experts say this is crucial if humanity is to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels. but island nations, which are hardest hit by climate change are not happy. they say their way of life is being threatened because there's not enough focus on cutting emissions in the short term. 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. so the hammer has just gone down here in dubai, and that was the fastest that an agreement text has ever been agreed. the presidency, dr sultan aljaber, he's calling this an historic agreement, but it is 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 had 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 truly delivered. 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. 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. we can speak tojustin in dubai now. carefully calibrated language in the deal — but what will it actually mean for global temperatures? let's for global temperatures? be honest, this deal isn't perfect, let's be honest, this deal isn't perfect, does not meet the demands of the science, isn't as ambitious as it could be, but it is a step in the right direction, at the heart of it all we have this reference to fossil fuels, it all we have this reference to fossilfuels, the need to it all we have this reference to fossil fuels, the need to transition away from them. that is really important step forward. we also got a commitment to treble renewables, double energy efficiency, commitments to increase finance for developing countries, all of which is positive. at the end of the day, this is a voluntary agreement. all of these un deals are and as the president of this conference doctor sultan aljaber said, countries need to go away and they need to take action on the basis of this agreement. this is ultimately all about implementation. it's about countries doing what they said when they sat in the room and voted for this deal. they need to act on the science and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. science and drive down greenhouse gas emission— gas emissions. thank you. justin rowlatt reporting _ gas emissions. thank you. justin rowlatt reporting there. - a vote will take place shortly in the us into whether to formally begin an impeachment inquiry into president biden. republicans in the house of representatives allege the president knew of — and benefited from — the alleged improper business dealings of his son hunter biden, who is facing criminal charges. the white house says the investigation is a "political stunt" designed to hurt the president's re—election bid. well, earlier hunter biden held an impromptu press conference on the steps of the capitol, calling the probe into his father "absurd" and "shameless". in washington dc for us is our north america editor sarah smith. hunter biden came to capitol hill to speak out, just not to the committee waiting to interview him. for six years, i have been the target of the unrelenting trump attack machine shouting, "where's hunter? " well, here's my answer. i am here. he's refusing to give evidence behind closed doors, instead denouncing the inquiry into him and his father as a political stunt. and they have taken the light of my dad's love. the light of my dad's love... the light of my dad's love for me and presented it as darkness. republicans will not give up in their quest to grill bidenjr about his business dealings and specifically whether his father profited from them. we have specific questions for the president's son. he does not get to dictate the terms of this subpoena. this house committee has already gathered thousands of documents, including bank statements claiming they showed payments to president biden that were linked to hunter's business activity in china. turns out that was just repayment for a car loan. they believe launching an impeachment inquiry would allow them to seek more evidence. mr biden�*s counsel and the white house have both argued that the reason he couldn't come for a deposition was because there wasn't a formal vote for an impeachment inquiry. well, that's going to happen in a few hours. we think it's going to pass. hunter biden is also accused of trading on his father's name when he was vice president. and all republicans want for christmas is evidence that proves corruption. democrats, though, argue this is just a desperate attempt to try and find something, anything, to pin on president biden. the biden impeachment investigation isn't a whodunit. it's a "what is it?" it's like an agatha christie novel where the mystery is, "what's the crime?" with the presidential election looming, republicans hope at least a whiff of possible corruption will stick to what they like to call the biden crime family. hunter is facing criminal charges for illegally possessing a firearm and tax evasion. and it was a great suit, believe me, a really good suit. while donald trump is selling pieces of the clothing he wore when he was indicted for election interference in georgia. it is an authentic piece of the suit i wore when i took that now famous mug shot. you could call it his lawsuit. trump's legal problems are much more serious than anything the bidens are accused of. he's facing four criminal trials, but they've not yet dented his electoral appeal. the house of representatives will vote very shortly on whether to authorise a formal impeachment in quarry, but that doesn't mean they are ready to bring charges against president biden for any kind of wrong doing, it merely means they will redouble their efforts to try and find something to charge him with —— impeachment inquiry. republicans here say they want to hold hunter biden in contempt of congress because he is refusing to answer their questions behind closed doors and saying any evidence he gives must be done so in a public hearing. studio: thank you, sara smith reporting there. here, police searching for a mother of three who went missing almost a week ago in norwich have released cctv of her last known movements. 55—year—old gaynor lord disappeared after failing to return home from work. jo black reports. this is the moment on friday afternoon police believe gaynor lord left work, more than an hour before a shift at a gin counter injarrold's department store was due to end. the married mother of three is then seen on various roads in norwich city centre, sometimes walking quickly and trying to navigate moving traffic. it's believed she spent around half an hour in the cathedral grounds, but the last cctv sighting of her is on st augustine street just after lipm. hours later, items belonging to the 55—year—old were discovered a mile and a half away at various locations in wensum park. her coat was found in the nearby river. for days, teams have been searching the park and the water. our hypothesis remains that gaynor has gone into the water here at wensum park, hence why we are really focused in terms of the search effort that has been going on here at the park and continues to go on, working with partners to make sure that we're doing everything we can as quickly as we can. police are keen to hear from anyone who could help find gaynor lord and are hopeful of these images willjog someone's memory who may recall seeing her last friday. the park remains closed while the search continues, and specialist officers are supporting her loved ones as they wait anxiously for updates. jo black, bbc news. the 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 small boats coming to the uk with illegal immigrants. but what about the backlog of asylum seekers' applications? well, exactly a year ago, rishi sunak pledged to eradicate that by the end of this year. the home office has said it is on track to meet that pledge. but how is it doing it? here's our verify correspondent nick eardley. reeta, thank you. there has been a big drop in the backlog so far this year. it was 91,000 when rishi sunak met his pledge — you can see here it's fallen to just 18,000 at the start of december. the immigration minister said today he was confident all the cases that could be dealt with would be by the end of the month. but what's really interesting is how the government are doing it. this is a breakdown — cases granted, withdrawn and refused in the latest figures. this — the number of asylum cases being granted — is going to be a record high this year. that's in part because of a change in the rules which allows people from some countries to be granted asylum without face to face meetings. then there's this — the number of cases being withdrawn. that's a record high too — by some margin. the rules have changed — so this now includes people who fail to maintain contact with the home office — as well as people who don't turn up for interviews or cancel their application. finally, this — the number of people being rejected — that's the smallest proprtion of the total it's ever been since records began. of getting rid of the legacy backlog, so — if ministers are right and they do meet the target of getting rid of the legacy backlog, it's in part thanks to record numbers of asylum cases being granted — and record numbers of applications being taken out of the system. more than two million tesla cars in the us need a software update after us regulators discovered a defect in their self—drive settings. it follows a two—year investigation into crashes during autopilot use. tesla said the repair can be done with a remote software update, and that it won't require cars to go back to dealers. the former boss of the oil company bp will lose more than £32 million in payouts after the company found that he committed serious misconduct. bernard looney resigned from bp last september after failing to be transparent about past relationships with colleagues. today bp said he had knowingly misled the board. as a result he will now lose £321; million worth of salary, pension, bonus payments and shares. dozens of people including children have been injured in a wave of missile strikes on kyiv — the worst attack on the ukrainian capital in months. a kindergarten and a hospital were damaged by debris as authorities say ten ballistic missiles were shot down. this latest russian strike on kyiv is the third within a week, and comes as ukraine's president zelensky continues his tour of countries to plead for more money for the war and re—energise western support. for the latest from kyiv here's jess parker. you wouldn't think that just a few small steps from here there'd be this. but that's how life looks today in kyiv. in last night's explosion, ondrej�*s skin was pierced by shards of glass. translation: it was horrifying, a niahtmare. i couldn't believe it had happened. we don't have a house anymore. we don't have a car. what to do? where to go? it's not clear. throwing away the debris from missiles shot down in the night. packing up without anywhere to go. a terrible, familiar routine and one for which there's less global attention and dwindling pledges of aid. "see what the russians are doing to us?" says oleksander. "help is needed." he's in shock, seeing injured children. he thanks god his own grandson didn't stay last night. president zelensky arriving in norway. big decisions on eu support and membership talks loom after he failed to clinch crucial defence funds in the us following a faltering counter—offensive. aircraft to artillery, it doesn't matter. i mean, you need it, and of course you can have it if the world, if europe in unity around ukraine. that's why, of course, you can't win without help. ukraine is, by now, used to dealing with destruction, picking up the pieces and carrying on. but every attack, of course, leaves shattered lives behind. and now a question is hanging over this country. were some of those promises of solid, long—term support from the west, in the end, just words? all this has collided with a massive cyber attack on ukraine. but people i talk to still have belief that the necessary aid will come to help them fight a war they cannot conceive of losing. jessica parker, bbc news, in kyiv. the first minister of wales, mark drakeford, has announced he's the first minister of wales, mark drakeford, has announced he's standing down as labour leader after five years, triggering a contest to find his successor. mr drakeford, who's 69, says he'll remain as first minister until his party elects a new leader. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports. a calming presence on the political landscape. when mark drakeford became first minister, most thought brexit was the coming storm. but in 2020, an even bigger challenge emerged. guiding wales through the pandemic put him on the map and occasionally on a collision course with boris johnson. dear me, he really, really is awful. as he announced his plan to stand aside, he reflected on the change around him. good morning. in a five year period which has seen wales deal with austerity, brexit, the covid pandemic, the climate crisis, wars in ukraine and the middle east, and four different prime ministers, so far, there will be lots to reflect upon. the latest of those pms led tributes in westminster. i know everyone will want to join me in wishing mark drakeford all the best as he moves on from his many, many years of devoted public service. quietly and patiently, mark has been a titan of labour and welsh politics and we thank him for his service. the sudden loss of his wife earlier this year may have shaped today's decision, but as a politician his emotions have only rarely come to the surface. you think you turn up here this afternoon and claim some sort of moral high ground? what sort of world do you belong in? most of the rows have been about labour's repeated failure to fix chronic problems in the welsh nhs, high levels of child poverty and poor test results in wales. when you look back over five years, people will also look at your record on health. waiting lists are still long and high. your performance in education — wales deteriorating more than other parts of the uk. the things i regret the most are where i feel we could have done more. gone further. you're not in this job for long. you want to get the maximum out of it and where there were opportunities we could have taken to go even further, do even more, probably, i regret that. some wish he'd do a u—turn rather than go further on another landmark policy. wales' 20 mile an hour default speed limit. but mark drakeford says he's happy it will be part of his legacy. labour plan to choose his successor by easter. whoever gets the job will need to prepare pretty quickly for the general election expected next year and then the senedd election in wales in 2026. howard griffiths, bbc news at the senedd. jon venables — one of the two boys who killed toddlerjamie bulger in 1993 — has had his bid for parole rejected. venables — who's now 41 — was released on licence in 2001 but has been sent back to jail twice for having indecent images of children on his computer. talks to restore power—sharing in northern ireland have been extended into next week. the westminster government has proposed £2.5 billion pounds to support a reformed stormont coalition. the dup withdrew from power—sharing last year over concerns about post—brexit trading arrangements between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. emergency services are at the scene of a large fire at an industrial estate in south wales. police have tonight said officers are responding to a "serious incident" in pontypridd, and that the roads in the area would remain closed for some time. eyewitnesses have reported hearing a "massive explosion". scientists believe they have discovered why some expectant mothers suffer from extreme nausea and sickness during pregnancy. it's thought around 30,000 women in the uk suffer from it every year, and it can cause danger for both babies and mothers. but now researchers at cambridge university say they are one step closer to finding a cure. laura foster reports. when vivian was pregnant with her children, kyra and chloe, her nausea and vomiting was so bad, she struggled to leave the house. so i would say about ten times an hour. the only time when you're not vomiting is probably when you're asleep. so, you go through stages of sleeping, waking up, having a sip to drink, and then vomiting again. and then from that you just get so tired from the vomiting constantly. during her third pregnancy, it was so severe she actually lost her baby. scientists at the university of cambridge have been trying to find out why women such as vivian suffer from this condition, which is known as hyperemesis gravidarum. they found that in pregnancy the foetus produces the hormone gdf15. this hormone goes from the placenta into the mother's bloodstream and up to the medulla in the brain and causes them to feel sick. how ill they feel depends on how much gdf15 was produced by their baby—to—be, but also how much of it there was in the bloodstream before the mother became pregnant. the reason why this research is significant is because if you know what's causing a problem, then it makes it easier to tackle it. so, that could be by reducing the severity of nausea and sickness, or it could be by getting rid of it altogether. if we can expose them to more gdf15 prior to pregnancy safely and slowly in a way that doesn't make them feel miserable, then we can, we hope, reduce the risks of them developing hyperemesis in the pregnancy. around 30,000 people in the uk suffer from the most extreme form of pregnancy sickness every year, so treating it will make a big difference to them and theirfamilies. medical trials for new treatments should start in the next few years and will hopefully mean that fewer women will have to suffer like vivian did in the future. laura foster, bbc news. vulnerable lives are being put at risk because of a shortage of skilled care workers in england. because of a shortage of skilled care workers in england. that's according to the disability charity sense. vacancies for home carers in england have more than doubled in the last decade — around 71,000 posts are unfilled. and from april there'll be new restrictions on carers coming from abroad. it