flooding reportedly wiped out entire neighbourhoods. and a landmark trial begins here in washington, as google is accused of abusing its power to create a monopoly. the tech giant denies it. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. we start the programme here in washington, where the house speaker has ordered an impeachment inquiry into president biden. kevin mccarthy claims there are "serious and credible" allegations of corruption. the white house says the probe is "extreme politics at its worst". mr mccarthy said he would task three committees with carrying out the inquiry into the president and his family. he has been investigating the president for months and has still found no concrete evidence of misconduct. at the centre of this inquiry

is president biden�*s son, hunter biden, who is currently under federal investigation for possible tax crimes related to foreign business interests. speaker kevin mccarthy said these allegations facing the biden family "paint a picture of corruption". the american people deserve to know that the public offices are not for sale. and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family. i would encourage the president and his team to fully co—operate with this investigation in the interests of transparency. our correspondent gary o'donoghue has more from the us capitol. no president likes to face an impeachment inquiry, only three have done so in the history of this republic over the last 250

years. the bar is very high, it requires a majority of the house to vote for it and then in a trial, two thirds of the senate in order to remove a president. the democrats control the senate so that isn't going to happen. but it could soak up a lot of effort and time in the white house at and time in the white house at a point when they are trying to focus joe a point when they are trying to focusjoe biden�*s message on the economy as we approach an election year. it will rile the president, he hates questions about his family and republicans know it. it could distract from those 91 criminal charges donald trump is facing. there are also potential political risks for kevin mccarthy, the republican house speaker. he hasn't yet dared take a vote on the floor of the house and that will hamper his committees in their attempts to get documents and testimonies as they dig into hunter biden pulled my affairs and connections with his father while he was vice president. if kevin mccarty does bear a vote on the houses and loses it, it would be a huge own goal.

another thing to bear in mind, the last time republicans try to impeach a democratic president, bill clinton, 25 years ago, and as a result his approval ratings went through the ceiling. that was our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue. the biden administration and some democrats have come out against the investigation, saying the house should focus on legislative work. in a statement on social media, white house spokesman ian sams said: earlier, i spoke with senator chris coons, a close ally of president biden, about the inquiry, plus kim jong—un�*s visit to russia, and the war in ukraine. senator, thank you forjoining us. if i can start with the breaking news today that speaker mccarthy has announced

an impeachment inquiry into president biden without holding a vote. what is your response to that? . ~ , , to that? frankly, i wish the house gop _ to that? frankly, i wish the house gop would - to that? frankly, i wish the house gop would focus - to that? frankly, i wish the house gop would focus on | to that? frankly, i wish the i house gop would focus on the business in front of us, which is avoiding a government shutdown just is avoiding a government shutdownjust a few is avoiding a government shutdown just a few weeks from now. of all the coverage today or speaker mccarthy's announcement, my favourite was in a local newspaper called bay hill which was titled, senate gop says house republicans like evidence. that's the best summary i could provide, that frankly this is a fishing expedition. there isn't enough evidence to launch a formal inquiry, which is why there will not be a vote on the house floor. this isjust putting will not be a vote on the house floor. this is just putting a wrapper around the existing inquiries house republicans have been engaging in now, without clear outcomes or evidence for several years. you touched on _ evidence for several years. you touched on it _ evidence for several years. you touched on it there _ evidence for several years. you touched on it there but what will this mean for relationships on the hill between the democratic and

republican members? they have to agree the funding bill to keep the lights on in the government. i keep the lights on in the government.— keep the lights on in the covernment. . ., , ., government. i am a member of the appropriations _ government. i am a member of the appropriations committee l government. i am a member of| the appropriations committee in the appropriations committee in the senate, and they're sharp contrast between the senate and the house, in the senate we passed all of our appropriation bills with broad bipartisan support. in the house they have accomplished that the none of their bills. this week, the senate are taking up three of our most important bills and we will pass them out of the senate. the house will not do that for any of their bills. frankly we should be building a bipartisan consensus, passing the essential spending bills to keep our government open, rather than going on partisan fishing expeditions. d0 rather than going on partisan fishing expeditions.— fishing expeditions. do you think the — fishing expeditions. do you think the move _ fishing expeditions. do you think the move by - fishing expeditions. do you think the move by speaker| think the move by speaker mccarthy will damage those relationships?— mccarthy will damage those relationships? yes, i think it will be harmful, _ relationships? yes, i think it will be harmful, not- will be harmful, not constructive. but frankly, i recognise he has a very slim majority, and in the event after event, speaker mccarthy shows he is being held hostage

by the most extreme elements of his republican majority. share his republican ma'ority. are ou his republican ma'ority. are you expecting _ his republican ma'ority. are you expecting a h his republican majority. are you expecting a shutdown, then? i think the odds of a government shutdown are going up government shutdown are going up with each passing day. there isn't a clear path forward or a clear plan for how to resolve this. both democrats and republicans in the senate have a path forward and have a plan, but the house does not. when the speaker pulls a stunt like this, into a fishing expedition for partisan purposes, it increases the likelihood that we again embarrass the people of the us, that we fail to do our work on time, and that we weaken our nation by showing that partisan ship prevails over productivity, and bipartisanship. it's my hope we will avoid that and find a path forward and we will not shut down the us government on september 30, down the us government on september30, but down the us government on september 30, but given the announcement today, i am more concerned than ever. if i announcement today, i am more concerned than ever.— concerned than ever. if i can ask you _

concerned than ever. if i can ask you about _ concerned than ever. if i can ask you about another - ask you about another developing story, the north korean leader kim jong—un developing story, the north korean leader kimjong—un has arrived in russia to meet with vladimir putin. should the us be concerned about that? yes. be concerned about that? yes, and i think— be concerned about that? yes, and i think there _ be concerned about that? yes, and i think there are _ be concerned about that? yes, and i think there are both - and i think there are both positive and negative sides to the story. on a positive light, i think the story. on a positive light, ithink vladimir the story. on a positive light, i think vladimir putin is desperate for reinforcements and supplies, and the reason he is meeting with kimjong—un is not out of fondness or shared priorities, but because north korea has massive stockpiles of ammunition for artillery, which russia badly needs to sustain their world war i style of artillery over entrenched defenders in eastern and southern ukraine. but i remind you, every member of the security council, including russia, has for years sanctioned kimjong—un russia, has for years sanctioned kim jong—un and north korea over their nuclear ambitions and nuclear weapons programme. iam ambitions and nuclear weapons programme. i am deeply worried about what the bargain will be here, what sort of high—value

technology, nuclear —related technology, nuclear —related technology kim jong—un will extract from vladimir putin as the price of his becoming the new supplier to russia's war machine. new supplier to russia's war machine-— new supplier to russia's war machine. ~ ,, ., ., machine. with russia looking to north korea _ machine. with russia looking to north korea as _ machine. with russia looking to north korea as a _ machine. with russia looking to north korea as a military - north korea as a military partner, what does that say about the shifting power base in the world, and where does that leave the us? i in the world, and where does that leave the us?— that leave the us? i will remind _ that leave the us? i will remind you, _ that leave the us? i will remind you, russia, - that leave the us? i will remind you, russia, in. that leave the us? i will- remind you, russia, in order to continue its campaign, the brutal aggression campaign in ukraine, they have both had to turn to iran and now to north korea, the pariah regime is of the world. in order to fill the ranks of their troops, they have had to turn to conscripts from their prisons and to bringing in folks from other countries. so i think russia's clearly on the back foot. this war has not gone at all strategically how vladimir putin had hoped or expected, and he continues to become more and he continues to become more and more desperate as the strong western response to

russia's aggression has been sustained. the uk has been among the most engaged, leading and reliable partners for ukraine, for which i am grateful. 47 countries have come to the aid of ukraine and provided vital financial, military and humanitarian support to ukraine. as we heard there from senator coons, it's a big moment this week for north korea's kimjong—un, and for his host, russian president vladimir putin. state media reports that mr kim is calling his visit across the border a clear show of the "strategic importance" of the two countries' relations. mr kim arrived by armoured train to the border town of khasan, greeted by senior russian officials. he then got back on the train and continued en route to an undisclosed location, where he is set to meet russian president vladimir putin. the pair are expected to negotiate a weapons sale to aid russia in its war in ukraine. the us has warned against any such deal. for more, i'm joined by our seoul correspondentjean mackenzie.

do we know when these two leaders are going to meet or even where they will meet? that even where they will meet? at the even where they will meet? git the moment, it is all still a bit of a mystery. as you said, kimjong—un crossed bit of a mystery. as you said, kim jong—un crossed into bit of a mystery. as you said, kimjong—un crossed into russia on tuesday morning on his armoured train. we were expecting him to head to vladivostok where the russian president vladimir putin was holding an economic forum, but the train continued past the turning, heading north. south korean media this morning reporting that they are going to meet at a space centre. putin said to reporters yesterday that he had plans to visit the space centre. but it is 1000 kilometres away from vladivostok, about 600 miles. and kim's train is famously slow because of the heavy weight of the armour it is wrapped in. so how long it will take him, we don't know. so when the leaders will meet, if

indeed that is the meeting location, we still don't know. whenever the meeting does take place, afterwards are we expecting to hear anything about it, whether a deal has been done, any agreement made? the united states certainly believes the reason these two leaders are meeting is to finalise an arms deal that has beenin finalise an arms deal that has been in the works for some time. that north korea is preparing to sell russia the weapons it needs for the war in ukraine, ammunition and artillery shells. if this is the case and the deal is agreed, it's very unlikely we will hear anything about it. to sell anything to north korea, especially weapons, is a huge violation of un security council sanctions and russia would be unlikely to want to breach these brazenly. but in return for selling vladimir putin weapons, mr kim is expected to ask mr putin to hand over sensitive technology to allow him to make progress with his own nuclear weapons programme. while this seems

like a stretch to people in seoul, there is certainly an advantage to having the rest of the world believe that a transfer of technology is taking place and that russia and north korea are prepared to support each other going forward. so we may might see some hints, which is why the space centre is an interesting location to meet, because over the past six months, mr kim has tried to put a spy satellite into space, but his two attempts have failed. this might be an attempt by mr putin to signal he is willing to help kimjong—un with to signal he is willing to help kim jong—un with his space programme. kim jong-un with his space programme-— kim jong-un with his space programme. kim jong-un with his space roeramme. e . , programme. what has been the reaction to _ programme. what has been the reaction to this _ programme. what has been the reaction to this meeting - programme. what has been the reaction to this meeting where l reaction to this meeting where you are, in south korea? 0fficials you are, in south korea? officials in seoul are of course concerned about a potential arms deal. but even more so about north korea and russia co—operating militarily. but there is scepticism, as i said, about whether mr putin would really be prepared to hand over this critical technology to mr kim. theyjust do not think it makes sense for

russia to help north korea become more dangerous. but they don't want to speculate. everyone here watching very closely and waiting to see what emerges in the next couple of days. emerges in the next couple of da s. ., g emerges in the next couple of da s. . ~ , ., around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a us grand jury has indicted five former memphis police officers on federal civil rights violations and other charges in the death of tyre nichols. the 29—year—old black man died three days after being beaten in a traffic spot in january. a traffic stop in january. his death prompted nationwide protests. the five officers, also black, have pleaded not guilty to separate state charges. venice is set to try a fee for day—trippers. the city is trying to rein in over—tourism that's diplaced residents. visitors over the age of 1a will have to pay five euros to enter the city, that's a little over $5. the trial is expected to run during peak tourist

periods next year. apple has unveiled its new iphone 15. the biggest change has to do with the charging port, which has been changed from a lightning port to usb—c. many other apple products, including newer macbooks already use usb—c. the change follows a new european union law mandating that all phones sold in the eu must include the ports. you're live with bbc news. in libya, devestating floods have killed more than 2,000 people, and aid agencies say at least 10,000 are still missing. the united nations has called it a "calamity of epic proportions". in the port city of derna, a pair of dams burst from the flooding, leading to a massive surge of water. civil war in libya has left the country divided, operating under two goverments for almost a decade. this means it's been difficult to circulate information, and relief efforts have been slow. the moroccan government is facing criticism for their response

to the quake. 0ur correspondent anna foster has the latest. a torrent of water that washed away everything in its path. the devastation is clear to see. the death toll is harder to quantify. the red crescent and red cross say as many as 10,000 people are missing. but in a country without a single functioning government, getting accurate information is hard. libya's effectively been stuck in a political quagmire now for at least eight, nine years, and really, even though there has been no major outbreak of violence since 2020, sporadic violence has taken place, but there has been no settlement, really, to that conflict. this is more thanjust a rising river levels or flooded streets. in derna, two dams have been breached, sending a powerful cascade of water through the city. homes and cars were picked up

and carried away by its force. many people spent hours trying to find out if their families were still alive. like noura. they are in a sheltered place, but there is a shortage of food, there is a shortage of medical aid, there is a shortage of clothes and the situation is not the best, but at least they are still alive. i have one aunt who is still missing with her son. we don't have any news about her, she lives in another different building, and we couldn't reach out to her or even get any news about her. at this early stage, we still don't know exactly how many people have been killed. the lack of internationally recognised government sources makes it difficult to know which details the trust. what is crucial now is trying to work out exactly what has happened on ground, and that is what bbc verify have been doing, particularly with landmark buildings like this mosque. some of the videos that have been posted on social media show that torrent of water,

but we mow where they are but we know where they are and we know they are real because of the mosque. again in this picture, filmed from a slightly different angle, you can see the water and you can see that building right in the centre of the shot. when we look at videos like this one, that really show some of the destruction, the aftermath of the water that poured through, we can see the rubble in the streets, we can see the buildings that have been damaged, but we know where it is, and we know it's real because once again, we can see that mosque. now the authorities need to get help to the people who filmed those pictures, but the ongoing conflict makes access to libra difficult and dangerous, and any aid that arrives will be far slower than its desperate survivors need. anna foster, bbc news. earlier, i talked to the spokesperson for the international federation of the red cross and red crescent societies, tommas della longa.

thank you forjoining us. devastating scene is coming from libya. what kind of conditions are your team encountering on the ground? the conditions encountering on the ground? tue: conditions are encountering on the ground? tte: conditions are pretty difficult. i would say the scale of this disaster is really incredible. the footage is shocking, but the stories from volunteers are even worse. i mean, priority at the moment is life—saving, saving lives, and take to safety people, and shelter, but we are talking about thousands of families that have lost everything. hind that have lost everything. and how is the _ that have lost everything. and how is the life—saving, life protecting recovery mission going at the moment? well, with a lot of challenges, _ going at the moment? well, with a lot of challenges, logistical - a lot of challenges, logistical challenges, capacity challenges. we have to think about a country, libya, that has endured almost 12 years of conflict, violence, economic crisis, division. infrastructure is very weak. so

of course this immense flooding is just another layer of suffering on an incredibly difficult situation.- difficult situation. those challenges _ difficult situation. those challenges seem - difficult situation. those challenges seem to - difficult situation. those | challenges seem to have impacted the city of derna in particular where the two dams burst, no warnings all alarms due to the poor infrastructure there largely. in due to the poor infrastructure there largely-— there largely. in derna, and there largely. in derna, and the rural— there largely. in derna, and the rural area _ there largely. in derna, and the rural area in _ there largely. in derna, and the rural area in the - there largely. in derna, and the rural area in the region, because what we have heard from the teams, that entire region, completely washed away and destroyed, some villages not any more there. so yeah, the situation is really complicated. 0f situation is really complicated. of course, saving lives in this moment is critical, but then the next steps are also pretty concerning, because again we are talking about thousands of people who lost everything, so what about their health, food,

water, their livelihoods? it's not something that will be solved in a couple of hours or days. this emergency response will last for months, if not years. so a lot of solidarity and support for the people affected. �* ., and support for the people affected-— affected. and in a practical wa , affected. and in a practical way. what _ affected. and in a practical way. what is _ affected. and in a practical way, what is needed? - affected. and in a practical way, what is needed? in . affected. and in a practical way, what is needed? in a| way, what is needed? in a practical _ way, what is needed? in a practical way. _ way, what is needed? in a practical way, what - way, what is needed? in a practical way, what we - way, what is needed? in aj practical way, what we are needing on the ground is medical equipment and personnel, search and rescue teams. 0ur college from the turkish red crescent landed today and working with other personnel. —— our colleagues. and in the mid—term, shelter, tents, this can be only temporary because in the long—term it is not enough, it's not the answer for thousands of people. a sustainable solution because, again, food, water... water, sanitation, to avoid what we call a disaster inside a disaster, it's critical. we need to start doing things and

planning for the future. so uuite planning for the future. so quite the _ planning for the future. so quite the operation there, but your agency and plenty of others like it are busy helping people after disasters and tragedies right around the world at the moment. do you have what you need to help everyone who needs your help? it's a very good question. we saw morocco, and now libya, and many other emergencies around the world. we need the support of our people and our donors. the needs of the people are just increasing. we really need to have a sustainable help, and if i may say, i know our colleagues of the british red cross, both in morocco and libya... probably if i can ask people to support the british red cross appeal, because this money will go directly to support our operation in libya. thank you so much forjoining

us. thank you very much. with recovery efforts under way in libya, just a couple thousand kilometers away, the nation of morocco is recovering from a natural disaster of its own after a powerful earthquake caused widespread devastation. moroccan state television reports that 2,900 people have died from the quake. another 5,500 were injured. the 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the high atlas mountains late on friday. an international emergency appeal has been launched for victims of the quake. they hope to raise $100 million for water and shelter. so far, morocco has accepted help from spain, britain, the united arab emirates and qatar. it has not, however, taken up offers of help from italy, belgium, france and germany. morocco's interior ministry said in a statement on sunday that in this phase of recovery they're taking support from "friendly nations".

a landmark anti—trust trial that could test the fate of big tech and the future of the internet began on tuesday in washington, dc. google stands accused of monopolising the search engine industry. the usjustice department has argued that google stifles the competition, which the company denies. bbc�*s north america correspondent nomia iqbal spent the day at the couthouse and has more. this is day one of what is expected to be a very long, drawn out trial. you had both sides, the department ofjustice and google, setting out their opening arguments. the department ofjustice argues that google has allegedly used its market muscle illegally to dominate the market when it comes to search engines. and it claims that it has done this by making exclusive deals with companies like apple and samsung so that the google search engine is the default search engine that appears on mobile phones and tablets. and it also in court cited this pretty astonishing statistic in which it claims, according to a data

analysis firm, that google has amassed 90% of the search engine market here and 91% globally. now, google denies these charges. google says that it's not made exclusive deals, that actually people can change their search engine if they want to. but the reason they don't, google asserts, is because their product is the best. they also argue that, on that figure, 90—91%, they say if you look at it in the wider context, there are other platforms out there now in competition with them, such as amazon and tiktok. now, this trial is expected to last about ten weeks. there were some first few witnesses here today. we are expecting google's chief executive to even give evidence. it's a bench trial, which means that it won't be a jury that decides the verdict, it will be a judge. expecting to get that verdict at some point next year. nomia iqbal reporting. now we want to end the programme on the thought that there could be life out there in the cosmos. nasa's james webb space

telescope may have detected a molecule that, here on earth, can only be produced by life. the element would signal that the planet where it was found has an ocean. the uk—based researchers who made the discovery stress that the detection of dimethyl sulphide on a planet 120 light years away is "not robust". they say more data is needed to confirm its presence. but they were still shocked by the results, and hope it could lead to further discoveries in years to come. watch this space. i'm caitriona perry, thanks for watching, stay tuned to bbc news. hello. for at least part of wednesday, we can expect a window of fine weather overhead. if we take a look at the satellite picture. the satellite picture,

we can see the rain—bearing clouds that affected parts of england and wales during tuesday. behind me, there is another weather system that will be working into the north—west later on wednesday. but in between, a slice of clear skies, quite a cool, in fact, chilly start for some on wednesday morning, but some spells of sunshine. starting the day then across the highlands, very close to freezing with a touch of frost in places. compare that with 16—17 around some coasts of eastern and south—eastern england, where we start the day with a bit more cloud, still some humid air in place, but it will turn fresher and brighter here as the day wears on. a big slice of sunshine, but then by lunchtime we'll see rain splashing into northern ireland and then that will get into western scotland by the middle of the afternoon with a strengthening wind. temperatures north to south, 14—21 degrees. and then as we head through wednesday evening, we'll see very wet weather for northern ireland, western scotland. that rain overnight getting down into parts of northern england, eventually parts of wales, turning very windy in the north—west of scotland

with gales for a time. it is going to be a mild start to thursday, certainly much milder in the highlands, but generally 11—14 degrees. thursday, this area of low pressure to the north—west of scotland bringing some very strong winds. this dangling weather front bringing a band of cloud and rain. that front to start off sitting across parts of mid—wales and into the midlands. it may well be that the rain peps up again as we head into the afternoon. to the south of that, some sunshine and some warmth. to the north of our weatherfront, a mix of sunny spells and showers. and then for friday, it looks as if our weather front will start to move northwards again. so some heavy and persistent rain for parts of northern ireland and perhaps most likely southern and central parts of scotland. feeling pretty disappointing in glasgow and edinburgh underneath that rain. further south with some sunshine, temperatures up to 25 degrees. and then as we head into the weekend, well, it looks like low pressure will try to push up

from the south and that will bring showers or longer spells of rain in our direction. there could be some pretty intense downpours, maybe some thunderstorms and turning a little warmer and a little more humid.

court in australia found in airwave illegally fired workers during the pandemic. apple's iphone 15 makes its debut. we'll find out how it will perform here in asia. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. let's start off the show with the the high court of australia has turned down an appeal against a ruling that found the airline had breached laws by firing 700 of their employees during the covid—19 pandemic. the of their employees during the covid-19 pandemic.— of their employees during the covid-19 pandemic. the 'obs of ba . . a . e covid-19 pandemic. the 'obs of baggage handlers * covid-19 pandemic. the 'obs of baggage handlers and h covid-19 pandemic. the jobs of baggage handlers and cleaners| baggage handlers and cleaners at ten airports were outsourced as the airline faced a dramatic decline in business. australia's like shift air carrier said it made the decision for sound commercial reasons a recent statement it said, and i quote, it

acknowledges and accepts the