phil mercer matter of urgency. they - certainly will. very as acute as an impeachment trial of donald trump have finished putting forward their case to the us senate, alleging the former president incited his supporters to attack the capitol building last month. relying again on emotionally charged video evidence, house democrats accused mr trump of showing a pattern of condoning violence. our north america correspondent, barbara plett usher, reports from washington. after reconstructing the anatomy in brutal detail, the prosecution put forward its case to be if you don't find this a high crime and misdemeanour today, you have set a new, terrible standard for presidential conduct in the united states of america. democrats focused on donald trump as mark rule and his intent, arguing the violence was foreseeable and he willingly encouraged it. showing mr trump had a history of inciting political violence, that his supporters listen and got the message study we have wonderful security guys, they said mrtrump, there wonderful security guys,

phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. you're watching bbc news.s agreed to a temporary arrangement with the un to monitor its nuclear programme. there will be access to its sites, but no snap inspections and the deal will only last three months. in myanmar, a funeral has taken place for a young woman shot dead by security forces. she's become a symbol of the resistance to military rule as thousands took to the streets again in protest. nigerian authorities have launched an investigation into the crash of a military aircraft at the international airport in abuja, after reporting engine failure. the nigerian air force has confirmed all seven personnel on board died. the victims were flying to rescue abducted students in niger state. the bbc�*s ishaq khalid reports. the military aircraft initially took off from this airport in the capital abuja en route to a city in the central part of the country, about 160 km from here. so, on its way, it developed a technical problem, an engine problem, according to the authorities. then it was decided to return.

phil mercer reports. the earthquake struck at lunchtime in late summer.ew zealand's biggest cities was overcome by panic and terror. there were frantic efforts to save those who were trapped. others ran for their lives. yes, it was terrifying. it was actually just. .. just... you thought you were going to die. you really thought you were going to die. two thirds of the victims died in the canterbury television building. it was poorly built and no match for such a powerful tremor. tom hawker had stepped out for lunch moments before it collapsed. approximately maybe ten minutes after the earthquake, i remember a fire starting. and ijust thought to myself, "god," you know, "those people are not going to stand a chance." i lost 16 friends and colleagues who were very close to me. people that actually made a difference in your life, and when they passed, it was unimaginable, really. and i remember looking up at the building beside me, looking at the glass panels and thinking that, "oh, my god, we're dead." i literally thought that those glass panels would fall

phil mercer reports.tions is linked to a quarantine hotel at melbourne airport. australians returning home must go into isolation for at least two weeks on arrival. health officials say the snap coronavirus lockdown is in response to the hyper—infectious uk variant. it's thought to have been spread in the hotel by a nebuliser, a device that vaporises medicine, that was used by a family who tested positive. stay—at—home orders will apply to millions of people. schools will close and facemasks are mandatory. the australian open will continue in melbourne, but tennis fans won't be allowed to attend for at least five days. the victorian premier, daniel andrews, says there's no time to lose. if we wait for this theory that it might be out there, there might be more cases than we know about, if we wait for that to be proven correct, it will be too late. and then we will face the prospect of being locked down until a vaccination. hotel quarantine is australia's last line of defence against imported cases of covi

phil mercer in sydney. phil mercer in sydney.vernight. two people were taken to hospital and residents from a number of nearby properties were also evacuated following reports of an explosion just after nine o'clock. emergency services remain at the scene. barclays bank has reported that its profits before tax are down 30% on last year, at £3.1 billion. while its investment division did well out of volatility in the markets, seeing a record performance, retail banking has been exposed to the uk economy and struggled to make money in a low interest rate landscape. the bank's set aside nearly £5 billion for loans that it thinks won't be paid back. a report on the economic impact of the pandemic has found that almost two million people haven't worked for at least six months because they were unemployed or fully furloughed. the living standards think—tank, the resolution foundation, says its study highlights the lasting damage done to job security. a treasury spokesman said the government would continue to invest in protecting and cr

our correspondent phil mercer reports.—old baby girl was among 185 people who died. new zealand's prime minister has praised the hope and optimism that was helping to rebuild the city. she also acknowledged the pain. the toll could not have been more significant and daily reminders made it harder. a fractured landscape, after—shocks, struggling friends and neighbours, and children with deep and unseen scars. the earthquake struck at lunchtime. in an instant, one of new zealand's biggest cities was overcome by panic and terror. it remains very surreal to this day. it is something that will be etched in my memory and those of my colleagues all of my life. we have had an 80% turnover in staff. it has an impact. two thirds of the victims died in the canterbury television building. it was poorly built and no match for such a powerful tremor. more than half of the buildings in christchurch were damaged. the famous cathedral was not spared. it became a symbol of a city in pain. lives and livelihoods were lost. so many homes. from

fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers. 0ur correspondent phil mercerion. this is shaping up to be a real arm wrestle between one of the world's most powerful tech companies and the australian government. from today, facebook says it will be blocking australian news from sharing or viewing news content on its site. the reason for that is a law that passed in the lower house of the australian parliament late on wednesday that will compel— or seeks to compel — tech companies to pay for news content that it re—posts on its platforms. the australian government says it is still in talks with facebook, but we have heard from the australian communications minister, a man called paul fletcher, in the last couple of hours here in australia, and he has taken a swipe at facebook, saying that its decision really raises the issue of facebook�*s credibility when it comes to news. so this is a dispute that has been brewing for quite a long time, and facebook�*s decision has been reported here as a bombshell and a stunning measure. and how have people been reacting to

lets speak to our correspondent phil mercer.ten years, a long decade for christchurch. talk through how important today's memorial was. todayis important today's memorial was. today is all about pain and optimism. we heard from jacinda ardern saying the hope, energy and optimism displayed by the city of christchurch was making it into one of the country's brightest and best cities. we also heard the pain, the pain of loss, and as we've heard in the last few moments, that list of 185 the terms that was read out and was very long and painful, they are inscribed on the national earthquake memorial in christchurch new zealand �*s south island, among five week old baby, among a number of young children who died, and about 87 foreign nationals died in the christchurch earthquake along with many new zealanders and those of the hymns came from a range of countries, japan, china, thailand, the united kingdom and the united states so the ripples of the disaster ten years ago did spread far beyond the shores of new zealand. figs beyond the

our correspondent phil mercer is in sydney.d—i9 rather than tennis. australia's response to the pandemic has always been to go hard and to go early. and that's certainly what the victorian state government is doing. there are fears that this 26—year—old support worker who was stationed at one of the hotels for the australian open in melbourne has been in contact with hundreds of people. now australia's response to the pandemic — it closed its borders to foreign travellers back in march, mass testing, about 13 million tests have been carried out since the pandemic began. and also, very sophisticated contact tracing too. so the premiere of victoria state, danielandrews, is urging people not to panic, and he says the authorities know how to get on top of these outbreaks. and phil, very briefly, it will go ahead, won't it, despite all that's happened ? yes, you would imagine it would. there might be a few bumps along the way, and certainly that's been the case since hundreds of players and support staff were flown into australia. a

previously called facebook�*s threats of such let's go live to sydney and speak to our correspondent phil mercerday and the reasoning behind it. this is shaina u- and the reasoning behind it. this is shaping up to _ and the reasoning behind it. this is shaping up to be — and the reasoning behind it. this is shaping up to be a _ and the reasoning behind it. this is shaping up to be a real— and the reasoning behind it. this is shaping up to be a real arm - and the reasoning behind it. this is| shaping up to be a real arm wrestle between one of the world's most powerful tech companies and the australian government from today, facebook says it will be blocking australian news it from sharing or viewing news content on its site. the reason for that is a law that passed in the house of the australian parliament late on wednesday that will compile or seeks to compel tech companies to pay for news content that it read posts on its platforms. the australian government says it is still in talks with facebook, but we have heard from the australian commune occasions minister, a man called paul fletcher in t

let's speak to the bbc�*s phil mercer in sydney.ment for the entire industry, for the media industry, and two different approaches to long—running issues. do you think this set a precedent? i think this set a precedent? i think what this does it set facebook and the australian government potentially on a collision course for a very testy dispute. we have seen some pretty strong language coming from australian government ministers, saying facebook�*s decision to ban australians from sharing or viewing new stories from local or global sides really reflects extremely bad on facebook. australian ministers are saying that it shows that facebook is not responsible and lacks credibility. worth noting also that this proposal law has actually passed its first hurdle, approved by the australian lower house of parliament. the upper house, the chamber, expected to approve the law next week. the government showing no sign in backing down. on the other side of the coin, we have google which has suffered its hard—line stance against the law by str

phil mercer, thank you so much.n earnest today, with the announcement of the golden globe nominees. and history was made, with three women nominated in the best director category. among them, chloe zhao, who directed the movie nomadland. she's the first chinese film—maker to to be nominated for the category. our entertainment correspondent tom brook spoke to her in los angeles. i'm not homeless, i'mjust... chloe zhao's picture nomadland, starring francis mcdormand, is a contemporary western, is a contemporary western, the story of a woman who leads a nomadic life in america's heartland. it's been playing at festivals and at their drive—in venues, and it's generated a lot of awards buzz. for 38—year—old zhao, this, her third film, is a major achievement. she's made history by becoming the first woman of asian descent to land a golden globe best director nomination. obviously, she's pleased by the recognition. i think it's great, i think it's very happy. i love what i do, and anything that can help me keep doing what

phil mercer reports. hyper—infectious uk variant. it's thought to have been spread in the hotel by a nebuliser, a device that vaporises medicine, that was used by a family who tested positive. stay—at—home orders will apply to millions of people. schools will close and facemasks are mandatory. the australian open will continue in melbourne, but tennis fans won't be allowed to attend for at least five days. the victorian premier, daniel andrews, says there's no time to lose. if we wait for this theory that it might be out there, there might be more cases than we know about, if we wait for that to be proven correct, it will be too late. and then we will face the prospect of being locked down until a vaccination. hotel quarantine is australia's last line of defence against imported cases of covid—19, but it's not perfect. breaches in security that allowed passengers to pass the virus to staff ignited a deadly second wave of infections in melbourne last year. the city was shut down for almost four months unti

phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. a statement, bill michael said 'i love the firm and i am truly sorry that my words have caused hurt amongst my colleagues. in light of that, i regard my position as untenable and so i have decided to leave the firm. here's a clip of bill michael from the online meeting with kpmg employees. i have spoken to a lot of partners and wear it almost feels like this is being done to them. well, you can play the role of victim unless you are sick. if you're not you're not ill, you're not fighting for your life, don't basically moan about it. our business correspondent theo leggett has the background to the story. well, this is a meeting and online meeting they call a town hall meeting that happened between bill michael and several hundred kpmg consultants on monday. now, immediately after that meeting, a lot of reports came out about alleged insensitive remarks made by bill michael. and some of them have now found their way onto the internet. there's a video which a major newspaper has put onl

here's phil mercer in sydney. it's happened before., but the point australia is making is that these individuals, in its opinion, to not deserve the rights and privileges of australian citizenship. the way new zealand believes, it sees it as that perhaps both country should be sharing responsibility because we now have a woman who's in her mid—20s in custody in turkey with two young children. new zealand says it will try to offer her consular assistance, but of course the big issue is, what happens in the near future? what happens if turkey releases this woman? where does she go and who is responsible for her? now, there's history here. there's long been tension around broader issues of australia's policies towards new zealanders. inevitably because of their proximity — people move between these two countries a great deal. but it is harder and more costly for new zealanders to get permanent residency and citizenship in australia than it is the other way round. this surfaced last year. jacinda arden called scott morrison out over severa

our correspondent in australia, phil mercer, has the latest. far beyond the world of sport. millions of people are now subject to stay—at—home orders, or they will be in the next seven or eight hours. schools will close and masks will be mandatory. and the state government in victoria, it's australia's second most populous state, says that a circuit breaker is needed in order to curb these outbreaks that were first detected at that quarantine hotel for returned travellers at melbourne airport. the authorities believe that a nebuliser, this vaporiser — it turns medicine into a vapour — was probably the source of the uk variant infections that have now tested positive within 13 people. other experts believe that poor ventilation in those quarantine hotels could be allowing the virus to spread. what we do know is that those snap lockdowns in other parts of australia appear to have worked, and that's what we get the sense from victorian authorities — they are pinning their hopes that this sudden, five—day lockdown will be doing the trick, will conf

our correspondent phil mercer reports.the world, including japan, china and thailand. ., world, including japan, china and thailand. . ~. new zealand's prime minister has praised the hope and optimism that was helping to rebuild the city. she also acknowledged the pain. the toll could not have been more significant and daily reminders made it harder. a fractured landscape, after—shocks, struggling friends and neighbours, and children with deep and unseen scars. i hope you find the space to be kind to yourself. as you have no doubt been to others who knew you were carrying the same burden. the earthquake struck at lunchtime. in an instant, one of new zealand's biggest cities was overcome by panic and terror. they were frantic efforts to save those who were trapped. others ran for their lives. those who were trapped. others ran fortheir lives. for those who were trapped. others ran for their lives. for many, the trauma has been immense. it remains very surreal to this day. it is something that will be etched in my memory and

our correspondent phil mercer reports.f my colleagues all of my life. two thirds of the victims died in the canterbury television building. it was poorly built and no match for such a powerful tremor. more than half of the buildings in christchurch were damaged. you never get over it. we did know people who died in the earthquake. it is just one of these things, you have to get on with your life and just look forward to the revival of the city, really. the disaster in christchurch was made worse by another big earthquake a few months earlier that had weakened many buildings. ten years on, a devastated city is slowly being reborn. the us plane—maker, boeing, has recommended that dozens of its 777 airliners be grounded over an engine fault which sparked an emergency landing in colorado. it's after an engine on a united airlines flight carrying 241 people burst into flames shortly after take—off. pictures show debris from the plane scattered near houses and other buildings, but there were no reports of any injuries. the radio

australian open, while schools will close and masks will be made compulsory. 0ur correspondent, phil mercerne of defence for australia when it comes to imported cases of covid-i9~ _ when it comes to imported cases of covid—19. arriving with returned travellers — covid—19. arriving with returned travellers. australia banned foreign travellers _ travellers. australia banned foreign travellers from coming last march. but citizens and permanent residents are allowed to return. they face at least _ are allowed to return. they face at least 14 _ are allowed to return. they face at least 14 days in hotel quarantine. this latest— least 14 days in hotel quarantine. this latest cluster of cases in the city of— this latest cluster of cases in the city of melbourne is linked to the holiday— city of melbourne is linked to the holiday inn at melbourne airport. the authorities believe that the infection. — the authorities believe that the infection, the highly contagious new variant, _ infection, the highly contagious new variant, was spread by a nebuliser used _ variant, was spread by a nebuliser used in