welcome to bbc news, my name's mike embley. our top stories: the impeachment trial of donald trump begins, with republicans and democrats arguing over how the hearing will proceed. a trial with no evidence is not a trial at all. it's a cover—up. health officials in china say the death toll from a new strain of pneumonia has risen to nine. after months of devastating bushfires in australia, we report on the signs of hope emerging at long last. does a spot of meditation in the office help boost staff morale? we visit the company where mindfulness is part of the working day.

hello to you. republicans, who are in the majority in the us senate, have now rejected three attempts by democrats to obtain documents in president trump's impeachment trial. it's an early sign of the partisan divide that seems very likely to see mr trump acquitted. democrats see the refusal to allow new evidence as a cover up. the latest live in a moment, but first here's our north america editor, jon sopel. hearye, hearye, hearye, all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment. 1868, 1999 and now 2020, for only the third time in american history, the serjeant—at—arms tells senators on pain of imprisonment that they must maintain silence and decorum in the trial of a sitting president, the 45th — donald] trump. the senate will convene as a court of impeachment... presiding over it the chiefjustice

of the supreme court, john roberts. but for all the veneer of this being a judicial process, it is really raw politics. the first person to be called was pat cipollone, the senior white house counsel acting as the defence. we believe that once you hear those initial presentations, the only conclusion will be that the president has done absolutely nothing wrong, and that these articles of impeachment do not begin to approach the standard required. the central argument is whether witnesses should be allowed. the republicans want the trial to be done and dusted in a little over a week, with no—one called to give evidence. the chief prosecutor is adam schiff, the democratic chair of the house intelligence committee. he says that would be a travesty. if the defendant's not allowed to introduce evidence of his innocence, it's not a fair trial. so too for the prosecution.

if the house cannot call witnesses or introduce documents in evidence, it's not a fair trial. it's it not really a trial at all. trump may be in his mounting eerie with the global elite, but he's keeping an eagle eye on what's happening in washington. it's a hoax, it goes nowhere because nothing happened. the only thing we've done is a greatjob. we have the strongest country in the world by far, it was going in the wrong direction. we have the greatest economy we've ever had in the history of our country. the trial will go on for at least a week with each side will be given three days to present their case, then there'll be questioning. all of this will be conducted with the strictest rules of behaviour. but on the cable news networks, it's playing out 21w, and here it's mixed martial arts with seemingly no rules. this fight for public opinion is just as important as donald trump eyes re—election later on this year. jon sopel, bbc news, washington.

let's keep an eye for you on that feed from the senate as the proceedings go on, and the wrangling goes on. north america correspondent chris buckler is in washington. he's been following proceedings. there have been some developments despite the wrangling? wrangling is the right word, democrats and republicans are finding it hard to agree the rules for the impeachment trial. democrats want to introduce as much evidence and information and documents as they can but republicans want it over with as quickly as possible. we've had amendment after amendment put forward by the democrats in which they've been demanding the right to order the white house, the state department and other parts of the administration to hand over documents. the right to issue subpoenas. but republicans have voted down those amendments in vote after vote. in fact, voted down those amendments in vote aftervote. infact, in voted down those amendments in vote after vote. in fact, in each of the votes it's been strictly along party lines. 53 republicans are voting

down those 47 democrats who vote as pa rt down those 47 democrats who vote as part of that caucus to try to ensure this trial goes ahead as quickly as possible. that's going to frustrate the democrats and actually we're getting signs the republicans are also becoming frustrated because they say each of these votes is ending in the same way and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is really asking whether it can continue like this. for the moment it is and we have another vote, this time on whether or not they can demand documents from the department of defence. and, chris, the democrats are saying without witnesses, without these extra documents, it's not a fair trial and perhaps not a trial at all but the evidence already out in the open from the hearings in the house of representatives is pretty clear. why does this clash over evidence and witnesses matter really? actually, if you've been watching this so far, the proceedings that have taken place, although this is technically about the rules that will govern this impeachment trial,

actually both sides have been setting out their case very strongly. republicans arguing through president trump's own lawyer that ultimately he did nothing wrong, he did not abuse the position of his office. at the same time democrats saying if you take a look of the details, they believe it is clear he tried to use his position to force ukraine into launching investigations into his political opponents, with his mind very firmly set on the 2020 election, which is just a matter of ten months or so away. what's important for the democrats is they believe there's people that haven't given evidence up people that haven't given evidence up to this point, documents that haven't been put into the public domain that could be very valuable. there are people like mick mulvaney, the white house chief of staff, who they believe has information that hasn't been made public that they have not heard. another, former national security adviserjohn bolton, who clashed with president trump and ultimately left the administration. they believe hearing

from those people could be very important to their case. remember, they're not just they're notjust talking to the 100 senators who will act as the jury in this impeachment trial, they're also talking to the american public who, of course, are going to vote in a presidential election in a matter of ten months. what are the hopes from the democrats? that there might be defections from the republicans that could change the expected result in the senate? there seem to be republicans who aren't great fans of mrtrump, not republicans who aren't great fans of mr trump, not that happy with what he did, but they want to keep their jobs and they seem to be more worried about a primary challenge from the right, republicans are the true the right than them, than of an election threat from the democrats? yeah, and what you're seeing from the republicans at the moment is they are managing to hold the group together. mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, the senior republican in the senate, he is holding the group together but he's given some concessions to those perhaps some would argue more

moderate or centrist republicans who have concerns about the way this is all being conducted. for example, it was originally planned that the defence and prosecution would be given 2a hours over two days to put forward their arguments. that is pretty quick and there were some republicans who felt that could intentionally be seen as them not taking this seriously, and whether 01’ taking this seriously, and whether or not people could concentrate on doing this over two days. they will 110w doing this over two days. they will now have 2a hours over a three—day period, which means this trial will last longer and frankly, that's not something president donald trump once 01’ something president donald trump once or necessarily a lot of republicans want. they want this to be gotten rid of as quickly as possible and that's because they know the outcome already. the republican majority inside the senate means it's highly unlikely he will be removed from office. chris, many thanks indeed for that. this is a very politicised process but there is a supreme justice in

there so what about the law with all of this? carl tobias is professor of law at the university of richmond in virginia. here's his asssessment of the proceedings. it does seem that the republicans are holding to their 53—47 majority, and there have been no defections so far on the procedures. and as you properly say, the process that you use, the rules that are established, may dictate what the substance may be. it's very partisan, very politicised, and both sides are holding fast to their respective positions so far. and, of course, there have been many complaints from the white house and from republicans in congress about the lack of representation but this hearing could have heard from officials close to president donald trump, defending him most likely, but the white house blocked them from appearing. the democrats very strongly argued that the very idea that they needed

to hear from the people around the president who are so close to him and do have relevan information, but there has, as you suggest, be nothing but a rejection from the white house on that front. democrats pressed that point all day today. poltically all that this may matter to the voters in this year's election, does it have any significance constitutionally and legally? well, it's very different to what you would see in a federal court in the united states. the procedures are very well established and they seem much fairer than this process, which seems like a very partisan one. that's unfortunate because everyone has taken an oath to do justice and to be fair in this situation though everyone's minds are made up. so we'll see what happens.

everything seems a little backwards. the democrats have argued evidence should come first and they can't get access to the evidence that they would like to introduce. professor carl tobias from the university richmond in virginia. let's get some of the day's other news. the new lebanese prime minister, hassan diab, has named his cabinet, saying it will strive to meet the demands of protesters who've held four months of demonstrations. his finance minister said lebanon is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, and called for foreign support. formation of a government had been delayed while allies of its powerful shia supporters, hezbollah, wrangled over positions. the government of burkina faso is saying 36 people have died in an attack in the province of sanmatenga. it's not clear who's responsible, but burkina faso has suffered a growing number of islamist attacks. earlier parliament voted to create a civilian volunteer force to fight militant groups. the former head of the brazilian mining company, vale, is facing homicide charges, along with 15 other people,

over the collapse of an iron ore dam a year ago. 270 people died when the dam burst near the brazilian town of brumadinho prosecutors also want to bring charges of environmental damage against vale and a german company responsible for inspecting the dam. the first case of the newly—detected coronavirus has been confirmed in the united states — an american resident who travelled from china to seattle. he's reported to be a man in his 30s. health authorities in china say nine people have died. it spread from the central city of wuhan. at a news conference the vice minister of the health commission said 440 cases are confirmed and the virus has spread tojapan, confirmed and the virus has spread to japan, thailand confirmed and the virus has spread tojapan, thailand and confirmed and the virus has spread to japan, thailand and seattle in washington state. the un's world health organization is to hold an emergency meeting on wednesday. 0ur health correspondent tulip mazumdar is following the story.

a city on high alert. wuhan, where this mysterious virus first emerged, is bracing itself. several hospitals in the city are already dealing with hundreds of cases. more than a dozen health workers have been infected. this virus which can cause severe lung problems appears to be spread through close contact with infected people. there are particular concerns ahead of a lunar new year as millions get ready to travel for the holidays. china says the situation is under control but many more cases are expected. the outbreak has already hit several areas of china, including the capital, beijing, and shanghai. a handful of cases have also been identified in other countries in the region. two in thailand, one injapan and one in south korea. now the us has also confirmed a case, a travellerfrom china who became sick in seattle. the last time a new coronavirus emerged was when it come from camels to humans in saudi arabia back in 2012. more than 800 people have

died of what's called middle east respiratory syndrome since then. that virus doesn't spread very easily between people. this new coronavirus has been linked to a seafood market in china. based on current information, an animal source seems the most likely primary source of this outbreak, with limited human to human transmission occurring between close contacts. the world health organization has only declared a global health emergency five times before, including for ebola and swine flu. today health experts will meet to decide whether this outbreak poses a serious enough international threat to call one again. they will be looking at what measures might the necessary in order to better deal with the outbreak. they will assess the outbreak based on three conditions — is it unusual? is it spreading internationally? does it risk causing interruption

of travel and trade? screening is already under way at airports around the world. there's also been an urgent call to scientists to start developing a new vaccine. it's unclear how this outbreak is going to unfold, but health authorities are trying to be as prepared as possible. tulip mazumdar, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: why news, still to come: mindfulness matters when it comes why mindfulness matters when it comes to boosting mental—health in the workplace. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first. america first.

demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set up on by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him ‘the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot. a tide of humanity that is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the trial of president trump has begun in the us senate — with a big row over whether either side will be able to call witnesses. health officials in china say the death toll from a new strain of pneumonia has risen to nine.

there are 440 confirmed cases. the former prime minister of australia malcolm turnbull has accused the current conservative government of climate change denial as the nation comes to grip with its worst bushfire season in history. mr turnbull was ousted as prime minister for attempting to introduce a climate change policy. there has been a war against science. this is the bizarre thing about this is that as the evidence for global warming and its effect on our climate has mounted, the political denialism has increased. i do not know why scott morrison has acted the way he has acted. to be very frank, i worked with him very closely, i've known him for 20 years. i can't explain his conduct. i can't explain why he didn't meet the former fire commissioners who wanted to see him

in march last year to talk about the gravity of this. everybody knew we were in a very dry time and as a consequence, the fire season was likely to be very bad. how many more coral reefs have to be bleached? how many more million hectares of forest have to be burnt? how many more lives and homes have to be lost before the climate change deniers acknowledge that they are wrong? the former australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull. 29 people have been killed by the fires since september, thousands of homes and millions of hectares of woodland destroyed. but as our correspondent nick beake found out, there is fresh hope rising from the ashes. in this silent bleakess, it's hard to find comfort. but look closer. new hope.

new colour. new beginnings. these brutal fires may have scorched so much of the bush in this vast country, but already there is life once more. a month ago, this is what confronted jez and deb. they watched as the flames raced across their land. so, the fire came over the top of this ridge, and then jumped over the gully and roared up this side. much of the thick vegetation was incinerated, but now... even after all the fire, you can see that after a bit of moisture and a bit of rain this angophora has started to shoot. what do you make of that? that's pretty incredible, to be honest with you. jez and deb have been looking for signs of recovery. this is a place that's been stripped bare, but not destroyed. these trees actually need the fire to regenerate. the seed pods here open

with the heat, so it's a good thing that the fire goes through for this banksia tree. you have to look for the best anyway, so yes, we'll use this as a restart, and try and create a place better for the wildlife and all vegetation and such. we are seeing signs of new life, all across fire scorched australia. flickers of hope, after these darkest of months, and it's a much needed tonic for the thousands of people who are now trying to rebuild their own lives. he does like to get out of his bag and stretch his legs a bit. and for some native animals who survived the fire, including jake, a gentle reintroduction to their transformed habitat. he's not a wallaby, and he's not a kangaroo. he's a wallaroo. there may be strength in adversity here, but no—one wants to be rebuilding time and time again. i hope that in the future this is a little bit of a wake up call. it's never too late to change

the way that we do agriculture and do coal mining and that sort of thing in australia. so yes, you can see new life here, but with other fires still burning it's a new urgency that's needed to protect the future of this land. nick beake, bbc news, new south wales. britain is looking at putting sanctions on some chinese officials. a british foreign office minister made the announcement to parliament in answer to questions about the incarceration of a million uighurs in detention centres in china's xinjiang province. with more, here's david campanale. international concern has been growing over china's high security detention centres in xinjiang province. last november, data leak confirmed fears that hundreds of thousands of muslims are being

mistreated. 0fficial thousands of muslims are being mistreated. official documents seen by the bbc showed that inmates are locked up, indoctrinated and punished in camps run by high security prisons. with strict discipline and no escapes. in westminster, a former chair of the governing conservative party pestered the british government to act. the uighurs are being subjected to the largest surveillance and interment of any ethnic minority since the holocaust, subjected to torture in the name of education and training. the minister said that sanctions are under consideration. we have got and we will be looking at reintroducing a sanctions regime. we consider our relationship with china to be an important one. while it is the basis of that strength of that relationship that allows us to raise serious human rights concerns. the latest evidence undermines beijing's claims that the detention centres offer voluntary re—education purposes to counter extremism. according to the british government, a law would place visa bands and as

it freezes on individuals deemed responsible for serious human rights abuses, including torture. they promised to act once that happens. . new analysis for the bbc suggests that in the uk, the cost of poor mental health in the workplace has increased significantly in just two years. one way companies around the world are trying to deal with this is by promoting mindfulness at work. sarah toms reports from singapore. it's late afternoon here at the office for an app that rates vegan food. usually it is the time when most people start to flag but here the young staff are getting a wake—up call. they chant. it removes obstacles when you are trying to expand an idea because you are not nervous or doubting yourself.

you are in a space of time to let it flow. the ceo has signed up for a four—month programme. we tend to bring much more of our personal lives into the office and i think that companies, the companies you see that are succeeding in terms of various such as employee retention and satisfaction, they are companies who do not shy away from the conversation. they think about how you make the workplace a great place for people so they can address their mental health and stress issues in a positive fashion. the trainer who runs these sessions says she has seen a jump in demand from companies in law, accounting, financial services and start—ups seeking to keep their people focus, productive and happy. keep your eyes closed. who feels hot raise your hand? from my experience of what i have

seen, it is driven by a need to change workplace culture, to retain young talent that is just not staying in the workplace anymore. studies show that companies are starting to take mental health more seriously. more people are reporting issues with anxiety, taking time off and that is prompting companies to help workers feel less stressed. the corporate wellness market in asia is expect to be worth $7.4 billion us by 2024. according to hrm — a human resources network. and with studies showing how stress and anxiety can put a dent in the bottom line, employers are also mindful that it makes financial sense. in another announcement at the world economic forum, coca cola has said it won't stop using plastic bottles for its drinks because it says consumers still want them. the company's head of sustainability told the bbc that using only aluminium and glass packaging could push up the firm's carbon footprint.

coca cola produces about three million tonnes of plastic packaging a year. that's it for now, thank you for hello there. we started this week on a fairly settled note with a quite a bit of sunshine around, especially across england, wales and eastern scotland. all down to high pressure. high—pressure still with us through wednesday but we'll see subtle changes where we lose the cooler blue air there and importing something less cold off the atlantic into the orange and yellow colours there. so for today, it's going to be largely dry again thanks to high pressure but because there is more moisture in the air, it's going to be cloudier across england and wales and certainly we'll see a lot more cloud around. probably the best of any brightness will be across eastern scotland where they'll be some shelter from the south—westerly wind. the odd brighter spell further south but leaden skies and mist

and murk around too. winds will remain very light so nothing to stir up the air. but a milder day like i showed you, that air mass 10—11 degrees for many but it could be very mild across parts of north—east scotland given some good spells of sunshine. as we head into wednesday night, stays relatively cloudy for most areas. there could be the odd clear spell around and if that happens, it will turn chilly in a few places but for most with the cloud cover it's going to be a largely frost—free night. thursday and friday — very similar days. we're going to continue with high pressure, generally light winds and lots of cloud around and leaden skies with some hill fog as well and some mist and murk too. then we start to see a change to the weather as we move out of friday and into the weekend. the area of high pressure retreats back to the new continent and the low pressure beginning to push in off the atlantic and more isobars on the chart there. saturday may start off rather cloudy once again, particularly in england and wales. w'll see more of a breeze picking up across scotland and northern ireland and this weather front will bring rain into western scotland

and western parts of northern ireland. maybe the odd shower ahead of it but we should start to see some sunny spells into the afternoon as the breeze picks up and temperatures range from 8—10 degrees. this weather front continues to spread across the country into saturday night and by sunday will be a weak feature by the time it reaches eastern parts of england. a band of cloud with showers and rain will clear out pretty smartly and the sky will be brighter with some sunshine around. bu it will be a reezy day, cooler air mass and quite cold across the north—west with some of the showers falling as sleet and snow across the high grounds. it'lljust make around 10 degrees in the south—east.

this is bbc news. the headlines: republicans and democrats in the us senate are arguing over how to proceed with the impeachment trial of donald trump as the hearing gets under way. republicans have blocked three amendments put forward by the democrats — calling for more documents on the trump administration's contact with ukraine. —— four. health authorities in china say nine people are known to have died after contracting the new respiratory virus that originated in the central city of wuhan. the vice minister of the health commission said 440 cases have now been confirmed. the former prime minister of australia, malcolm turnbull, as accused the current conservative government of climate change denial as the nation tries to come to grips

with its worst bushfire season in history. he was ousted as prime minister for history. he was ousted as prime ministerfor attempting history. he was ousted as prime minister for attempting to introduce a climate change policy. it is about 3:30am. you are up—to—date with the headlines. this time for panorama. tonight on panorama, we expose the billionaire who corruptly exploited her own country. she ruled supreme in grabbing whatever she wanted in this country. leaked documents reveal how a president's daughter made billions. this is a classic example of corruption, somebody being able to use that relationship to benefit themselves. isabel dos santos lives the high life from her london home. but we find the people left in squalor so she could make money.