this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: the yeas are 230, the nays are 197. articlei is adopted. donald trump is impeached — the house votes for him to be removed from office — he'll now face trial in the senate. he's only the third president to be impeached — as the house voted, he attacked the opposition democrats. they are the ones who should be impeached, every one of them. after australia's hottest day on record — authorities in new south wales declare a seven—day state of emergency.

and when politics meets football — protests take place in spain ahead of barcelona's match with real madrid. in just the past few hours, donald trump has become only the third president in american history to be impeached by the house of representatives. that sets up a trial in the senate, which has to decide whether he should be removed from office. the house is controlled by his opponents, the democrats. his own party, the republicans, dominate the senate. the strong expectation is that he will be acquitted in the senate. this is how the impeachment was formally announced. the yeas are 230, the nays are 197. present is one. article1 is adopted.

a news conference followed that vote. house speaker nancy pelosi praising her colleagues in the democratic party. i could not be prouder or more inspired than by the moral courage of the house democrats. we never asked more of them or how they were going to vote. we never whipped the vote. and you saw all the public statements that some of them made. saw the result when everybody else did not. the statements on the floor about patriotism and about being very true to the vision of our founders. i view this day, this vote as something we did to honour the vision of our founders to establish a republic.

the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend our democracy and that republic. and the aspirations of our children that they will always live in a democracy and we have tried to do everything we can to make sure that that is their reality. alongside speaker pelosi, adam schiff, democratic chair of the house intelligence committee, said republicans should now allow a fair trial in the senate, for mr trump. the president of the united states has been impeached, for now, only the third time in history. the president of the united states should be tried in the question is now whether senator mcconnell will allow fair trial in the senate, whether the majority leader will allow a trial that involves witnesses and testimony and documents. a trial that should be fair to the president, yes, but should be fair also to the american people. the president, meantime, was out campaigning, in the key state of michigan.

he told a rally of supporters there the democrats were trying to nullify his 2016 election win. yesterday i sent nancy pelosi a letter denouncing and condemning her party's outrageous behaviour. they have nothing. they are the ones who should be impeached, every one of them. peter, this sounds like every very partisan process. insert the president won't be removed. is it really significant? it is very significant in historic terms, very significant in historic terms, very significant for any president in biography terms, no president wants to go down as one of the few who we re to go down as one of the few who were indeed impeached during the trial in office but perhaps more

important to this president is the next election in november and increasingly about how at the end of the day this could be beneficial for resident trump, it could fire up his supporters and i think it was no accident that he was in full flow with a huge hall full of his supporters as this impeachment was announced and we are going to see much more of this and the message from him and others supporting him will be that the democrats have pursued this mine without any hard evidence and what it does get to trial in the senate, which it will in the next few weeks, that is certainly going to be one of the main lines of defence, the accusations and allegations with heard against the president is based on evident that can't be pinned directly on him. is there anything about the trial and senate that will

prove unexpected, considering how voters are thinking about things?” think that could be surprises and it's also very much up for debate how this trial is going to proceed, whether there will be witnesses that the republicans are trying to stop that it could be hugely significant if there are witnesses, and especially those aides to president trump who weren't allowed to appear, to testify at the committee stage of this impeachment process and it seems unlikely the republicans will get their way before we saw some documents related to his discussions with ukraine which might shed new light on this, who knows how that is going to persuade the republicans who will ultimately be judge and jury who will ultimately be judge and jury on this. but at the end of the day, the republicans have the numbers in the senate and the democrats don't. i guess it's a sign

of how polarised things are. richard nixon stood down when it turned out his own party had turned against him. it is very tribal. incredibly tribal, more so than we really ever seen and that goes to the whole tribal aspect, the different parties, poles apart, before he was elected during his campaign. there's been a huge amount and he has used the word hatred in talking about his opponents. there is a lot of vitriol flying around between these two sides and i can't see any end to that, indeed if this trial occurs and we are in for a dirty campaign, it could get worse.

and there's much more detail on the impeachment process on the bbc news website. you can find full analysis from our correspondents and editors there, with all the latest updates. some news just in from the philippines — a court has found seven members of a prominent political family guilty of ordering the killing of dozens of people in the southern province of maguindanao, a decade ago. the maguindanao massacre was intended to prevent a political rivalfrom challenging the power of the ampatuan clan. the candidate's convoy was ambushed as he travelled to register as an election candidate. gunmen shot dead 58 people included 32 local journalists. the case took many years to bring to trial. in other news: authorities in new south wales have declared a 7—day state of emergency as firefighters battle around 100 bushfires. tuesday was australia's hottest day on record — average temperatures nationwide reached 40.9 celsius. but thursday may be even hotter, with winds expected up to 100 kilometres an hour. emergency services are preparing for the worst. our correspondent phil mercer

is in penrith, west of sydney. temperatures in parts of new south wales are expected to reach 45 degrees celsius today. the authorities here in australia's most populous state have issued a state of emergency because of the heat and its likely impact on the bushfire danger that is spreading across much of eastern australia. we are in the suburb of penrith, about 50 kilometres from the centre of sydney. it is roasting hot out here today. people are trying to escape the heat as best they can. many children and their parents have come to this waterpark in penrith to try and seek some relief

across the road there is a shopping centre and it is standing room only in the air—conditioned spaces people are looking to escape this heat that has affected so much of australia in the past few days. a very hot mass of air has been moving from the west to the east and with it, of course, is the danger of heat—related illnesses. heatwaves in australia are the nation's silent killer, killing more people than bushfires, floods and storms have put together. the advice for people is to stay indoors, if they can. other people doing what they can to keep cool. as far as the bushfire danger is concerned it is very extreme hearing new south wales. the danger extends to the north, to queensland and also to the south in victoria. it promises to be another brutal day here in australia. there have been mass protests outside the stadium in barcelona ahead of a game with real madrid, which was postponed back in october

because of widespread demonstrations then over the jailing of nine catalan separatist leaders. the barcelona fans and the other protesters want a legal referendum on independence for the north—eastern region of spain. gavin lee reports from barcelona. in the shadow of barcelona's football stadium tonight, the crowds outside are making a political point. catalan independence demonstrators are outside every corner of the stadium, while record numbers of police stand guard as one of the biggest spectacles in world football, real madrid and barcelona, takes place inside. well, the demonstrations tonight have been largely peaceful, but small groups of catalan separatist protesters have been burning the dustbins all around the stadium and throwing projectiles at police. and they've responded cat—and—mouse style, getting out and pressing then back.

this game had already been postponed two months ago, given the tensions here in spain's north—east region in the aftermath of the jailing of catalan separatist leaders for attempting independence in 2017. the gathering started hours before the match, and it was no coincidence that spain's biggest football game was targeted. the clasico is seen by millions of people around the world. every country where i've lived, for example, people can watch the clasico, right? so the opportunity that you have to send a message to the world is clear, and it's, like, free. 0rganisers behind tonight's actions say they will continue to target public events and places. flames of the catalan protest movement shows little sign of dying out. there have been mass demonstrations across poland — in protest against plans to punish judges if they question the government's planned changes to thejudicial system. lawmakers are due to

vote on the proposals on thursday morning. rich preston has this report. thousands gathered in some 200 towns and cities across the country. here in warsaw, huge crowds outside parliament. the governing law and justice party wants to introduce sweeping changes to thejudicial system, and it wants to be able to fine or sackjudges who question the reforms. the government says the changes are needed to tackle corruption and to modernise the system. it wants to be able to punish judges who engage in political activity. the judges say it's an attempt to gag thejudiciary. translation: we are not only dragged through the mud — we are gagged, put in the dock. they try to put us in jail, and if this law comes into force, they will succeed. translation: this law introduces sanctions against judges based on their decisions. it scandalously extends disciplinary sanctions against judges. it does not allow them to work in an autonomous and independent way. translation: the adoption of this law means that the separation of powers will be almost complete, the judiciary will be fully subject to executive and legislative powers. but the changes could cause wider problems. poland is a member of

the european union and eu members agree to primacy of eu law. poland's supreme court says these changes contradict that and could result in poland being forced to leave the union. it's also called the reforms a clear attempt by the government to control the judiciary. rich preston, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: meet the six million dollar dad, the man who hopes his new bionic arm will make him a better father. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict,

a conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: donald trump has become only the third president in the history of the united states to be impeached by the house of representatives.

the focus will now turn to the republican—controlled senate. it is widely believed mr trump will be acquitted and remain in office. in west africa's sahel region, big questions about security and stability have triggered a sharp warning from the head of the french military, which has had a presence there since 2014. the french chief of staff has said the future of the sahel rests on what happens in the coming year, and whether the extremist group the so—called islamic state is allowed to fill the power vacuum. louise dewast sent this special report from central burkina faso, where families have been forced from their homes. aside from the shade of a tree, there is little comfort here for these women and children. it has been a month since they fled their village, leaving everything behind. translation: we didn't want to leave our homes, but we were so afraid. we heard gunshots.

so we had to leave and come here. they couldn't say who attacked their village, but islamist militants and militias have been operating in the area. while they feel safe here, they are desperate for more support, and they are not the only ones in urgent need. we've just arrived on the top of a hill where two tents have been set up. about a dozen children are living here. we are told they left their village about three months ago, and that they've been living here under these tents, the girls on one side and the boys on the other side, and mostly living without any parents. there is one mother present, and an aunt who helps out, but for the most part, the children seem to be fending for themselves. the oldest is 13. despite the conditions, she says she feels safer here. translation: i am happier here.

we get help here. they give us food, and other things we need as well. the un says it is working to scale up its response to the crisis, but only a third of required funding has been received among the nearly 500,000 people displaced, 49% of them are children. more than 200,000 are out of school. translation: to say that we have a lot of support is not true. because we are doing what we can with what we have. it's the support of the population, the support of the civil servants who are here, the support of the state, that enables us to respond to the situation. but really, we don't have enough resources. every day we have many displaced people. every day they come

and ask for food. they come and ask for their children to be enrolled in school. they come and ask for their children to be seen by a doctor. the emerging conflict is weighing on a country already strained in resources. hundreds of thousands are severely malnourished, and with little hope that security will improve soon, the need for attention and support is urgent. louise dewast, bbc news, burkina faso. a young man who suffered life—changing injuries as a child has been given what has described as a revolutionary new bionic arm. danny florence lost a hand and both legs when he got meningitis at the age of five. he hopes his new limb will help him bond with his young son. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. here you go, your new arm. thank you. danny florence has waited a long time for this — more than 20 years, in fact. the chance to do something as simple as picking up a set of keys. i should be able to make a — bring my fingers down to make a fist, sort of thing. and now, when i raise it up, i can then bring this thumb

in, and then do the same to make a little grip between the fingers. it's called the hero arm. made using a 3d printer, and responding to different muscle movements, it could transform danny's life. most importantly, he wants to be there for his one—year—old son, joshua. his bionic limb helping him become a six million dollar dad. when he gets a bit older, and he needs to fasten a zip on his coat, i should be able to do it, and i can't do it now. if he needs to step in his seatbelt, i should be able to. danny says he has ambitions to be an artist, as well as being the best possible father he can, ready to be there with a helping hand. tim allman, bbc news. what is billed as the final star wars movie had its european premiere wednesday night in leicester square in london. the rise of skywalker officially concludes the skywalker saga begun by george lucas in 1977, and to say it has been hotly anticipated by fans would be a mega—understatement. 0ur entertainment correspondent

lizo mzimba was there. yes, i'm here with the director of the movie, jj abrams. of course, jj, you had huge success when this came back with the force awakens in 2015. what made you think i'm going to try it all again and go beyond that? well, it was an opportunity to finish the story that we, with the force awakens, but also with george lucas and a new hope. so it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, too tempting. how do you feel about the responsibility taking on the most — perhaps the most beloved movie series of all time? i think we all take this on as a responsibility, and only want to tell a story that is meaningful to people. and of course, with anything like this, you know going in it

will be a divisive thing. any choice you make will be someone else's nightmare, no matter what you do, and you just do the best you can. that's all. how important was it you to put a female character at the centre of this new trilogy? it was the first thing that i felt, when i was talking to cathy kennedy about this, the producer, was that there was a woman in this world whose history was the films we knew. and we had to find her and tell her story. i don't mean to sound pretentious, but that was sort of the feeling ihad. and when we of course started writing it, and found daisy ridley, it all started — if you like, it was making sense. how hard is it controlling the secrecy? films like this rely on spoilers not getting out. 0n films like this, there's sort of processes that takes place where when new scripts are distributed, they're printed on crazy red spy paper. there are all sorts

of security measures. it's kind of commonplace, and you do the best you can. so much of the movie is filmed here in the uk, pinewood, just outside london. what is it about british filmmaking, and going back to the original trilogy, that sets it apart from the rest of the world, do you think? as a kid, all i remember is seeing the soundtrack and seeing that it was performed by the london philharmonic orchestra, and feeling there was something about it, as an american, about it being made in london that gave it something extra special. not until i was lucky enough to work here on force awakens did i get to see what that meant firsthand. the craftsmanship that goes into it, whether it's the carpenters, the painters, the set building, but also the crew. i don't mean to demean any of the work that the amazing crews in the states do, but i was just blown away by the level of quality here, and i could not be more grateful. when you were looking at the writing aspect of this movie, which of course you did as well,

along with other people, how challenging was that? when you came back with the force awakens, you're bringing it back. you've got another two films after that, and you could go in all sorts of directions. you wouldn't have to worry about how it. now it comes back together at the end, this one, you have to tie up all the bits from the previous two movies, as well as the rest of the saga from the previous six movies. well, now that you say that, i want to just go throw up. no, well, it was an incredible amount of work to figure out ways to put this stuff together in a way that felt effortless. for some it will and for others i know that that was the goal. to have it feel inevitable, figure out which pieces of those nine stories feel like they must be present in this final chapter, and which are less critical. but it was really... hurry up, man! that sounds like boyega. i think that'sjohn boyega. he's currently telling

us to hurry up. hurry up! mr boyega, your time will come. we're just wrapping up on the news channel. mr boyega, jj abrams, thank you so much for talking to us at the premiere of star wars: the rise of skywalker. they seem to be having a good time. are you having a good time? you're maxing out my boy, my man. this has been a huge movie, years in the making, he need some rest. you're selling it well, you're selling it well. thank you so much, guys. thank you so much. from here in the european premiere, back over to you. a premiere, back over to you. reminder of our top st trump a reminder of our top story: donald trump has become the third president in history to be impeached by the house of representatives for abuse of powers and obstructing congress. his own party, the republicans, controlled the senate, and they are not expected to vote in favour of removing him from office. the

republican leader in the house, kevin mccarthy, said democrats will be punished at the polls for what they are doing. there is much more for you any time on all the news on the bbc news website. thank you for watching. hello there. after a windy and at times rather wet night, thursday promises to be a blustery and at times rather wet day. some outbreaks of rain at times, but not all the time. it's going to be windy, but with that, it is going to be mild. low pressure in charge at the moment out here to the west. various clumps of wet weather spiralling around the low. it's quite a complex weather chart, but the winds are coming up from the south, so the air is turning increasingly mild. as we start off the day, we'll have temperatures around nine, ten or 11 degrees. but there will be some outbreaks of rain left behind from the overnight, particularly across parts of england and wales. this first area of rain should clear away north—eastwards. then it's a mixture of sunshine

and showers, before more heavy rain pushes in towards the south—west of england, wales and the south midlands as we get into the middle of the afternoon. so at 3:00pm, this is how we're expecting things to look. some late—day sunshine for many parts of scotland. nine degrees in aberdeen, ten in glasgow. that'll feel mild. it's going to stay quite blustery, but not as windy as it has been. for northern ireland, one or two showers as well. similar story for northern england, but some fine weather, some spells of sunshine. however, for the southern half of wales, the south of the midlands, towards the london area, we'll have these heavy and persistent outbreaks of rain, and to the south of that, some heavy, possibly thundery, blustery showers. but mild still, 12 degrees there in plymouth. but across the south of england, the south of wales and the midlands, that afternoon rain will be falling on very wet ground. so there is the potential for some localised flooding and some poor travelling conditions as well. now, as we go through thursday night, this rain band drives its way northwards. behind it, some blustery showers, and then another batch of rain

developing, across central and eastern parts of england particularly, as we get into friday morning. feeling a little bit fresher by this stage. we'll have lost that very mild southerly wind. in fact, the air starting to come in from more of a westerly direction, so not quite as mild as we go through friday. we will see some outbreaks of rain, particularly across the eastern half of england. elsewhere, it's essentially a day of sunny spells and showers, but i think there will be a fair amount of dry weather, particularly the further west you are. temperatures, though, a little bit lower, generally between 7—11 degrees. now, as we head into the weekend, low pressure still in charge of the scene, but notice there are some fairly big gaps between the areas of wet weather, so there will be some dry conditions at least at times. this area of rain might affect southern parts during saturday night, but generally speaking, it is a mixture of sunny spells and showers. top temperatures of 7—11 degrees.

by all this is bbc news, the headlines:

lawmakers in the us house of representatives have voted to impeach president trump on two charges. he's only the third president in history to be impeached. he'll now be put on trial in the senate — which is dominated by his republican supporters. he's expected to be acquitted. president trump has been addressing a campaign rally in the state of michigan. he said to supporters cheering him that the democrats were trying to nullify his election win. he repeated that he had done nothing wrong. the crowd chanted back : "four more years, four more years". the australian state of new south wales has declared a seven—day state of emergency — as bushfires burn out of control around sydney. firefighters facing 100 active blazes in the area are being challenged by soaring temperatures and unpredictable winds. temperatures are expected to reach forty four degrees celsius. -- 44. now on bbc news, hardtalk.

stephen sackur talks to conservative mp and former