welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: formal impeachment charges against president trump are unveiled. a vote is expected next week. to do nothing would make ourselves complicit in the president's abuse of his high office and public trust in our national security. as aung san suu kyi appears at the international court ofjustice, the us imposes sanctions on her senior military leaders. further eruptions keep recovery teams away from the volcanic island in new zealand where eight more people are feared dead. and new evidence says climate change is causing greenland's ice sheet to melt seven times faster than 20 years ago.

for only the fourth time in american history, articles of impeachment have been drafted against a president. democrats who control the house of representatives have filed two charges against donald trump, accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors, abuse of power and obstructing congress. the house will vote this week, and that could mean a trial in the republican—controlled senate in january. mr trump says he's done nothing wrong, that impeachment is "madness" and a "witch—hunt". this report from laura trevelyan. it's only the fourth time in history lawmakers have tried to impeach an american president and remove him from office. democrats are charging mr trump with abuse of power and obstructing congress. the house committee of the judiciary is introducing two articles of impeachment charging the president of united states, donald j trump, with committing high

crimes and misdemeanours. democrats allege mr trump made a white house visit to ukraine's president and military aid for that country contingent on mr zelensky announcing political investigations. with the 2020 election looming, democrats say they should move now. the argument, "why don't you just wait," amounts to this — why don't you just let him cheat in one more election? why not let him cheat just one more time? republicans counter that the president did nothing wrong and democrats are trying to rerun an election they lost. impeachment is the removal of the highest elected person in this land. i don't care if you think americans who support president trump are deplorables, but you do not have the right to disqualify their vote just because you do not like president trump. mr trump himself responded with his signature tweet. meanwhile, the full house could vote on whether to impeach the president as early as next week. republicans are looking ahead

to a january trial in the senate that they control. the battlelines are drawn here in washington. laura trevelyan, bbc news. earlier, republican strategist rina shah told me she'd met with house speaker nancy pelosi on tuesday. this evening is certainly one where so many, like myself, are feeling sort ofjust not any other emotion, but wow, what a day! this was truly an historic day, and for me to have seen and heard from speaker pelosi on such a day as today, for me, i have to tell you, it was really humbling that a woman of her age and her stature and of everything she stands for could speak so eloquently after the morning — the morning here in dc was filled with, number one, unveiling those two charges that are so important and they were very succinct — abuse of power and obstruction of congress. and then, only 1.5 hours later did speaker pelosi come out and mention

that she had struck a deal with the white house over the usmca. and so, one moment we're talking impeachment inquiry, the next moment we're talking trade, and then around lunchtime, she met with a group of us at the politico women rule summit and she so beautifully stated what the reasons were for the democrats coming out and saying that the president's actions in regard to ukraine are impeachable. and so tonight, i think so many of us are really wishing we could hit the fast—forward button and get to next week already. as a republican strategist, tell us what you think — there seems to be a shift in the republicans‘ lines of defence from "mr trump did nothing wrong" to "well, perhaps — it was troubling, perhaps it was not quite right, but it was not impeachable." what should we make of that? well, i think what we should really look at right now is how unified the republicans are, and this is something that actually i think won them the white house in 2016. the republicans fall in line pretty well and they coalesce behind one

message, and so at first, it was sort of — the democrats are fudging the facts, the democrats are lying, and now today what i heard in response to the two articles of impeachment being revealed to the american public was republicans coming and saying democrats are acting on emotion. they have never liked this president and, therefore, their swift sort of movement on this enquiry and heading towards an impeachment vote is purely because they want to deny this president a re—election that they believe he's pretty much guaranteed. and so, in many ways, i will say this — that all those listening, just look at how unified the republicans are behind this one message and whether they believe it to be wrong or not, they're saying, sure, the president has done something wrong, fine, but is it impeachable? that's up for debate with democrats, particularly moderate democrats who are going to have a tough re—election if they vote for impeachment next — they're going to have that tough re—election next year if they vote for impeachment next week. they're saying, are the president's actions really impeachable? so, i again say the democrats,

it's really theirs to lose here. let's get some of the day's other news. officials injersey city, across the river from new york, say six people have been killed, three wounded in a shoot—out that moved from a cemetery to a kosher grocery store and lasted several hours. the dead include a police detective and two suspected gunmen, along with three customers at the shop. authorities say they do not believe it was a terror attack. the us has restricted the training of saudi military aviation students at three military bases. defence secretary mark esper ordered a review after last week's fatal shooting of three sailors in florida by a saudi air force lieutenant. the fbi is still trying to determine what motivated the attacker. top officials from the us, mexico and canada have signed a revised trade deal after more than two years of tough negotiations. usmca replaces the 25—year—old north american free trade agreement. us house speaker nancy pelosi —

the key democrat needed to move the agreement forward — and us labour unions have given their blessing to the deal, which they say now includes improved labor standards. —— labour standards. the us has blacklisted four of myanmar‘s top military leaders for alleged human rights abuses against rohingya muslims and other ethnic minorities. the sanctions come just hours before myanmar‘s de facto leader, aung sang suu kyi, is due to defend her nation against charges of genocide, at the united nations‘ highest court. nick beake reports from the hague, where the genocide hearing has been taking place. they used to think aung san suu kyi was the epitome ofjustice. not anymore. today, they demanded her arrest. a one—time human rights icon, now standing up for an army accused of genocide. good morning, ms suu kyi. are you defending the indefensible? the nobel peace prize laureate took her seat at the un's top court and listened to accounts

of the brutality the rohingya refugees had suffered in her country. i could smell the stench of genocide from across the border in myanmar. stories of helplessness in the face of mass killings, of mass rape and mass torture, and of children being burned alive in the sanctuary of their homes and places of worship. nearly 750,000 rohingya muslims fled the myanmar army's so—called clearance operation in 2017, launched after rohingya militants had attacked security posts. myanmar argued its response was legitimate in the face of a dangerous terror threat, and few in the buddhist majority country had sympathy for muslims, widely regarded as illegal immigrants. so to this day, they languish in the world's biggest refugee camp, their stories as harrowing as ever.

rojina begum explains how the myanmar military snatched her baby and threw him in a fire, that her parents and most of her siblings were shot dead, that she was raped by four soldiers. she explains that everyone with her in this photo was killed, "aung san suu kyi is lying in front of the world that the military didn't do anything." aung san suu kyi didn't have to come to the hague today, she didn't have to sit and listen to the sickening allegations made against her country. she chose to. and tomorrow she will personally defend the country from the charge of genocide. she'll say it simply didn't happen. it's seen as a patriotic defence by most of myanmar, including her supporters who'd come to court today. but it's a strategy that

could destroy any remnants of her global reputation. nick beake, bbc news, the hague. a sixth person has died in new zealand after yesterday's volcanic eruption. the latest victim died in hospital. eight others are missing on white island and presumed dead. police are investigating how 47 people came to be around the active volcano when it erupted. the bbc‘s shaimaa khalil sent this from the nearby town of whakatane. it looks like the surface of another planet. this is white island hours after its devastating eruption. it's dangerous for this rescue helicopter and for those still looking for survivors. officials have said there is a 50% chance of another volcanic blast in the next 2a hours. eight bodies remain buried on this ash—covered rock. one of the paramedics who originally helped move the injured to safety

described the scene. it was quite a, um, it was quite an experience. it was like, i've seen the chernobyl miniseries and there was just... everything was blanketed in ash. it was quite a... it was quite an overwhelming feeling. mary scully lives close to the whakatane harbour. she's been on a trip to the volcano on white island with a local guide who is also a family friend. hayden marshall—inman was on the island when the volcano erupted. he died of his injuries. he's a lovely guy, hayden. we've known hayden since he was primary school age. going through the swimming club and soccer and all the things that kids do — he's the same age as our son. mary says her community did not see the island as a threat. you've got masks, you've got your helmets, your glasses. you are well kitted out. there's a lot of safety things beforehand.

i suppose the fact that it hasn't erupted before, we've got a bit... we just take it for granted. health officials say those who are being treated in hospitals across the country have suffered severe burns. two british women are among the wounded. new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern, visited some of the injured in hospital, and thanked those members of the emergency services who were first to respond. for years, thousands of tourists have been coming here, getting on these boats to reach the scenic white island. but after this disaster, there are already questions about whether warnings of volcanic activity are being taken seriously and whether people's safety is being compromised. new zealand police have launched an investigation to look into the circumstances of the deaths and injuries on white island. an active volcano that has long been a tourist attraction, but has now turned into a site of utter devastation.

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, whakatane. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: iceland issues its first ever severe storm warning, and the country hunkers down for a wild ride. 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: in the united states, leading democrats have unveiled formal impeachment charges against donald trump. the president has called the process sheer political madness. the united states has imposed sanctions on four senior myanmar military officers, accusing them of committing serious human rights abuses against the country's rohingya muslim minority. melting ice caps show us the impact of climate change, and a team of scientists has the data to quantify what's happening.

they say greenland is losing ice seven times faster than it did in the 1990s, and that will expose millions of people to coastal flooding by the end of this century. the bbc‘s science editor david shukman has more. as the world heats up, the great ice sheet covering greenland is under threat. huge blocks of ice have always broken off in the summertime, but this process is now accelerating. i've seen for myself how melting ice is sending massive torrents of water to the ocean. more and more of the ice is thawing as temperatures rise. now a major new study using data from satellites has calculated how much of greenland's ice has disappeared. the areas marked in red are where melting has been most extreme, and the scientists who did the research are shocked. it's quite depressing, really. the ice sheets have been heated by,

in greenland's case, by the oceans and the atmosphere for several decades and it's got to the state that we're in today. it's going to get worse, not better, and it's going to continue for decades. what's happening in greenland has implications right around the world. since 1992, 3.8 trillion tonnes of ice have melted from it and ended up in the oceans. that's raised their height by 10.6 millimetres, which doesn't sound much but, for every extra centimetre of sea level, up to six million more people are put at risk of flooding, and more melting will make things worse. siren wails a warning siren on a winter night six years ago as the coast of lincolnshire was flooded. imagine how much worse it could be with an even higher sea level. welcome to the ceremonial opening... all this is being discussed here in madrid at the un climate conference. countries are arguing over how

to stop heating up the planet. amid all the delegates, a leading scientist tells me there is still time to reduce the gases that are causing the melting. if you cut emissions significantly, you really can limit the impacts from sea level rise. whereas if you continue to emit on a path that we're on now, 01’ even more severe, that will actually have really severe impacts in the future. so, there is the chance to make a difference? there is a chance, yes. don't give up hope. campaigners from 0xfam highlight the dangers of rising seas, and say world leaders are failing to respond. david shukman, bbc news, in madrid. as we've just been hearing, it's not only greenland that's melting. the annual arctic report card 2019 says the arctic is also melting at an alarming rate. the area is undergoing changes much faster than scientists anticipated. it also warns that without action, the melting of permafrost could be releasing up to 600 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

erich 0sterberg is associate professor of earth sciences at dartmouth college. right now, professor, i know you're at the american geophysical union conference in san francisco. i guess most scientists of note are either in san francisco or madrid at the moment. what is the buzz there? that's right. there's about 28,000 scientists at this conference, and the buzz right now is those two reports you were just talking about, the paper that came out about the greenland ice sheet mountain, and the arctic report card that came out and the headline is arctic climate change is getting more and more dire. if this was an annual health check up, we would have to say the arctic is chronically ill and getting progressively worse. 2019 was a really bad year in the arctic. we had the second warmest temperatures we had ever seen in history and all that extra warmth

caused near—record levels of the melting of the sea ice and near—record melting of the ice sheet in greenland, which we know raises sea levels. is a particularly alarming report and a continuation of the trends we've seen with climate change in the arctic over the last three decades, but 2019 was a really bad year in the arctic. professor, often at conferences people set late into the night talking amongst themselves, when you do that what is the feeling? do you have despair, panic, any grounds for hope? absolutely, despair, maybe a little bit of despair but i'm not panicked and i'm quite optimistic for the future in general. i think we asa for the future in general. i think we as a species are usually able to rise to challenges and once we agree this is a challenge we need to meet, and the science is clear that this isa and the science is clear that this is a challenge that we need to meet, i think we are going to meet it. i've got two small kids and i'm

optimistic for their future. i've got two small kids and i'm optimistic fortheirfuture. i i've got two small kids and i'm optimistic for their future. i can't wait to see how we as a global society tackle this challenge and ta ke society tackle this challenge and take society to the next stage of energy where we can live more sustainably. i have do say your phrase a little despair sounds like a lot of despair among people who have a full grasp of the facts and all the data. what's particularly frustrating as scientists is how difficult it is to get our message across particularly to people in power. we know that the united states is actively working against what's happening right now in madrid with cop 25. so i think oui’ in madrid with cop 25. so i think our frustration is more that we understand the problem, the problem is clear. this report today about the arctic climate change, it wasn't a surprise. these things have been happening for decades and we've understood it for decades. it's getting worse and worse. we are particularly frustrated that we have such a hard time getting the folks in power to try to work to do something about this.

there's a particular worry, a point made in both of the studies, that what happens in the arctic and the greenland ice sheet doesn't stay those places. it has much wider effects. but you say some of this is reversible? yes, absolutely. we know both sea ice and the ice sheet, they respond to temperatures pretty quickly. we know that bad years, really warm years like 2019, we see really warm years like 2019, we see really rapid ice melt both in the seaice really rapid ice melt both in the sea ice and the glazier. then years when it's not quite so hot, we see much less melt. if we are able to reduce our emissions and ultimately hopefully reduce the total amount of c02 in the atmosphere and temperatures start to cool, we will see things start to turn around. professor 0sterberg, thank you so much. your welcome, good to be with you. now, you rarely hear extreme weather stories from iceland. the hardy icelandic are used to coping with what nature throws at them. but now, they are facing

a particularly powerful winter storm. the country has issued its first red warning. rich preston reports. workers in iceland removing christmas decorations from outside the country's parliament building in reykjavik, and strapping down what they could in preparation for this: a powerful winter storm with strong winds and heavy snow. it's the first time the country has issued a red weather warning since the system was introduced. the west and north of the country has been hardest hit. the colour—coded system is based on the potential impact of bad weather, so the potential impact of bad weather, so if you centimetres of snow might cause chaos in a big city but not, say, ina cause chaos in a big city but not, say, in a mountain ski resort. for iceland, a country used to dealing with bad weather, a red alert is a big deal, but it still doesn't phase some icelanders. and the hardy icelandic horses don't need to go indoors, but roads have

been closed. avalanche warnings are in place and flights have been cancelled. even the icelandic meteorological office called this really crazy weather. rich preston, bbc news. a related story but at the other end of the temperature scale. a shroud of smoke from australia's bushfires has caused chaos in sydney, bringing dangerous air quality and ruining visibility in the harbour. ferry trips and boat rides had to be cancelled. the haze is the thickest to blanket the city since this year's fire crisis began. there are severe health warnings, and fears that worse is to come. a related story but at the other end of the temperature scale. the street artist banksy is famous for putting his witty graffiti more or less wherever he wants. his latest work is on a wall in birmingham and it looks like reindeer are pulling a bench as if it is a sleigh. but it's already no longer in its original state, as phil mackie reports. on a victorian railway bridge in birmingham's jewellery quarter, the elusive artist banksy has created his latest piece. this was the film he

uploaded to instagram. it's already been viewed nearly 3 million times, and thousands of people have turned up in person to see it. the lady in the jewellery shop just told me, so i'vejust come down to take a picture of it. and how much do you know about banksy? well, i know he creeps up in lots of places and paints pictures on the walls, but i don't know much more about him than that. and what do you think about this one? i think it's amazing, it's beautiful. it's absolutely beautiful. well, i think it's brilliant. i think it's a great addition to birmingham's artwork and our culture itself. for the homeless people themselves, it brings a great awareness to everything and i think it's really good and it's brought a lot of... as you can see, a lot of people out in birmingham, high spirits and everything else. the reindeers appeared in the early others of friday morning. the filming happened later that evening. local businesses knew something was going on but weren't sure it was a banksy until yesterday. banksy has really good ideas. i like his art, his thinking behind his art, there's always a thought behind his pictures.

it's a lovely... lovely idea. the red noses weren't on the original piece, someone jumped over the barriers last night and sprayed them on. whatever you think of the red nose additions to the original artwork, network rail have decided they need to put up some clear plastic to protect it from any further potential street artists. banksy says that while they were filming with the homeless man, ryan, passers—by kept offering him drinks and help. rough sleepers regularly sleep at the station. for us, it touches a really... a really poignant pointfor birmingham, and i think that was the intention anyway, of his artwork. so it needs to be saved? so it needs to be saved. the clear plastic glass will protect it from further vandalism, or enhancement, depending on your of view. the wall itself could be worth millions. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. ba nksy banksy and his unofficial collaborators strike again. thanks for watching and there is much more

for watching and there is much more for you any time on the bbc website and on twitter. hello there. yesterday we had some very strong, squally gusts of wind. looking at the top gust, well, that was recorded in capel curig in the north—west of wales, where we had a gust of 78mph. but quite widely, really, across northern england, scotland and wales we had gusts well up into the 60s of miles an hour, and there was reported some disruption out and about as well. the squally band of rain has been pushing its way clear and now ourfocus is on showers following. you can see this line of showers just out to the west of ireland. this is a trough that's going to be quite important for our weather. the other thing you'll notice as well is that it is going to feel quite a lot colder, looking at the weather picture for wednesday. so with more detail, if you're heading outside over the next few hours, showers will continue for northern ireland and scotland.

wintry, may have some snow up over the high ground in scotland, where things get a little bit slippy. 0therwise temperatures only just above freezing. so probably not frosty but feeling cold when you factor in the breeze that we'll have to start the day. now, looking at the weather picture for scotland and northern ireland, they will continue to see showers feeding in here. some of them heavy, with hail and thunder. still some snow up over the high hills in scotland as well. whereas further south, for the midlands and eastern england, we start off dry with some sunshine with some sunshine for the most part, showers though through the morning develop across wales and western england, and these will push eastwards through the day. this is our trough and, because it is quite an organised area of showers, it does mean that most areas will see at least one or two downpours at some point during the day. it's going to feel colder. temperatures between five and nine celsius. heading through the night time, wednesday night, showers continue to feed in across the north and west, where it will continue to be quite windy. otherwise the winds fall light across eastern areas. temperatures drop away quite quickly, with a frost. eventually we will start to see

milder air working back in to the south—west later on in the night and that will tend to mean the frost is more limited to north—eastern parts of the uk. thursday, a chilly start to the day but a bright start across eastern areas. this band of rain bumping into the cold and it's probably going to bring a short—lived spell of snow across the high ground of northern england, before the weather turns milder and any snow transitions back to rain. eventually it turns mild, ten or 11 degrees across the south—west but a cold day for scotland and the far north of england where we will continue to see some wintry showers. beyond that, through friday and indeed on into the weekend, we continue our brisk flow of west north—westerly winds, low pressure never too far away. temperatures below normal for the time of year across the north of the uk, where it's going to continue to feel chilly. but close to normal further south, in england and wales. that's your weather.

working away this is bbc news, the headlines: away president trump has urged the us senate to try him quickly, after democratic leaders in the house of representatives unveiled the two articles of impeachment against him. they charged mr trump with abuse of power and obstruction of congress by allegedly pressing ukraine to interfere in the next us election. the united states has imposed sanctions on four senior myanmar military officers, accusing them of serious human rights abuses against the country's rohingya muslim minority. the sanctions came on the day the international court ofjustice began hearing a case in accusing myanmar of genocide against the rohingya. new zealand police say continuing volcanic activity is preventing them recovering the remaining eight victims from monday's fatal eruption on white island. dozens of tourists were rescued from the island but many are badly burnt. victims‘ names and nationalities are expected to be released