this is the briefing — i'm sally bundock. our top story: in precisely two hours, polls open here in the uk as voters decide who will form their next government. the debate begins on capitol hill over the articles of impeachment against president trump. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the international court ofjustice is set to hear breaking the glass ceiling. from gambia's lawyers, european central bank boss that rohingya muslims still face christine lagarde heads a growing an ongoing risk of genocide. list of women in top business jobs. but men still dominate global boardrooms. and coming up in the plus — cheap money's here to stay. business briefing: breaking the glass ceiling. european central bank boss the fed keeps borrowing costs christine lagarde heads a growing list of women in top business jobs. on hold after three cuts this year but men still dominate and signals they'll remain that global boardrooms. way throughout 2020.

and on the markets: those comments from fed chair jerome powell boosting stock markets in the us and asia. a warm welcome to the programme — briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. it will be a very busy day ahead. and you can be part of the conversation — as a perk, a marketing agency here in the uk allows its employees to take " hangover days". if they've been out the previous evening they're allowed to work the next day from the comfort of their own sofa — or even bed. good idea, orflexible working gone mad? tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. polls open here in the uk in a couple of hours as voters decide who will form

their next government. candidates in the general election are contesting 650 seats in the house of commons — the lower legislative chamber. polling stations close at 10pm gmt — and an exit poll will be released then, by the bbc and other uk broadcasters. our election results special broadcast will begin just ahead of that. join us on bbc world news from that point, as we follow every result as it comes in over the course of the night. in washington, thejudiciary committee of the us house of representatives has been debating the articles of impeachment against president trump. the committee is expected to vote on the charges on thursday, the rest of the house of representatives is then likely to vote next week.

if approved, an impeachment trial would take place in the senate next year. here's a flavour of the exchanges: george washington was particularly concerned about unprincipled men. finding their way into the white house. well, those times have found us. house. well, those times have found us. and we only have one option and thatis us. and we only have one option and that is to hold this president accountable. because you know what? nobody is above the law. this is a nakedly part is an has always been about the fact that these democrat hate this president. they have been focused on removing him since the day he was elected. and long ago they decided that impeachment was the remedy to they consta ntly impeachment was the remedy to they constantly and consistently marched ahead, undeterred by facts and make i'io ahead, undeterred by facts and make no mistake, this started long before july 25. but the russian conspiracy

theory bore. joining us now is peter bowes, the bbc‘s north america correspondent, who is live in los angeles. peter, it was quite wasn't it? a lot of passionate commentary going on there. you could hear the passion on both sides. in respect of the republicans were most passionate in this fence of the president. we heard —— we heard words like witch—hunt again, the president has said that a lot about the entire process. republicans believe there is feeble evidence to support the argument for impeaching the president, on the other hand we heard from many of the democrat who believe president has committed a constitutional crime though technically this is not a criminal process. they believe that he has

abused his position as president stop that now famous phone call in july, that is what it is all about, when the president spoke to the president of ukraine and asked for a favour, a favour to investigatejoe biden, a potential political rival, while at the same time, withholding much—needed little aid that should have gone to the ukraine. it did eventually go but he put a hold on the aid and that is what some of the democrats described as the bribery aspect of this. so what happens next? there will be a vote on the committee on thursday and because the democrats are in the majority, in control, it is almost certain to be passed and then there will be a vote at some point next week for the entire house of representatives and again the representatives —— democrats are in control. at that point it is likely the president will be impeached to that is the first part of the process. at the beginning of january next year there

will be impeachment trial and that will be impeachment trial and that will be impeachment trial and that will be in the senate and then the roles are different because the republicans are in charge there and clearly the consequences of that, the president is likely to be found not guilty. thank you, peter with a very latest on what is happening on capitol hill. the international court ofjustice will hear a third and final day of evidence in the case brought against myanmar for the alleged genocide of its rohingya muslim minority. the case was filed by gambia on behalf of the organisation of islamic cooperation. myanmar‘s civilian leader aung san suu kyi will be back in court as her legal team tries to convince the judges not to order an emergency order against the country. joining me now is dr anita schug, the head of women and children affairs at the european rohingya council. thank you so much for being on debriefing. firstly, you yourself area debriefing. firstly, you yourself are a rohingya and you have family

and people you know who are in refugee camps and in villages in myanmar. tell me about their situation. the situation in myanmar is getting more and more dire every day. despite the hearing at the international criminal court of justice, the military and the government has not taken any sincere step to prevent these atrocities and to stop these atrocities. my family members are still being denied access to food, freedom, the restriction of freedom of movement. even the day before yesterday, they have to carry their national verification card. and the government is also limiting free movement outside the camp so conditions in both bangladesh and

inside myanmar are dire and especially in myanmar they are under threat of genocide. and what did you make of aung san suu kyi yesterday as she tried to defend the actions of myanmar in the military? this time we were prepared based on her past actions. this does not surprise the rohingya community. we were expecting that she would again, what was the military atrocity. she says her country is committed to the safe repatriation of people who are displaced. what are those people saying to you, those who you know in refugee camp in bangladesh? do they wa nt to refugee camp in bangladesh? do they want to go back? people in the camp, they are fearful to return to myanmar and from one camp to another. there are conditions set by the international community that they will be afforded a safe and

dignified repatriation if certain demands are met. in the first is the restoration of rohingya citizenship rights. it has been wonderful to talk to you, thank you for your time. and that is the very latest and we will have the third and final day of that hearing today in the netherlands. india is deploying thousands of troops in the north—eastern state of assam, which is being rocked by mounting protests against the country's controversial new citizenship bill. the legislation will fast—track citizenship claims for immigrants, but not if they are muslim. opposition parties see the bill as another move by india's governing party, the hindu nationalist bjp, to marginalise the country's 200 million muslims. the government denies it is discriminatory. this report from pratiksha ghildial, in delhi. it's an issue that has divided india right down the middle.

a proposed new law offers amnesty to illegal immigrants from its neighbouring countries, but on one condition — they must not be muslims. it's one of the most controversial decisions by the hindu nationalist bjp government. the government says it's not discriminatory, but aims to help minorities fleeing persecution in pakistan, afghanistan and bangladesh, all islamic countries. campaigners like these say that by excluding muslims, the government is undermining the values on which india was founded — secularism and religious tolerance — and that faith should not be a consideration for citizenship. many are suspicious and see it as a tool to marginalise the muslim community. this just seems to be the framework for a hindu nation, and in general, if you've seen

the last five years, the anti—muslim rhetoric has been huge. there's a large number of violent attacks going on against the community all over the world. this will put them in a further vulnerable spot. there have been furious scenes in the parliament as the government tried to defend the move. translation: this is not meant for taking away anyone's rights. it is to give people rights. there's a difference between a refugee and an infiltrator. but activists say this sends out a negative signal to the country's 200 million—strong muslims. clearly, you are catering to your hindu base, you know, by telling them that this country is only for hindus. the world's largest democracy had a big heart when it could accommodate people. right now, we are coming across to the world as a petty, vindictive civilisation. that's not what india stood for.

but excluding muslims is not the only reason why it's controversial. protests have broken out in the north—eastern states as people say they don't want any migrants settling there, irrespective of their religion. there are concerns about what this proposed new law means for india's secular democracy as it grapples with the complex issues of religion, citizenship and identity. pratiksha ghildial, bbc news, delhi. let's get some of the day's other news. reports suggest harvey weinstein has reached a $25 million settlement with dozens of his alleged victims. but he also faces a criminal trial on charges of sexual assault, and a judge has increased his bail from a million dollars to 5 million, for violating his release conditions. the legal agreement in the civil case, according to the new york times,

would not require the disgraced movie mogul to admit wrongdoing, and he wouldn't pay money out of his own pocket. the chilean air force has found debris believed to be from a military plane, missing on its way to the antarctic, with 38 people on board. it is around 30 kilometres south of where the plane last made contact. a huge air and sea search has involved ships and planes from several countries. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why one of europe's most ill—equipped migrant camps has finally closed its doors for the last time. 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. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: the debate begins on capitol hill over the articles of impeachment against president trump.

the international court ofjustice is set to hear from gambia's lawyers that rohingya muslims still face an ongoing risk of genocide. police in new zealand are working on a plan to recover the bodies of remaining victims of monday's volcanic eruption. the country's civil defence agency say eight people are missing, presumed dead, but rescuers have had to stay away from white island because more eruptions are expected. they now say despite the risks they're going to try to get there on friday morning. eight people are confirmed dead, and 21 are still in hospital in new zealand. doctors gave this update a short time ago. the patient‘s remaining in our burdens unit include two new zealanders and a mix of other nationalities. they continue to hire the highest level of care and a small number are very unwell. our

intensive care and burns team throughout all of the burns units continue to work around the clock, putting in huge hours and showing, as we know they do, and unbelievable commitment to ensuring the very best ca re commitment to ensuring the very best care patients. this effort across australia and new zealand is requiring unprecedented levels of co—ordination across our health system, including continued provision of supplies, moving those around the country and also, as you know, access to skin for grafts from australia and the united states. we are also receiving a number of offers for specialist medical keep dominic thiem's two travel to new zealand to assist. we are working rapidly to enable this to happen. phil mercerjoins us now from our sydney bureau.

this situation, obviously, is extremely difficult for the authorities to manage, and they are desperately wanting to recover those that are still regarded as missing on the island, aren't they? new zealand authorities are acutely aware of the sensitivities surrounding the body is still left on white island. they acknowledge, as you would imagine, the trauma, the grief, the misery, the unknowing of relatives of the missing, presumed to still be on the island, so presumed to still be on the island, so of course they want to retrieve those bodies as quickly as possible, but if you cast your mind back to what happened just after two o'clock in the afternoon local time on monday, the volcano erupted without warning. there were two short, sharp blasts of volcanic fury, so clearly the authorities want to make sure that when those recovery teams go m, that when those recovery teams go in, there is every chance that they can do so safely and quickly. we have heard from scientists who say

that volcanic activity on the island is staring and that an eruption may happen within the next 2a hours but we simply don't know, so the police are crafting a plan, you would have to imagine it would be a short and sharp mission to go in and retrieve the bodies. they have had several surveillance flights over by helicopter and drone so you would have to imagine that they have a pretty good idea as to whether bodies are, but the big problem for the authorities in new zealand is getting them out and making sure that the recovery team is safe. and in the meantime, those 21 who are in various hospitals, some of them have very severe injuries and they are quite critical, aren't they? excruciating injuries, listening to the police, some say they are too u nwell to the police, some say they are too unwell to identify themselves. summer being helped with their breathing, many have very serious

burns to the outside of their bodies and also internal organs. 1.2 million square centimetres of skin is said to have been needed by those burns teams in order to carry out the grafts that we heard the dog to explain earlier, so that scale... 1.2 million square centimetres of skinjust shows 1.2 million square centimetres of skin just shows you how severe some of those injuries are. some of the patients have been flown back to australia to specialist burns unit, so australia to specialist burns unit, so in many ways this is an international effort to care and help those survivors through these horrific injuries. officials in bosnia have closed a migrant camp close to the border with croatia — saying conditions were deplorable, and moving nearly 800 migrants to better accommodation for the winter. the camp — known as "the jungle" — had been criticised for being ill—equipped,

with no heating, running water, or toilet facilities. but the camp is attractive to many migrants because of its proximity to croatia — and a way in to the european union. rich preston has this report. built on an old landfill site and close to a minefield, the vucjak camp has been home to hundreds of people, mostly men, mostly from asia, the middle east and africa. it's less than ten kilometres from the border with croatia, the gateway to the european union. the red cross says 25,000 people have passed through the camp this year. bosnia has become a key stop on the migrant route to europe, but it's struggled to cope with the sheer number of people passing through, and the camps conditions were widely criticised. aid organisations have warned the camp was unfit for people and that deaths were imminent, especially in winter. now, it's been pulled down. around 800 migrants from the area have been bussed away to new centres near the capital, sarajevo,

including these former army barracks. 750 migrants that were living in horrible conditions in vucjak and who are now in the warmth and who have taken the first warm shower, have had the first warm bed for many, many nights. we are happy here. we have electricity and also a clean environment and fresh food. it's thought bosnia's currently home to between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants. it says it can't support them all, and whilst these people have been relocated for the winter, it's expected that once that's passed, they'll be on the move again, once more hoping to make it to europe. rich preston, bbc news. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett and this is your thursday sport briefing, where we start with the news that bayern munich have moved

through to the european champions league last 16 with a perfect record in group b after a 3—1win over second placed tottenham in germany. in group c, atalanta started the last round of fixtures bottom of the group but their 3—0 win at shakhtar donetsk added to by a gabrieljesus hat—trick in manchester city's 4—1 win away to dinamo zagreb saw the italian side through despite losing their first three games. we make 75, 70 good minutes, especially the second half, the players played incredibly well, it is good. to linda had zero points after three games, this competition is weird, but hopefully we can arrive in good spirit to face the best teams in europe. the former south african captain graeme smith has agreed to become cricket south africa's director of cricket butjust

in an acting capacity. he's agreed to do the job for three months until the start of the next season of the indian premier league, which is expected to begin in march. the announcement comes just two weeks before the first of four tests against england, which start in centurion on boxing day. 11—time world surfing champion kelly slater put on a masterclass posting a perfect 10 in his third round win over france'sjoan duru at the pipeline masters in hawaii on wednesday. the 47—year—old is battling against the local favourite, jothohn florence, for the final qualification spot on the us olympic team for next year in tokyo. slater needs to finish two places ahead of florence to take the qualification spot as he bids for an eighth pipeline title. lazio and arsenal will be looking to book their places in the round of 32 in the europa league on thursday where 19 teams compete for the remaining 11 qualifying places.

arsenal travel to belgium where they'll face standard liege while the gunners, eintracht and standard could all end on 10 points meaning it could go to goal difference, but the liege coach is wary of what happened the last time the sides met. they had no mercy with us in the first leg. i hope that weekend at home also showed why we were in europe a league group, and for them, evenif europe a league group, and for them, even if we lose 3—1, it's not bad for us. it can be good. former tennis world number one andy murray has been dispelling rumours about his life away from the court, but certain things need clarifying. andy murray released a wrap song. this is true, but it was not my

song. >> it really gets crazy, my hand cramps up and my mind gets crazy. on the double 20, they released a song and i did a birth and it. yeah, i've was all. the —— i was awful. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. we have been asking you about the thought of employees getting hangover days, some ad agencies in london are offering hangover days to their employees, so we have asked you what you think. josh finkelstein says, when i was 23—29 years old, nearly 100% of my days off were

actually hangover days. josh, thanks for your honesty. someone else says, it is practical and sensible considering they might be useless to ta ke considering they might be useless to take the day off anyway. let's get some more thoughts later. hello there. more wet and weather is on the way for the next 2a hours and we've already had two deep areas of low pressure affect the uk this week, this mass of cloud gathering near the atlantic is the next area of rain. the next low pressure, its attendant weather fronts, so we expect lengthier spells of rain today. notjust rain either, we've had a cold night so as that rain comes into the colder air, we could have some hill snow but ahead of it, the main concern is ice. showers have continued to fall in the north, sleet and snow in the hills, hail and thunder, washing off the salt and giving slick surfaces and that's possible anywhere where we see a frost.

and even in towns and cities, we expect temperatures close to freezing, it has been so damp. by morning, already temperatures are lifting a little in the south and west as the cloud thickens and the rain is with us in southern and western areas, wales, northern ireland for the rush—hour, and a smattering of wintryness over the hills even in the south and are likely a couple of centimetres over the hills in northern england and southern scotland. then it clears to showers later as the rain reaches eastern parts of the uk. but all the time, temperatures will struggle and it will feel quite raw over that cloud cover and with that rain and hill snow around and we could stay in the chilly, showery brighter regime in the north of scotland by the end of the day and that changes through the coming night and into friday, this low pressure and its strong winds in the south push the rain out of the way here but pull it back in towards the low pressure in northern and eastern scotland. a wetter day on friday, cold and raw with snow on the hills. back into the sunshine and showers for most but they will come through thick and fast on the brisk northern ireland, northern england, and the midlands and again wintryness over the hills, hail, sleet and snow

as well as some thunder. that low pressure stays with us through the weekend, throwing further batches of showers and longer spells of rain and even hill snow, not necessarilyjust in the north potentially still those strong winds in the north. looking like we will keep temperatures around where they should be for this time of year but with the risk of showers or longer spells of rain through the weekend, and it will feel chilly, particularly when you add on the stronger winds, which will often be strongest in southern areas. there are warnings out there on the website. 00:28:35,267 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 bye— bye.