our top story: the us house of representatives is preparing to vote on whether to impeach president donald trump. the democrat controlled house is expected to vote in favour, which would lead to a trial in the senate. mr trump is accused of threatening to withhold military aid from ukraine unless it investigated his leading democratic rival, joe biden. the pakistani army has reacted angrily to the death sentence given to former military ruler, general pervez musharraf. the penalty is unlikely to be carried out as he lives in exile in dubai. doing well on our website is the la premiere of the latest star wars film "rise of the skywalker". there's so much excitement over this epic conclusion to a cinematic saga, that's spanned four decades. that's all. stay with bbc news.

now it's time tojoin rico hizon in singapore for asia business report. rivals in disguise. we look at the impact of the boeing 737 max eight production suspension. —— in the skies. the million—dollar —— the $13 million project richard ranson wants to convince india. —— richard branson. i i'm rico hizon. thank you for joining branson. i i'm rico hizon. thank you forjoining us. we start with boeing because its decision to stop selling its bestselling plane the 737 max will fall far beyond the company it

does itself will stop it plays a big role in the country was like economy, it is the largest exporter and one of the nation's top private employers look up the plane maker employs around 12,000 workers at its 737 max assembly facility at —— in washington. and it also supports thousands of jobs washington. and it also supports thousands ofjobs across a network of over 600 supplies and hundreds of other smaller companies in the global supply chain. economies see the growth rate for the first quarter of 2020 will be impacted by 0.6%. asa quarter of 2020 will be impacted by 0.6%. as a result. tom malinowski who sits at the house presentation committee. is a huge blow and a cautionary tale. boeing u nfortu nately cautionary tale. boeing unfortunately spent many years lobbying in washington for more lax safety regulations as the result is that people died and now the company itself is taking a huge economic

hit. it is a lesson to multinational corporations that sometimes it does not pay to get the government of your back. you think you are going to make things easier for yourself and you end up making things much harder. will this give any chance for its rivals to get a bigger piece of the pie? there is the european airbus, boeing's biggest competitor, and has a major presence in europe. these companies have a duopoly on the global market. and then there is china's comac, backed by the government. it was to reduce china's dependence on boeing and airbus. it has built two jets and is working with russia on a third one. then there are smaller players like

brazil's embraer and canada's bombard ea. iasked brazil's embraer and canada's bombard ea. i asked who will likely benefit. —— bombardier. elementi think airbus is going great guns with his a320 product range. they are with his a320 product range. they a re really with his a320 product range. they are really attacking the so—called middle of the market for that mid—range aircraft. they had a big order with united which was significant. the other beneficiary are leasing companies who own older 737 max. suddenly they are in a pretty good position. everyone is talking about china's aircraft manufacturer comac which competes against the airbus and the 737 max. are we likely to see them anytime soon? it will be a while but they have five or six aircraft in text ——

testing and they are pushing the campaign hard. they have hundreds of orders with chinese companies and leasing companies and the chinese market is so big that even if it only flies in china, it is still going to be a major competitor. virgin group founder richard branson was in mum by recently to meet the newly elected chief minister of the chief —— state government. 0n the agenda, to convince about a 10 billion us dollar high—speed train project that will link the cities. there have been reservations about the project from the new government. we caught up with sir richard. we have been working on it for the last two years and we need to find out whether the new government would like us to do it. if they want us to do it, it can be funded privately, it won't need any government money and we would love to get on and do

it. if not, delhi have said they wa nt it. if not, delhi have said they want us to do it there and there are many other cities in india who said they would love to see it happen. 0ur number one priority is to try to get it done between mum by and punai. -- get it done between mum by and punai. —— mumbai. governments have a job to question previous governments' positions and make their decisions based on the current fa ct, their decisions based on the current fact, that i, i think there was some misreporting about us needing money from the government which would have understandably put off governments. we don't need money from the government and therefore it is likely will be knocking on an open door. what you think of the aviation sector? how much potential do you

have over here? jet airways met with the end. what happens next in terms of possibilities? interestingly, this is the third time we have come to mumbai. we put out a couple of times before. but right now we believe that mumbai is a booming city. the growth is phenomenal. as you say, jet has pulled out, so we believe it is an auspicious time to come and we will do everything we can to make sure that we are here for many, many years to come. are you interested in air india? we will certainly have a look and see if there is any aspect of air india that virgin atlantic can help with. so you are open to the idea when it comes to conversations about potential buyers. with virgin atlantic, are you open to the idea? iam open atlantic, are you open to the idea? i am open to the idea of having a discussion. we don't generally buy other airlines, we generally start companies. but we would certainly be open to having a look at it. virgin

group founder sir richard branson. the pound has fallen sharply by around 1.5%. it is now at 1.31. last week it peaked at one .35 and that is after british prime minister borisjohnson put is after british prime minister boris johnson put a is after british prime minister borisjohnson put a no—deal exit from the european union back on the table. it was its —— his boldest move after the election and it has spooked financial markets are. they have been talks of a decoupling of china and taiwan because of that would mean a complete separation of their economies including a complex supply chains which took many years to build. —— taiwan's foreign minister told the bbc‘s rupert wingfield—hayes while the islands does not want to be drawn into the trade war, it will stick with the us if they move ahead with a decoupling. if the united states decides to sanction against china, high—tech products, i think it is not only taiwan that will be

affected. china will be affected, many countries will be affected. if the american government decides to sanction in this regard, taiwanese companies will have to do decide whether they want to migrate with the us corporations back to the united states or settle somewhere else or if they would decide to just stay in china. we also did some discussions internally, that the ultimate supply chain issue, if it is more directed, it will work on the benefit of the united states in taiwan. the us government officials continue to say that they want the supply chain to be in the hands of friends and taiwan is a friend. that is taiwan's foreign minister speaking to rupert wingfield—hayes. now to our series ceo secrets. are you driven crazy by the same old

music being pumped into shops, hotels and bars? 0ne company called open air is offering to change all of that. we spoke to its ceo brian desousa. we want to run a good business. we just need a good desousa. we want to run a good business. wejust need a good idea, not tons of star capital. i were going to bars, restaurants, shops, places that looked great but sounded terrible. businesses still spend a lot of money taking themselves look really great, feel really great but not a lot on sounding really great and i thought that could be something. there is a number of things we play off. 0ne that could be something. there is a number of things we play off. one is selfridge's being a contemporary store leading the way. they do a lot

of activations during the day. it could be a playlist that promotes pride, it could be a playlist that promotes international women's day but whatever goes on in the store, the music should help can —— help communicate that. it was a very difficult sell, especially in the first few years that it was the unwavering belief in the idea and that it could add immense value to that it could add immense value to that business that stood us in good stead. we help to banish bad musak. thank you for investing your time with us. i i'm rico hizon. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: in washington — the house of representatives is almost certain to vote in favour of impeaching president trump on wednesday. the pakistani army reacts angrily to the death sentence given to the country's former military

ruler — general pervez musharraf. tv presenter caroline flack will not host the next series of love island on itv2. she's stood down from the show, which is due to begin next month, after being charged with assault by beating. lizo mzimba reports. hello and welcome! it has become the most watched tv show. at times, more than 6 million viewers. its success has now launched to a tradition, it is one due to be presented by caroline flack. sorry, you arejust not our type. after being charged of assault by beating, she is stepping back said in order not to detract attention from the upcoming series, i feel the best thing

attention from the upcoming series, ifeel the best thing i i can do is to stand down from series six. the tv presenter was arrested last week wallowing what her spokesperson called a private domestic incident. it reportedly involved her boyfriend. he later posted a picture of himself and flak on social media in an apparent display of unity. caroline flack rose after winning strictly come dancing in 2014. she was chosen to present love island. today following her withdrawal, itv said ina today following her withdrawal, itv said in a statement that it has a long—standing relationship with caroline and we understand and accept her decision. we will remain in contact with her over the coming months about future series of love island". lets talk love. while the shows focused predominantly on the relationships, caroline flack is one of the elements that has made the show so popular with viewers and with the new series due to start in mid—january, they are now looking at short notice for a new phase of the show. plaque is due to appear in

court on monday. —— flak. uk unemployment fell to its lowest level since january 1975, in the three months to october. figures released by the office for national statistics show the number of people out of work fell by 13,000 to one million two hundred and eighty thousand. the figures also show that wage growth is slowing down. -- 1,280,000. the figures also show that wage growth is slowing down. the conservatives have announced that a former equality and human rights commissioner will lead a long—promised review of discrimination in the party, including allegations of islamophobia. professor swa ran singh will look at how the conservatives, who've been accused of being in denial over the extent in islamophobia in the party, have dealt with complaints. now on bbc news, sport today. hello, i'm gavin ramjaun and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: copa libertadores champions flamengo fight back to make it through to the club world cup final. it ends all square in the big game at the top of the bundesliga —

3—3 between borussia dortmund and rb leipzig. and the japanese skateboarder hoping the world will one day get to see his talent at the paralympics. hello and welcome to the programme. we'll start at the club world cup, where the brazilian side flamengo are through to the final after coming from behind to beat asian champions al hilal 3—1. the champions league winners liverpool potentially await in saturday's final. adam wild reports. from rio they arrive, bringing with them the noise. thousands and thousands of acro one fans in full voice. this has been a year to celebrate. brazilian champions winners, still hungry for more. against al hilal they came within inches of seizing control early on. agonisingly close. and this, full—time, look like it might cost

them as the saudi