a very warm welcome to bbc news. senators vote to go ahead with the second impeachment trial of donald trump, rejecting suggestions the preceedings are unconstitutional. mr trump's legal team claim the trial is all about freedom of speech and politics. we are really here because the majority in the house of representatives does not want to face donald trump as a political rival in the future. the world health organization investigation concludes coronavirus did not originate from a lab in china but can't say where it did come from. rendezvous with the red planet — the uae's historic mission successfully enters orbit around mars. i believe you have a filter

turned on in the video settings. turned on in the video settinqs-_ turned on in the video settinas. �* ., , settings. and the texas lawyer tra ed settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by _ settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by a — settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by a cat _ settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by a cat says - settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by a cat says he - settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by a cat says he is - settings. and the texas lawyer trapped by a cat says he is not| trapped by a cat says he is not a feline! hello to you. the historic second impeachment trial of donald trump has begun with senators being shown graphic video of last month's riot at the capitol building. it included images of violence and a former president calling on his supporters to "fight like hell" to help overturn the result of nobember�*s election. the result of november's election. mr trump is charged with inciting insurrection. his lawyers argue that the process is unconstitutional because he has left office, but the senate has voted to go ahead with the full hearing. our north american editor jon sopel reports. hear he, hear ye, hear ye. in the building where a policeman and four protesters

lost their lives, where the trump—supporting mob ran amok last month, donald trump today went on trial. on the question of whether donald john trump is subject to thejurisdiction of a court of impeachment... charged with inciting an insurrection at the capitol, the most serious accusation ever levelled at an american president. the democratic party prosecutors setting out a vivid and searing video timeline. shouting. leading the democratic team is a congressman who'd buried his son the day before the riots, and he'd persuaded his wife and daughter to come to the capitol to witness american democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. she said, "dad i don't want to come back to the capitol again..." of all the terrible, brutal things i saw and i heard on that day...and since then,

that one hit me the hardest. that, and watching someone use an american flag pole, with the flag still on it, to spear and pummel one of our police officers ruthlessly, mercilessly. if donald trump is to avoid conviction, it won't be because senators will forgive or condone his behaviour. instead it will rely on a constitutional argument that you can't impeach a former president. the trump legal team, though, seemed to be struggling to make their case. i don't know about off the top of my head, but each one of them, once there was the vacuum created that the greatest deliberative bodies, the senate of greece sitting in athens, the senate of rome... the beating heart of us democracy is now padlocked and chained. there are miles of fencing and razor wire and literally thousands of deployed national guardsmen.

this is fortress congress. beyond the heavily guarded perimeter, a few protesters are making their point, a far cry from what the trump—supporting insurgents found a month ago when they'd taken the former president at his word. we fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country any more. the trump defence is that his speech was figurative and not literal. but the new president is trying to put maximum distance between himself and what's unfolding at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. the senate has theirjob. they're about to begin it. i'm sure they're going to conduct themselves well, and that's all i'm going to have to say about impeachment. thank you very, very much. since leaving office, donald trump has spent more or less every day playing golf. but you can be sure that today he'll be watching, and closely. jon sopel, bbc news, washington.

i washington. spoke to our senior north american i spoke to our senior north american reporter. there is some truth that the democrat's goal is politically motivated? the other is to put some sort of mark on donald trump? bracket about what he did on january six and the democrats knew it was beyond the pale and amounted to inciting an insurrection and they could not let go by without at least attempting some form of discipline. the form of discipline. the form of discipline they want to take, as you mentioned, is by convicting by the senate, they could ban him from holding office ever again, federal office ever again, federal office ever again, federal office ever again. that is a fairly sweeping punishment but one day they would be decrying. it seems almost certainly that it would not be convicted not because of the fine details of the constitution or the

niceties of what he said but so many republicans are worried they may lose that seat not to democrats necessarily to a challenge by other republicans, more extreme republicans? i think that is a valid concern among republicans and if you look at the vote that happened this evening here in washington, putting aside this question of the constitutionality of impeaching a former president, only six republican sided with the democrats to move ahead with the trial and of those six, one is retiring, anotherforjust is retiring, another for just were is retiring, anotherforjust were re—elected so they have six more years before they have to stand before voters again and the final one is mitt romney was a republican standardbearer in 2012 and has a fair amount standardbearer in 2012 and has a fairamount of standardbearer in 2012 and has a fair amount of gravitas to himself anyway. the idea that republicans are a little worried about the direction the wind is blowing in their party is a valid consent and the reality is they are going to

need another 11 republicans to come over and voted convicted if they want to actually convict the president. 0bviously convict the president. obviously there will be court cases for those involved in january six but if there is no comeback for mr trump and if the cliche is true that it is now the party of trump, what does it say about the state of politics and the next four years? i politics and the next four ears? ~ , ., years? i think it is a reflection _ years? i think it is a reflection of - years? i think it is a reflection of where l years? i think it is a i reflection of where the years? i think it is a - reflection of where the base years? i think it is a _ reflection of where the base of the republican party is. if you look at recent polls about impeachment convictions, the majority of american public wants to impeach and prevent donald trump from running for office again but within the republican party his standing is still very high. we saw that in the votes in the house of representatives, by last republicans defending donald trump and also here in the senate today. this is still donald trump's party and nothing seems to change that as long as he could in use to be able to project within his caucus, be able to reach

republican waters, i republican officeholders.— officeholders. this is not the late mr biden _ officeholders. this is not the late mr biden would - officeholders. this is not the late mr biden would want. officeholders. this is not the late mr biden would want to | late mr biden would want to start presidency, a president who says he wants to unite. what do you make of the way he is playing this?— is playing this? that tells you what ou is playing this? that tells you what you need _ is playing this? that tells you what you need to _ is playing this? that tells you what you need to know- is playing this? that tells you what you need to know about j what you need to know about their evaluation of the politics of this moment. it does not want to be accused of focusing on the path and not deal with the many problems in the american public today with the american public today with the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, with other kind of social unrest about social justice. he wants to focus on those sorts of things and i think allowing whatever is going on in the centre to play itself out, he understands he does not want to be bogged down by that, despite the fact that quite honestly, he campaigned as the anti— trump, he wants to become more thanjust as the anti— trump, he wants to become more than just the man who was not trump, he wants to come out a presidency of his

own. ~ , , , ., ~ come out a presidency of his own. ~ , ,, ., " ., come out a presidency of his own. ~ , ,, ., ~ ., ., own. we will be speaking to a republican — own. we will be speaking to a republican strategist - own. we will be speaking to a republican strategist later- own. we will be speaking to a republican strategist later in| republican strategist later in the bulletin. supporters of aung san suu kyi have raided buildings in myanmar. they force away into buildings after dark. a series of measures coming in force to prevent new variants of coronavirus getting into the uk. people will be required to quarantine hotels ten eyes at that own cost. the pilot was not licensed to fly in cloud when he flew cubby bride and other people. more

than 190 million, a rise of more than a quarter have now joined twitter. $200 million in profit in the final quarter of last year. the world health organization is saying covid—19 is extremely unlikely to have originated in a chinese lab. that conclusion has been reached by a team of who experts on a fact—finding mission in wuhan, where the first case of the virus, of course, was recorded. they have suggested it is more likely to have come from bats. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth listened to them present theirfindings. it's one of the most important questions of our time — where did the virus come from? but the scientists had more to say about what they hadn't found than what they had. it has not been possible to pinpoint any animal species as a potential reservoir for this disease, and it doesn't look like there was wide circulation of the virus in any animal

species in the country. china's wet markets were once thought to be the prime suspect, where the virus was most likely to havejumped from animals to humans. this market, linked to some of the earliest cases, was a particular focus, but with animal tests said to be negative, the team has come up with another theory — frozen food. and an idea china itself has been promoting in recent months. the virus, they suggest, may have travelled to wuhan on imported frozen produce. the who arrived here insisting this was going to be all about the science, and yet signs of the politics have been there every step of the way, from the wrangling about access and timing, from the team's reliance not on its own investigation, but on data provided by china. the questions

about how independent these findings really are from china's own narrative are unlikely to go away. and on the question of whether the virus might have leaked from this laboratory, known to have been experimenting on coronaviruses, the team has all but ruled it out. this is a press conference, i'm allowed to ask questions. after the press conference, chinese officials tried to stop any interviews. but with the conclusions largely supportive of china's line, there was little to worry about. given that this report rules out a lab leak, isn't your credibility on that somewhat undermined given the fact that you were ruling it out before you even came here? a very large group of experts have looked at this, they have been to the various labs around the region and talked to people, asked critical questions and got critical answers and they have come to their conclusions and i have as well and what they say is extremely unlikely and that stands alone. covid devastated

this city first and for now its origins remain almost as much of a mystery as before. john sudworth, bbc news, wuhan. stay with us if you can. much more to come... a historic mission to mars successfully enters the orbit of the red planet. there's mr mandela, mr nelson mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, ba by doc duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, -

shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud - farm's central block. shergar was driven away. in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning, elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. welcome back, very glad to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headline for you: senators in the us have voted to go ahead with a second impeachment trial on donald trump, rejecting proceedings that the trails are unconstitutional. let's get more in live from alabama, the founder of the politics website: all—american

use and host of all—american radio. we talked about this before and i know you feel that the president actually said on the president actually said on the january sex did not incite the january sex did not incite the mob. there will be people who strongly disagree with you about that but i think you have changed your mind, you think the people around the president had something to do with inciting the mob. i had something to do with inciting the mob.- had something to do with inciting the mob. i do. i have been doing — inciting the mob. i do. i have been doing quite _ inciting the mob. i do. i have been doing quite a _ inciting the mob. i do. i have been doing quite a bit - inciting the mob. i do. i have been doing quite a bit of- been doing quite a bit of research on this since january sex and i have talked to sources close to the president and his advisors and i do believe that while the president himself did not incite the riot onjanuary sex, i think his remarks were quite clear, he spoke for an hour and 15 minutes onjanuary six, he did use the word fight several times, but among the 10,000 words uttered out of his mouth that day there was nothing that really rose to the level of incitement, however, ido really rose to the level of incitement, however, i do think that his usual cub i'll of

advisers, stephen bannon, roger stone, roger stone, just ten days after he was part and reserve the website stop the steel .com. that plan was hatched around the november elections, and i think the advisers close to president trump gave bad advice and obviously they were up to semantics, and i do think that his advisers did cause some of the riots onjanuary six, however, i don't think he ought to be impeached right now, he is not even holding office, the constitutionality of this is really the big question. i’m really the big question. i'm not really _ really the big question. i'm not really sure _ really the big question. i'm not really sure it _ really the big question. i'm not really sure it is - really the big question. i'm not really sure it is a - not really sure it is a question because the senate has voted to proceed, and you must know, most senior constitutional lawyers agree that it constitutional lawyers agree thatitis constitutional lawyers agree that it is constitutional, and article one, section three of the constitution gives the senate absolute power to run an impeachment process anyway it wants, and in any case, when he was impeached, he was president

so the argument goes away. can ijust ask you so the argument goes away. can i just ask you is your expectation that after all this he will now be acquitted, and he will now be acquitted, and he will now be acquitted, and he will still be either a candidate or a kingmaker of some kind in 2024, with something like 74 million voters behind him? i something like 74 million voters behind him? i think that the republicans _ voters behind him? i think that the republicans who _ voters behind him? i think that the republicans who voted - voters behind him? i think that| the republicans who voted that it was constitutional, it was not an overwhelming number of republicans, only six republicans, only six republicans in the us senate voted that it was constitutional and those with the usual suspects, mitt romney, susan collins and lisa makowski, those are people that are not big trouble fans anyway so i was not surprised at that. i don't think we should relitigate the question of constitutionality. it is genuinely interesting. why mr trump has is seen as such a winner, given this is a guy who has lost to the house of representatives, the senate, and the white house. why do you

still think he is so great? there is a group of what i call the maga block voters, who will always be with him, he will wield some form of power over the next 18 months to two years, and i have at the same critique of the republican national committee, and i say this as a conservative. i can't believe that mcdaniel, the rnc chairwoman got re—elected. when was the last time the republican party chair in america got to be nominated to a position after losing the us house, the us senate at the white house? i think the republican party has some rebuilding to do, but i personally don't believe in the trump dynasties anymore. i think that power runs out when the new candidate for 2024 announcers and that will happen sometime in the summer of 2022. i think you will see other stars step up into that space, i think people likejosh

holley, the senatorfor holley, the senator for missouri, i think you could see marco rubio from the state of florida, you will have some different voices there that are really going to compete with the old trump ways, and i think a lot of republicans now when you look back injanuary sex, you look back injanuary sex, you could say that is not the direction we want the country moving in, neither is impeachment. i wish republicans and democrats would actually work together to get americans back to work to get us beyond covid—19, i think that's what congress ought to be focusing on rather than impeachment. just briefly, surely he will be a kingmaker in four years time? whoever he backs will have a lot behind them?— lot behind them? that is possible- _ lot behind them? that is possible. i— lot behind them? that is possible. ithink- lot behind them? that is possible. i think it - lot behind them? that is i possible. i think it depends lot behind them? that is - possible. i think it depends a lot on the legal cases that are winding their way through, like the southern district of new york. we still have a lot of cases trump and the trump family that i think republicans really, before they decide to they are backing in 2024, we need to hear more about those

cases, as a sort of getting over our from cases, as a sort of getting over ourfrom hangover cases, as a sort of getting over our from hangover here cases, as a sort of getting over ourfrom hangover here in america. over our from hangover here in america. ., ~ over our from hangover here in america. ., ,, , ., over our from hangover here in america. ., ~' , ., , over our from hangover here in america. ., ,, ,, , . a space probe launched by the united arab emirates have entered orbit around mars. 0nly entered orbit around mars. only four other agencies have made trips to the red planet. music. mission accomplished — the united arab emirates has made it to mars. after a tense wait in the control room, celebrations. as a signal sent from their spacecraft millions of miles away beams in. it's like the weight of seven years has been lifted from my shoulders on arriving to mars. i'm truly looking forward to the scientific discoveries. and i truly hope this mission will impact an entire generation to strive for things that are even bigger. the spacecraft is called hope and has pulled off a make—or—break manoeuvre, firing its thrusters so it's

captured by the gravitational pull of the red planet. the hope mission will see more of mars than we've ever seen before. its spacecraft has an elliptical orbit, swinging in closer and then much further away. at its closest, its flight path matches the rotation of mars, so it hovers over some key features, like 0lympus mons, the biggest volcano in the solar system. at its furthest point, the planet spins beneath it, giving it a much wider view. this means it will see almost all of the planet, both from close—up and from far away. arriving at the red planet is a huge leap for the uae. until now, the nation has only sent satellites into earth orbit. the spacecraft will study the martian atmosphere to solve a big mystery, how mars transformed from a planet like earth, to the dry, dusty world it is today.

it's not the end of the journey for hope. reaching mars is just halfway through the journey. we still have to do the science work, we still have to collect data and still have to come up with new discoveries about mars. and this mission is again just a starting point. for the united arab emirates, they have made history, establishing themselves as a new space power. but they're not the only ones heading to mars. tomorrow, china's spacecraft arrives, then next week, nasa's rover is due to land. the red planet is about to get busy. men have been arrested in the uk in connections with allegations that try to hack into the mobile phones of a number of american celebrities. the national crime agency working alongside the fbi says a criminal network have been attempting to steal money and personal information from sports stars and musicians. the eight men, aged between 18 and 26, now face possible

extradition to the united states. a virtual co— hearing in texas has been interrupted with a lawyer who accidentally appeared on screen as a wide eyed fluffy kitten. the man was able to turn off the filter that changed his face. we have seen unexpected gas during a live tv interview, a local authority chairman disbarred from taking part online in his own backyard.— own backyard. you have no authority — own backyard. you have no authority here _ own backyard. you have no authority here jackie - own backyard. you have no i authority here jackie weaver, no authority at all. he authority here jackie weaver, no authority at all.— no authority at all. he has 'ust no authority at all. he has just kicked _ no authority at all. he has just kicked him _ no authority at all. he has just kicked him out. - no authority at all. he has just kicked him out. she l no authority at all. he has i just kicked him out. she has kicked him _ just kicked him out. she has kicked him out! _ just kicked him out. she has kicked him out! now, - just kicked him out. she has kicked him out! now, it's i just kicked him out. she has| kicked him out! now, it's the turn of a _ kicked him out! now, it's the turn of a 69-year-old - kicked him out! now, it's the turn of a 69-year-old texan | turn of a 69—year—old texan attorney, who unintentionally address this virtual courtroom as a cat. i address this virtual courtroom as a cat. , , ., ., address this virtual courtroom asacat. , ., ., as a cat. i believe you have a filter turned _ as a cat. i believe you have a filter turned on _ as a cat. i believe you have a filter turned on in _ as a cat. i believe you have a filter turned on in the - as a cat. i believe you have a

filter turned on in the video i filter turned on in the video settings, you might want to... can you hear mejudge? can settings, you might want to... can you hear me judge? can you hear me. i _ hear me, i think it is a filter. , ., ., �* hear me, ithink it is a filter. , ., ~ ., filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove _ filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove it, _ filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove it, i- filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove it, i have - filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove it, i have my assistant— how to remove it, i have my assistant here, she is trying to, but— assistant here, she is trying to, but i'm prepared to go forward _ to, but i'm prepared to go forward with it, i'm here live, and _ forward with it, i'm here live, and i— forward with it, i'm here live, and i am— forward with it, i'm here live, and i am not a cat. i forward with it, i'm here live, and i am not a cat.— and i am not a cat. i can see that. and i am not a cat. i can see that- the — and i am not a cat. i can see that. the attorney _ and i am not a cat. i can see that. the attorney pleaded l and i am not a cat. i can see l that. the attorney pleaded his case of mistaken _ that. the attorney pleaded his case of mistaken identity - case of mistaken identity minutes after he log on from his secretary's computed to defend the state of texas in this civil forfeiture case. everybody�*s face popped up everybody's face popped up except _ everybody's face popped up except mine, mine was a cat. she _ except mine, mine was a cat. she doesn't know and i don't know. — she doesn't know and i don't know. it _ she doesn't know and i don't know, itjust miraculously appeared. know, itjust miraculously appeared-— appeared. after that, the verdict of _ appeared. after that, the verdict of the _ appeared. after that, the verdict of the judge - appeared. after that, the verdict of the judge was l appeared. after that, the l verdict of the judge was to release there normally

secretive footage, now seen by millions. it secretive footage, now seen by millions. ., ., millions. it would have been different if i _ millions. it would have been different if i had _ millions. it would have been different ifi had laughed, i different if i had laughed, and mocked him for a simple mistake that could happen to anyone of us at any time. i that could happen to anyone of us at any time.— us at any time. i am here live, i am us at any time. i am here live, i am not _ us at any time. i am here live, i am not a _ us at any time. i am here live, i am not a cat. _ us at any time. i am here live, i am not a cat. this _ us at any time. i am here live, i am not a cat. this latest - i am not a cat. this latest lnternet _ i am not a cat. this latest internet star _ i am not a cat. this latest internet star who - i am not a cat. this latest internet star who also - i am not a cat. this latest - internet star who also appears on netflix, representing possibly the biggest criminal justice hoax in history is not the titanic the cat out of the bag. but... the titanic the cat out of the bag- itut- - -_ bag. but... you cannot put toothpaste _ bag. but... you cannot put toothpaste back _ bag. but... you cannot put toothpaste back in - bag. but... you cannot put toothpaste back in the - bag. but... you cannot put. toothpaste back in the tube. bag. but... you cannot put- toothpaste back in the tube. if it has— toothpaste back in the tube. if it has gone out and has gone viral. — it has gone out and has gone viral. let_ it has gone out and has gone viral. let it _ it has gone out and has gone viral, let it go, you just have to roll— viral, let it go, you just have to roll with— viral, let it go, you just have to roll with it, it happened to me, — to roll with it, it happened to me. i— to roll with it, it happened to me. i cant— to roll with it, it happened to me, i can't deny it.— to roll with it, it happened to me, i can't deny it. and that's fur-real- _ me, i can't deny it. and that's fur-real- l _ me, i can't deny it. and that's fur-real. iwill_ me, i can't deny it. and that's fur-real. i will try _ me, i can't deny it. and that's fur-real. i will try and - me, i can't deny it. and that's fur-real. i will try and do - fur—real. i will try and do this with a straight face, or at least my own face. much more news for you anytime on the bbc

news website and the twitter feed. thank you so much for watching. hello. the cold snap across the uk continues. and no sign of anything milder for the remainder of this week. very cold nights ahead and some pretty bitterly cold days as well. a subtle change for today is that the wind will be lighter than it has been on monday and tuesday, though perhaps it won't feel quite as raw, but it's still an easterly or northeasterly wind. still some chains of showers being fed in, some making their way a reasonable way westwards. some of the heaviest snow on wednesday possibly for kent and sussex, the southeast of scotland and the northeast of england. as we move overnight wednesday into thursday, i've got the pressure pattern on behind me, notice how the isobars open up. the wind becomes much lighter.

now, as i said, that wind has made it feel very raw through the early part of the week, but for very cold nights, what you need are very light winds, and that is what we will have to take us into thursday morning. and that's important because at the moment, that's indicating signs that for some areas to the south of the uk, these are the temperatures of the towns and cities. we could have the coldest night in around a decade for some of the suburbs of london, for example. thursday, dawn, icy but with a lot of sunshine. there will be quite a bit of fair weather and largely light winds, a few north sea showers. temperatures, well, scraping just above freezing. towards the west, perhaps three degrees for belfast and plymouth. notice a little frontal system trying to push its way in here. this is the first signs of something a bit milder trying to approach from the atlantic. friday, it still looks like it'll be the high pressure in the east and the cold air, though, that will dominate. we could see some more organised snow showers for a time running into the northeast of scotland. towards the west, i think advancing cloud through the day turning any sunshine hazy, but 4 degrees in belfast, 5 degrees in plymouth.

some signs of something milder trying to head in. subzero, though, further east across the uk. and then for the weekend, it's that classic battleground that we so often talk about — high pressure in the east pushing the cold air our way, low pressure trying to come in from the atlantic and bring in something milder. at the moment, it looks like by sunday, we could start to see some significant improvement in our temperatures. but before that, there is the possibility of some further snowfall, but this time pushing into the west as we begin our transition.

the latest headlines from bbc news: the second impeachment trial of donald trump has begun in the us senate. he is accused of inciting the mob attack on the capitol. a spaceship has entered orbit around mars. it has travelled nearly 500 500 million kilometres from earth. probe, named hope is a first for the arab world. aliquot to other agencies have made a successful trip to the red planet.