i'm mike embley. our top stories: britain, france and germany trigger a formal dispute process over iran's violations of the international nuclear deal. we believe it makes sense to save this nuclear dealfor the we believe it makes sense to save this nuclear deal for the future because it prevents iran from getting a nuclear bomb. the impeachment charges against president trump will be sent to the senate on wednesday. a trial could start within days. after her resounding election victory, taiwan's president tsai ing—wen tells the bbc china needs to face reality. a very strong message from the people of taiwan. that is, they don't like the idea of being threatened all the time. the royal couple are welcome in canada, but the details of prince harry and meghan‘s new lives are proving tricky.

hello to you. european nations have put iran on notice over its breaches of the 2016 nuclear agreement. that deal was supposed to discourage iran from building nuclear weapons. the trump administration unilaterally withdrew the us from the deal. france, germany and the uk have been trying to maintain it, but officials in tehran have been lifting limits on enriched uranium production, saying it's a reasonable response to us sanctions and rising tensions. european nations disagree, and now an official dispute mechanism has been triggered. gareth barlow reports. preventing iran from obtaining nuclear weapons has been a long—term goal of europe and the us, but the landmark agreement that bound tehran

to strip limits is now in full dispute. france, germany and the uk reject iran's argument it can withdraw production limits on uranium used in nuclear powerplant production limits on uranium used in nuclear powerpla nt and production limits on uranium used in nuclear powerplant and also weapons after america walked away from the deal. the aim of the dispute resolution mechanism is not to reimpose sanctions. the aim of this mechanism is to resolve issues relating to the implementation of the agreement. the beleaguered 2015 nuclear agreement was designed to curb iran's ability to build nuclear weapons. in 2018, president donald trump pulled out of the deal, calling it flawed and reimpose sanctions. last year tehran said it would comply with all its commitments and recently has gone further following increased attention with the us. the three european governments say these breaches have left them with no choice but to trigger the dispute

process is a first step towards reinstating international sanctions. translation: we call on iran to constructively participate in these negotiations, the goal of which will be to safeguard the nuclear deal. we believe it makes sense to safeguard this nuclear dealfor the believe it makes sense to safeguard this nuclear deal for the future because it prevents around from getting a nuclear bomb. the iranian foreign minister, mohammad javad zarif, decried the dispute as a strategic mistake but iran's foreign ministry spokesman said iran was ready to maintain international agreements. all sides have 15 days to resolve the issues raised. if they fail, the eu countries can refer the matter to the eu security council which can vote to reimpose any sanctions on iran. gareth barlow, bbc news. the leader of the republican majority in the us senate, mitch mcconnell, has said the impeachment trial of president trump is likely to begin there next tuesday. democrats accuse the president of abusing his power and obstructing congress.

with regard to impeachment, our understanding is and i think your understanding is and i think your understanding is and i think your understanding is as well that the house is likely to send the articles over to us tomorrow, and we believe if that happens in all likelihood we will go through some preliminary steps here this week which could well include the chiefjustice coming over and swearing in members of the senate and some other kind of housekeeping measures. we hope to be able to achieve that by consent, which would set us up to begin the actual trial next tuesday. mitch mcconnell there. one of the most contentious issues not yet resolved is whether to have witnesses in the senate trial. democrats want to hear from current and former white house officials, such as former national security adviserjohn bolton. wejoin the we join the american people in wanting the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth to come out of

the trial. if you want the truth, you have to have witnesses. you have to have documents. who has ever heard of a trial without witnesses and documents? i'm pleased to some of my republican colleagues are now beginning to come around to our position. 0ur correspondent, peter bowes, joins us from los angeles. we have a likely start date but still uncertainty about the shape of the trial, whether there will be witnesses and also it seems the possibility of new evidence? that's what the democrats want, that's what they've wanted all along and that's really why there was this three—week delay over the christmas and new year period while seemingly there were some behind—the—scenes discussions between the democrats and republicans, democrats still have no guarantee they can bring any new evidence, any new documents or indeed hear from any witnesses during the trial. however, the republicans, who will be in charge

of the senate trial, say after the opening statements they will be a vote on whether to continue the process with witnesses, witnesses presumably from both sides. most significantly the democrats really wa nt to significantly the democrats really want to hear that new evidence or see the documents they say contains new evidence like just in the last 24 new evidence like just in the last 2a hours, documents that suggest an associate of rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, was involved in talks to set up a meeting with resident zelensky of ukraine and rudy giuliani, documents that also perhaps shed new light on an attempt to ostracise the then us ambassador to ukraine. there is a lot of detail there. why is it important? what the democrats want to do if they can bring this evidence is essentiallyjoin the dots to president donald trump and show that he was involved in an attempt to get a favour from the president of ukraine to investigate his likely political rival, joe

biden. peter, just to remind people, against this backdrop of impeachment, the people who want to fight mrtrumpfor impeachment, the people who want to fight mr trump for the white house in the election next yearjust beginning a debate in iowa right 110w. beginning a debate in iowa right now. the democrat party's top six candidates, their seventh debate, the last until iowa holds its caucus early in february. what is expected in this debate and for the campaign for democrat candidates if they asked senators called away to a senate trial? we can expect from this debate... we've had several now, there will be an even more intense debate between the leading contenders. elizabeth warren and bernie sanders, for example, have been involved in a spat recently about whether bernie sanders actually said once that he didn't believe a woman could win the presidency. that's the kind of issue that's likely to come up. is also very interesting with this senate trial pending now, likely to start

on tuesday, that those senators like bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, who are vying for the job of taking on president donald trump for their party at the next election, they will have to be at the senate trial. they will be there in the first couple of weeks not even allowed to say anything, just to watch the proceedings. they won't be out in places like iowa campaigning like the other contestants will be, like may appear moody gauge, orjoe biden, they will be free to campaign while the senators must be in the senate for the trial. it is tricky for them because they want to be on the streets meeting people but they have duties in the senate. we will keep an eye on that debate, which hasn't quite got under way yet, but thank you very much indeed, peter. let's get some of the day's other news. 17 children and nine adults have been treated for breathing problems and skin irritation after a commercial airliner apparently dumped fuel near aschool just before

an emergency landing at los angeles airport. the delta airlines flight to shanghai had just taken off when an engine problem forced its return. government forces in the sudanese capital, khartoum, have overrun the intelligence headquarters where security personnel loyal to the former president, 0mar al bashir, were based. the mutineers had negotiated a surrender, and soldiers have now moved into the northern suburb of kafouri. there are still tanks and armoured vehicles on the streets, and the international airport is closed. fire services in catalonia in north—east spain are saying a huge blaze, the result of an explosion at a chemical plant, has now been contained. the blast, near the port city of tarragona, killed one person and injured eight others. some have severe burns. one person is still missing. authorities say no toxic substances have been found. 40,000 people have now been moved from their homes near the taal volcano in the philippines, which authorities say could erupt at any moment. taal, one of the world's smallest active volcanoes, is in the middle of a lake about 45 miles south of the capital,

manila. it's been producing a cloud of ash and fountains of lava. harsh weather including avalanches and floods has killed more than 130 people across pakistan and afghanistan in recent days. schools have shut and many villages have been left isolated. worst affected has been pakistani kashmir with 62 people killed and 10 others missing. more than 50 bodies have been recovered. 0livia crellin has the latest. buried in snow, villagers struggle to free a man completely submerged after an avalanche hit a kashmiri villagejust after an avalanche hit a kashmiri village just north of islamabad, killing dozens and destroying more than 50 homes. extreme winter weather in recent days has killed more than 130 people across pakistan, afghanistan and indian—administered kashmir. many

more are injured or remain missing. pakistan's prime minister, imran khan, tweeted: referring to the part of kashmir controlled by pakistan. military helicopters exchange rescue victims for supplies in the hope of providing relief to those cut off by conditions as more heavy snow is forecast. but there has been criticism from some about the government response to the weather. truck drivers travelling along key supply routes across the country were stranded. translation: i'm coming from taftan and i'm heading for punjab. it is snowing here and the roads are closed because the vehicles skid. i asked the government to bring heavy machines that will clear the snow in between half—an—hour to an hour. they have brought small tractors here that will not clear the snow

for three days. pakistan's national disaster management agency also declared a state of emergency in the balochistan robbins in the south. it has struck schools and brought trade with the afghan neighbours to a halt. while such harsh weather is common and seasonal for this region, the area's embattled status and poverty means the heavy snow comes with a heavy toll. 0livia crellin, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why wildfires such as those in australia could become common in other parts of the world by the end of the century if global temperatures continue to rise. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attack since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry and one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe

were simply demolished, as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of the long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: iran has condemned france, britain and germany for triggering a formal dispute process over tehran‘s violations of its international nuclear deal. the impeachment charges

against president trump will be sent to the senate on wednesday. a trial could start within days. china needs to face reality and respect the will of the taiwanese people according to taiwan's newly re—elected president, tsai ing—wen. speaking exclusively to the bbc, president tsai said the threat from china, which claims the self—governing island as part of its territory, is intensifying, but she warned that any military action could prove costly to china. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth spoke to the president in taiwan's capital, taipei. hello, president tsai. hi. it was her warnings about china that hit home with voters. but now, she had something to say direct to beijing. this is a very strong message from the people of taiwan. that is, you know, they don't like the idea of being threatened all the time. we're a successful democracy. we have a pretty decent economy. you know, we deserve respect from china.

her critics say she is reckless, that she risks provoking china. but her promise to stand up for taiwan saw her re—elected by a landslide in saturday's vote. china has been intensifying its threat. and they have all sorts of actions, military exercises, and they have their military vessels, aircraft, cruising around the island. and also, with the things happening in hong kong, people get a real sense that this threat is real. your predecessor, ma ying—jeou, was able to preserve taiwanese democracy whilst building stronger ties with china. what's not to like about that approach? the situation has changed, so we're facing a very different situation now.

taiwan is also changing. the first place in asia to legalise gay marriage, it is, she says, growing ever more distinct from china. we are an independent country already, and we call ourselves republic of china, taiwan. and we do have government, we have the military and we have elections. few statements are likely to infuriate china more. with pressure bound to increase, taiwan's military is being beefed up. you cannot exclude the possibility of a war at any time. do you believe you would be able to stand up to a military action? i do think we have a pretty decent capability here. invading taiwan is something that is going to be very costly for china.

she says she plans to further strengthen taiwan's democracy. the very thing that divides it from its authoritarian neighbour may in the end prove its most powerful defence. john sudworth, bbc news, taiwan. taiwan's newly re—elected president, tsai ing—wen taking to the bbc‘s john sudworth. cindy sui, our taiwan correspondent, joins me now from taipei. tsai joins me now from taipei. ing—wen, a big election majority, tsai ing—wen, a big election majority, she is bound to be pretty bullish. work, do you think, to antagonise a big powerful authoritarian neighbour like this? her critics would definitely say no, it is not wise. potentially very dangerous. they believe that she is actually manipulating public opinion by not presenting the reality which is that beijing actually has never asked her to accept a one country two system formula. it simply asked

her to accept the 1992 consensus was that anyone china concert. the predators i was able to use that concept to define that when china is simply the republic of china which is taiwan's official name. she refuses to do that because her party ultimately wants to create a new country cold simply taiwan with no links to china. her critics say this is very dangerous and she is pursuing her party's own agenda when the majority of people here want the status quo and only less than 30% wa nt status quo and only less than 30% want formal independence. you would have to see how she plays this out but right now, it is looking like a very dangerous game because after all, china spends more than ten times as much as taiwan on military and it has want thousand missiles targeted at taiwan to warn it against declaring formal independence. it could be very potentially dangerous for taiwan, not only economically but in terms of stability and peace. thank you very much for that cindy.

the wildfires in australia could become common in other parts of the world by the end of the century if global temperatures continue to rise. that's according to british scientists who say the average temperature on earth is on course to rise by three degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels by the end of the 21st century. 0ur science editor david shukman has more details. day after day, fire crews brave the front lines in a crisis that's still escalating. many of the blazes are out of control and beyond anyone's experience. it's the worst i've seen in 21 years. this is honestly the worst i've seen, the most i've actually been out. it makes it very hard, especially when you've got family and commitments and all the rest of it. in victoria, a ghostly scene — cars burnt and grey with ash. fires are a natural feature of australia, but record heat has made them more severe than usual.

something that was predicted as temperatures have been rising with climate change. this graph shows how the average temperature in december in australia has risen over the past century. 2018 set one new record and then last year set another that was far higher. and you'd expect this kind of heat in a world that's nearly three degrees warmer than the pre—industrial level. climate scientists knew this was going to happen at some point, whether it was now or ten years from now. we were going to get this perfect storm, and it was going to be pretty horrible. we dodged a bullet a couple of years ago when we had a hot summer then. but it was eventually going to transpire. and this seems to be part of a pattern. a new study of wildfires around the world, from the amazon rainforest to california, says human activity is raising temperatures and adding to the threat, including in europe and many other regions. this was spain last year. the aim of the study was to assess what we know about the risk of wildfires.

the scientists found that the total area burnt has actually reduced over recent decades, mainly because dense natural vegetation has been cleared to make way for farmland. but they also say that the length of the fire season, when conditions are right for fire to take hold, has increased by 20% globally. and they warn that if the average temperature rises by three degrees celsius, which at the moment looks likely, the area burned will increase in size. the scientists involved in the research say the key now is to cut emissions of the gases that are heating the planet. in terms of the urgency, it's getting worse all the time. so the sooner we can rain in emissions, the sooner we can slow the increase in warming and increased climate change impacts. back in australia, as human activity is linked to the fires, it's wildlife that's suffering most.

this emergency food is for animals that survived the onslaught. millions of others are thought to have died. the challenge now is to make sure there are systems in place to cope with fires on this scale in future. david shukman, bbc news. is still causing destruction was strong when sitting part of the uk. a large section of a roof was blown offa a large section of a roof was blown off a block of flats but nobody was hurt. canada's prime minister is ready to welcome prince harry and his wife meghan to the commonwealth country, butjustin trudeau does want to know who will pay for the couple's security. on monday, the queen signed off on a period of transition for the royals, but questions remain over how that will work. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. a new direction has been agreed. less than 20 months since their wedding, the duke and duchess of sussex, harry and meghan, have been given

the go—ahead by the queen to seek a new life, and they're making plans to move out and to base themselves in part in canada. harry has visited the country on a number of occasions. his invictus games was staged in toronto in 2017, and meghan lived there for seven years as an actress. there will be questions about their tax and immigration status, but canada's prime minister appeared to be offering a cautious welcome. i think most canadians are very supportive of having, you know, royals be here. but how that looks and what kind of costs are involved, there's still lots of discussions to have. here in britain, the prime minister declined to offer a public view on the sussexes‘ move. i'm absolutely confident that they are going to sort this out. and do you know what? i think they're probably going to be able to sort it out all the easier without any particular commentary from me. meghan believes she has been badly treated by the british media. she is suing the mail on sunday over its publication of a letter

she wrote to her estranged father. in its court submission, published today, the paper says... to which meghan might respond, from now on, i will not perform royal duties, and it is our intention not to receive public money. but royal duties are what the royal family does. prince william was at buckingham palace today, bestowing honours. it's a staple of royal life, the life to which the queen has devoted herself, but from which harry now wishes to break free. it is a parting over which the royal family feels great nicholas witchell, bbc news. and would you ‘bung a bob for the big ben bongs'? the british government has suggested a crowdfunding campaign could be

launched to raise money for big ben to chime on brexit day. the bell is currently being restored and it would cost half a million to bring the bongs back on january the 31st. this is the moment a french daredevil flew through a mountain in china known as heaven's gate wearing a jetpack. the crowds watched as the frenchmenjumped a jetpack. the crowds watched as the frenchmen jumped out of a helicopter before flying through the stone structure wearing powered wings made of carbon fibre. they can reach speeds of 400 converts per hour and is steered by the pilot moving the body. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbc mike embley.

hello there. tuesday was another very windy day across the board, particularly england and wales, which saw another area of low pressure move up from the south. early on wednesday it looks like the strongest of the winds, heaviest of the rain, becoming confined to the south—east corner of the country. elsewhere, clearer skies to start wednesday, but it will be another blustery one, very windy for scotland, with further heavy showers here, some snow on the hills. so wednesday looks like being a bright day for many. lots of sunshine around, but there will be plenty of showers, particularly across scotland, close to this area of low pressure. and you can see the isobars closer together here, so it will be another windy day for scotland. less so for england and wales, but we'll have this weather front, which will continue to bring some rain through the morning across east anglia and the south—east. so a bit of a wet start here,

but then that should clear away into the afternoon. it should brighten up nicely, and there should be quite a bit of sunshine around across the country. but western areas see a few showers, most of these, though, across the north—west of scotland, where some will be heavy with snow on the hills. temperatures range from seven or so in the north, 8—9 in the south, so a little bit cooler across the south than what we had on tuesday. so it is a brief window of fine weather. the next area of low pressure comes hurtling into thursday. you can see lots of isobars on the chart, but the strongest of the winds we think will tend to be further west once again, where we'll see some of the heaviest of the rain, too, here. elsewhere, a bit of early brightness, but then the clouds will tend to build in. could see a few showers across eastern areas, but generally speaking, it's going to be another windy day across the board, and i can mention the strongest of the winds perhaps around some irish sea coasts. 50 to maybe 60 mph in some of the worst affected areas, and some of that rain will be quite heavy and persistent too. the milder air returns with this wet and windy weather. 10—12 degrees for england and wales,

single—figure digits in the north. that area of low pressure sweeps northwards. we see a tangle of weather fronts move in for friday, but friday is a transitional day to something cooler, and something that's gradually going to become more settled as we head on to the weekend. so we'll start to see some sunshine for scotland and northern ireland, turning colder here. england and wales, thanks to those weather fronts, sunshine but also a scattering of showers, some of which will be quite heavy. but notice the temperatures. the single—figure values will even be across the south and the south—east too, so 5—9 degrees. that cooler air invades across the whole country, then, late on friday and into the weekend. but, with high pressure building in, it looks like conditions will settle down. so the weekend really will feel colder, but at least it'll be largely dry, thanks to high pressure, with light winds. some sunshine around, but also a return to some overnight frosts.

this is bbc news, the headlines: iran has condemned a decision by britain, france and germany to trigger

a formal dispute process over iranian violations of the international nuclear accord. the iranian foreign minister described the move as legally baseless and a strategic mistake. the europeans say they hope the agreement can still be saved. the impeachment trial of donald trump has moved a step closer. the house speaker, nancy pelosi, says a vote on sending articles of impeachment to the senate will take place on wednesday. senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, says the trial is likely to begin next tuesday. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen, has told the bbc that the island has no need to declare formal independence because it already is an independent country. ms tsai said last week's presidential election, in which she won a second term in office, showed taiwanese people did not like being threatened by china. now on bbc news, tuesday in parliament.