Live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. Its news day. Newsday. Its 8am in singapore, midnight in and 7pm in washington, dc, where the us house of representatives is set to vote later on wednesday on whether to impeach donald trump. Its over claims that he threatened to withhold military aid from ukraine unless it investigated his leading democratic rival in next years president ial election joe biden and his son. In a letter to the House Speaker, nancy pelosi, mr trump called the impeachment process an illegal, partisan attempted coup, that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth. The democrat controlled house is expected to vote in favour, which would lead to a trial in the senate, probably injanuary. Heres the president speaking earlier. This has been a total sham from the very beginning. Everybody knows it. Ive never seen the Republican Party so ive never seen the Republican Party so united. We got about 100 of the vote. I believe the senate is equally as well united. I was Mitch Mcconnell this morning, i watched numerous people last night. The senators, and i think they are equally well united was that they know its a hoax, is a witch hunt, and its just a know its a hoax, is a witch hunt, and itsjust a continuation know its a hoax, is a witch hunt, and its just a continuation that has been going on now for almost three years and are probably started before i even won the election based on what we found out about the insurance policy quotes and other things, so its a disgrace. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the leading liberaljudge on the us supreme court. At 86 years old, she has been fighting for decades to advance womens rights and equal rights for all. Shes been speaking to the bbc about the impeachment vote. My colleague razia iqbal asked her about the role that senators should play in the process specifically, should they be impartial . The house insides and the senate tries visit should hio be impartial . Of course, that is the job of a judge, to be impartial should the trier be impartial . But you are aware there are senators already sang before the impeachment gets to the senate or the trial in the senate, they have already made their minds up. Thats problematic. Isa their minds up. Thats problematic. Is a judge said that. Love. A judge would be disqualified from sitting on the case. If a judge said that. Laughter. Is about accountability. Ifa laughter. Is about accountability. If a senator that they have already made up their mind in a child doesnt exist, there is no accountability, is there . My old chiefjustice put accountability, is there . My old chief justice put it accountability, is there . My old chiefjustice put it very well and he said the day a judge stops being impartial and starts to do things to please the home crowd whatever your home crowd is thats the day thatjudges stepped down from office. Thatjudges stepped down from office. Justice thatjudges stepped down from office. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in conversation with razia iqbal. My colleague Laura Trevelyan is in washington. She told us more about Donald Trumps letter to nancy pelosi. He actually says those accused of witchcraft in the 16 90s had more due process than he is being afforded, so he is very, very cross indeed. His repeating his lines about the impeachment process being about the impeachment process being a part as an attempt to a qr about the impeachment process being a part as an attempt to a or and also taking issue with House Speaker nancy pelosi with her demeanour and her delivery, which he calls a false display of solemnity. Nancy pelosi herself was asked about the letter and she said it was ridiculous and she has written her own letters and i. So, duelling letters on the eve of that impeachment vote. Nancy pelosi says we must honour our oath to support and defend our constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. So that is her message to members of her Democratic Caucus on the eve of the boat. Kasia madera, by the way, those who are counting votes, us Media Organisation to thank the democrats doindeed organisation to thank the democrats do indeed have the votes to impeach the president which would make him only the third president in us history to be impeached. So that is the house of representatives. Because a different story when it comes to the republican led senate . Thats right. The way to think about it really the house of representatives in fact accuses the president of something. If they vote for the articles of impeachment they are accusing him of abuse of power and of obstruction of congress. Then it was to the senate, the Upper Chamber and they in fact hold trial and the republicans control the chamber 5347 and the republicans control the chamber5347 in and the republicans control the chamber 5347 in fact hold trial. There has been a lot of wrangling about the shape of the trout controlled the chamber 53 47. If a political process, not a legal one. Democrats say they should call the witness as they try to get hold of that mike tried to. It would only ta ke that mike tried to. It would only take a couple of republican senators to defect to change the of the senate. So we will see what, if any movement there is on that. Laura to valley and there was that of course, extensive coverage valley and there was that of course, exte ns ive coverage a cross valley and there was that of course, extensive coverage across the bbc of the vote later on on wednesday. Laura trevelyan. Also making news today chinas first domestically built Aircraft Carrier has entered Service Following a commissioning ceremony attended by president xi jinping. The shandong will operate from the island province of hainan, in the south china sea, where china has competing maritime claims. Chinas first carrier was bought second hand from ukraine. Speaking at his first Cabinet Meeting since his re election as Prime Minister, borisjohnson has promised to work flat out to deliver on the promises he has had made to the british people. He also wants parliament to prevent extending the brexit transition period beyond december 3ist next year. The Prime Minister says the deadline will focus minds in westminster as well as in brussels. Protests across india have continued for a sixth day, with clashes between police and demonstrators. Tens of thousands of people have turned up to protest against a new law, which offers citizenship to non muslim Illegal Immigrants from three nearby countries. Thai authorities have arrested two people for attempting to smuggle 95 tortoises out of the country. The tortoises were seized from inside the luggage of a taiwanese couple, who were detained while passing a security check. They were charged with smuggling and violating the Wildlife Protection act. The Pakistani Army has reacted angrily to the death sentence given to the countrys former military ruler, general Pervez Musharraf on treason charges. A military spokesman said the special Court Verdict had been received with anguish by the rank and file of the armed forces, and that due process had not been followed. Its the first time a court has handed down such a grave verdict on a military ruler. The penalty is unlikely to be carried out Pervez Musharraf has lived in exile in dubai since fleeing pakistan three years ago. Bbc urdus Abid Mohammed hussain reports from islamabad. The army has released a statement which is saying that the rank and file of the Pakistan Army has shown a lot of anguish and pain at this particular verdict, and what they are also saying is that general Pervez Musharraf has served with distinction for the last 40 years, has led the army and fought in wars so has led the army and fought in wars so he cannot be a traitor of what he has done. In fact, this particular statement, it also goes on to add that Pervez Musharraf of the trial against him was not carried out with com plete against him was not carried out with complete transparency. It was done not ina complete transparency. It was done not in a proper manner and this kind of thing, it showed that the army did not like this verdict at all. They have sown a lot of assertiveness and a lot of disgruntled nurse about this decision. The government, they havent really given any formal reaction to it so far, but the advisor to the Prime Minister on media affairs, they have said we are only waiting for the complete verdict to come in and then we will analyse and give a response. 0nce verdict to come in and then we will analyse and give a response. Once he comes back into the country, he will Say Something more about it. However, on the other hand, the Opposition Party obviously praised this verdict. The chairman of the peoples party, he has that i have been saying that democracy is the best events. Today the verdict so that i was right. That is bbc news Abid Mohammed hussain. Pope francis has issued broad changes to the way the Roman Catholic church deals with cases of sexual abuse. He has declared that the rule of pontifical silence no longer applies when it comes to minors. This is part of a broader attempt at transparency, and comes as the pope accepted the resignation of his ambassador to france, whos been accused of molestation. John mcmanus reports. Sweeping away another plank of the church bureau accuracy that has often hindered the fight against clergy sex abuse. Clergy, critics have often maintained that the pontifical secret, first introduced by 1974, by pope all the seats provided a handy shield for bishops who didnt want the churchs records good nose. Now the pope says it will no longer involved abuse cases involving minors. German cardinal reinhardt marks on the archbishop of malta. It opens avenues of communication with the victims, setting jurisdiction would have easily quoted the pontifical secret, because that was the state of the law. In order to so they could not and they were not authorised to share information with either statutory is all the victims, now that impediment, you could call it that impediment, you could call it that way, has been lifted and the pacific or secret is no more an excuse. Pacific or secret is no more an excuse. You are pacific or secret is no more an excuse. You are no pacific or secret is no more an excuse. You are no longer going to bea excuse. You are no longer going to be a priest many parts of the global church, such as the United States had been revealed as not only hotbeds of abuse, but places where the system is to stop it failed. Cardinal theodore mccurry, in 2002, he was defrocked after the judge found him guilty of sexually abusing miners and seminarians for decades. Question still remain about who might have known about his behaviour does mike up and interstellar, Cardinal George pell is serving a six yearjail sentence for Cardinal George pell is serving a six year jail sentence for abusing two boys. He is currently appealing against that verdict. But critics say there are inconsistencies with the churchs approach. Last month, an enquiry in britain heard how the country because my papal ambassador refused to give evidence, citing diplomatic protocol. And the seal of the confession, some insist it must a lwa ys the confession, some insist it must always remain secret even if the confession is about abuse. Joel mcmanus, bbc news. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme under pressure from mainland china. We hearfrom taiwans foreign minister who says the free world should stand behind his country as beijing becomes more assertive. Also coming up here or newsday the jewish barber bringing christmasjoy to washington. He tells us why this time of year is about more than simply religion. Saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. The signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3. 5 years of conflict, a conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. Before an audience of world leaders, the president s of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. The romanian border was sealed and silent today. Romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. From sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. This is newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon in singapore. And im kasia madera in london. Our top stories in washington, the house of representatives is almost certain to vote in favour of impeaching President Trump on wednesday. The Pakistani Army reacts angrily to the death sentence given to the countrys former military ruler general Pervez Musharraf. Lets take a look at some front pages from around the world. The japan times leads with the japanese governments effort to protect Small Businesses ularge online platforms. The bill will try to stop internet giants from changing contracts and rai prices. The Philippine Star features president duterte ordering the military to move against the armed new peoples army group. President duterte urged the army to crush the group in a speech. And the International Edition of the New York Times has the story of a Mexican Drug Cartel recruit who helped bring the group down. Information provided by the former assassin resulted in the arrests of dozens of Cartel Members but there was no formal witness Protection System to protect him from reprisals. Taiwans foreign minister has called on the free world to stand behind the island democracy as it faces increased diplomatic and economic pressure from communist china. In an exclusive interview with the bbc, foreign ministerjoseph wu said the world is waking up to the increathreat to taiwan from beijing. Speaking to our asia correspondent, Rupert Wingfield hayes, foreign minister wu said recent events in hong kong prove that beijings so called one country two systems model has been a complete failure and will never be acceptable to taiwan. The Chinese Government face a very serious dilemma in dealing with the hong kong issue. On the one hand, they are not able to promise the protesters those free elections or other demands or doing an independent investigation on the police violence. And on the other hand, if the Chinese Government decides that is going to much and wa nt to their into kong and gr , e 5 l ff w l hong kong and deal with the situation militarily, many people in the world would agree with me that it was signified, the total failure of the one country two systems model so they are caught in the situation, the hong kong situation is going to deteriorate and its a failure of the one country, two systems model or a military solution that will also signify a failure of the one country, two systems model. They got one eye on taiwan when they are thinking about this . Yes, yes. And after the violence and protest activities in hong kong in the last three months, the Public Opinion su iveys three months, the Public Opinion surveys show close to 90 of the taiwanese people reject the one country, to system model so its very clear that people in taiwan see whats happened in hong kong and we dont want to accept the one country, two systems model. When you look at china today its difficult to come to the conclusion that the Chinese Communist party is biding its time, building up its strength and certainly under the leadership of xijinping now has an and certainly under the leadership of xi jinping now has an avowed intent to force unification of taiwan with china in his lifetime. It looks like it is that way and we are working very hard in trying to maintain the status quo, trying to maintain the status quo, trying to maintain peace and stability across the taiwan straight and if you look at the key players in the like minded countries like the United States, major eu countries, japan, and at cetera, they understand the situation rather well. It is china that is trying to chip away the current status quo and they understand the danger in it and are raising their level of voice of concern ovei are raising their level of voice of concern over this kind of situation and will intensify in their support of taiwan, diplomatic or Political Support or willingness to engage with taiwan at a higher level. Given what weve seen President Trump joined international scene, particularly with the kurds, is the us is still a reliable ally . Yes, i would say so. We have been staying in very close touch with all levels of the us officials and i was given assurances by very senior officials that in the negotiations between the United States and china, a saver taiwan will not be a topic for negotiation. Expect they say. What we negotiation. Expect they say. What we have been asking for actually is quite simple, is for the United States to provide defence articles for taiwan so taiwan is able to defend itself and also to engage with taiwan in the military training oi with taiwan in the military training or military cooperation so that taiwan is much better equipped in dealing with military contingencies at all this is going on in a very successful way. That was the taiwanese foreign ministerjoseph wu. A prolonged period of drought in South East Asia has shrunk the mekong river to its lowest levels in more than a century. The river stretches more than 4,000km through South East Asia starting in the tibetan highlands in china before flowing through myanmar, thailand, laos, cambodia, and vietnam. The river basin is home to the largest freshwater fishery in the world, with around 60 Million People depending on it for their livelihoods. Sarah null is a professor of water iesouices management at utah state university. This is one of the worst drought evei on this is one of the worst drought ever on record. It is fairly unprecedented for the mekong and whats primarily driving it is both Climate Change and new dams that are being built all along the mekong river. And one would think that Renewable Energy sources such as dams and hydro electric power, professor, would be good for the environment but not in this case. Well, yes, so hydropower dams are carbon neutral, so they dont add more carbon to the environment which isa more carbon to the environment which is a good thing but that doesnt mean they dont have any Environmental Impact or degradation so Environmental Impact or degradation so in this case, we are building dams that are changing the hydrology of the river, changing where sediment moves in the river and its having impacts to the issuing biodiversity of the river stop so currently, these low water levels in the drought, what kind of impact are they having on the ecosystem . So currently. The fisheries and the people who live around the delta . This is one more stressor and its a major stressor so we are changing the basin in major ways, there is fishing pressure, there is Climate Change going on, the dams are being built so we add on drought and its ha rd to built so we add on drought and its hard to give exact numbers but we know that this is a stress system and this is one more stress stressor and this is very important because as you mentioned, there are 60 Million People in the basin and a lot of them depend on fish to eat is their everyday food source and it certainly is a protein source said Food Security really matters as well. What is the solution right now, professor. What should be the short term and Long Term Plan of the governments involved to be able to resolve this crisis . One of the best things we can do is if we care about fisheries and Food Security, we should think about those objectives in addition to hydropower when we plan dams and how we operate those dams. Right now we are really only operating and planning dams thinking about power but we also need to think about objectives of fisheries and Food Security. Christmas is almost upon us and beyond the religious significance, its time for some holiday cheer. Barberjack bubis has been transforming his washington dc salon into a Winter Wonderland for more than three decades. Jack isjewish, but is doing it to bring joy to those around him. The bbc paid him a visit. My my name is xi, the owner of wolinsky s hair emporium. I am a i man operation. My business started on june one, 1982. The day of Marilyn Monroes birthday. Smack my name is cyriljack bubis. Monroes birthday. Smack my name is cyril jack bubis. Two monroes birthday. Smack my name is cyriljack bubis. Two bird trees, a 20 bird, my tree, my house tree and then i make the 3d tree in the back. my then i make the 3d tree in the back. My name is cyriljack bubis. Iam i am jewish but religion has i amjewish but religion has nothing to do with this. Im a very spiritual person. I think everyone has their right to be whatever they believe in and if they dont believe in it, thats fine but we are human beings, weve got to love one another. The first time was when my mother died. My heart wasnt in it. This year, on november six, died. My heart wasnt in it. This year, on novembersix, my died. My heart wasnt in it. This year, on november six, my brother harvey died, my eldest. And i wasnt suie harvey died, my eldest. And i wasnt sure if i was going to do it. Now thats my other grandfather. Dot. But i got the feeling from family that i should. So this year, i decided to do it and call it harvey pozner christmas. Thats it. I really get pleasure out of seeing other people with happiness. There area other people with happiness. There are a lot of people that dont decorate because my clientele is from 2 92 and a lot of the older people that come in just marvel and say this reminds them of being a child and it makes them feel good and when you hear that, that makes me feel good. Im feeling christmas, seven days to go. Joyeux noel, feliz navidad. I love that guy, he is super. Not many slips to go now. Expect sleep. Sleeps. Hello. Well, wednesday morning is going to be quite argue across parts of england so the advice is to take it steady on the roads almost anywhere in england and the fog could linger right through the morning and possibly into the early afternoon, particularly across northern parts but the south, the midlands, the north are at risk of getting the fog. At the moment, we are in between weather systems. There is a band of wind and rain heading our way but thats not going to reach our shores until a little bit later on wednesday so in the short term, its quiet out there, the winds are light, the fog is forming, you can see it here across the south, the midlands as well, patches in the north as well and on top of that, the temperatures are around freezing or below, particularly across northern parts of the uk so the risk of some icy patches early on wednesday as well so patches early on wednesday as well so here is that fog again, you concede across the midlands but it will in the south as well but that fog will drift a bit further north into Northern England and it will do that because the winds will be blowing out of the south, it should disperse some of that fog syllable be sunshine around eastern areas but you cant miss this in the west, this is our wet and windy weather sweeping into many western parts of the uk in the course of wednesday afternoon and wednesday night. Low p iessu ie afternoon and wednesday night. Low pressure here spells gusty winds as well around western coasts, sweeping sea winds gusting to 60 Miles Per Hour and these are warm southerlies as well, the orange colour blowing out at the south and they can mean only one thing, temperatures will be rising so we are in for a very mild, wet day on thursday, almost anywhere, rain likely across the uk and the temperatures could get up to 13 or 14 degrees across the south east of the country, really mild for the second half of december and double figures with the rain in scott wind as well and we keep those southerly winds through the course of thursday night into friday. There is an indication as we head into friday, the temperatures will ease just a little bit or rather they will drop away back down to maybe 10 degrees or so and you can see around about nine for example in liverpool and they will be some rain around. I think really unsettled run up to christmas at least this week for many of us and those temperatures in the teens across the south of the country. Lets have a sneak peek of what the weekend might ring. Temperatures back down to around nine, 10 degrees and it is going to remain unsettled but details as far as the weather goes this weekend are still a little bit uncertain. Thats your weather. Im kasia madera with bbc news. Our top stories the us house of representatives is preparing to vote on whether to impeach president donald trump. The democrat controlled house is expected to vote in favour, which would lead to a trial in the senate. Mr trump is accused of threatening to withhold military aid from ukraine unless it investigated his leading democratic rival, joe biden. The Pakistani Army has reacted angrily to the death sentence given to former military ruler, general Pervez Musharraf. The penalty is unlikely to be carried out as he lives in exile in dubai. Doing well on our website is the la premiere of the latest star wars film, rise of the skywalker. It offers an epic conclusion to a cinematic saga thats spanned four decades. Thats all. Stay with bbc world news