i'm mariko oi in singapore. the headlines: a moment in history, as donald trump's impeachment trial gets under way in the senate. the president isn't impressed by any of it. it's a hoax, it's a hoax. everybody knows that. it's a complete hoax. the world has reached the point of climate change crisis — a stark warning from one of the world's most influential environmentalists. the moment of crisis has come. we can no longer prevaricate. as i speak, south—east australia is on fire. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme:

in front and behind the lens. prince harry posts his own footage of his first public engagement since stepping back from royal duties. and seeking sanctuary from the bushfires. the rescue centre caring for australia's koalas. hello. it's 9:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london and 8:00pm in washington, where donald trump's impeachment trial has formally begun with the charges being read out in the us senate and the presiding judge being sworn in. the lead prosecutor, adam schiff, said no president had ever sought to impede an impeachment investigation so thoroughly. the president, meanwhile, predicted his trial wouldn't take long and dismissed the abuse

of powers charges against him as a hoax. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has more. across the marbled floors of congress, the statues from a bygone age looking down on the team that will lead the prosecution of donald] trump. they carry under their arms the files contain the articles of impeachment. the sergeant at arms will make the proclamation. hearye, hearye, hearye. all persons are commanded to keep silent, on pain of imprisonment. the language may come from a more genteel era, but don't be gulled. this is a 21st—century partisan scrap. house resolution 755, impeaching donald john trump, president of the united states, for high crimes and misdemeanours. the trial will be presided over

by this man, john roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court. and all 100 senators, thejury, had to swear this oath. do you solemnly swear that, in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of donald john trump, president of the united states, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the constitution and laws, so help you god? ironic, given the fact it seems every senator has already made up his or her mind, and will vote along strict party lines. but donald trump isn't impressed by any of it. well, i think it should go very quickly. it's a hoax, it's a hoax. everybody knows that. it's a complete hoax. but last night, an 11th—hour bombshell interview from a man who had been at the forefront of efforts to strongarm the ukrainian leader to launch a corruption investigation into the former vice presidentjoe biden, the central issue of this impeachment. lev parnas, who had been working

alongside the president's personal lawyer, accused donald trump of being a liar. president trump knew exactly what was going on. he was aware of all of my movements. he — i wouldn't do anything without the consent of rudy giuliani or the president. donald trump says he scarcely knows who lev parnas is, and the white house adds that this is a man facing criminal charges and isn't to be believed. but that's a slightly awkward defence. he was certainly trusted enough to meet president zelensky on donald trump's behalf, and his lawyer, to communicate what it was that the white house wanted. the trial proper will start next tuesday, and the fight that is about to ensue will be historic. but, in keeping with the times, it will also be ugly. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. for more on how significant this is, here is our north america correspondent peter bowes. it is a very significant moment, only the third time in history that

a president has faced an impeachment trial. and when you look at the events of just the last few hours, with the chiefjustice, john roberts, being sworn in to run the trial, with the senators themselves, all 100 of them, being sworn in as the jurors, you really get a sense of the grave task ahead for the senate. and it is a very serious task, because the consequences if, and it's a very big if, as you say, but if the president were to be found guilty, he would be thrown out of office and would be replaced by mike pence, the vice president. it is very unlikely to happen, but what is certain is that we're guaranteed, over the next few weeks, a lot of political high drama. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: foreign ministers from countries whose citizens died on the airliner shot down by iran have demanded that tehran accepts full responsibility and provides compensation for victims‘ families. ministers from canada, ukraine, afghanistan, sweden and the uk held a candlelit

vigil before the meeting to remember the 176 victims. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale has this assessment. well, we asked that of the minister afterwards. we said, what evidence have you got that iran is going to comply with these demands for transparency, access, you know, easy dignity for the bodies being repatriated, and things like that? and essentially he said, look, iran has taken a path, stepped down a path, by admitting responsibility for the downing of this aircraft. he said it should carry on down that path. the problem he and the other foreign ministers today have got is that iran at the moment is in a degree of spasm still in response to this tragedy. various different organs of state within iran are looking very nervously at each other,

and they're trying to work out who's going to get the blame for this. there are a lot of people saying a lot of things. and this process of trying to help the families and the loved ones of those who died, and carry out an investigation, is taking place in a very, very acute crisis. also making news today: the united nations says around 350,000 syrians, mostly women and children, have fled a renewed russian—backed offensive in the opposition—held idlib province since early december. on wednesday, at least 18 civilians were reported to have died in air strikes that hit a market and an industrial zone. the us senate has approved a new trade deal with canada and mexico, sending it to president trump to be signed into law. the deal replaces the long—established north american free trade agreement, or nafta, which mr trump had promised in his election campaign to repeal. a global study has found that sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, is the cause of one in five deaths worldwide. that is more than double the number previously thought. it estimates that in 2017, 11 million people died from the infection, making sepsis

a bigger killer than cancer. a spanish billionaire has been sentenced to 18 months injail and fined $58 million for trying to smuggle a picasso painting out of spain to sell at auction. the painting, called head of a young woman, was deemed a national artistic treasure by spain, meaning it was banned from leaving the country. sir david attenborough says a moment of crisis has arrived for the world over climate change, and action is needed. in some of his strongest comments yet, sir david says we've been putting matters off for too long. his warning comes as the bbc begins a year of special coverage on the subject of climate change ahead of the un's international conference in glasgow at the end of the year. here is our science editor david shukman.

a stunning view of our fragile planet, the blaze of lights evidence of the many impacts we're having on the globe. whole forests in madagascar cut down to create farmland. in germany, huge mines gouging out coal for power stations. cities sprawling into natural habitats. and all this on a scale so large, it's even changing the climate, and the world now faces crucial decisions. the moment of crisis has come. sir david attenborough tells me time is running out. as i speak, south—east australia is on fire. why? because the temperatures of the earth have been increasing. that is a major international catastrophe, and to say, oh, it's nothing to do with the climate is palpably nonsense. and who has been affecting the climate? we have. we know that perfectly well.

the biggest cause of rising temperatures is really well known. burning fuels like coal gives off gases that heat the planet, and more of this keeps happening. and we're all involved in this. nearly every home in the uk is heated by a gas boiler, and they also give off carbon dioxide. the result, in a warming world, is that the level of the oceans keeps rising, which means that flooding is set to become more frequent. and life in many countries, including parts of britain, may change as well, from scenes that we're all familiar with to much more extreme heatwaves, and potentially much drier landscapes like this — the mediterranean section of the eden project here in cornwall. so a glimpse of what may be in store for some areas. the climate is already looking different.

and it's striking how, over the last 170 years, how the average global temperature has changed. relatively cool early on, then getting warmer, and warmer, until the present day. for elizabeth thompson and anyone younger than 35, temperatures have been rising for their entire lives. from when she was born, in 1989, every single month as she has grown up has been warmer than the long—term average. she hopes the rise will stop, but fears more severe heatwaves if it doesn't. if we're seeing more heatwaves and more extreme events like this, and they're becoming more frequent, then i'm quite worried that when i'm older then we wouldn't have the capacity to deal with those, especially if they're even worse than what we've previously experienced. but i am very optimistic still, because we're seeing a lot of action now, on notjust an individual level. you're seeing it on the local, national and global. one reason she is optimistic is the surge of climate protests

by young people, and sir david attenborough is inspired by them as well. there has been a huge change in public opinion. people can see the problem, particularly young people can see the problem, and that must force governments to take action. flashes of lightning in a warming world. it is a key year for negotiations on the future of the climate, and many hope it will be a turning point. david shukman, bbc news. nerilie abram is a climate scientist at canberra's australian national university, and explains the risks facing the asia—pacific region. so what we're seeing now is that climate change is really here with us. so we're seeing that in australia these fires, which scientists have been predicting for more than 30 years that, as the climate warmed, that we would see the fires in australia becoming more intense, the fire season becoming longer, and having these types of fires that are just very difficult to fight and to put out once they stop. so that's what we're seeing playing out in australia. but of course, climate change has

a whole range of impacts across the world, and there are parts of the asia region in particular that are likely to be very hard—hit by some of the other aspects of climate change, including sea level rise. yes, sea level rise is interesting, threatening lots of people and lots of areas in the region. how do you assess the performance of the governments of countries in the region? how well are they doing in trying to tackle this? well, i think what we're seeing in terms of how governments are responding is that this is a really difficult problem. if we'd taken action 20 or 30 years ago, when the problem was first identified and scientists first started saying that we needed to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we'd be in a much better place than what we are now. but where we are now is that we still have greenhouse gas emissions rising globally, year on year, and we need to really turn that around. the impacts that we're seeing now

are the type of impacts that we're getting with just over one degree of global warming, and with the current pledges from governments around the world, in line with the paris agreement, we're on track for three degrees or more of warming by the end of the century. so we can expect these impacts to keep getting worse, and to be getting worse at a much faster rate. and briefly, very briefly i'm afraid, but how optimistic are you that we can turn things around? we certainly — we have the technology to be able to do it. what we need is that global cooperation, and that's where we need countries of the world to come together and recognise the urgency that this problem needs, and to take that really ambitious action, and to up their pledges and their ambitions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: back to work for prince harry after the big split announcement. could it be his first and last royal family engagement?

also on the programme: australia's bushfire crisis. we are out on patrol with one team trying to contain the flames in new south wales. 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko 0i in singapore. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. our top stories: president trump has been formally impeached in the us senate. he's described the allegations against him as a hoax the world has now reached the point of climate change crisis — that's the stark warning from the world famous environmentalist sir david attenborough. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times is leading on a jobs boom here in singapore. it says a jump in investment is expected to result in thousands more jobs being created

over the next few years. the philippines star is focusing on the polio outbreak there. 16 cases have been reported across the country, with the disease now making it to metropolitan manila for the first time. and public health concerns are also on the front page of the japan times. of the japan times. the coronavirus has been reported injapan for the first time. it can cause pneumonia. a chinese national brought it back with him after visiting china, where 41 people have been infected. you are up—to—date with the papers. now, lewis, what stories are sparking discussions online? well, mariko, previously unseen footage of david bowie recovered from a university archive has been released and is proving popular on our website.

the 30 minutes of experimental film was shot by friend and collaborator professor martin richardson to create a hologram. the finished product was used as part of the artwork on the album hours, but the film remained in storage for the last 20 years at de montfort university here in the uk. david bowie was one of the most influential musicians of his era and died injanuary, 2016. prince harry has appeared at his first royal engagement since he and his wife meghan announced that they'd be stepping back from their roles as senior royals. the prince was at buckingham palace to host the draw for next year's rugby league world cup. 0ur royal correspondent nick witchell has more. was this harry's way of saying farewell? there he is on the sussex royal instagram account tonight. the music, the stone roses

and a song which includes the lyrics "i'd like to leave the country for a month of sundays." he was at buckingham palace. in the palace gardens, he'd been in his element — talking to young people about sport, rugby to be precise, and those who were with harry said he was relaxed, authentic and engaged. but you didn't need to be told that, you could see it in his face and his actions. reporter: harry, how are talks going about the future? reporters tried to ask questions about his future. unsurprisingly they were ignored. the occasion was the draw for the 2021 rugby league world cup to be staged in england. harry was being harry. wonderful! well done. the old harry as someone said. he was there as patron of the rugby league, that is one of those things that the royals do, and something harry has done is highlight mental illness in sport — it's a cause which matters to him. the perception of rugby league is that you need to be tough, you can't show your feelings

and you have to grin and bear it. but something like the mental fitness charter will help us make real progress in getting rid of the stigma associated with mental illness. by this time next week harry will probably be several thousand miles away, beginning a somewhat semi—detached royal life with his wife. there will be fewer occasions like this, his easy charm will be missed. ..and i've seen some beards in my time! nicholas witchell, bbc news. we go to australia now and the bushfires there. hundreds of fires are still burning, predominantly across south—eastern australia. all the authorities can do is try to contain the blazes and prevent them from spreading further. there are at least two months of bushfire season to go. clive myrie joined one fire crew in new south wales. the fires eating this land have burnt from the mountains to the sea.

in between, eucalyptus, bottlebrush and pine. it's hard, but save the forest and you save australia. man is having a terrible time trying to stop what mother nature is doing to us. but this is definitely the worst fire season that i've seen and most of my colleagues will have ever seen. you see how the wind really influences what the fire's doing. zeb is charged with protecting 2.5 million acres of forest in the state of new south wales. several villages and towns are just a few miles away, right in the path of oncoming flames. it wouldn't be that active if it wasn't so windy. zeb‘s team has already cleared some scrub, taking away fuel for the fire, but wisps of smoke are creeping through like water under a door. how long before the main firefront appears?

it's been a long bushfire season for zeb and his crew. it's 4:36pm in the afternoon and we can't see anything. days bizarre when smoke has blocked out the light of the sun, and frightening days when people died. but time's running out to stop the latest blaze spreading. more of the forest needs to be cleared to create a big enough firebreak. it's a real shame to have to do this, but these fires this season are not behaving normally. and if we don't start putting these breaks in to stop it, more fires are just going to burn. and nearby, backburning. zeb‘s team deliberately ignites part of the forest, destroying fuel for the oncoming monster. well, this fire was lit, what, just a couple of minutes ago and you can see how it has taken hold, blown by these really strong winds.

and these are the conditions that the authorities have been having to deal with during this appalling bushfire season. night and day, fires are being deliberately lit by emergency crews. this, the neighbouring state of victoria. but are the latest attempts to hold back the firefront working? so that's about the last of it, is it, mate, yeah? it's all lit up now. good job. doesn't take much, does it? well done. that's got that contained anyway. zeb and his team have won this battle, but is australia winning the war? well, we're having a go and we're steering them and at times we can have small wins. we bite off small pieces. so we're not winning, but we're not losing either. clive myrie, bbc news, in south—east australia. after bushfires have devastated more than 11 million hectares of land, the australian government has pledged nearly $35 million to an emergency wildlife

recovery programme. the habitat of several native species has either been destroyed or badly damaged and among the worst affected is the koala. 0ne wildlife group helping to care for the animals is adelaide koala rescue, who've had to spread out into the gym of a local primary school, because of the number of koalas in need. their habitat in certain places like the adelaide hills has been decimated. there have been entire koala colonies that have been lost. we have a lot of koalas here who have managed to survive that got through their burns treatment, and they have no home to go to. these are wild animals, though, so how difficult is it for them to adapt to their new life and be surrounded by people? koalas are actually fairly adaptable. a lot of the koala is coming in from the fireground

were in a really bad way. so they were on pain relief, they were not feeling very good at all. so, to be honest, despite being wild animals, being given secure, safe conditions, even a pillow, a blanket pain relief, that's about all they wanted when they came in. top marks to the volunteers helping out the koalas there. great effort. you have been watching newsday. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. and i'm mariko 0i in singapore. don't go away. they will be back with business news —— i will be back. can microsoft become carbon negative in ten years? we'll hear from the company's president about their ambitious plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with a story from the philippines, where ash erupting from taal volcano is taking a toll on notjust the people living near it, but their pets too. 0ne local has taken on the task of rescuing dogs and cats left behind by their owners when

the volcano started belching ash. he's taken in more than 35 animals, including farm livestock, at his makeshift shelter in his home. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there. after all the rough weather, the wet and windy weather we've had to contend with this week, you may be pleased to hear that things are about to calm down. but it's not all plain sailing just yet. this is the earlier satellite picture — this stripe of cloud has been bringing outbreaks of rain. there are shower clouds and following on behind and this hook of the cloud is the centre of an area of low pressure bringing a swathe of very strong winds still across the far north and west of scotland through the first part of friday. starting the day generally between 2—9 degrees. through the day, a couple of clutches of showers to contain with, one moving across the midlands, wales and southern england and some heavy with hail and thunder mixing in and this band of showers drifting across scotland and northern ireland will contain snow over high ground in scotland, say, above 300m, more showers in the far north and staying windy

in northern scotland. colder from the north—west with temperatures 7—11 degrees. as we go through friday night we will lose most of the showers from the south—east and we see more showers pushing in across scotland and these will be wintry to slightly lower levels at this stage. it stays windy in northern scotland but for many, the thing you will notice on saturday morning is a colder feel. widely around freezing and some spots will be below. an overnight frost will be a feature of the weekend but we will also see a lot of dry weather and a lot of bright weather. much calmer weather because the areas of low pressure that has been dominant through the week get muscled out of the way by this big, strong, powerful area of high pressure that is going to build its way in on top of us and really suppress all of the shower activity for the most part. so there is going to be a lot of dry weather around. i think still some showers blowing in across scotland on saturday, some of which will be wintry. still windy in the north of scotland as well,

but generally speaking, with those sunny skies overhead, after the cold, frosty start, temperatures will struggle a little but when you get lighter winds and you get more sunshine, not feeling too bad. saturday night will be a cold one, a widespread frost on sunday morning and even the towns and cities will be at freezing or a touch below and some spots in the countryside could be at —3 or “11 degrees. again, after the cold start, we're looking at lots of dry weather and spells of sunshine. showers across scotland will have gone by this stage but in the far north—west, we could see extra cloud and the odd splash of rain moving into shetland. those afternoon temperatures again, between 7—9, but not too bad where you get some sunshine. as we head through sunday night into monday, it will be chilly for many and there's the greater risk of fog.

i'm lewis vughan jones with bbc world news. our top story: the impeachment of president trump

has formally got underway in the us senate, with democrats setting out nine pages of allegations against him. president trump is accused of high crimes and misdemeanors, including trying to get ukraine to meddle in this year's presidential elections. he's described the claims as a hoax. the world has reached the point of climate change crisis, sir david attenborough has told the bbc. he added that it's palpable nonsense for politicians to suggest the australian fires are nothing to do with global warming. and this story is trending on bbc.com. a billionaire art collector has been jailed for 18 months for trying to smuggle a picasso out of spain. the painting, called head of a young woman, was deemed a national treasure, meaning it could not be taken out of the country that's all. stay with bbc world news. there's more on those stories on our website,