welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump's impeachment trial moves a step closer as nancy pelosi signs key documents. the senate will now conduct his trial. ican be i can be very clear that this president will be held accountable, that no—one is above the law. a thaw in relations as the us and china sign an initial deal aimed at easing their 18—month trade war. russia's government resigns en masse after president putin unveils plans that could prolong his stay in power. and wildfires, flooding and drought: the last decade is confirmed as the hottest on record.

the un warns there's more to come. hello to you. in washington, dc, the stage is set for the senate trial of donald trump, only the third american president to face impeachment. the speaker of the house of representatives, which is controlled by the opposition democrats, has signed the articles of impeachment and they've now been sent to the senate, which is dominated by mr trump's party, the republicans. he is accused of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. the trial will start on tuesday. ben wright reports. the trial of president trump has been triggered. a month after the house of representatives voted to impeach donald trump on charges of abusing power and obstruct in

congress, last night the democratic speaker of the house nancy pelosi signed the impeachment articles, a momentous moment that required many pens. the papers were then ceremoniously carried across the capital building to the senate by lawmakers who will prosecute the case against president trump. this is where the saga moves next for only the third impeachment trial in us history. so sad, so tragic for oui’ us history. so sad, so tragic for our country that the actions taken by the president to undermine our national security, to violate his oath of office and to jeopardise the security of our elections, the integrity of our elections, has taken us to this place. so today we will make history. congress has already held hearings into donald trump osman efforts to pressure ukraine into investigating his political opponents. democrats now wa nt political opponents. democrats now want new witnesses and documents to

feature in the senate trial, but it is not clear yet that will happen in the impeachment process is totally divided down party lines. this is a political impeachment, this has nothing to do with the fact we have shown there was nothing done wrong, but that does not matter when the train is on the tracks, the whistle is blowing, impeachment matters and the only thing that matters, the only real emergency here is that there is a 2020 election in which there is a 2020 election in which the democrats can't stand to see the fa ct the democrats can't stand to see the fact that this president is going to win again. thank you very much. president trump won't testify himself and is contemptuous of the impeachment process. there are hopes going on over there, let's take care of it. he also knows he has the backing of the republican—controlled senate. the senate trial will begin next week and it is likely to widen further the political chasm that already exist in the united states. republicans say this whole process isa sham republicans say this whole process is a sham that shows that democrats are out of touch with ordinary

voters. democrats hope this trial will prove donald trump unfitness for office even if as most expect the senate moves to acquit him and chuck these impeachment charges out. let's speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes. peter, how would you characterise all this? it is a historic moment. the third president to face an impeachment trial, clearly, therefore this doesn't happen every day. and i think what we have seen over the last few hours, a short ceremony nancy pelosi signed those articles of impeachment really does underline the seriousness, the grave nature of the task that is facing the senate. there is a lot of uncertainty, clearly, with the weeks to come, a lot of political drama to come and a lot of decisions are still to be made and they would just have reference to the indecision still about whether there be will witnesses or indeed documents, new documents of which there have been many. in the last 2a hours, whether they will be allowed during the

trial. the democrats want them, the republicans are more reluctant. later, it is dramatic, but it it is also political theatre in a sense the outcome is already written. the president's own party and the senate are not going to vote to remove him from office. that seems pretty clear. i think some democrats are holding on to the possibility that there will be witnesses, john bolton may appear, the former national security adviser. he has tweeted that he has stuff to say and that he would be willing to appear as a witness, that perhaps the will say something so dramatic. he was very close to the president during the crucial time of those talks with ukraine over that aid withheld. there might be some bombshell piece of information that so persuades enough republicans that might change the whole thing, that they would actually vote with the democrats to impeach the president. it seems unlikely, but maybe one or two other democrats are hoping it will happen.

very briefly, we have any more sense how this is plain with the voters, most crucially the pope —— like people who will be voting next year at the presidential elections? people who will be voting next year at the presidential election57m people who will be voting next year at the presidential elections? it is interesting. i am in at the presidential elections? it is interesting. iam in la, and at the presidential elections? it is interesting. i am in la, and token to people —— talking to people about this impeachment process, a lot of people including democrats will say it isa people including democrats will say it is a waste of time, they actually wish the democrats would focus more on the election to come, and they say it is a waste of time because they think a foregone conclusion. peter, thank you very much. we shall see. major stock indexes in the united states have closed at a record high after the signing of a partial trade deal between america and china. the battle over tariffs has rattled markets, dampened growth and hurt workers and businesses in both countries. at a ceremony in the white house, president trump described the agreement as a ‘momentous step.‘ our global trade correspondent dharshini david has this assessment.

from american farmers producing soybeans or pork, to car manufacturers and chinese factory workers making our electronic gadgets, these are the people and businesses bearing the brunt of the trade war. it's their goods on which extra charges, or tariffs, have been imposed and those costs have added over $800 to the average american family's annual bills and, according to one estimate, cost up to 300,000 us jobs. with the pain mounting for those the trade dispute was meant to help, president trump has agreed a truce. today we take a momentous step, one that has never been taken before with china, towards a future of fair and reciprocal trade as we sign phase one of the historic trade deal between the united states and china. the relief may be mutual. the chinese people have seen their incomes grow

at the slowest rate in three decades in the face of the war triggered by president trump to protect american jobs and companies from what he viewed as unfair competition. but is this a victory or a climb—down from the us president, and is the relationship between the superpowers being significantly overhauled? well, china has promised to buy another $200 billion worth of us agricultural goods and industrial goods worth some $75 billion. but will it actually keep to those promises? in return, the us is halving its tariffs or import taxes on $120 billion worth of chinese goods, but it will continue to levy 25% tariffs on products worth another $250 billion. meanwhile, president trump's biggest and thorniest complaint, that china unfairly subsidises its industries, has not been resolved and it is unlikely to be any time soon.

let's speak to our asia business correspondent karishma vaswani. the 18 month struggle between the two biggest economies in the world. is it over? no, i don't think it is over. i think they have pressed pause on the current tariff escalation, as that report was saying. that is a welcome relief for businesses, not just saying. that is a welcome relief for businesses, notjust based in the us and china, but also out here in asia. many countries manufacture their products and have been doing that in mainland china for decades because it has been cheaper and you can pretty much make everything there that you need. because of the trade war and the tariffs that had been put on chinese goods, they have had to shift a lot of their manufacture ring out of china. that is very expensive because they are effectively operating to businesses, so effectively operating to businesses, so they have held back on investments and creating newjobs. all of that has had a dampening effect on economic growth in the region. for now, this pause, the

pressing of the pause button if you will, the trade truce is a positive for companies in asia and economic growth in the region, but certainly thatis growth in the region, but certainly that is not the end of it. president trump describes this partial deal as a momentous step, but china is not giving as much as he suggests, has it? well, in the short term, i think it? well, in the short term, i think it would be fair to say that president trump in the phase one deal has certainly achieved a great deal. it has got commitments from china in it to buy more agricultural purchases from the us, remember that is what president trump always said that he wanted china to do, buy more from the us. it also addresses things like intellectual property theft and tech transfer. but what it doesn't do, and this is china's long—term ambition, to become the tech leader in some of the key emerging technologies in the future, things like artificial intelligence, sg, doesn't, this deal doesn't get

to the bottom of subsidies from chinese, from the chinese government to chinese companies. that is the jewel in the crown, that is not going to let —— china is not going to let private and without future commitment to rolling back paris from the us. thank you very much. -- rolling back tariffs. let's get some of the day's other news. supporters of the government in venezuela have attacked a convoy of opposition politicians outside parliament, preventing them holding a session there. opposition leaderjuan guaido moved the meeting to an arts centre on the outskirts of the capital, caracas. he accused president maduro of acting like a dictator by using paramilitary groups to take control of parliament. the mexican government has announced it won't grant transit visas or free passage for around 600 central american migrants who've departed in a caravan from honduras. they hope to travel north through mexico and apply for asylum at the us border. the interior ministry says government officials will check the status of each person and offer them asylum or the possibility of remaining in mexico legally. jay—z has sued prison officials

in mississippi on behalf of 29 inmates whose lives he says are at risk. the lawsuit claims the men's lives are in danger because of understaffing and neglect inside mississippi's prisons. five inmates have been killed in prison violence in the state in the past two weeks. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: 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 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 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. welcome back. good to have you with us. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: key impeachment documents have been signed and sent to the us senate which will put president trump on trial for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. china and the united states sign a partial deal aimed at easing their trade war which has

dampened global economic growth. russia's entire government has resigned, hours after president putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes. there's much speculation he's looking for a new role to help him hold onto power. if approved by the public, his proposals would transfer some power from the presidency to parliament and boost the role of the state council, which mr putin chairs. gareth barlow reports. vladimir putin is surprised almost eve ryo ne vladimir putin is surprised almost everyone when he announced his proposal of forms to the russell constitution, a transfer of power from presidency to parliament, limiting further presidents to take turns, giving the lower house more power to appoint key figures and increasing the status of the state council, which he controls. translation: he can't help but agree with those who say the constitution

was adopted over a quarter of a century ago, during a serious domestic political crisis. the state of affairs has changed drastically. president putin didn't just of affairs has changed drastically. president putin didn'tjust propose new powers. he replaced key people. the prime minister and former president is out. a little—known technocrat is in. in one of his final act, the pm said the government would resign to aid the changes. translation: week, the government of the russian federation, should provide the president with the opportunity to make the necessary changes. i believe it would be right in accordance with the constitution that the government resigns. ministers were said to have been taken by ministers were said to have been ta ken by complete ministers were said to have been taken by complete surprise by the reforms and resignations. president putin, who must down in 2024, said the changes should be voted on in a referendum. translation: considering the proposals and changes to the

political system, i think it is necessary to put the entire package of proposed changes to the russian constitution to a public vote. but what to ordinary russians make of the president's proposals? translation: iview it positively. perhaps things will change for the better. we think should be for the better. we think should be for the better in our country. people are quite tired of suffering. it is quite tired of suffering. it is quite sad. it seems that nothing is going to change. these people have left, but they will be replaced by similar ones. exactly how the president's plans will play out are not clear. what is apparent is that vladimir putin knows his time leading the country will come to an end, but that he is working to ensure he will retain influence and power for years to come. molly montgomery is a fellow at brookings institution, and shejoins us now from washington. i know you are a veteran of the

foreign service of the united states, serving in the white house just recently advising the vice president what do you make of this? suddenly today's events in moscow we re suddenly today's events in moscow were dramatic. it's not entirely unexpected herd ever since putin won his final six—year term in the presidency in 2018, there has been increasing speculation over whether and how he might seek to retain the power once that term and is in 2024. so today we got a of that as he announced those proposed constitutional changes which would significantly reduce the power wielded by a successor and provide several other power centres, namely the state council from which he might be able to wield power post presidency. so you are pretty clear are you that he is seeking to retain power and will be able to with these changes? i think that is certainly the most likely scenario. he has made sure with these changes that

whoever succeeds him will not be able to wield the kind of consolidated power that he has and he certainly has left himself space to occupy other seeds from which he could do that. he is also appointed a relatively unknown technocrat is the new prime minister. again, assuring that there really will be no viable successor when those presidential elections come down in 2020 for. so there wouldn't be anyone i have or prime minister who could threaten mr putin and the state council becomes a politburo like the chinese central committee? that is certainly the speculation. i was appointed, notjust to the chinese model for the soviet model but also to because i can let stepped down recently to head up the national security council to become leaderfor national security council to become leader for life national security council to become

leaderfor life in that national security council to become leader for life in that country in as extant. there are several similar models to look forward to in that example. putin has strong support in the country but there are problems out there. what do you make of the public‘s this. for the referendum be worth the paper people are making their mark on? well, whether it is worth the paper or not, i think you are likely to see significant russian support. this will be viewed as a move towards stability, heading off what could have been quite a destabilising succession process and so destabilising succession process and so providing clarity at this early date was not i think putin certainly hopes to ensure that they're not the kinds of protest that we saw in 2011 and 2012 when he announced fairly last—minute that he would run for president. and so i think the idea is to provide a smooth path to whatever comes next. molly montgomery, thank you so much. the past decade was officially the warmest on record.

figures released on wednesday paint a grim picture of rising global temperatures and the impact of human activity on the planet. the data was compiled by british and american scientists, including the met office and nasa, some of it going back to 1850. it also reveals that 2019 was the second warmest year in recorded history. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has the 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. climate awareness is now higher than ever before, but scientists say it's action that's needed, 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. trouble is brewing in sri lanka's tea industry. the country is one of the world's biggest exporters of tea. it's ceylon tea brought

in nearly $1.5 billion in revenue last year. but smaller factories are closing down because prices are falling as production costs rise. anbarasan ethirajan reports from central sri lanka. a lush green landscape in central sri lanka. the world—famous ceylon tea has been grown on these hills for more than a century and a half. women workers carefully pick the best two leaves under bud. they need to gather at least 20kg of tea leaves to earn their full wages — less than $5 a day. the workers here are gathering all the tea leaves they've plucked since the morning. they've 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 24 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 the smallholder sector and private sector vendors are shutting down. that is directly related to the price of the tea we see at auctions. the 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: if i fall sick, then i 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. just briefly, a reminder of the main use again in washington, dc where the stage is set for this in a trial of donald trump only the third american president to face impeachment. the formal impeachment charges against the president have been assigned by the senior democrat nancy pelosi at a ceremony on capitol hill. the decision means a trial is likely to start next tuesday. mr trump is likely to be —— isn't likely to be removed from office as his republican party have a majority in the senate and are very unlikely to vote against him.

and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbc mike embley. thank you for watching. hello there. we saw a brief window of fine weather for wednesday. many of us stay dry with some sunshine. but it's all change. the next area of low pressure moving in for thursday, bringing another spell of wet and windy weather to our shores. you can see here showing up on the pressure chart, moving up from the south—west, the isobars closer together across the board, but particularly across western areas. so it'll be a wet start from the word go across northern ireland, scotland, some snow on the hills, and then the rain will pile into many southern and western areas through the day, largely working their way eastward so we should stay dry in the east until after dark.

gale force winds for many, 40—50 mph gusts, in excess of 60 mph across the south—west, so very blustery. fairly mild in the south, still single figure values across the north. that low pressure moves northwards, taking the wet and windy weather with it during thursday night. into friday we've got fewer isobars on the charts, and a couple of weather fronts which will tend to enhance shower activity in band form. so we'll see a few showers clustered together across parts of scotland, northern ireland, some wintriness over the hills, a couple of showers as well into england and wales, which will tend to move from west to east. but some good spells of sunshine in between. you will notice the temperatures, though, with all the air mass changing, single figure values for most, just about 10 degrees across the south—east. so into the weekend it will be colder but with high pressure establishing itself it should turn a bit drier, with good spells of sunshine, but at night it will be cold, we return to some overnight frost. you can see this area of high pressure clearly establishing itself across the uk during saturday and it's with us as well into sunday

and into the start of next week too. mind you, we still have low pressure close to the north of the uk, so still windy across scotland. further heavy showers across here, maybe hail, some snow in the hills, maybe just one or two showers, moving through the cheshire gap, for example, but they should tend to ease down into the afternoon, with increasing amounts of sunshine for many. but it will be a colder day, with temperatures in single figure values for most of us. and it's going to a cold night, saturday night, you can see the blue hue developing right across the board, a widespread frost with a risk of some fog or even freezing fog patches, perhaps a little bit of ice where we've had the showers through the day. so sunday starts off cold and frosty, but it looks like we should tend to lose those strong winds from the north of the country. for many of us here winds will be light. where fog holds on it will be cold, but for many of us we should see the sunshine, a very pleasant day in store. something a little bit milderjust getting into the north—west corner of the country, but for most of us we're in around the mid single digits.

this is bbc news. the headlines: formal impeachment charges against president trump have been signed by senior democrat nancy pelosi at a ceremony on capitol hill. the decision means a trial is likely to start next week. mr trump is unlikely to be removed from office as his republican party have a majority in the senate. major financial markets in the us have closed at record highs after the signing of a partial trade deal between america and china. the us called off some planned tariffs on chinese goods, while beijing agreed to increase purchases of us exports. climate scientists have confirmed that the past decade was the hottest on record. nasa and the uk met office say last year was the second warmest since 1850. they blame rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and warn of more extreme weather events to come.