— against international law. a very warm welcome to newsday. south korea's constitutional court has started preparations for president yoon suk yeol�*s impeachment trial. justices are reviewing saturday's parliamentary vote in favour of suspending him from office after his failed attempt to impose military rule. the court has up to 100 and 80 days to decide whether to uphold the impeachment or reinstate mr yoon. —— the court has up to 180 days to decide. meanwhile, the leader of the ruling people power party, han dong—hoon, has said that he will step down. the impeachment vote on saturday saw an estimated 12 members of his party break from their party line to vote in favour of impeachment. he said it had become

impossible to carry out his duties as party chief. let's get more on the latest developments from our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie. great to have you on the programme. how is the mood in seoul this morning after the weekend's events?- seoul this morning after the weekend's events? things here this morning — weekend's events? things here this morning feel— weekend's events? things here this morning feel as _ weekend's events? things here this morning feel as if - weekend's events? things here this morning feel as if they - this morning feel as if they are returning to normal and there is an awful lot of relief amongst people here that at least we have some certainty now, some clarity moving forward. i think people were concerned that if he wasn't impeached on saturday, these protest were going to continue every single weekend, every single saturday in the freezing pole —— cold. the politicians would have to go in back into the chamber every weekend to vote. the relief amongst people in seoul and the politicians that at least they may have a

slightly more normal christmas than they otherwise may have had but yesterday was a very strange day here actually. seoul actually felt a bit like a ghost town, streets was so quiet and it seemed as though everyone was taking a moment to pause and be indoors after saturday's huge protest, where the organisers are estimating that there were too many people —— 2 million people on the street. it -- 2 million people on the street. . , , ., , ., , street. it has been non-stop ever since — street. it has been non-stop ever since the _ street. it has been non-stop ever since the fiasco - street. it has been non-stop ever since the fiasco started | ever since the fiasco started and there are a few moving parts in terms of legal cases. where are these with the insurrection proceedings against president yoon? mr yoon is bein: against president yoon? mr yoon is being investigated _ against president yoon? mr yoon is being investigated by - against president yoon? mr yoon is being investigated by police . is being investigated by police and by prosecutors, so two separate investigations for these charges of insurrection and treason. the people bringing these charges argue there was really nothing in the constitution that allowed him to impose martial law. the prosecutors asked him to come in for questioning yesterday but mr yoon did not show up. they are asking him again today. the police have asked

him questioning on wednesday. if he continues not to show up, it is very likely they could move to arrest him, bring him in for questioning this way. he is banned from leaving the country. also police have been trying to raid the presidential office, they have not only to raid the compound because they want to raise his —— such as office key pieces of material but so far the security is not that the men. mr green has been defined through all of this defending his decision and even after the vote of impeachment on saturday night it came out and said he was going to fight this until the end of this was only a temporary pause in his presidency while the constitutional court reviews this case. constitutional court reviews this case-— this case. and very quickly, jean, this case. and very quickly, jean. before _ this case. and very quickly, jean, before we _ this case. and very quickly, jean, before we have - this case. and very quickly, jean, before we have to - this case. and very quickly, | jean, before we have to go, what can we expect in the days ahead from the impeachment trial? �* , ahead from the impeachment trial? 3 , ., , ahead from the impeachment trial? 3 , ., trial? it's very early days and this could — trial? it's very early days and this could be _ trial? it's very early days and this could be a _ trial? it's very early days and this could be a long - trial? it's very early days and this could be a long process. | this could be a long process. at the moment they have just said they have started reviewing the case. we don't have any more details yet. they have any more details yet. they have six months to rule on this

but people here, there is certainly pressure for them to rule much more quickly than this so that we put an end to the uncertainty. it was a very small protest yesterday outside the constitutional court, about 1000 people. those sorts of protests they think will continue to keep the pressure on the court to make sure this decision is made more quickly and this could go one of two ways, the constitutional court could decide to uphold this impeachment in which case mr yoon is gone for good in south korea will hold new elections but they could also decide to reinstate him.— but they could also decide to reinstate him. jean mackenzie re ortin . reinstate him. jean mackenzie reporting live _ reinstate him. jean mackenzie reporting live from _ reinstate him. jean mackenzie reporting live from seoul. - i spoke to moon chung—in, who was special adviser to president moonjae—in, and asked him who's now in charge of south korea. prime minister han duck—soo, has become the acting president and he will take care of the entire transition process. he's quite a competent leader and i think he will be able to handle the transition

quite smoothly. we saw celebrations in south korea over that impeachment vote but president yoon has refused the police summons. what is your reading on what he is thinking at the moment? now, he is trying to argue that his declaration of martial law is out of his presidential right to govern, but i think it was an outright violation of constitution and other related laws. therefore, he will be arguing in the constitutional court that he did the right thing, and also, he is rejecting the idea he committed a treason. but the evidence is overwhelming. it would be extremely difficult for him to defend himself in the constitutional court and in the criminal court. he does have a legal background, so he must be thinking ahead. do you see south korea having

a new president by the time president—elect trump is inaugurated? no, that's too early. there are two theories. one is there will be what they're calling a cherry blossom, called sometime in march, or there will be an roads election in may next year. —— a rose election. but as you pointed out, the constitutional court has six months to deliberate on the case. then, the election of the president will be held within 60 days after the final deliberation by the constitutional court. there will be sometime between march and may. but still, it is unknown — it all depends on the constitutional courtjudges. therefore, there are some concerns. however, as i pointed out, the evidence is overwhelming — therefore, it will be very

difficult for president yoon to defend himself. quite a long process ahead. i mean, trump has previously said south korea needs to start paying for american troops on its soil. he has just appointed a special envoy. how do you think interim leaders will deal with him? we have reached an agreement with the biden administration just two months ago and i think that agreement should be upheld. it will be very unfair for the trump 2.0 to revoke that and have another round of negotiation on that special measures agreement. it is yet to be seen but i think the agreement we signed with the biden administration in october should be upheld and it should be binding.

in other news, several hundred people — and possibly even thousands — are now feared to have died in a powerful cyclone that hit the island of mayotte, a french indian ocean territory. winds of more than 220km/h and heavy rain battered the territory, causing widespread devastation. authorities there say the final number of victims may never be known. mayotte is a french territory and so, a member of the eu. many people there lived in makeshift homes and the french government says they have all been destroyed. cyclone chido has made landfall in mozambique and is also threatening other countries in the region. greg mckenzie reports. the french indian ocean territory of mayotte. cyclone chido made landfall here on saturday, the devastation and aftermath clear to see. entire communities flattened by gusts of more than 140mph. islanders sheltering any way they can.

0fficials fear the death toll will be in the hundreds, or even higher. located northwest of madagascar, mayotte is an archipelago comprised of one main island and several smaller ones. most of the island's 300,000 or so inhabitants live in shacks with sheet metal roofs. tens of thousands of people have lost their homes. electricity, water and internet connections are all down. translation: no matter how the houses were built, - everything has been destroyed. i think that you can see a little bit of that all around me. people are doing their best to try and rebuild their houses but the work is going to be extremely long. the government in paris has sent a military transport plane with supplies and emergency workers as mayotte hasn't seen a storm this intense in more than a decade.

strict lockdowns in place for the whole population, including emergency services, have now been lifted as some try to buy what little provisions are available. translation: we've come to get something to eat for the kids, - for us adults — for everyone. we've got nothing left. we had stocked up, but the wind has taken it all away. translation: we've had no water for three days now, . so it's starting to be a problem. we're trying to get the bare minimum to live on because we don't know when the water will come back. now, those in its path in the mozambique channel brace themselves with more heavy rain and flooding predicted. greg mckenzie, bbc news. the unicef representative in the city of pemba in northern mozambique told the bbc that roofs had been ripped off many houses, and infrastructure was severely impacted. water supplies — which were already in a dire state — have been totally cut off in some rural areas and power is intermittent. save the children's country director told the bbc

it is a scary situation for those in the country we had wind gusts of more than 200km/h bringing a lot of destruction among houses, schools, health centres and all other infrastructure — especially in pemba, capital of cabo delgado province but also in nampula province. our staff has also been directly impacted. our offices and sub—offices have been damaged. some areas that have been hit by the cyclone are more densely populated than others — like pemba, which is the capital of cabo province. but other areas are less densely populated, but also much poorer.

the area that has been struck and hit by the cyclone is very large and very difficult in terms of access both for logistics but also for insecurity reasons. —— for logistics but also for security reasons. therefore, that will have to be determined. seven people have been taken to hospital in fiji after suspected alcohol poisoning. it's believed all those affected were guests at a resort where they drank cocktails in the bar on saturday night and fell ill shortly afterwards. it comes just a few weeks after the death of six tourists in laos from suspected methanol poisoning. 0ur reporter vandhna bahn has more. the alcohol incident in fiji happened near the southwest coast near a small town called sigatoka and it happened at this 5—star resort called warwick hotel. it is very different to the incident we saw in laos, where that occurred at a backpackers hostel. now, fiji, unlike many

parts of south—east asia, is not known for backpacking culture because it is expensive. it's predominantly tailored towards family holidays and honeymooners, so a different demographic. the ministry of health in fiji have said those hospitalised are between the ages of 18 and 56. four of them are australian, one american and two foreigners who are currently living in fiji, so expatriates. again, a very different demographic to laos where it was teenagers and young adults who are affected, some who sadly died. and that was because of perhaps bootleg alcohol. in fiji, like alcohol orfake alcohol. in fiji, like alcohol or fake alcohol isn't as big an issue as it is in south—east asia. fiji, a very protective hour about the tourism image on the international scale and that's because it makes up about 40% of their gdp. it's their largest industry. there

are a lot of questions at the moment as to how and why this happened at a 5—star luxury resort. the investigation is in its early stages at the moment and people —— police have been on—site at the resort. the ministry of health has issued an advice to the public to be careful about what they are consuming over this festive period and the australian authorities have also issued a warning to travellers to fiji during this easy summer period. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are live with bbc news. to syria, where a week after dictator bashar al—assad, was ousted by islamist rebels, other countries are starting to think about how they will deal with the new interim regime. on his first visit to damascus since mr assad fled, the un envoy for syria said he supports lifting sanctions on the country. he urged justice, not revenge,

and he called for increased and immediate aid. a delegation from qatar has also been in the syrian capital, meeting the transitional government. russia, which was a close backer of assad, has evacuated much of its diplomatic staff. the main rebel group, hts, remains a proscribed terrorist organisation in the uk but the country's foreign secretary david lammy says british diplomats have established contact with the group, saying officials would deal with the group quote "where we have to". inside the country, syrians now face the challenge of overcoming the past and rebuilding for the future, as our international editor jeremy bowen reports. driving through the gates of sednaya prison was the journey no syrian wanted to take. many didn't come out alive. now the prison has been broken open, like the country, and on sednaya's forbidding hill outside damascus, there are signs in the prison yard of how far syria has come injust a week.

volunteers are here to try to preserve sednaya's records. it looks as if someone tried to destroy what was done here. when dictators and their henchmen fall, making sure they don't take the truth with them is a big part of a better future. it's slow work. runaway. yeah. a runaway guard. in sednaya's cell corridors, you can see how hard it will be to mend the country assad broke. families come here searching for those they've lost. it is estimated more than 100,000 people disappeared since 2011 after being detained by the old regime. the volunteers found that the truth was even worse than they had feared in cells that still stink of misery. translation: it is terrible - terrible. l there are bags of urine in on the floor. they couldn't go to the toilet,

so they had to put urine in bags. the smell. there is no sun or light. i can't believe people were living like this when we were breathing normally and living our normal lives. the rubble is left from attempts to find hidden cells. sednaya's basements were the dark heart of the assad regime. it used the fear of this place to coerce and repress the people. just punishing the torturers who lurked here and healing their victims is a huge undertaking on its own. this prison is full of horrible little details of the way that people were mistreated. this area is full of blankets, bits of clothing, uniforms. i'd say there's a strong possibility that they kept dozens of men cooped up in here like sardines in absolutely brutal,

bestial conditions. every syrian i've met has said that the future has to be built on justice for the past. these men in the prison yard called sednaya "a mass grave" and wanted bashar al—assad to be decapitated. ahmed, searching for the brother he said lives on in his dreams, did three years in sednaya. translation: it was so bad - the torture, the food, - everything. we were suffering. translation: we are many. people from al-qamishli, hasakah, raqqa, all looking for their loved ones. thousands are still in the streets looking for their children. it's notjust me. another huge challenge — reconstruction. who will pay? the economy was destroyed by the war and sucked dry by the corruption of the assads. this isjobar, close

to damascus city centre. we drove through the ruins to see hassan abu shwab, back with his family after 11 years injail, sentenced to death for terrorism — the regime's word for rebellion, which he denies. the neighbours were firing into the air to celebrate the return of sons from the war. what do you think should happen to the sort of guys who tortured prisoners like you? translation: they should be punished. we are human souls after all, not stones. and the killers must be publicly executed. otherwise, we won't get through this. some of them tortured human beings to death. i saw a 49—year—old man in my cell die. they tortured him for three days, then wrote in the report that he had a stroke. you've been through a terrible experience. so has the whole country. how do you get over it and build a better place?

we need to forget, to move on. this is a happy time for all syrians. we need to get back to work. we turn the page. all the sadness is behind us. forgetting the assads is not easy when they've left 90% of syrians in poverty. these men came to sednaya from aleppo to find their brothers. now, they're camping in the prison. nowhere else to go and no escape from a hard future and a past full of pain. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. the israeli government has approved a plan to expand settlements in the occupied golan heights — a move considered illegal under international law. prime minister benjamin netanyahu defended the decision because of what he called the "new front" that's opened up in syria. israel captured the golan heights from syria in 1967. an armistice was signed between them in 1974 and a buffer zone established.

but after the fall of president assad, israeli troops entered the buffer zone — again in violation of the agreement. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson sent this report from the village of hadar, where she encountered israeli troops on syrian territory. an hourfrom damascus on a syrian country road, we met israel's army. an impromptu checkpoint on the only route into hadar village. military vehicles and troops in full combat gear. earlier this week, israel said it was seizing control of syrian territory in a demilitarised zone set up in a ceasefire agreement 50 years ago. hadar overlooks this buffer zone. parts of the village even jut into it. the village chief points out the territory israel occupied in 1967 from the mountains

of the golan to the galilee. many residents in this druze community have relatives still living there. now they see israeli forces moving around their own village. a week after president assad's regime fell, the sense of freedom here comes tinged with fatalism. maybe they leave, maybe they stay, naybe they go away, maybe they make the area safe and then go away to the border. we want to hope. but in the future, we will wait and see. israeli bulldozers are clearly visible above the village. many syrians fear israel simply wants to grab more land. israel says it's motivated by the threat from jihadist groups and that its incursions would be limited and temporary. the iran—backed groups that israel was fighting here have been weakened

by the fall of assad. israel is taking advantage of this moment to extend its reach here and deal with new potential threats. the village chief said dozens of men, including his own son, died defending the village from militia of all kinds during syria's war. translation: israel is a state. we can't stand up to it. we used to stand up to individuals, but israel is a superpower. israel's prime minister has talked about a new front in syria. syria's new islamist leader has warned of unnecessary escalation. its long—awaited freedom overshadowed by talk of war. lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar. zakir hussain, one of the world's greatest musicians, has died at the age of 73.

the indian classical music icon was suffering from chronic lung disease and died at a hospital in san francisco, his family said in a statement. hussain was a four—time grammy award winner and collaborated with world musicians that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello. sunday brought temperatures as high as 1a degrees in some parts of the uk and the new working week is getting off to a similarly mild start. now, we are going to see some wet and windy weather at times this week. it will then turn colder for a while towards the end of the week, but for the time being, we find ourselves within this area of mild air. across the north of the uk, though, notice this weather front — a very slow—moving weather front — which is going to continue to deliver some heavy and persistent rain across the northwest

of scotland. some western parts of the highlands through monday and into tuesday could be looking at up to 150mm of rain — that could give rise to some transport disruption and some flooding issues. elsewhere, a largely dry but rather cloudy start to the day. however, we will see that cloud thinning and breaking to give some spells of sunshine. maybe just a bit grey and murky for parts of southwest england and wales. breezy — in fact, windy up towards the north but temperatures widely11, 12, maybe 13 degrees celsius. now, during monday night, the rainjust keeps on coming in the north of scotland. further south, a lot of dry weather, some clear spells for a time but we will see cloud thickening up as our next weather system begins to work its way in towards the west. some rain into northern ireland, southwest scotland as we start tuesday morning. that first band of rain pushing its way northwards and eastwards.

then a somewhat drier gap, maybe with a little bit of brightness before our next band of rain swings its way in from the west. the winds will be strengthening — in fact, quite gusty around some western coasts. with those winds coming up from the south, it's going to be another mild day — ten, 11, 12, 13 degrees. wednesday — exceptionally mild. there will be some spells of sunshine. scattered showers, too. looks like an area of heavy rain will start to push its way in towards the southwest and parts of wales later in the day. if you get yourself some brightness, 10—15 degrees will feel very mild indeed for the time of year. however, that mild air for the middle part of the week is not going to last because the wind direction changes. into thursday, we bring down more of a north or northwesterly wind and it is going to feel a little bit colder for the end of the week. so, the week starts on a mild note. we'll see some wind and rain and then, it turns a little bit colder later.

china's growth concerns persist china's growth concerns persist as november's retail as november's retail sales miss expectations. sales miss expectations. proceedings begin in proceedings begin in south korea, after lawmakers south korea, after lawmakers voted to impeach voted to impeach president yoon suk yeol. president yoon suk yeol. hello and welcome to business today. hello and welcome to business today.

i'm suranjana tewari. i'm suranjana tewari. china released a fresh round of economic indicators house prices fell 5.7% year—on—year in november,