the house has now spoken and i think pretty loudly and clearly with everything republican voting in favour of moving into this official inquiry phase to do oversight. when a majority of the house goes on record in support of an official impeachment inquiry with the power that resides solely in the house of representatives, i think that sends a message. message. helena humphrey on captiol hill. good to see you, tell us more about the reactions to the vote today. about the reactions to the vote toda . ., , ., , today. the vote result was alon: today. the vote result was along party _ today. the vote result was along party lines _ today. the vote result was along party lines stop - today. the vote result was along party lines stop so l today. the vote result was l along party lines stop so too was the reaction as well, as you might expect. the white house rather swiftly putting out a statement that this was baseless and nothing more than a political stunt. president biden accusing the republican party of essentially wasting time and there is still a lot of work to be done before lawmakers can leave congress for the holidays, not least when it comes to that question and finding any kind of consensus or way forward when it comes to the supplemental bill to provide aid for both ukraine and israel. when it comes to the reaction from the republican party, we also heard from those key house chairman jim jordan and james koma and they said that this result sends a strong signal. they said that this shows that people in this country, americans, want to know where the biden family got there quote unquote millions from. it is important to point out at this stage that there is no substantial evidence of any wrongdoing committed by president biden when he was in the office of vice president but nevertheless, donald trump, the current republican front runner, the nominee, he essentially took the button and said that this just once again shows the actions of what he called, without well worn refrain, crooked joe biden, and usedit refrain, crooked joe biden, and used it as an opportunity to fund raise for his campaign and all of this speaks to the fact that 2024 is just around the corner so while we will have president biden in the crosshairs of an impeachment inquiry, donald trump as well facing a raft of court cases. and what happens next in this impeachment inquiry? fix, and what happens next in this impeachment inquiry? a range of thins. impeachment inquiry? a range of things. essentially _ impeachment inquiry? a range of things. essentially for _ impeachment inquiry? a range of things. essentially for the - things. essentially for the republican party, this puts them on a more short legal footing in terms of how they prosecute this, in terms of expanded powers enabled to request testimony from witnesses, documents and so on. then they will have the job of going through the documents, the evidence, deciding whether to push forward with impeachment proceedings stop the minimum —— rememberwhen impeachment proceedings stop the minimum —— remember when it comes to impeachment and the removal of offers of an official or in this case president, you need to have a conviction in both the house and the senate but of course all of this speaks to, as we just mentioned, 2024 and the potential headache for president biden if that seed of corruption is sown, even if it is not the case.— is not the case. helena humphrey _ is not the case. helena humphrey reporting i is not the case. helena i humphrey reporting from is not the case. helena - humphrey reporting from capital hill that this —— this evening, thank you. this all comes hours after mr biden�*s son hunter failed to appear at a private hearing on capitol hill — to testify about his business dealings. house investigators now say, they will begin contempt of congress proceedings against hunter biden — for defying the subpoena to testify. instead, hunter biden held a news conference in front of the capitol — saying he was ready to answer questions in an open forum, and accusing republicans of exploiting his personal problems for political gain. for more on the day's events on capitol hill — i spoke to cbs chief election and campaign correspondent robert costa. lepers mixed up with the house. does it come as a surprise at all republicans voted in favour of this when a few of beforehand had expressed some doubt about whether there is actual evidence of an impeachable offence? it wasn't a surprise. _ impeachable offence? it wasn't a surprise. it — impeachable offence? it wasn't a surprise, it was _ impeachable offence? it wasn't a surprise, it was also - a surprise, it was also revealing about speaker mike johnson, the new speaker of the house and where he is going to 90, house and where he is going to go, even as he has to deal with president biden and so many issues whether it is the border or ukraine or israel, he is still moving forward with his impeachment inquiry of the president and has to ultimately likely cut a deal with some of these significant issues including covered funding and spending, early next year. why is he doing this? well, he is someone who comes from the bottom—up of the house of representatives. he is a favourite of back tensions —— backbenchers, rank and file embers in the republican caucus and they have been pushing the leadership for over a year to try to move forward with impeachment of president biden. what is notable about this is so many house republicans i have been speaking to in recent days say the house gop could move pretty quickly towards articles of impeachment but this isn't going to be some extensive process where you are going to have an impeachment committee that takes maybe six months to one year. this could move pretty quickly to articles of impeachment during an election year and so there is a political charge to everything thatis political charge to everything that is happening. it says that the house republicans, even as they can't agree on so many issues, they can agree they want to scrutinise president biden. ~ . . ~ want to scrutinise president biden. ~ . ., ~ ., biden. we are talking about some possibly _ biden. we are talking about some possibly serious - some possibly serious consequences for president biden? ., . , consequences for president biden? ., ., , , biden? potentially politically, a cuick biden? potentially politically, a quick rational _ biden? potentially politically, a quick rational investigation | a quick rational investigation impeachment will likely only go so far in the senate. i never like to predict anything as a reporter but you don't see the same appetite among senate republican leaders like mitch mcconnell to move forward with impeaching president biden. if they come up with some new evidence that changes this entire dynamic may be senate republicans and senate democrats would think about this in a different way that my sources in the senate say this could be dead on arrival in the senate should president biden be impeached, he would not likely face a conviction in the senate again stop it all depends on how this plays out. the house republicans, this is something they want. they want president biden to be in the spotlight as they run for re—election. spotlight as they run for re-election._ spotlight as they run for re-election. . n' , ., re-election. let me ask you about the — re-election. let me ask you about the president's - re-election. let me ask you about the president's son i re-election. let me ask you i about the president's son now, hunter biden. he didn't appear for deposition in front of republicans on sunday. he had been subpoenaed that he instead held a press conference at the capitol. how do you think this is actually going to play out over, as you said, this coming election year? fix, over, as you said, this coming election year? a congressional subpoenae _ election year? a congressional subpoenae is _ election year? a congressional subpoenae is always _ election year? a congressional subpoenae is always a - election year? a congressional subpoenae is always a serious| subpoenae is always a serious issue stop you are supposed to comply with a congressional subpoena but for now, democrats are standing with hunter biden as he defies this particular congressional support two subpoenaed. earlier i spoke to dan goldman, a democrat from new york that is close to the leadership and he said yes in the party has pushed others to make sure they can comply with the congressional subpoena. he has called for punishment for those who don't but in this case he believes this is so politically motivated he is ok with hunter biden say no thanks to a congressional subpoena. the issue he was hunter biden said today he was willing to testify publicly but he wasn't willing to sit for closed—door deposition. the republican response has been we want to depose you privately and have it be an extensive hour—long process before we ever have the public showdown and that is the tension was not maybe could be resolved in the coming weeks as pressure builds. find resolved in the coming weeks as pressure builds.— pressure builds. and while we have ou pressure builds. and while we have you here, _ pressure builds. and while we have you here, i— pressure builds. and while we have you here, i do _ pressure builds. and while we have you here, i do want - pressure builds. and while we have you here, i do want to i pressure builds. and while we l have you here, i do want to ask you one question about donald trump's federal case on january the sixth. electoral interference judges. the sixth. electoral interferencejudges. we the sixth. electoral interference judges. we saw the federal court today to agree whether a man can be charged with obstructing an official proceeding and this could have implications for the former president. tell us about it. for the supreme court to decide to hear these january six cases is significant because former president trump does face a looming trial next year for his own conduct in and around the capital siege onjanuary six, capital siege on january six, 202i. capital siege onjanuary six, 2021. so much of this is about whether he pushed to block congress from certifying the 2020 election. if the supreme court in some way throws out these january six defendant cases or says that this is not a viable way for a prosecutor to move forward, it could make it much more tough for the special counseljack smith to ultimately get a conviction against former president trump in his own trial but again, just like with elections, with court cases you don't want to predict too much but it is highly significant and notable that the supreme court has decided to weigh in early on some of these biggerjanuary six issues that are really the foundation of this crossroads for american democracy and the court next year.— court next year. really interesting, _ court next year. really interesting, we're - court next year. really l interesting, we're going court next year. really - interesting, we're going to be watching that one. thank you so much for your today.— watching that one. thank you so much for your today. in the first deal of its kind, a global climate agreement calls on all countries to move away from fossil fuels. after a long night of negotiations, delegates at the un climate summit in dubai, also known as cop28, secured signatures from all 197 participating countries to reach the deal on wednesday. many countries hoped for a stronger stance, calling for the �*phasing out�* of coal, oil and gas. our climate editorjustin rowlatt reports from dubai. we waited and we waited and then... hearing no objection, it is so decided. ..with the bang of a gavel, the deal was done. applause and it got a standing ovation. cheering and applause. so the hammer has just gone down here in dubai, and that is the fastest that an agreement text has ever been agreed. the presidency, dr sultan aljaber, he's calling this an historic agreement, but it's hedged around with questions and doubts. it calls on countries to contribute to ambitious actions to tackle climate change. now, i could do a single plate and claim to have contributed to doing the washing up, but would you consider that i'd really pulled my weight? the president of these talks was in no doubt how important it was. now we can truly say that we united and we acted and we truly delivered. applause. there was support from many countries, especially richer nations. there was support from many countries, especially richer nations. to have as strong a document as has been put together, i find, is cause for optimism, cause for gratitude, and cause for some significant congratulations to everybody here. and congratulations from saudi arabia, too, which had pushed hard to weaken the commitment. small island states are on the front line of climate change. many of their representatives were not in the room when the hammer went down and they were not happy today. there is a litany of loopholes, they said, and it won't do enough to tame climate change. the course correction that is needed has not been secured. what we really needed is an exponential step change in our actions and support. cheering and applause. that got a bigger round of applause than the president's speech. but the consensus does appear to be that this is a significant step forward. that is certainly the view of mr aljaber. this is a historic, historic, landmark, game changing agreement. only time will tell. thank you. he told delegates today that now the deal is done, it is up to them. they need to go back to their countries and take action on climate change. that is how the promise of this agreement will be delivered. justin rowlatt, bbc news, dubai. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look a a top story out of the uk now. britain's prime minister says his victory in the house of commons last night on his flagship rwanda policy, will pave the way for him to stop illegal immigrants coming to the uk in small boats. but a backlog of asylum seeker applications remains. last year mr sunak pledged to process those applications by the end of this year. our verify correspondent nick eardley looks at how they're doing. there has been a big backdrop this year. it was 91,000, i can show you here, when rishi sunak made his pledge. you can see over the next few months it comes right down so at the end of november it is at 18,000. he was confident that all the cases that could be dealt with would be by the end of the month. ., , , . would be by the end of the month. .,, , ., , ., ., month. the drop is a trip to a record high — month. the drop is a trip to a record high number— month. the drop is a trip to a record high number of- month. the drop is a trip to a | record high number of asylum cases been granted and also a record number of cases withdrawn. it includes people who have failed to maintain contact with officials or cancel the applications and those who have had their applications rejected outright. the figures at all lows. you're live with bbc news. israel says it will continue its operation against hamas — with or without international support. relations between israel and the united nations have reached an all—time low as fighting continues to rage across gaza. israeli forces say they are rooting out hamas militants. the political leader of hamas, ismail haniyeh, said he was open to any initiative that could end israeli aggression — but added that there could be no such arrangement that excluded hamas. the israeli army today released this video, showing combat operations in the gaza strip. it says it's carried out more than 250 strikes over the past 24 hours. but it's also suffered its worst combat losses in more than a month after several soldiers were killed in one day, most of them in an ambush. meanwhile, an overnight storm has worsened the conditions for hundreds of thousands of palestinians who have fled their homes. many are in makeshift shelters. aid officials say winter conditions are now compounding the plight of more than a milllion displaced civilians. here's our middle east correspondent hugo bachega with the latest. we heard from benjamin netanyahu today say that the war continues, the goal of the israeli military has not changed and that is the elimination of hamas. it was interesting that he said nothing is going to stop us as he was referring to international pressure and obviously this comes after the vote of the un yesterday, calling for a ceasefire, and also after those very strong comments by president biden thing that israel was losing support around the world because of the indiscriminate bombing of gaza. that was benjamin netanyahu, we also heard from the foreign minister, he said that the war will continue with or without international support. there is still a lot of support here domestically for the war but international pressure is growing on the israelis. especially because of the widespread destruction of gaza, the immense humanitarian crisis happening in the territory, and also the high number of civilian casualties. more than 137 hostages are still believed to be in captivity in gaza — of them, as many as ten americans. on wednesday, presidentjoe biden met with some of the family members of those american hostages. they attended a gathering at the white house, either in person or by phone. a 7—day truce saw more than 100 hostages released, including four americans. the rest are still being held incommunicado as israel bombards gaza in an effort to destroy hamas leaders and fighters. one of the family members there today was jonathan dekel—chen. he's the father of sagui who was taken from his home — nir oz kibbutz in southern israel — on october 7th. he isjoining us in our programme now. you arejoining us as you are in washington. we see you are on the road now, so thank you for making time to speak with us. i will ask you about your meeting with president biden fsi can imagine that you are experiencing so many emotions. how are you and yourfamily coping? many emotions. how are you and your family coping?— your family coping? we're the best we can- _ your family coping? we're the best we can. we _ your family coping? we're the best we can. we are - your family coping? we're the | best we can. we are remaining as optimistic as possible. in our case, there are multiple levels of crisis, we are from 80 bytes, it was one of several communities along the border with gaza, a civilian cooperative farm that was attacked on 7 october and over 30 people were more ordered on the spot, 80 taken captive out of a community a little over 400. the village itself, the kibbutz itself, was looted and ransacked and burned. we have a lot to deal with right now in our community. at the same time, 30 of our members, you mentioned a couple of weeks ago there was a round of releases. 30 of our members, women and children were returned to israel. we have somejoy children were returned to israel. we have some joy mixed in with the worry and the tragedy in the morning over our murdered members. than tragedy in the morning over our murdered members. an incredibly traumatic time _ murdered members. an incredibly traumatic time for _ murdered members. an incredibly traumatic time for you _ murdered members. an incredibly traumatic time for you and - murdered members. an incredibly traumatic time for you and your i traumatic time for you and your family members of a community. going back to your meeting with joe biden today, he said that for you and yourfamily members of those who were being held hostage, that you can have no better friend than a president biden. can you tell us more about your meeting with him? what he conveyed to you and the other family members? what he conveyed to you and the otherfamily members? this i what he conveyed to you and the other family members?— other family members? as i am sure ou other family members? as i am sure you can — other family members? as i am sure you can understand, - other family members? as i am sure you can understand, this i sure you can understand, this was a private meeting and the contents of the meeting will remain private. what i can share with you is that the us israeli families, we have known since the beginning of the crisis, within two days the us government had only contacted us in various agencies and was very clear to us that the administration and congress, really, there was bipartisan strong support. we were aware of this. the meeting today with president biden and antony blinken reinforce for us in the most positive way how committed they truly are to releasing all of the hostages, notjust the eight americans, american citizens who remain captives of hamas. they are in this for the long run. they will not go away and they are going to put all of the force of the american government into returning all the hostages. fist government into returning all the hostages.— government into returning all the hostages. at this point, is there any _ the hostages. at this point, is there any further _ the hostages. at this point, is there any further information | there any further information from us officials, israeli officials, on how your son is doing? officials, on how your son is doinu ? ., ., , officials, on how your son is doinu ? ., . , , doing? unfortunately there is very little _ doing? unfortunately there is very little information - doing? unfortunately there is very little information about i very little information about any hostages. what i can share with you is as a result of those 30 children and women coming back to our community, we did hear some reports, some testimony, from the releasees and from the testimony we know from within the tunnels under gaza that surrogate is alive. we do know that and we have received information about many other, still a 40 of our members, that a being held hostage in gaza. we do know something, that of two, three weeks ago, when he was last seen by the release hostages, he was alive. time is short, as we know, from all those testimonies. the conditions in those tunnels are horrific. there is torture, neglect, they are starving to death with little to no medical care. the fact that we do know that he was alive as of three weeks ago was alive as of three weeks ago was an enormous relief but all of these sausages need to come home now. of these sausages need to come home nova— of these sausages need to come home now. don't make all these sausages- _ home now. don't make all these sausages- you — home now. don't make all these sausages. you have _ home now. don't make all these sausages. you have a _ home now. don't make all these sausages. you have a general i sausages. you have a general remarkable information about your son. remarkable information about yourson. he remarkable information about your son. he was captured after making sure that his pregnant wife was safe. he then went out to fight hamas and you called him the son every parent would love to have. tell us more about him.— love to have. tell us more about him. , ., , ., ., , about him. he is a guy who, any room he walks _ about him. he is a guy who, any room he walks into, _ about him. he is a guy who, any room he walks into, any - about him. he is a guy who, any room he walks into, any spacey| room he walks into, any spacey walks into, everyone starts smiling. his humour, his goodwill, and a positive energy. the positive energy is notjust in energy. the positive energy is not just in a energy. the positive energy is notjust in a room, it is out in the world. he is a creator, a builder. that saturday morning, 7 october, he was engaged in a moonlighting project that he and his wife have been engaged with for several years now. he was converting an old — two airport buses into mobile technological classrooms that was service the southern communities in israel, which are underserved by our government in a chronic way. it would bring top level technological education to jewish and non—jewish communities in the southern part of the country. he is my friends, my playmates, he is a wonderful father to friends, my playmates, he is a wonderfulfather to his friends, my playmates, he is a wonderful father to his girls. he has so much more to give to this world. to all of the communities in our region. the sooner he is returned home, the more quickly he can re—engage in the positive works of his. just quickly before we let you go again, i know you cannot speak directly to your son, but if you could, what message would you give him? i would tell him and _ would you give him? i would tell him and all— would you give him? i would tell him and all of— would you give him? i would tell him and all of the - would you give him? i would tell him and all of the other| tell him and all of the other hostages that they will come home. they will come home and live the lives that they were meant for and that they deserve. have faith, stay strong, and we will, all of us, get you home. we strong, and we will, all of us, get you home-— get you home. we hope they certainly do _ get you home. we hope they certainly do come _ get you home. we hope they certainly do come home. - get you home. we hope they i certainly do come home. thank you so much forjoining us. let's turn to some important news around the world. on wall street, stocks surged on wednesday after the the us federal reserve held interest rates steady. and projected a series of rate cuts in 2024. the dow industrials closed at an all—time high above 37,000. the us central bank forecast that they will cut borrowing costs three time in the coming year, as they try to ease pressure on the us economy tesla is recalling more than two million cars in the us after regulators found safety concerns involving the company's driver assistance system, autopilot. the recall applies to almost every tesla sold since the feature was launched in 2015. researchers say they have discovered why some women become extremely nauseous during the first trimester of pregnancy. it is commonly referred to as morning sickness. a published studies is a certain hormone is to blame. the researchers say the severity of the elders depends on the amount of the hormones circulating in the body during pregnancy. the hopi discovery will lead to treatments the condition. just one more story before we go. t�*s notjust commuters who've been rushing through traffic on the motorway. this is �*bean' the chihuahua, who's been caught on dashcam footage racing between cars on the staten island expressway in new york. apparently, bean ran away after being spooked by a pitbull, but thankfully, he is now safe and has been reunited with his owners. some good news to an hour so there. thank you for watching bbc news. head to the bbc news website for the leaders and headlines. hello there. given all the rain that we've had over the past few weeks, it's still pretty wet out there. but the next few days at least will turn drier and also the temperatures will be rising. now, this area of low pressure brought cloud and some rain and drizzle to eastern parts of england. that's moving away. the next weather system is coming in from the atlantic. but in between the two, well, we did have some sunshine earlier on, particularly in northern ireland and here in scotland. but where we have the clearer skies in the first part of the night, there's the risk that temperatures could fall just below freezing in places. but that window of clearer skies will close as the night goes on because all that cloud will come in from the atlantic. it's going to bring some rain and briefly some snow over the scottish mountains, perhaps the northern pennines, but it should turn back to rain later on in the night as temperatures start to rise. so these are the numbers by first thing thursday morning. and by this time, the rain will have cleared away from northern ireland and just about the whole of scotland. but we will see some further patchy, mostly light rain and drizzle affecting england and wales, and that cloudy, damp weather could continue across the southeast well into the afternoon, but otherwise we'll get some sunshine following on behind, a few showers for northern ireland and scotland, mostly in the north of scotland, where it's still quite blustery. but if anything, temperatures are going to be a degree or two higher than what we had today. as one weather system moves away, we look to see another one coming in from the atlantic as we move into friday. this is going to be focused more to the north—west of the uk. we'll see more cloud coming into northern ireland and also in scotland, showers in the north of the country being replaced by some rain and drizzle. elsewhere, it should be dry and a lot more sunshine more widely across england and wales, where the winds will be lighter. still, temperatures seven or eight degrees across eastern parts of england, but further west, it is much, much milder. and this milder atlantic air on some brisk winds will come rushing in across the whole of the country in time for the start of the weekend. we've got colder air to the north of that weather front, which may move southwards on sunday to bring some patchy rain. but on saturday, it's staying to the north of us, just bringing the chance of some rain in the north of scotland. again, it looks like it's going to be windy here and across northern ireland. the winds are lighter as you head further south, but there won't be as much sunshine for england and wales on saturday. but it is mild air and those temperatures will be widely 12 or 13 celsius. hopes for interest rate cuts in the us peak after the federal reserve's final meeting of the year. and electric car maker tesla makes its largest ever recall in the united states. let's begin in the us where the central bank has left interest rates unchanged and has signalled that rate cuts could be on the horizon in 2024. the central bank said inflation is in easing but it remained committed to tackling rising prices and will take decisions in the new year carefully. from new york, here is michelle fleury. policy makers inside the us federal reserve believe interest rates are at or near their peak, even going so far as to signal three possible rate cuts next year as us inflation continues to receive from its 40 year high. —— recede. during his press conference, the federick chair jerome powell suggested as much. we are seeing strong growth that appears to be moderating. we are seeing a labour market that is coming back into balance by so many measures and we're seeing inflation making real progress. these are things we want to see. the official�*s forecast potentially mark the end of a rate hike cycle that has included 11 increases to ease government prices.