This is bbc news welcome if youre watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. Im mike embley. Our top stories the moment of crisis has come a grim warning from one of the worlds most influential environmentalists. As australia burns, were out on patrol with one team trying to contain the flames in new south wales. A moment in history as Donald Trumps impeachment trial gets under way in the senate the president isnt impressed by any of it. Back to work after the big split announcement could it be prince harrys final royal appearance . Hard times a struggling british bookshop is flooded with orders as one desperate tweet takes it from no sales to global sales. In some of his strongest warnings yet, Sir David Attenborough has said the moment of crisis has arrived for the world over Climate Change. In a week when its been confirmed that the past decade was the hottest on record, sir david said countries had been dodging their commitments for too long, and every year that passed made them more and more difficult to achieve. It was nonsense, he said, to suggest the bushfires in australia were nothing to do with Climate Change. More from there in a moment. First heres our science editor david shukman. A stunning view of our fragile planet, the blaze of lights evidence of the many impacts were having on the globe. Whole forests in madagascar cut down to create farmland. In germany, huge mines gouging out coal for power stations. Cities sprawling
into natural habitats. And all this on a scale so large, its even changing the climate, and the world now faces crucial decisions. The moment of crisis has come. Sir David Attenborough tells me time is running out. As i speak, south east australia is on fire. Why . Because the temperatures of the earth have been increasing. That is a Major National international catastrophe. And to say, oh, its nothing to do with the climate is palpably nonsense. And who has been affecting the climate . We have. We know that perfectly well. The biggest cause of rising temperatures is really well known. Burning fuels like coal gives off gases that heat the planet, and more of this keeps happening. And were all involved in this. Nearly every home in the uk is heated by a gas boiler, and they also give off carbon dioxide. The result, in a warming world, is that the level of the oceans
keeps rising, which means that flooding is set to become more frequent. And life in many countries, including parts of britain, may change as well, from scenes that were all familiar with to much more extreme heatwaves and potentially much drier landscapes, like this the mediterranean section of the eden project here in cornwall. So a glimpse of what may be in store for some areas. The climate is already looking different. And its striking how, over the last 170 years, how the average global temperature has changed. Relatively cool early on, then getting warmer, and warmer, until the present day. For elizabeth thompson, and anyone younger than 35, temperatures have been rising for their entire lives. From when she was born, in 1989, every single month as she has grown up has been warmer than
the long term average. She hopes the rise will stop, but fears more severe heatwaves if it doesnt. If were seeing more heatwaves and more extreme events like this, and theyre becoming more frequent, then im quite worried that when im older then we wouldnt have the capacity to deal with those, especially if theyre even worse than what weve previously experienced. But i am very optimistic still, because youre seeing a lot of action now, on notjust the individual level. Were seeing it at the local, the national and the global. One reason she is optimistic is the surge of climate protests by young people, and Sir David Attenborough is inspired by them as well. There has been a huge change in public opinion. People can see the problem, particularly young people can see the problem, and that must force governments to take action. Flashes of lightning in a warming world. It is a key year for negotiations on the future of the climate, and many hope it will be a turning point. David shukman, bbc news. Sir david talked there about the wildfires that have devastated parts of australia. Hundreds are still burning, mainly in the south east, and authorities are desperately trying to prevent them spreading further. There are at least eight weeks of the bushfire season still to go. Clive myrie joined one fire crew in new south wales. The fires eating this land have burnt from the mountains to the sea. In between, eucalyptus, bottlebrush and pine. Its hard, but save the forest, and you save australia. Man is having a terrible time trying to stop what Mother Nature is doing to us. But thisd definitely be the worst fire season that ive seen, and most of my colleagues would have ever seen. You see how the wind really, you know, influences what the fires doing. Zeb is charged with protecting 2. 5 million acres of forest in the state of new south wales. Several villages and towns are just a few miles away, right in the path of oncoming flames. It wouldnt be that active if it wasnt so windy. Zebs team has already cleared some scrub, taking away fuel for the fire. But wisps of smoke are creeping through, like water under a door. How long before the main firefront appears . It has been a long bushfire season for zeb and his crew. 4 36pm in the afternoon, and we cant see anything. Days bizarre, when smoke blocked out the light of the sun, and frightening days, when people died. But time is running out to stop the latest blaze spreading. More of the forest needs to be cleared to create a big enough firebreak. Its a real shame to have to do this, but these fires this season
are not behaving normally, and if we dont start putting these breaks in to stop it, more fires are just going to burn. And nearby, backburning. Zebs team deliberately ignites part of the forest, destroying fuel for the oncoming monster. Well, this fire was litjust, what, a couple of minutes ago, and you can see how it has taken hold, blown by these really strong winds. And these these are the conditions that the authorities have been having to deal with during this appalling bushfire season. Night and day, fires are being deliberately lit by emergency crews. This, the neighbouring state of victoria. But are the latest attempts to hold back the firefront working . So thats about the last of it, is it, mate . Yeah . Its all lit up now. Good job. Doesnt take much, does it . Well done thats got that contained anyway. Zeb and his team have won this battle, but is australia winning the war . Well, were having a go, and were steering them, and at times we can have small wins, we take or we bite off small pieces. So were not winning, but were not losing either. Clive myrie, bbc news, in south east australia. At a ceremony in the us senate, donald trump has been formally accused of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. He is accused of secretly putting pressure on ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival, then obstructing the investigation. In new evidence, an aide who acted on mr trumps behalf has said the president knew exactly what was going on. And an independent government watchdog has ruled that the white house broke the law by withholding aid to ukraine that had been approved by congress. This from our north america editorjon sopel. Across the marbled floors of congress, the statues from a bygone age looking down on the team that will lead
the prosecution of donald] trump. They carry under their arms the files containing the articles of impeachment. The sergeant at arms will make the proclamation. Hearye, hearye, hearye. All persons are commanded to keep silent, on pain of imprisonment. The language may come from a more genteel era, but dont be gulled. This is a 21st century partisan scrap. House resolution 755, impeaching donald john trump, president of the united states, for high crimes and misdemeanours. The trial will be presided over by this man, john roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court. And all 100 senators, thejury, had to swear this oath. Do you solemnly swear that, in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of donald john trump, president of the united states, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the constitution and laws, so help you god . Ironic, given the fact it seems every senator has already made up his or her mind, and will vote along strict party lines. But donald trump isnt impressed by any of it. Well, i think it should go very quickly. Its a hoax, its a hoax. Everybody knows that. Its a complete hoax. But last night, an iith hour bombshell interview from a man who had been at the forefront of efforts to strongarm the ukrainian leader to launch a corruption investigation into the former Vice President joe biden, the central issue of this impeachment. Lev parnas, who had been working alongside the president s personal lawyer, accused donald trump of being a liar. President trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all of my movements. He i wouldnt do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president. Donald trump says he scarcely knows who lev parnas is, and the white house adds that this is a man facing criminal charges, and isnt to be believed. But thats a slightly
awkward defence. He was certainly trusted enough to meet president zelensky on Donald Trumps behalf, and his lawyer, to communicate what it was that the white house wanted. The trial proper will start next tuesday, and the fight that is about to ensue will be historic. But, in keeping with the times, it will also be ugly. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Chinas economy grew by 6. 1 in 2019. Thats the lowest rate for almost 30 years almost certainly linked to weakening domestic demand and trade tensions with the united states. 0ur china correspondent Stephen Mcdonell gave me his take on these figures. Well, they will certainly make people sit up. I mean, you see a figure that is the lowest in three decades whats happening with the chinese economy, people will be asking. Well, of course, its the slowing of domestic demand and the trade war. How could the trade war not have some sort of impact
on the chinese economy . However, funnily enough, its not such a bad news story, and some economists might even say that the trade war has kind of helped the chinese economy. Thats because policymakers here for a long time have been trying to step down demand here, to step down the economy, to break away from the years of this sort of debt fuelled, unsustainable growth to a more modern economy, to have, you know, High Tech Industries and the like, a service driven economy. And, if this trade war has kind of forced the hand of some people a bit, well, maybe so be it. And i dont think theyre going to be necessarily hitting the panic buttons in beijing, because after all, this figure, an annual figure of 6 , 6. 1 , is within the target range. Stephen, as you know, a lot of analysts are pretty wary of the figures every time
they come out, arent they . There is a sense, fairly or unfairly, the government of beijing produces whatever figures suit the government of beijing. Well, in a way its fair, because there have been these scandals with governments lying about their gdp, the sort of local governments. Sometimes they will lie about it to artificially boost their prestige. Sometimes they downplay their gdp to attract attention from the central government. But lets put that to one side for the moment and assume these figures are correct. Well, there are some interesting bits within the figures. For example, industrial output, 6. 9 up. Thats better than what people thought. Retail sales, 8 up. Also better than what people expected. The government is using a few stimulus measures to try and make sure it doesnt the steam doesnt come out of the economy too quickly, for example, the banks lending some more money. But the problem has been here, who do the banks lend to . And the sort of pressure is coming to somehow force the banks not to give these state owned enterprises automatic preferential
treatment, and give, you know, loans to those sort of new start up economy Type Companies which are going to bring the new economy to china. So its really crucial who gets those loans. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come the fast growing sport thats centre stage in the heart of manhattan, where you can watch squash as you rush for the train. Day one of Operation Desert Storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attack since the second world war. Tobacco is americas oldest industry and its one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. This may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. There is not a street that is unaffected. Huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. This woman said she had been given no help and no advice by the authorities. She stood outside the ruins of her business. Tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the countrys new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. Tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long running play, the mousetrap. When they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonights performance, but Agatha Christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. Welcome back. Good to have you with us on welcome back. Good to have you with us on bbc world news. The latest headlines the world has now reached the point of Climate Change crisis thats the stark warning from the world famous
environmentalist Sir David Attenborough. President trump has been formally impeached in the us senate. Hes described the allegations against him as a hoax. The government in paraguay has declared a Health Emergency over an outbreak of dengue fever. At least 1,700 suspected cases have been recorded. Ten deaths, possibly linked to the mosquito borne virus, are being investigated. Hundreds of Health Workers are being deployed. Gareth barlow has more details. The urgent battle against a potentially fatal virus. Authorities fumigating city streets to eradicate mosquitoes that spread dengue fever. According to the countrys Health Ministry, over 1,700 suspected cases have been reported in the capital since october. Translation the Emergency Declaration is for practical reasons. It will speed up our response and make Funds Available for supplies and medicine. The Health Ministry has been planning for this for months. While the virus can be mild and people generally recover, in more serious forms, it can trigger convulsions, internal bleeding and death. Hospitals around the country have been inundated with cases. Hundreds of healthca re workers have been deployed. Translation i tested positive for dengue. I have been like this for 12 days, aches all over my body. Translation i have been waiting for two, three hours. My god, there are people fading away. They get to go straight in because they are really bad. The challenge now is clear mosquito breeding grounds and reduce their numbers. In 2007, over 27,000 people were infected in another dengue outbreak. The hope is by declaring an emergency, the Current Situation can be quickly detained. Gareth barlow, bbc news. Prince harry has appeared
at his First Official engagement since he and his wife meghan announced theyd be stepping back from their duties as senior royals. The prince was at Buckingham Palace to host the draw for next years Rugby League World cup. This from our royal correspondent nick witchell. Was this harrys way of saying farewell . There he is on the sussex royal Instagram Account tonight. The music, the stone roses and a song which includes the lyrics id like to leave the country for a month of sundays. He was at Buckingham Palace. In the palace gardens, hed been in his element talking to young people about sport, rugby to be precise, and those who were with harry said he was relaxed, authentic and engaged. But you didnt need to be told that, you could see it in his face and his actions. Reporter harry, how are talks going about the future . Reporters tried to ask questions about his future. Unsurprisingly they were ignored. The occasion was the draw for the 2021 Rugby League World cup to be staged in england. Harry was being harry. Wonderful
well done. The old harry as someone said. He was there as patron of the rugby league, that is one of those things that the royals do, and something harry has done is highlight Mental Illness in sport its a cause which matters to him. The perception of rugby league is that you need to be tough, you cant show your feelings and you have to grin and bear it. But Something Like the Mental Fitness charter will help us make Real Progress in getting rid of the stigma associated with Mental Illness. By this time next week harry will probably be several thousand miles away, beginning a somewhat semi detached royal life with his wife. There will be fewer occasions like this, his easy charm will be missed. And ive seen some beards in my time nicholas witchell, bbc news. Tumbleweed is what the owner
of a bookshop in southern england tweeted in desperation this week. The shop, which specialises in antique and Second Hand Books, hadnt sold a single one all day. For the first time, he thought, in its 100 year history. So he asked, without much expectation of it, for help. And he got it. His tweet miraculously brought orders pouring in from all over the world. Duncan kennedy has the story. Once upon a time, there was an old book shop. But this isnt a fairy tale. It really exists. Where quaint meets quirky. But last tuesday, there were no customers. Not one. Which led the shop to put out this forlorn tweet. It read tumbleweed, not a single book sold today, £0, we think it may be the first time ever. The message was spotted by best selling author neil gaiman, who retweeted it to his 2. 7 million followers. The orders came flooding in. Somebody from inverness rung up and said they want to spend £10. They didnt care which book. Somebody from california wants to donate 50. And it is just the love for books. You cannot beat a book. They become like old friends. In a shop where weird meets words, new customers have been arriving all day. A Second Hand Book shop, an Antiquarian Book shop like this is a treasure trove of amazing things. It is the kind of shop that has every kind of title. And although the likes of oscar wilde wouldnt have known much about twitter, this shop has gone from having just over 1000 followers, three days ago, to more than 11,000 followers today. With e books and amazon around, independent sellers wont always be busy on a wet january afternoon, but this one, like all the best books, really has captured the imagination. This week, in a corner of Grand Central station, the sport of squash is being played at the highest level. Players from all over the world came to showcase the sport, much to the surprise of new yorkers. Laura trevelyan went along. Ali farag is the number one mens squash player in the world, dominating the sport known as the chess on legs. It takes strategy and athleticism to be a champion. Right now in the heart of Grand Central station, this small but expanding sport is centre stage. It is a lot of fun to stand in the passageway here in Vanderbilt Hall at rush hour, and seeing new york commuters and tourists pass by and you do hear rather humourous things, but my favourite is the elderly couple that turned to each other and said, oh, theyre building an aquarium. Being in this high profile city and playing in the fishbowl of Grand Central comes easily to Nour El Tayeb, one of the top ranked female players. This powerhouse is married to ali farag, and the egyptian
couple made history three years ago as the first husband and wife to win a major sporting title on the same day. Our 2017 us open squash champions, Nour El Tayeb and ali farag. Ali and nour are passionate about their sport and want to bring it to a wider audience. Our sport is so beautiful, that everybody involved in it is already so attached but we need people from outside to know it and then how many millions of people or thousands of people pass by every day and they get engaged with the sport. This is what we need daily for the sport. It is the dream of every squash player to play here, so for me to get the chance to play year after year, it is such a dream come true. The crowds here at Grand Central show how squash is growing in popularity. Its now played by 20 Million People around the world. And its got big ambitions, with players hoping one day
it will be an olympic sport. Sarah jane perry would like nothing more than to compete in the olympics for britain. The womens world number eight, who is leading the charge for male and female players to be paid the same, says squash has everything the olympics is looking for. Whenever you think about the olympics, you think of it kind of greatness of physical ability and mastery of skill, and also fair play. The essence of the Olympic Games and the essence of squash, i think, are a perfect match. For now, squash must wait. Break dancing and skateboarding have been chosen as the next likely olympic sports instead. So what is next for ali farag and Nour El Tayeb . My ambition for myself is to be world number one and to catch up with ali. He has been teasing me that he has got to number one before me. So hopefully i can do that while he is still number one, and for the sport, ijust, like anybody else, hope it keeps growing and growing and we can put the sport in many other places. This week, the crowds
at Grand Central have been captivated by the graceful gladiators moving so effortlessly in the glass box. Squash is having its manhattan moment as it battles for a bigger profile on the world stage. Laura trevelyan, bbc news, new york. A different kind of competitive field. The rapper dot is suing Ariana Grande and six other songwriters for copyright infringement. He says her Grammy Nominated hit 7 rings was plagiarized from a song he recorded two years earlier. The song is up for two grammys, including record of the year. It spent eight weeks at number one on the billboard chart last year. Dots lawsuit says musicology experts have concluded that Ariana Grandes hit copies his song you need it, i got it. So far neither she nor her team have responded to the claims. There is much more on all the news any time for you on the bbc website. And you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter
hello there. After all the rough weather, the wet and windy weather weve had to contend with this week, you may be pleased to hear that things are about to calm down. But its not all plain sailing just yet. This is the earlier satellite picture this stripe of cloud has been bringing outbreaks of rain. There are shower clouds and following on behind and this hook of the cloud is the centre of an area of low pressure bringing a swathe of very strong winds still across the far north and west of scotland through the first part of friday. Starting the day generally between 2 9 degrees. Through the day, a couple of clutches of showers to contain with, one moving across the midlands, wales and southern england and some heavy with hail and thunder mixing in and this band of showers drifting across scotland and Northern Ireland will contain snow over high ground in scotland, say, above 300m, more showers in the far north and staying windy in northern scotland. Colder from the north west with temperatures 7 11 degrees. As we go through friday night we will lose most of the showers
from the south east and we see more showers pushing in across scotland and these will be wintry to slightly lower levels at this stage. It stays windy in northern scotland but for many, the thing you will notice on saturday morning is a colder feel. Widely around freezing and some spots will be below. An overnight frost will be a feature of the weekend but we will also see a lot of dry weather and a lot of bright weather. Much calmer weather because the areas of low pressure that has been dominant through the week get muscled out of the way by this big, strong, powerful area of High Pressure that is going to build its way in on top of us and really suppress all of the shower activity for the most part. So there is going to be a lot of dry weather around. I think still some showers blowing in across scotland on saturday, some of which will be wintry. Still windy in the north of scotland as well, but generally speaking, with those sunny skies overhead, after the cold, frosty start, temperatures will struggle a little
but when you get lighter winds and you get more sunshine, not feeling too bad. Saturday night will be a cold one, a widespread frost on sunday morning and even the towns and cities will be at freezing or a touch below and some spots in the countryside could be at 3 or 11 degrees. Again, after the cold start, were looking at lots of dry weather and spells of sunshine. Showers across scotland will have gone by this stage but in the far north west, we could see extra cloud and the odd splash of rain moving into shetland. Those afternoon temperatures again, between 7 9, but not too bad where you get some sunshine. As we head through sunday night into monday, it will be chilly for many and theres the greater risk of fog. This is bbc news, the headlines the world has reached the point of Climate Change crisis Sir David Attenborough has told the bbc. He said countries had been dodging their commitments for too long. And it is palpable nonsense, sir david said, for politicians to suggest the australian bushfires are nothing to do with global warming. The impeachment of donaldj trump has formally begun in the us senate. Democrats have set out nine pages of allegations against him, and 100 senators have been sworn in as jurors. The president is accused of abusing his office by withholding aid from ukraine, to pressure them into digging up dirt on a political rival, then obstructing the investigation. Prince harry has appeared at his first royal engagement since he and his wife meghan announced theyd be stepping back from their duties as senior royals. The prince was at Buckingham Palace to host the draw for next years Rugby League World cup