welcome to newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: politics and parchment: donald trump's impeachment trial moves a step closer as house speaker nancy pelosi signs the key documents. make it be very clear that this president will be held accountable that nobody is above the law. the moment impeachment articles were walked through capitol hill — hand delivered to the senate — where the president trump will be put on trial. i'm mariko oi in singapore. also in the programme: wildfires, flooding and drought: the last decade is confirmed as the world's hottest on record.

and, why trouble is brewing in sri lanka's world famous tea industry, as prices fall and costs rise. it's midnight here in london, 8 in the morning in singapore and 7 in the evening in washington where the stage is now set for the senate trial of donald trump, only the third us president ever to face impeachment. the house speaker nancy pelosi has signed the resolution finalizing the articles of impeachment. democrats are accusing mr trump of abusing his power and obstructing congress. earlier, mrs pelosi named seven democratic lawmakers who will be the impeachment managers.

she said the significance of today's events could not be underestimated. so sad and tragic for the comp —— for the country. the action taken by the president undermined our national security, to violate his use of office and to jeopardise the security of our elections, the integrity of our elections, it's taken us to us this —— it's taking secular to this place so today will make history. ——so today we will make history. ——so today we will make history. adam schiff, who is the house intelligence committee chairman and kevin mccarthy, the republican house minority leader gave their during the house debate about the impeachment articles. we have always felt the urgency about this impeachment given that the president was trying to get foreign help, and cheating in the next election but as soon as we did get help, it was made clear that

they didn't want to trial in the senate, he didn't want to hear from senates, this time is given us the ability to show the american people the necessity of a fair trial, to expose the degree to which mcconnell is working hand—in—hand with the subject of the impeachment, the president to turn what should be a trial into a sham. the reason is the same reason that has taken democrats saturday to send the article deserts. it's spite. they want to stay in the record without giving him a fairchance stay in the record without giving him a fair chance to clear his name. here's the bbc‘s laura trevelyan in washington on when the articles were handed overfrom the house of representatives to the senate. never get down to the trial of present time himself. on the third american president in history to be impeached. —— now we get down to.

the articles of impeachment been carried over from the people's the articles of impeachment been carried overfrom the people's hours to the more deliberative chamber of the senate so what has happened here is that there has to be fed managers you see there, they are carrying their charges against president trump. they are charging that the president abuses power and obstructed congress by the way he bent on ukraine to deliver an investigation into his political rivals and while that was happening he was of holding military aid and dangling the offer of a white house visit in front of president —— that you can president. soon others impeachment managers have sent those articles over to the senate, now what happens is the trial of the president on those charges can begin and the difference is that the senate is controlled by republicans. in the expectation is that the search will acquit the president but nonetheless there will be able trial which will begin in earnest on tuesday, it will last a couple of weeks and one thing that is complicating the picture is that

last night and tonight, the house investigators are releasing much more evidence which is tying the president's associates much more closely to the campaign against ukraine. whether that works against democrats in the way that the tenant will say it's a bust impeachment, you can complete the case, or whether the republicans, just a handful of them on the fence and wa nt to handful of them on the fence and want to hear more, but that makes logical witnesses, we will see as is all involved. so when is it start? the trial is due to start in earnest onjanuary the trial is due to start in earnest on january 21 after the long the trial is due to start in earnest onjanuary 21 after the long weekend but what will see is that it will see the articles being received on the floor, it will see the articles being received on the floor, you will see the chiefjustice being asked, and oversee the swearing in of the interstate centres. -- swearing in of the united states centres. the us and china have

signed a much—anticipated so—called "phase one" trade deal, aimed at reducing tensions between the two. their tit—for—tat trade war, has shaken markets, and weighed on the global economy for almost two years. under the pact, china will buy, an extra $200 billion in american goods, and strengthen intellectually property laws. michelle fleury reports. as pa rt of as part of the deal, china is expected to buy more goods and services from the united states which should reduce america's trade deficit with china. something that has been a long thorn in the side of the donald trump. it also allowed him to weigh the —— brave the economic flag and a big signing ceremony at a time when he is campaigning for re— election and their bidding process is moving forward. this is an unbelievable dealfor the united forward. this is an unbelievable deal for the united states forward. this is an unbelievable dealfor the united states and ultimately it's a great deal for both countries and it's going to lead to a more stable peace throughout the world. china is

helping us with north korea, china is helping us with lot of things i could be helping us with. so what next? he believes he will know by the spring of this phase i deal is working to track whether the phase i deal is working. contentious issue between the countries remain, areas including technology and innovation could determine the economic and military power of these two superpowers. that has been left for phase ii negotiations and until then trump's tariffs remain on two—thirds of all us imports from china. so which tariffs will be eased and by how much? our asia business correspondent karishma vaswani has more details. we know that the vast majority of ta riffs actually we know that the vast majority of tariffs actually still stay in place even after phase i. on leave aside

from goods coming into china, still two and two thirds of the goods will continue to have tariffs on them and about the same on the chinese side and in terms of an average amount of ta riffs and in terms of an average amount of tariffs they have gone up some 20% from the start of the trade for until now and that still is remaining in place. just because a trade deal has been signed, there is a suspension and escalation of tariffs. they're not going up again in the future as far as we can tell, thatis in the future as far as we can tell, that is a positive businesses around the world who have been affected by the world who have been affected by the treadwell. this remain in place. it's not just the treadwell. this remain in place. it's notjust the us and the chinese economies but also asian economies have been affected indirectly as well. many asian countries and companies have been a factor. the uncertainty and the consistent

hostility between the us and china means they haven't —— then everybody knew what to do and how to find a is unsettling because that means how do you start thinking about expanding into a new factory or creating new jobs when you don't know whether you are going to have to absorb the cost of tariffs go up in the future? for now this deal has put a sort of hold on the uncertainty from everything that the drop administration has said the chinese have said, this is a deal that has come at a visual perspective compromise, that is a language badging is using, and the short term this seems like a victory for president trump because he can say he's got a win in an election but in the long—term, the chinese didn't have to give up that much so it does seem like a big win for them. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. russia's government has resigned en masse, just hours after the the president vladimir putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes in a national address. later, his prime minister made a surprise announcement on state tv that the entire government

was resigning to help facilitate the changes. here's steve rosenberg in moscow. in most countries when the government resides, that is a sign ofa government resides, that is a sign of a political crisis. isn't it? but russia, it's not like other countries. the system of power they have constructed he is often referred to as managed democracy. where the kremlin it does all the managing. all the power is concentrated in the kremlin. but in the cupboard, not in the government. in essence it doesn't matter who the ministers are, who the prime minister is. having said that, the resignation of the previous payments to, it should mean something, shouldn't it? so it certainly feels i could as part of some kind of operation. some kind of plan which has been started by the kremlin. the aim of which ultimately is to leave

that —— dudley putin in power after 2024. -- that —— dudley putin in power after 202a. —— vladimir putin. also making news today: supporters of the government in venezuela have attacked a convoy of opposition politicians outside parliament, preventing them from holding a session there. opposition leaderjuan guaido moved the meeting elsewhere and accused president nicolas maduro of acting like a dictator. ajapanese cabinet minister has made headlines for his rare decision to take paternity leave. the environment minister, shinjiro koizumi says he intends to take two weeks off in the first three month of his child's life. japan has one of the world's most generous schemes for fathers, they can have up to a year off work. but only a fraction take advantage, because of the pressure to continue working. american rapperjay z has sued us prison officials on behalf of 29 inmates whose lives he says are at risk. the lawsuit claims the men's lives are in are in peril danger because of understaffing and neglect inside missisippi's prisons. five inmates have been killed

in violence in prisons in the state in the past two weeks. and these pictures, from thailand, show a sea turtle swimming again, thanks to her new prosthetic flipper. the turtle, named goody, had been immobile since losing her flipper several years ago in a fishing net. but now she's swimming at ease again after receiving thailand's first prosthetic flipper last week. in the past year researchers have been developing prostheses for injured sea turtles, to improve their life in captivity. now to climate change because the past decade has officially been confirmed as the warmest on record. new figures paint a stark picture of rising global temperatures and the impact that human activity

is having on the planet. the data, compiled by british and american scientists also reveal that 2019 was the second warmest year, and temperatures are set to rise further, unless action is taken. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has more details. from the heatwaves across europe that saw the uk hit an all—time high of 38.7 degrees, to greenland, which broke the record for the most ice lost in a single day, and our oceans, which are now the warmest they've been in human history, 2019 was a year of extremes. and this map shows how global temperatures have changed over time. each decade from the 1980s has been warmer than the decade before. the last ten years have now been confirmed as the hottest since records began. scientists say humans are to blame. carbon dioxide levels are at the highest that we've ever recorded in our atmosphere,

and there's a definite connection between the amount of carbon dioxide and the temperature. we are seeing the highest global temperatures in the last decade, and we'll see more of that. as that carbon dioxide continues to grow, we will see global temperatures increasing. measurements taken at observatories like this one show that our planet is heating up fast. already, the world's temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees above preindustrial levels. scientists though say we need to stop temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees to stop the worst effects of global warming but, with our current climate policies, we are heading for more than three degrees, and that would bring unprecedented changes. higher temperatures will mean more heatwaves and droughts, sea levels would rise and rain would intensify, bringing more floods like the ones that hit yorkshire last year. what we have to remember is that the climate crisis is going to affect our economy across so many different dimensions, so it's going to impact on health and already it's impacting

on health, it's going to impact on food supply and food security, it's going to impact on infrastructure, so we talk about critical infrastructure, the impact on electricity, the impact on schools and hospitals. by cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. this, though, will require huge changes, from swapping fossil fuels to renewables to drastically reducing how much we fly and rethinking the food we eat. but the extreme conditions show no signs of letting up, especially with australia's fires, which continue to burn. the met office is already forecasting that 2020 could be another record—breaking year. rebecca morelle, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme:

we look at what happens next as the way is cleared for only the third impeachment trial of an american president in history. also on the programme: sri lanka's tea growers struggle to produce theirfamous brew as prices fall while costs go up. 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 it's 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 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 her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of 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 newsday on the bbc. i'm marika oi in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: key impeachment documents have been signed and sent to the senate which will put president trump on trial for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. china and the united states have signed a partial deal aimed at easing their trade war which has dampened global economic growth. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world.

the philippine star leads on the story we have been following all week — the taal volcano eruption. it shows residents living in tagaytay city — overlooking the volcano — lining up to receive relief goods. the new york times looks at an australian shore town — still cut off by the destructive bush fires. it shows a local pub — which has become a hotspot for people in the town, where resources have become scarce. and finally the financial times leads on an interview with the german chancellor — angela merkel. she describes brexit as a wake up call and looks at europe's changing place in the world. many thanks for that review of some of the papers. let's go back to our main story. the speaker of the us house of representatives,

nancy pelosi, has signed the articles of impeachment, which have now be sent to the senate. president donald trump will be go on trial there next week. for more on this, i spoke with alayna treene, a reporter covering the white house and national politics for the website axios. there is a big push from the democrats who have really been wanting to force the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to include witnesses and more documents in the senate trial which is beginning immediately now that they've transmitted the articles over to the senate chamber. she held onto them for roughly four weeks in order to push and pressure him to include these at the outset of the trial. she did not at that commit it but she was forced to move forward a nyway she was forced to move forward anyway given the senate was looking to potentially move forward to dismiss the trial outright. given just how contentious this has been, how does this senate ensure that it

does have a fair trial of the president? that's a huge debate that is continuing now among senate republicans. a lot of democrats again are pushing for more witnesses, new document production to be included in the senate trial. a lot of senate republicans are hesitant to do so stop and they argue that the house which has been investigating the president and his actions towards the ukraine for several months now, that they should have called more witnesses and more document production if they need to document production if they need to do so and they believe that it was theirjob to do that and it's no longer theirs. but a lot of democrats argued that there is new information that has been coming to light every date was not as recently as yesterday there was a documents dump from as yesterday there was a documents dumpfrom a as yesterday there was a documents dump from a key associate of rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney. in all of this, that is the big challenge right now of being back and forth, whether to bring new witnesses to the trial, whether to allow more documents. a huge challenge but it will be forensics

given the type of people that nancy pelosi has chosen as those impeachment managers. exactly, so house speaker nancy pelosi announced seven people today, seven congressmen to lead the opening arguments and really defends the house's decision to impeach president trump. they will of course pushing for more witnesses and hoping they get that as well. we're going to see this play out over the next few weeks and whether this happens but as of now, the senate trial looks like it is going to model that former president bill clinton. his impeachment trial in the 1990s with which essentially means they will start with opening arguments from both the president's defence team as well as the seven house managers and then they will go into a 0&a. house managers and then they will go into a q&a. with senators who ask

their questions and get answers from their questions and get answers from the team. and then after that they will vote on this crucial decision on whether to include more witnesses and more documents and anything else they believe is necessary to ensure this is a fair trial. i want to take your life to the philippines because we have got a bit of movement on the taal volcano which is continued to be active this week. he continues to belt clouds of smoke as you can see and ash. this is important because nearly 115,000 people have had to leave about ten kilometre area where volcanology is a warning a devastating eruption. we are monitoring that live image from the philippines. trouble is brewing in sri lanka's world famous ceylon tea industry. the country is one of the world's biggest exporters of tea, bringing in nearly $1.5 billion in revenue last year. but farmers say smaller factories are closing down because the price of tea is falling, while production costs are rising. the industry is also facing a shortage of labour. anbarasan ethirajan reports from central sri lanka.

a lush green landscape in central sri lanka. a world—famous ceylon tea has been grown on these hills for more than a century and a half. women workers carefully picked the best to make leaves under budget. they need to gather at least 20 kg of tea leaves to earn at their full wages, less than $5 a day. the workers here are gathering all the tea leaves they've plucked since the morning. they been working for hours, wading through these tea plantations for miles to gather these tea leaves. they're being weighed now and then these tea leaves will be taken to the factory. the tender leaves are dried and processed in factories like these. from bush to cup in 2a hours. but the industry has been struggling in recent months. due to the global economic crisis and the instability in the middle east. there is less demand for tea and the payments are

also delayed. as a result, prices are falling at auctions in colombo. right now because of the very low prices, mainly dt smallholder sector and private sector as are shutting down. that is directly related to the price of the tiwi sea at auctions. surviving tea estates are facing another problem, they are losing their tea pickers. despite working in these estates for many generations, many say life hasn't improved. translation: generations, many say life hasn't improved. translatiosz generations, many say life hasn't improved. translation: if a full set, then have to stay at home. there are no ambulances here. last month, i got bitten by a snake but i survived. i'm living with my husband and three children in a small room in the estate quarters. many workers are leaving the plantations to find jobs in urban areas for better pay and conditions. in the last three decades, the workforce has dropped by two—thirds. hundreds and

thousands of people depend on the industry. for those involved in the making of ceylon tea, these are challenging times. extremely challenging times. extremely challenging times. extremely challenging times for the tea industry. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm mariko oi in singapore. stay with us. i'll be back with business news and will have more on that us—china trade deal. we hearfrom us businesses for the reaction. mariko we may be leading the way with an all female presenter team here on newsday, but it looks like the james bond franchise isn't following our example. after a lot of speculation over who the next 007 will be, and whether the character should be a woman, we can finally we can put those rumours to rest. the films' producers have confirmed the next mi6 agent will stay male. you heard it here on newsday. they should follow our example stop from

me and the whole newsday that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. we saw a brief window of fine weather for wednesday but we saw sunshine. the next area of low pressure moving in for thursday bring another spell of wet and windy weather to the shores. you can see here on the pressure charts moving up here on the pressure charts moving up from the south—west, the isobars closer to gather but particular across western areas. we will be a wet start from the word go from northern ireland some snow on the hills in scotland. the rain piling into many southern and western areas during the day gradually working east though it should stay dry in the east until after dark. l4 swims for many 40, 50 the east until after dark. l4 swims for many 40,50 mph and

the east until after dark. l4 swims for many 40, 50 mph and in the east until after dark. l4 swims for many 40,50 mph and in excess of 60 mph across the south—west. fairly mild in the south, still single figure those in the north. low pressure m oves figure those in the north. low pressure moves northward taking the wet and windy weather with it during thursday night into friday. we got fewer isobars on the charts and a couple of weather fronts which will tend to enhance shower activity in that form. we will see a few showers clustered together across parts of scotland, northern ireland and some wintering is over the hills. a couple of showers into england and wales which will tend to move from west to east. some good spells of sunshine in between. noticing the temperatures, your cbm is changing and single figure values for most with 10 degrees across the south—east. into the weekend, it will be colder but with high pressure establishing itself, should turn dry with some good spells of sunshine at night. it will be cold with them overnight frost returning. you can see the area of higher

pressure clearly establishing itself across the uk during saturdays. it is with us into sunday stop and into the start of next week as well. still have low pressure close to the north of the uk and still windy across scotland. over heavy showers and maybe some hail and snow on the hills. maybe just want to make showers moving through the cheshire gap example but they should turn to ease down during the afternoon with increasing amounts of sunshine for many but it will be a colder day with temperatures in the single figure values for most of us. it is going to be a cold night, saturday night, you can see the blue pursue developing across the board with widespread frost and risk of fog and freezing fog patches and perhaps a little bit of ice where there were showers during the day. sunday sta rts showers during the day. sunday starts of cold and frosty. it looks like we will lose those strong winds from the north of the country. for many of us, the winds will be light. where fog holds on it will be cold but we should see the sunshine. a very pleasant day in store. being a little milder getting into the north—west corner of the country but for most of us, we are in the mid single digits.

and sent them to the us senate, where president trump will go on trial. nancy pelosi said it was an important moment in her country's history, donald trump has dismissed the process as a "con job". it's only the third impeachment trial of an american president in history. the us and china have signed an initial deal aimed at easing the trade war between the world's two biggest economies. some tariffs will be reduced and china has agreed to buy more american goods. and video of a turtle in thailand is doing well on our website. this is goody who thanks to a new prosthetic flipper is happily swimming again. she had been immobile since losing her flipper several years ago in a fishing net. that's all.