welcome to bbc news. my name's mike embley. our top stories: britain, france and germany trigger a formal dispute process over iran's violations of the international nuclear deal. translation: 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.

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 strict 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 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 trump pulled out of the deal, last year tehran said it wouldn't 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 deal for the future because it prevents iran 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 now have 15 days to resolve the issues raised. if they fail, the eu countries can refer the matter to the un security council, which could 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 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. 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. 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 that some of my republican colleagues are now beginning to come around to our position. chuck schumer there for the democrats. our correspondent, peter bowes, joins us from los angeles. we joins us from los angeles. have a likely start date still we have a likely start date and still uncertainty over the shape of this trial and whether or not they will be witnesses, a crucial matter i guess, and also whether there will be new evidence. it is still far from certain whether there will be witnesses and this is why we've really had a delay for the last three weeks or so, the democrats were hoping to put pressure on the senate republicans to agree to witnesses and any new evidence, documents or digital evidence, documents or digital evidence in the form of e—mails and the democrats will argue that since

the democrats will argue that since the articles of impeachment were agreed before christmas that new evidence has emerged and there were e—mails before christmas. in the last 2a hours, documents the democrats say show an age to rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, was involved in setting up a meeting with mr giuliani and the president of ukraine. why is all this significant? the democrats will be hoping to present that kind of new evidence to prove, as they see it, that there's a paper trail or even a digital paper trail to link president donald trump to what's been happening behind—the—scenes involving people like rudy giuliani and linking president donald trump to that claim that he put pressure on ukraine to investigate his likely political rival, joe biden. on ukraine to investigate his likely political rival, joe biden. peter, just to remind people, of course, against this backdrop of impeachment, the people wanting to fight mrtrumpfor impeachment, the people wanting to fight mr trump for the white house

in the presidential election next year are beginning in the presidential election next yearare beginning a in the presidential election next year are beginning a debate in iowa right now, the democrat party's top six candidate, their seventh debate, the last until iowa has its caucus early in february. what are we hearing from the debate? we don't have any material from it yet but what do they candidates have to do and more generally in the campaign, it is going to be tricky for the candidates who are senators to have a senate trial going on? it is going to be tricky for them and of course there are several senators who are vying for the role of candidate for the democrats to go up of candidate for the democrats to go up against donald trump next year. elizabeth warren, burnie, two of the leading candidates if and when the trial in the senate takes place, they will have to be there in the chamber every single day taking part stop the in fact they won't even be allowed to speak for the early part of the trial but what they won't be doing is campaigning on the streets and in the states where there are

upcoming caucuses and primary elections over the next few weeks, thatis elections over the next few weeks, that is where they will want to meet people and appear in local media. they will be constrained by people likejoe biden they will be constrained by people like joe biden and they will be constrained by people likejoe biden and the mayor e3pete buttigieg will be allowed to campaign. it will be tough for them because they have other responsibilities —— pete buttigieg. two major vying events over the next few weeks in the us, one is the first stage of the election and the other is the trial in the senate. clearly those are senators involved won the emphasis to be on them because they want to be chosen to represent their party —— want the emphasis stop peter, thank you very much that. —— want the emphasis stop the peter, thank you very much for that. want the let's get some of

the day's other news. more than a0 people, most of them children, have been treated for breathing problems and skin irritation after a commercial airliner apparently dumped fuel near a school, 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. 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. 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. 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, according to british scientists. and there is widespread consensus among scientists that average temperatures on earth are on course to rise by three degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels. 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 rein 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: more than 130 people across pakistan and afghanistan are killed due to avalanches and floods. 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. 0ur correspondent cindy sui is in taipei. i asked her if it works to antagonise such a poweful neighbour? 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 which was that one china concept. the prior president was able to use that concept to define that one 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 called 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% 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 1,000 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. 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 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 rescued avalanche 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 which will clean the snow in about half to one hour. they have brought these small tractors here which will not clear the snow for three days. pakistan's disaster management authority also declared a state of emergency in the south—east balochistan province. there the weather has isolated communities, shut schools and brought trade with their 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. storm brendan is still causing destruction, with strong winds

hitting parts of the uk. a large section of a roof was blown off a block of flats in slough, in berkshire. it's thought nobody was injured. and would you ‘bung a bob for the big ben bongs‘? the british government has suggested a crowdfunding campaign could be launched to pay for big ben to chime to mark brexit day. the hell is currently being restored and the official estimate is it would cost half a million for temporary work to be done to allow it to ring, for people who want to celebrate brexit, on january the 31st. it seems canada's prime minister is ready to welcome prince harry and his wife meghan, butjustin trudeau does want to know who will pay for the royal couple's security. on monday, queen elizabeth signed off on a ‘period of transition‘ for the duke and duchess of sussex, but there are still questions 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 mis 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 regret, coupled with realism. nicholas witchell, bbc news. let's end on a high. this is the moment a french daredevil flew through a mountain

in hunan province known as ‘heaven‘s gate' wearing a jet pack. crowds watched as two frenchmen jumped out of a helicopter before flying through the stone structure wearing powered wings made from carbon fibre. apparently the jet packs can reach speed of 400 kilometres an hour, and are steered by the way the pilot moves their body. a reminder of our top story: 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 united states unilaterally withdrew from it under president trump. thank you for watching. 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, panorama. britain's high streets are in crisis... walking down here i can see lots of vacant shops. and there is a very big one here. we've lost more than a quarter of shops on our high streets injust over a decade. i haven't been down the high street in a couple of months. the new government has promised its help, with investment for left behind towns, but how should that money be spent? retail has only ever been a part of the functions of a town. so it's time for a re—think. i think it's vital, actually, that the high street becomes