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. our reporter helena humphrey is on capitol hill, and i spoke with her earlier. good to see you, tell us more about the reactions to the vote today. the vote result was along party lines. so too was the reaction as well, as you might expect. the white house rather swiftly putting out a statement saying that this was baseless and nothing more than a political stunt. president biden accusing the republican party of essentially wasting time when 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 of 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 comer 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 their 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 baton and said that this just once again shows the actions of what he called, with that well worn 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? a range of things. essentially for the republican party, this puts them on a more sure 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, remember when it comes to impeachment and the removal of office 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 wejust mentioned, 2024 and the potential headache for president biden if that seed of corruption is sown, even if it is not the case. helena humphrey reporting from capital hill. 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. 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, it was also revealing about speaker mike johnson, the new speaker of the house and where he is going to go, even as he has to deal with president biden on 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 government 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 backbenchers, rank and file members 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 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. we are talking about some possibly serious consequences for president biden? potentially politically, 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 but 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, it all depends on how this plays out. for the house republicans, this is something they want. they want president biden to be in the spotlight as they run for re—election. let me ask you 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. republicans say they could hold him in contempt. how do you think this is actually going to play out over, as you said, this coming election year? a congressional subpoenae is always a serious issue, 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 who is close to the leadership and he said yes in the party he 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 saying 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 maybe it could be resolved in the coming weeks as pressure builds. and while we have you here, i do want to ask you one question about donald trump's federal case on january the sixth. electoral interference charges. 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 capitol 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 bigger january six issues that a re really the foundation of this crossroads for american democracy and the court next year. really interesting, we're going to be watching that one. thank you so much for your today. thank you. 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. for more i spoke earlier with laurie goering, climate change editor at reuters. can this agreement be considered a breakthrough for the climate? in considered a breakthrough for the climate?— considered a breakthrough for the climate? in some ways it is and in others — the climate? in some ways it is and in others it _ the climate? in some ways it is and in others it is _ the climate? in some ways it is and in others it is not. - the climate? in some ways it is and in others it is not. it - the climate? in some ways it is and in others it is not. it is - and in others it is not. it is and in others it is not. it is a breakthrough in that it is the first time in 30 years of negotiations we have the words that we are going to transition away from fossil fuels in the deal and that is really something because it has taken away to get that there. but the reality is we are trying to hold global temperatures to no more than 1.5 celsius above preindustrial times and the deal makes this a very difficult task to achieve. there is no enforcement mechanism here so how do we know some of these targets will be reached or goals will actually be implemented? that's alwa s the actually be implemented? that's always the problem _ actually be implemented? that's always the problem we _ actually be implemented? that's always the problem we have - actually be implemented? that's| always the problem we have been making a lot of pledges of ground climate action for many years now, and we still get emissions rising globally rather than reducing right now. so we really do not know, there is no enforcement other than the pressure that can be brought to bear internationally on countries. and that is ltd. now we do have this promise by 200 countries to transition away from fossil fuels and there will be efforts made to open to that.— there will be efforts made to open to that. let's talk about some of the _ open to that. let's talk about some of the positive - open to that. let's talk about | some of the positive outcomes like the loss and damage fund, how will that be put developing countries with adaptation? the loss and countries with adaptation? tue: loss and damage countries with adaptation? tte: loss and damage fund is really important because the damage thatis important because the damage that is happening in many, many countries around the world, britain, but for poor countries who have done little to cause the problem they have two pick up the problem they have two pick up the cost of that damage themselves and that is something that is not veryjust and fair and needs to be dealt with so the new damage fund really does start to provide some of that finance that is needed. but interestingly you mentioned adaptation because what we need to do is adapt to changes that are happening all over the planet, more extreme weather, rising seas and other things but there is very little money available to do that and as long as we not cutting emissions, and we're not adapting enough because we have not cut emissions, the need for loss and damage funding will keep rising and there will never be enough money to pay for that. ., v ., never be enough money to pay for that. ., �* , ., ., , for that. that's a really interesting _ for that. that's a really interesting point, - for that. that's a really| interesting point, there for that. that's a really - interesting point, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the fact a major oil producing nation was hosting the summit and it turned out to cast a shadow over the summit as well and efforts to phase out fossil fuels. do you think that we will see a move away from that future summits? t will see a move away from that future summits?— future summits? i do not think we will necessarily _ future summits? i do not think we will necessarily do - future summits? i do not think we will necessarily do that, - we will necessarily do that, over the years i have been to a lot of these summits including three in poland which is a cold using country, so there is a tendency to hold these in places that use dirty pills and i've not seen any system set up yet to try to avoid that. it does make it more challenging, there were a lot of fossil fuel industry people at the meeting this year, and inevitably they have some voice not least because it is being held in their home territory for quite a few of them.— a few of them. what are the learnings — a few of them. what are the [earnings or _ a few of them. what are the [earnings or take _ a few of them. what are the [earnings or take ways - a few of them. what are the [earnings or take ways from | learnings or take ways from having this cop28 and the struggles there were to reach an agreement on the spinal deal? w an agreement on the spinal deal? .. ., , an agreement on the spinal deal? .. . , ., deal? reaching agreements at the summits — deal? reaching agreements at the summits are _ deal? reaching agreements at the summits are always - deal? reaching agreements at the summits are always hard l deal? reaching agreements at. the summits are always hard on the summits are always hard on the steps are incremental and they do matter in the end, things like saying we will transition away from really do matter because you can build on them in the future. the problem is we have very little time left to try to get emissions down and there are quite a lot of scientists that were saying after the deal today, that it is terrific this is in the agreement but it means we are probably going to lose this major goal of the paris agreement, which is 1.5 celsius and holding to that. scientists tell us we may pass that market as early as next year because it is an el nino year. the problem is we need to get back down below it as swiftly as possible and to do that is going to take doing everything right at the same time. and by allowing continual use of fossil fuels with no dates to phase them out, no specific enforcement mechanisms, we are very unlikely to be able to do that. ., ~ very unlikely to be able to do that. . ~ , ., very unlikely to be able to do that. . ~ i. . very unlikely to be able to do that. ., ~ ,, . ., that. thank you so much for shafinu that. thank you so much for sharing your _ that. thank you so much for sharing your insights - that. thank you so much for sharing your insights with i that. thank you so much for| sharing your insights with us today. sharing your insights with us toda . ., ~ 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 2a hours. but it's also suffered its worst combat losses in more than 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 million displaced civilians. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. 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. 0ur verify correspondent nick eardley looks at how they're doing. so far this year. —— there has been a big drop in the backlog so far 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. there has also been a record number of cases withdrawn. that includes people who have failed to maintain contact with officials, who have cancelled their applications and then there are those who had their applications rejected outright. that figure is at an all—time low. you're live with bbc news. ths us supreme court will be ruling on a case that could have significant impact for millions of women in the country. the top court has agreed to review a lower court decision to make the abortion drug mifepristone less accessible. it's a drug used in half of abortions across the the country. the food and drug administration says more than 5.6 million women have safely used the drug to terminated unwanted pregnancies since 2000. injune of 2023, a gallup poll said that 63% of americans are in favor of acess to the drug. this case will be the most significant us reproductive rights case after the court overturned roe v wade in 2022, ending a nationwide right to abortion. live now to nicole freehill, an 0bgyn in louisiana amy howe, who writes for the scotus blog covering the supreme court. very good to see you both. amy, i want to start with you. how significant is it that the court is taking up these cases? it is significant. as you said, it is the first major ruling on abortion since the court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022 stop it is not that surprising that the court decided to weigh in on both the biden administration and a drug manufacturer had asked the justice to weigh in after the fifth circuit which sits in louisiana and covers part of the south, had restricted access to the drug earlier this year. access to the drug earlier this ear. . ., y ., access to the drug earlier this ear. _, ,, ., year. nicole, you are in louisiana _ year. nicole, you are in louisiana and _ year. nicole, you are in louisiana and had - year. nicole, you are in - louisiana and had prescribed these medications and yet you are actually testifying in the state legislature as to why it is important for your patients to have access to this medication. tell us why it is indeed important. t medication. tell us why it is indeed important.— medication. tell us why it is indeed important. i think that mr prince _ indeed important. i think that mr prince are _ indeed important. i think that mr prince are doing _ indeed important. i think that mr prince are doing is - mr prince are doing is extremely safe medicine and i think that safety is what it comes down to. there are a lot of complications and a lot of problems that can happen when patients do not have access to this and it could potentially cause catastrophic events as far as safety and is concerned if people cannot access this drug —— mifepristone. the drug -- mifepristone. the mailing — drug -- mifepristone. the mailing of _ drug -- mifepristone. the mailing of abortion - drug —— mifepristone. the mailing of abortion pills was made a crime last year. what effect, looking at the patients you treat, what effect has that had? ., , you treat, what effect has that had? . , ., , ., ., had? patients in our state had ve few had? patients in our state had very few options _ had? patients in our state had very few options as _ had? patients in our state had very few options as far - had? patients in our state had very few options as far as - had? patients in our state had very few options as far as in i very few options as far as in our state and that is something that we are seeing some complications from as far as bleeding and patients not being treated appropriately. 0ne bleeding and patients not being treated appropriately. one of the biggest consequences has been the potential criminalisation of providers and that has scared a lot of providers for adequately treating patients that present to the er for things like miscarriage management, not even regarding abortions. so thatis even regarding abortions. so that is really what we are seeing in louisiana right now. coming back to you, amy, what will the court have to weigh up in considering this case? the court has _ in considering this case? the court has two _ in considering this case? tte: court has two questions before it. the first question is whether or not the fifth circuit was right when it rolled back the changes that the fda made in 2016 and 2021, that expanded access to the drug, for example by allowing it to be used with the 10th reek of pregnancy rather than the seventh and by allowing healthcare providers who aren't physicians to prescribe the drug and one of the things that the biden administration has stressed is that it is not simply about this drug which itself is significant but that itself is significant but that it also, if it were upheld, would open the door for courts to review other approvals of drugs by the fda and the second thing that the supreme court will be weighing in on is whether or not the drug, the doctors and the medical groups who are challenging the approval of these changes, the availability of mifepristone, the wider availability of the drug, have a legal right to sue at all because you can'tjust go into court and challenge a regulation or a law because you don't like it. the biden administration is saying they do not have a right to sue and that, again, if the fifth circuit�*s ruling were upheld, that it would open the door for all kinds of challenges, that a pulmonologist, was one of the examples they gave, could cut the challenge of rule by the epa because something having to do with air pollution could affect their patients. nicole, cominu affect their patients. nicole, coming back _ affect their patients. nicole, coming back to _ affect their patients. nicole, coming back to you - - affect their patients. nicole, coming back to you - as - affect their patients. nicole, coming back to you - as a i coming back to you — as a doctor, what has it meant for you to have access to these medications limited and what you can prescribe your patients?— you can prescribe your atients? �* ., �* patients? being that i'm in the louisiana. _ patients? being that i'm in the louisiana, mifepristone - patients? being that i'm in the louisiana, mifepristone is- patients? being that i'm in the louisiana, mifepristone is notl louisiana, mifepristone is not being used currently here so i think it is just being used currently here so i think it isjust in a broader sense of, like i already said, safety. and in our country, maternal mortality rates are already horrific and women are more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth here in the united states than anywhere else in the developed world and i think that the more we restrict, the more we ban, the worse our outcomes like that are going to be. bhd worse our outcomes like that are going to be.— are going to be. and does it mean that _ are going to be. and does it mean that some _ are going to be. and does it mean that some of - are going to be. and does it mean that some of your- mean that some of your patients. you said obviously bought —— abortions are restricted in louisiana, that they have to travel to other states. ., ., states. there are other patients. _ states. there are other patients, travelling, i states. there are other. patients, travelling, yes. states. there are other- patients, travelling, yes. and do have an — patients, travelling, yes. and do have an indication of how the justices do have an indication of how thejustices might do have an indication of how the justices might possibly be leaning this case? you the justices might possibly be leaning this case?— leaning this case? you don't know a lot. _ leaning this case? you don't know a lot, we _ leaning this case? you don't know a lot, we don't - leaning this case? you don't know a lot, we don't know. leaning this case? you don't i know a lot, we don't know who voted to take up the case other than that we know that four of them would have to have voted to take the case. we do know that back in april when the biden administration and the drug —— drug manufacturer came to the supreme court because a lower court districtjudge in texas would have issued a ruling that would have completely eliminated the availability of mifepristone so the biden administration and the biden administration and the drug manufacturer came to the drug manufacturer came to the supreme court, asked the justices to allow mifepristone to remain widely available while the litigation continued. justices granted request. two justices — indicated that they would have denied the request so we do know that they are unlikely to be opposed but we don't know about the other justices. don't know about the other “ustices. �* . ., . ., justices. and nicole, coming back to you. _ justices. and nicole, coming back to you, you _ justices. and nicole, coming back to you, you touched - justices. and nicole, coming back to you, you touched on| back to you, you touched on this earlier, one of the arguments we heard from the state of louisiana is that it is not safe for women to be using this medication for accessing an abortion. what is your response to that? t accessing an abortion. what is your response to that?- your response to that? i think it has been — your response to that? i think it has been very _ your response to that? i think it has been very well - it has been very well documented throughout several decades. the safety of mr —— mifepristone and abortion medications in general. the collocation rate is weigh under 1% whereas if you look at the complications that can happen from childbirth, we are talking way higher than that. so i think the documented safety is very clear. it has been approved by the fda since 2000 and has been approved in other countries such as france since 1988. so we have decades of data. ., , , data. really interesting conversation. _ data. really interesting conversation. we're - data. really interesting i conversation. we're going data. really interesting - conversation. we're going to see which way this case goes, of course, but great to get your insightful perspectives. thank you both. i'm sure we will be talking about this in the months to come. thank you. thank you- _ that's all from us for now, thanks for watching. i'm sumi somaskanda, and i'll be back in 30 minutes with more. stay with us here on bbc news you can also download our bbc news app. you will find analysis and headlines there as well. from all of us here in washington, so much a watchman and to stay with us. —— thank you so much for watching. 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. welcome to asia business report. 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 202a. the central bank said inflation is 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. during his press conference, the fed 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 rising prices. data you may recall this week showed a drop from its peak of 9.1% in mid—2022 tojust