this is live from a historic moment in the u.s. as the impeachment trial of president begins. the ministers. are present and ready to present the articles of impeachment which have been preferred by the house of representatives against donald trump president of the united states chief prosecutor adam schiff. trial as new evidence implicates the president over his dealings with ukraine also coming up.

germany's diplomatic efforts in libya yield a potential breakthrough with rebel commander at least a half cocked committing to a cease fire also attend a conference in berlin this weekend and years of conflict in libya. britain's prince harry makes his 1st public appearance following his recent announcement that he and his american wife wanted to step back from their royal roles and seek more independent feature. i'm told me a lot of thanks for joining me. we begin in the u.s. where the senate has formally opened the impeachment trial against president donald trump supreme court justice john roberts is presiding over the proceedings the trial is happening during an election year where trump hoping to win a 2nd term in office in november the republican controlled senate is expected to

acquit the president who has called the impeachment process a sham. trumps impeachment only the 3rd in u.s. history has drawn closer to its climax with the opening of the senate trial a group of 7 impeachment managers from the house arrived just afternoon to the senate chamber where they were announced by the sergeant at arms reading from a historic script. all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the house of representatives is exhibiting to the senate of the united states articles of impeachment against donald trump president of the united states adam schiff the leader of the prosecution team and the intelligence chair then solemnly read the articles of impeachment. article one. abuse

of power. the constitution provides that the house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment and that the president shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. clearly it was a huge day in u.s. history but the process isn't simple 100 u.s. senators have had to sign an oath book signifying a pledge of impartiality to promise to act as jurors not politicians and deliver a verdict which could have been the fate of a president or perhaps the constitution although quite how impartiality will prevail is high. to discern leading democrats voices to emphasize what was steak house speaker nancy pelosi talking plainly about the president's alleged illegal acts when i was in grade school there was a sign. on the wall in front of the carters that said what

a tangled web we when we 1st practice to see you see this and more and more and all of this this tangled web to deceive that the administration is engaged in. in typical fashion however from call the whole process one hoax and accused to trial is being politically driven. it's totally partisan we had 195 republican votes i guess we got a democrat actually came over to republicans we had 195 to nothing to say oh yes he will however have to address the charges more formally most likely in written form with careful consideration from his legal team. as washington correspondent all of us al it is keeping an eye on proceedings all of a huge day in american history we have $100.00 u.s. senators who've taken an oath of impartiality they're promising to act as jurors not politicians will they really be able to set aside party politics. all that

cohen told me is the crucial question right now and the 5 frankly spoken also the result of the senate trial is pretty much clear even though we're just at the beginning of the trial and that is because republicans are uniting behind their president they are staying very much behind party lines at this point that also reflects the overall atmosphere here among american voters the country is probably polarized as never before in its history and you know you have you even have some single individuals here in senate to openly admit that they're not impartial like senate majority leader mitch mcconnell for instance but then in contras there is a small number of republican senators who are willing to work together with the democrats on the question for instance of allowing witnesses into the trial but at the same time they're running high risk to win support off their base and so we do

not expect surprises here to happen in the senate trial now at the heart of these proceedings on the president's dealings with ukraine new revelations from an associate of mr trump's personal lawyer have provided a new twist over night. that is correct and those revelations are very explosive left part is the associate you were mentioning a former associate offer of president trumps a rudy giuliani and what he basically says is that all of his aides all of president trump's aides were away or off his plans to get to gain political advantage by pushing the ukraine government in the ukrainian president in particular to launch a missile gazing against joe biden who is president trump's political rival 2 but then the wide tells responded of course already is dismissing these allegations he

says they say that left part of his out on bail that he's under indictment therefore not a credible credible witness but nevertheless the question remaining here is how these explosive revelations going to shape the senate trial that is going to continue as soon as next tuesday and will we see the president being called as a witness or 1st of all is unclear if we're going to see any witnesses at all at this point the democrats of course would like that they would like lift parnell's that we've just spoken to bald or even the former national security advisor john bolton to take part in the senate trial senate will vote on this question on tuesday but as of mention there is a lot of resistance from republican senators president trump want to send a formal summons today by the senate he has until saturday 6 pm to reply to that it is however expected that he will do so in britain and that his defense more or

less will be read. on the senate floor ok all of us out in washington thank you that's now brief you on some of the stories in the news. russian lawmakers have approved president putin's choice for prime minister the former head of the federal tax service issues than was confirmed just a day after the surprise resignation of the entire russian government that followed putin's announcement of sweeping constitutional reforms that have led to speculation he's seeking to extend his grip on power. officials in park wise capital assumes he ought to have declared a health emergency after a deadly outbreak of dengue fever authorities say hospitals in the area are struggling to cope after some 1700 suspected cases of the most kito borne disease since last october at least one person has died. germany's parliament

has rejected controversial legislation aimed at making it easier to donate organs the opt out law would have automatically made almost every citizen an organ donor unless they've previously signed a declaration specifically revoking their consent. egypt if you and sudan say they've reached a preliminary agreement on how to fill a $5000000000.00 hydroelectric dam on the nile river is set to bring electricity to $100000000.00 ethiopians fears that filling the dam would negatively affect the water levels downstream it's tensions in the region. to libya now where there appears to be movement in ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in the country's civil war germany's foreign minister has announced that rebel leader after has agreed to abide by a ceasefire following talks in benghazi he's now also expected to attend an

international meeting on the libya crisis in berlin this weekend. this could be the truce the international community was hoping for germany has been weighing in the head of the peace conference should do it for sunday in berlin german foreign minister heiko mass made with libyan general in benghazi on thursday and head of the talks must sit have time had recognized the need for a truce if not yet formally. after has agreed to respect a cease fire agreement regardless of the fact that he hasn't signed it earlier this week not so extraordinarily important. back in berlin german chancellor angela merkel also welcome tough task assurances that he would stick to the ceasefire this is. good news that he's willing to observe the cease fire we need to have that to start with. and then at the libya conference we need to see above all that the weapons and barco has it here to again which was basically agreed through the un

but unfortunately has not been respected. but 1st of all i think this commitment is good news and. general have to and as rival the head of the un recognized libyan government fires will take part in the talks alongside representatives of 11 nations as well as several international organizations the united nations and the european union welcomed the talks and urged all parties to engage constructively towards ending the fighting the conference where i am to address a permanent cease fire in libya the implementation of the u.n. arms embargo and renewed political efforts on all sides to reach a lasting peace. earlier we asked our political correspondent simon young whether germany should view these promises from general have as a victory we shouldn't forget the general have to have the chance to sign a cease fire agreement in moscow last week chose not to do that so i certainly

think we shouldn't. count chickens before they're hatched but clearly is a very positive development because gen will have to are is the man who really controls the largest amount of territory in libya his people pretty much are in dominant everywhere. i saw in the capital tripoli and so the fact that he will be in berlin and he's saying that he's backing a ceasefire you know he's looking towards peace he said he wants this conference to be a success on sunday so all of that really does look very positive going forward. at the australian open qualifiers tennis players have been struggling with poor quality despite some qualifying matches being suspended and one player retiring from play organizers have said the main tournament will go ahead as planned people

in melbourne were advised to stay indoors and keep pets inside this week a number of players have criticised organizers for not postponing matches but tennis australia is adamant the tournament will begin on monday with conditions expected to improve. britain's prince harry has made his 1st public appearance since his recent announcement that he and his wife meggan plan to step back from the royal duties harry attended a school rugby demonstration on the grounds of buckingham palace and while he openly joked with the children he was silent regarding his future plans. prince harry's wish to step back from his ruled you choose has been granted but he still has a few more commitments that means a few more deep breath it's taken a while for the dust to settle after last week's surprise announcement but it's the true for the frog the league world cup and that's helping to soften the blow after

all it's something close to the prince's heart so a rather stiff event turned into something of a shock. this isn't to cooking show he joked. afterwards small talk a few comments on briggs it and thoughts on sporting a beard. it was almost as if harry is having 2nd thoughts about his decision to stop performing his royal duties he was in his element. regularly someone high profile like the g 8 who clearly isn't just here is a ceremonial role knows about rugby league and knows what it means to the community so you know i hope he does keep his involvement with the sport. but there has been no change of royal plans this could be harry's last appearance in the spotlight. before he begins a quieter life in canada by his wife meghan has already landed she's been photographed at meetings with women's rights groups but hasn't yet appeared at any public events. british tabloid report has made it clear they aren't laying off

harry just yet. but the prince has a new mood to play that kind of call instead he made a shop exit back to his grandmother's palace. this is coming up next as a documentary pioneers of the sky i'm told me a lot of this morning is a top of the hour. it's all happening to lift. your link to news from africa the world your link to exceptional stories and discussions continue and welcome to the debut suffocating program tonight from going to meet from the news it's easy it's now out with safety deputed close match africa and join us on facebook at t.w. africa.