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: 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 powerplants 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, calling it flawed, and reimposed sanctions. 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, 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. mr trump's own party has majority the senate. our correspondent peter bowes joins us from los angeles. we have uncertainty as to whether they will be witnesses. the democrats are strong on this new evidence because they say they believe that that should be part of the trial and they want to see witnesses as well. as for the

evidence, they say, even during this delay of three weeks, that new evidence has emerged, there were e—mails that came outjust before christmas and just in the past 24—hour, democrats —— documents at the democrats show our key evidence, they say it shows the top prosecutor in ukraine offered some damaging information about joe in ukraine offered some damaging information aboutjoe biden, the president's likely or possible candidate, opponent, at the next election. damaging information about joe biden which was offered to an associate of rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer who had been involved in talks for some time in ukraine. it is kind of a convoluted story but goes to the heart of the matter, the allegation from democrats that this was going on. they believe that president should be held to account for this, the apparent request for a favour investigate joe the apparent request for a favour investigatejoe biden the apparent request for a favour investigate joe biden ahead the apparent request for a favour investigatejoe biden ahead of the next election. we should save because that pet —— president trump

flatly denies he had done anything wrong. and it may well be that the republicans will call their own chosen individuals that could bejoe biden and that perhaps is something, especially as he is campaigning along with other democrats to become the candidate for the democrats, thatis the candidate for the democrats, that is probably something that he doesn't want. just to remind people, against this backdrop, the people that want to fight mr trump for the white house in the presidential election next year are debating in iowa. the last before iowa holds its caucus earlier in february. —— later in february for that what is coming out of that debate? it is fascinating because they have come across the full gamut of issues, as you would affect. healthcare, employment, iran, clap —— trade,

climate change, have all been on the agenda. also a spat between two of the leading candidates, elizabeth warren and bernie sanders, over the question over whether bernie sanders didn't believe a woman could win the presidency. it was put to him and he flatly denied he ever said that and in fact he strongly believes that a woman could win a us presidential election. in fact, woman could win a us presidential election. infact, gave woman could win a us presidential election. in fact, gave the example of hillary clinton who rashly got more votes than donald trump. the system in america meant that donald trump actually won the election. —— actually got more votes. the senators who are standing, potentially to be chosen as a candidate, they want to keep on debating, whereas, actually, they could be sitting in a senate trial as thejudge could be sitting in a senate trial as the judge and jury of the —— over the next few weeks. thank you very much, peter. 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, but the international airport has now reopened. 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.

to the philippines now — taal volcano continues to spew ash with plumes of steam reaching almost a kilometre into the sky. volcanologists say the alert level remains at 4 which means a dangerous eruption could happen within hours or days. more than 50,000 people have evacuated the area — but despite the warnings some have returned to their homes today, to check on the livestock they left behind. howard johnson sent this report from tagaytay, cavite. they have declared a state of calamity here and it is clear to see why. but despite the continued threat of a hazardous eruption, some people are returning to their family homes. these two people own a small plot of land in the centre of the volcano. they raise chickens for a living and plant vegetables at their lands —— their lives turned upside down after taal volcano.

translation: we could smell something awful, ash began falling with small stones and soil. evacuated because some people said they would be a tsunami. we became scared. nowell said he wanted to return to his house today to check on his livestock but he found that many of his birds were in a sorry state. they are assuring me a fighting kok is as —— sport here in the philippines and the bird is covered in dirt and ash. he said a lot of the birds were left ear and other chickens were in a bad state. i saw one in the back that looks like it has a broken wing. the philippine department of agriculture says that the ash has caused more than $10 million worth of damage to livestock and crops. he is showing

us livestock and crops. he is showing us his vegetable patch where he grows squash but he says the condition of these plants now are so bad that he can't harvest them and that he can't take them to market for sale. today's monitors say that although the eruptions in the main crater have been weaker in the last 24 crater have been weaker in the last 2a hours, residents evacuating from the 14 2a hours, residents evacuating from the 1a kilometre danger zone should not be lulled into a false sense of security and return to their homes. howard johnson, bbc news, tagaytay. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we meet the 91—year—old who has no plans to retire from teaching. 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 world 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 realityand 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. our correspondentjohn sudworth spoke to the president in taiwan's capital, taipei. how do you expect beijing to react to your victory? they should have serious thoughts about the people's expectation as expressed by the election result. and 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. you spoke after the result about your hope that there could be a return to dialogue. what can you offer beijing that might, in your view, open that door a little? i think it's for the chinese to have this preparedness to face the reality. that is the key. if they are not prepared to face reality, whatever we offer won't be satisfying to them. why do you think china was such an issue for voters? because over the last three — more than three years, we've seen that 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, and it's getting more and more serious. without an expression of good faith on your side, and this is what your critics say, that you in a way are inviting china to react in a way that it is. i have been rather reasonable in terms of managing our relationship with china and we have been refrained from doing things that may me be considered as provocative to china. despite that, there's so much

pressure here that we should go further, but in the last more than three years, we have been telling china that maintaining status quo remains to be our policy. and i think that is a very friendly gesture to china. are you, in principle at least, in favour of the idea of a formal taiwanese independence? we don't have a need to declare ourself an independent state. we are an independent country already. and we call ourselves republic of china, taiwan, and we do have government, and we have the military, and we have elections. you've spoken about the rising threat from china. how serious in your view is the risk of war today? you cannot exclude the possibility of a war at any time.

but the thing is, you have to get yourself prepared and develop the ability to defend yourself. but in addition to this military preparedness, i mean, what is more important is that you have to get international support for your cause. 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. taiwan's newly re—elected president, tsai ing—wen, taking to the bbc‘s john sudworth. 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 ten others missing. more than 50 bodies have been recovered. olivia 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 am 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 isoltaed 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 that the heavy snow comes with a heavy toll. olivia crellin, bbc news.

storm brendan is still causing disruption. a large section of roof was blown off a block of flats. despite the way it looks, it seems nobody was hurt. 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. our 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 were staged in toronto in 2017, and meghan lived there for seven years as an actress. there will be questions about their tax and immigration