today, promising to bear down on immigration after brexit and campaigning on his favourite theme. we are a party that is going to get brexit done. by when? by 31st january, and we've got a deal that's ready to go. it's an absolutely fantastic deal, isn't it? it's already there. how many members of the conservative party standing at this election support our deal? every single one. all the leaders are hammering their core messages in the time that's left. the labour leader in wales trying to reach beyond the converted with his pledge of an economy transformed, of billions more for hard—up services. you can't cut your way to prosperity, you invest your way to prosperity, and there's no more important investment than investing in young people, children and the next generation,

and that is what... cheering and applause ..and that is what i want our labour government to do. welcome tojo swinson, leader... jo swinson‘s changed direction, talking less about reaching downing street, suddenly cancelling brexit, more about hooking up with others to get another eu referendum. we have already in the last couple of years been working very constructively across party lines with labour mps, with conservative mps, with nationalist mps, the green mps, independent mps, where we agree to try to secure a people's vote, and that constructive spirit will be the way in which liberal democrats will approach things after the election. and if no party wins on its own, the snp leader knows who she could support in exchange for an independence referendum, among other demands, and who she couldn't. i'll never do anything that puts borisjohnson into downing street. so, he doesn't need to worry? but labour, in order to get

a queen's speech and a budget through if they're in a minority position need the support of another party, and if scotland votes for the snp in a hung parliament, giving scotland enormous leverage, then i will exercise that firstly in line with scotland's interests... not long till we know who, if anyone, ends up in control here, after the theatre of election night. after millions of british voters decide on thursday whose wishes are finally granted. john pienaar, bbc news. russia is facing a 4—year ban on competing in all major sports and hosting major international events after failing to comply with demands of the world anti—doping agency. they've recommended the sanctions after concluding that russian officials were responsible for tampering with drug test data they handed to investigators earlier this year. the sanctions need to be approved by wada's executive committee on monday. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. these are nervous times in russian sport,

professional athletes training hard but not sure of what is ahead. anna's won multiple medals for her country, but russia is now sliding towards a 4—year ban from global sport, the latest twist in the doping scandal. i practice hard and still i am training. and i'm just trying to focus on this, because that is the area that i can control. the problems go back to the 2014 sochi olympics. for russia, for president putin, the games were a display of strength, superiority. singing but the proud party ended in a huge hangover. this scientist turned whistleblower ina this scientist turned whistleblower in a massive scheme he had been the heart of. yury ganus was part of the clean—up act. under him, russia's anti—doping agency has been praised for a new zero—tolerance approach.

but to return fully to the sporting fold, russia had to hand over a database of athletes' test results. thousands of entries were deleted. yes. thousands? thousands, thousands. now, russian athletes face even greater sanctions. he has come under pressure for speaking out, but he insists those officials responsible for this crisis should be removed. this is a real old—school situation. it is impossible to continue using this approach in the future, because today we live in a tragic time in russia, in sports for russia. you still hear people here claiming this is all an anti—russian campaign, denying the evidence as russia has in so many other cases. but there are also people who are amazed at their country's capacity for self—harm,

that instead of moving on from this crisis and ending the isolation, russia has only made the situation even worse. this week, the sports ministry was busy promoting exercise for all, an active lifestyle. a ban on professional athletes would be a blow to a whole generation here. speaks russian when i tried asking the minister who was to blame for that, who altered the database, he refused repeatedly to answer. in politics, you can play with pokerface. you can deny the undeniable thing. you can really do the bravado with your cynicism. you cannot do this in sports. you cannot do sports on your own. of course we can have the home olympics, with turkmenistan and with north korea and with belarus, but everyone will laugh at it. russian athletes have devoted their lives to much higher targets, and it is their

sporting futures now at stake. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, ripe for the picking: the fate of a multithousand—dollar artwork. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building in the centre of new york. there's been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president

of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila. she's facing seven charges of tax evasion, estimated at £120 million. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: police in india have arrested the owner of a building in delhi which caught fire, killing at least 43 people. the us defence secretary orders a review of screening procedures for all foreign personnel in the wake of friday's deadly shooting at a navy base in florida. northern ethiopia lies in one of the semi—arid regions which it is feared will bear some of the worst effects of climate change. the land there has lost most of its trees, making it vulnerable

to longer droughts and intense bursts of rain. but now, the people there have restored wooodland to 1.5 million hectares, capturing co2 and boosting food production in the process. for the last in our series climate defenders, alongside the major un climate conference, justin rowlatt travelled to tigray province to meet a woman at the centre of the restoration. there is a stark beauty here. 100 years ago, trees covered a third of ethiopia. now, it is less than 5%. and without trees, there is nothing to protect the soil from drought, wind, and bursts of rain, which all become more intense with climate change. when the soil goes, very little grows. but people are breaking this vicious circle. this one is the african olive. an african olive — does it bear fruit? does it grow olives? yes, it does grow olives. they are much smaller than the...

sarah tewolde—berhan is an expert at restoring degraded land. this is her tree nursery at mekelle university in northern ethiopia. some 30—a0 years ago, data shows that droughts were occurring every ten years. now, they're every five years. so we need to prepare, as a community, as a society, to be able to function even in drought years. and one of the best ways to do that is to restore environments, and in restored environments, we can capture every little drop of rain that comes. what sarah and the communities she works with have achieved is really impressive, and you can see it very vividly on this experimental site on the outskirts of mekelle. look over here. so this is degraded land. it's been used as farmland fairly recently. virtually no vegetation. but take a look on the other side

of the fence, and already, after just a few years, it has begun to regrow. you can see shrubs, you can see trees, it's greener, and it's way, way lusher. give it a couple of decades and the results are even more impressive. here is how it works. people and animals are kept out to allow natural regrowth. the trees help keep moisture in the soil, recharging rivers and springs. it may seem very trivial to people who live in wet environments, that spring has come back. but, for people who live in a dry environment, a spring that was around, like, 100 years ago or 200 years ago, is now coming back and giving water, is highly significant. and this re—greening is happening on a vast scale. in this one province in northern ethiopia, they have reforested 15,000 square kilometres. there are more rains,

because we are protecting more land. there's more moisture in the soil, because we're protecting the land. they do know it. they do notice, they do see it. worldwide, we are still losing an area of forest the size of the uk every single year, but the re—greening effort here in ethiopia is a lesson in what can be done, evidence that, when people work together, we can build resilience to our changing climate. justin rowlatt, bbc news, northern ethiopia. the number of people in the uk attending church regularly on sundays continues to fall, but congregations at midweek evensong services in cathedrals are increasing. researchers are now trying to understand what is attracting a new following to the ancient service. our religion editor martin bashir reports. the buildings are ancient. the service designed more than 600 years ago.

but it seems we can't get enough of choral evensong. amazing, really, yeah. what's so special about it? i think the building, i think the music, i think the message behind it all. it's just something you can't get anywhere else. i think we all lead busy lives, and that pause gives you time to think about things beyond that hustle and bustle, that can take over all too often in our lives. the service takes place at 5:00pm on weekdays in all anglican cathedrals, and lasts 45 minutes. it includes readings from the bible, hymns and prayers, and there is no sermon. the number attending choral evensong is going up across all age groups, even though sunday church attendance has halved over the last 50 years. it seems that believers and nonbelievers are attracted to this service.

the question is why. catherine king has started a research project to answer that question. it's a completely different experience to everyday life. you walk into that chapel, you switch your phone off, it's candlelit. you hear often unaccompanied voices. so i'll just start the film. .. she is using a virtual reality recording of evensong, and is monitoring people's responses during the service. my key research question was, what is actually happening in people's minds and their bodies when they're in a choral evensong service? i can see the beautiful stained glass windows, the sound of the choir. see, the cycle of thoughts, feelings and emotions that some people describe when they're in this service is very similar to doing a meditation.

back at saint paul's, the bishop of london, a former chief nursing officer, says the service offers an antidote to the stresses of modern life. evensong in churches and cathedrals demands nothing of us. and i think we know that, for those 45 minutes, we cannot do anything but listen, whether it's to the prayers, the music or the bible readings, but we listen and are fed. whether it connects us to the spiritual or disconnects us from social media, the research will provide the answers. now, you could be forgiven for thinking this isjust a banana stuck to a wall. in fact, it is a piece of work by the italian artist maurizio cattelan, which on friday sold for more than $118,000. it was being exhibited at a gallery in miami up until last night when, as simon jones reports,

it came to an untimely end. it was already causing a stir for its eye—watering, if not mouth—watering, pricetag of £90,000, created by the italian maurizio cattelan, known for his humour and satire. but another artist, the american performer david datu na, found it too appealing, and decided to steal the show. art performance — hungry artist. he declared the banana was delicious. art lovers, though, couldn't quite believe their eyes, and nor could the gallery's director. are you kidding? no. i went there, looked at what was happening, and i didn't see the banana on the wall. so — and i realised that the guy was eating the banana. 0k, come with me. onlookers certainly thought they'd witnessed a spectacle. in the same way that the artist put the banana on the wall,

he say, "i'm coming here to eat the banana. that's my performance. " a replacement banana was soon taped back onto the wall. the man who devoured the original was asked to leave. the gallery insisted it hadn't slipped up, and that the value of the work lay in the idea behind it, not the individual piece of fruit. simon jones, bbc news. if you're struggling to get into the festive spirit, a sign that christmas is just round the corner. hundreds of santa clauses have hit the slopes of maine in the north—eastern united states. it is the 20th year running for the seasonal celebration, with santas of all ages taking to their skis and snowboards to raise money for charity. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcmaryam. plenty more on our website. thank you so much for your company. more headlines from me in a few minutes.

but, for now, goodbye. hello there. it's still windy out there. the winds have been howling in some parts of the country, and over the next few days, it's all about wind and rain. we'll have some heavy rain or heavy showers, combined with some gales or severe gales. it's probably the strength of the wind that will have the biggest impact, mind you. but over the past few hours, we've seen a lot of showers packing in from the west — really squally showers, as well. the main focus of the wetter and certainly windier weather is more towards the south—west of england and into the south and west of wales. this of course is due to storm aliyah, and we've already had gusts of 70 mph along the south coast of wales and into cornwall.

that's combined with some very big waves, as well. the rain should tend to ease off into the morning, mind you. by then, the winds more of a northerly, and that will drag down some colder air across the uk, and it's quite windy for many areas still by the morning time. now, through monday, we'll start to see some changes, because this ridge of high pressure will just topple across from the atlantic, and it will push the strongest of the winds over towards the north sea and kill off a lot of the showers. but it'll be windy for a good part of the day down those north sea coasts, and feeling cold with those showers in the morning in particular. a few showers out west filtering through the irish sea into north wales, but a lot of the showers fade away during the afternoon, and many places will be dry and quite sunny. will be a windy day, but gradually the winds ease a bit, probably, though, feeling a bit colder than it did on sunday. and with the winds continuing to ease in the evening, there may be a touch of frost for a while for the eastern side of the uk, before the winds pick up again overnight, drag in some milder air, and these weather fronts are on the way. and that means for tuesday, we've got cloud, we've got outbreaks of rain, quite a few bands of rain

pushing their way eastwards. it's the last one, though, that will see the heaviest of the rain, and some particularly squally winds out there as well. it will be a windy day everywhere. it's going to be a mild one, temperatures typically in double figures. that mild, wet, windy weather then gets swept down towards the south—east on tuesday evening. out of the way by wednesday. we're all into some chillier air, the low pressure still sitting to the north and west of the uk. maybe some gales in the north—west of scotland. otherwise, wednesday not as windy. it's a day of sunshine and showers, some of them heavy, with hail and thunder, and over northern hills there could be even a bit of snow as well. it's quite a chilly day, and those temperatures only typically six or seven degrees. a bit more uncertainty as we head later on in the week. could be another area of low pressure bringing some more strong winds, likely to bring some rain, particularly on thursday, some snow over the hills in scotland. then it gradually becomes a bit drier during friday, but probably still rather windy.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: police in delhi have arrested the owner and manager of a factory which caught fire on saturday night. at least 43 people were killed in the blaze. a local fire chief told the bbc the building was illegally used as a factory. the us defence secretary has ordered a review of screening procedures for all foreign personnel training at bases in america after a saudi officer shot three sailors in florida on friday. the fbi is treating the attack as an act of terrorism. firefighters in australia are trying to contain more than 140 fires before very hot and windy conditions return to fan the flames in the next few days. bushfires have killed six people and destroyed more than 700 homes since october. those are the headlines on bbc world news. more now on the general election.