a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's lebo diseko. our top stories: brexit begins: the british parliament votes overwhelmingly to allow the government to begin formal divorce talks with the european union. after days of delays — the us senate confirms president trump's controversial choice for attorney general — right—wing senatorjeff sessions. and — no legs, no problem. we salute the bravery of 9—year—old new yorker and — no legs, no problem. we salute the bravery of 9—year—old new yorker isaiah bird. british mps have voted overwhelmingly to allow the government to start the process of leaving the eu. the prime minister, theresa may, says she wants to trigger formal

talks by the end of march. the legislation survived several attempts to add extra conditions and will now go to the house of lords. here's our political correspondent vicki young. as many of that opinion say aye. aye! the message is loud and clear, theresa may wants to get on with brexit negotiations, and tonight mps gave her their overwhelming support. the ayes to the right, 494. the noes to the left, 122. it's an historic vote today and it got through by a large majority at every turn. it's carried out the will of the british people. that's what parliament has done today. and it's put through a bill which is just 137 words long. it's very simple, it just authorises the government to do what the people told them to do. but many are frustrated they haven't had enough time to fully debate the brexit bill. the whole of the curtailing of this debate leaves parliament unable to scrutinise the eu withdrawal.

this bill, mrs lang, is being railroaded through this house with scant regard for democratic process. it is therefore not appropriate to seek to tie the hands of the government in individual policy areas at this stage. doing so can only serve to jeopardise our negotiating position. while threats of conservative rebellions melted away, before the vote it was clear that labour mps like clive lewis were struggling to follow orders from jeremy corbyn not to block and by my conscience and whatever that takes and also i have to think about the wider labour party. it's a really tough call. tonight he walked out of labour's

top team saying he couldn't vote for something he believed would harm his constituents. but diane abbott, who was criticised last week for missing a vote through illness, did show up tonight. i am a loyal member of the shadow cabinet and a loyal supporter ofjeremy corbyn and so i have now voted to trigger article 50. theresa may left parliament tonight reflecting on a job well done. the labour leader has to deal with 52 rebels and a looming reshuffle. vicky young, bbc news, westminster. the us senate has confirmed donald trump's controversial nomination for attorney general, the alabama senatorjeff sessions. the appointment was approved by 52 votes to a7. it came after a series of divisive controversial hearings. let's take a look at the moment the vote was confirmed. the ayes are 52, the nays are 57.

the ayes are 52, the nays are 57. the nomination is confirmed —— a7. our correspondent richard lister is in washington. just explain why this senator was such a controversial choice. well, 30 years ago, he was nominated to be a judge. during the confirmation hearings then, there were allegations that he had used racist language in talking to colleagues. that was something he denied that he did accept that he had also been very critical of landmark legislation enabling african—americans to legislation enabling african—america ns to vote legislation enabling african—americans to vote in the united states and he also called one important african american organisation anti american. that was enough that the republican senator, as it was then, decided not to

confirm his nomination. that was a very unusual move and it had only happened twice in 50 years. those allegations have stayed with each senatorjeff sessions. he has since said he supports that voting rights act and he has made friends across the aisle. democrats are not convinced he was the right person for thisjob and convinced he was the right person for this job and they were very, very cfoss for this job and they were very, very cross about the fact that he had been nominated. that said, it was never really in doubt that he was never really in doubt that he was going to get the approval because the republicans have the majority. after the vote, he took the comparatively unusual move of addressing his fellow —— fellows from the chamber. i appreciate the debate we have had an unwanted bank those who, after it all, found sufficient confidence in me to cast their vote sufficient confidence in me to cast theirvote —— sufficient confidence in me to cast their vote —— thank those. to make me the next attorney general of the united states of america. i fully

understand the responsibilities of that office. richard, he said the democrats were unhappy about him as a choice and did whatever they could to try and stop him getting that confirmation that web is that leave them now? i think they know they are not going to be able to block nominees for president trump's cabinet. they have done their best and came pretty close with their vote as betsy devos as education secretary because they persuaded some republicans to join them. it wasn't enough though. it won't be enough as the nominations come through. they have delayed the process as much as they can and they have ensured that president trump has fewer members in his cabinet confirmed than any previous president. going back to the last 11 presidents. by this stage in his presidency. donald trump is cross about that but ultimately, he will probably get his way. on almost

certainly all of his nominees. donald trump was also crossed with the nordstrom store today. yes. a big, famous department store in the united states has said that it will no longer be stocking the fashion line which is owned by donald trump's daughter ivanka. that decision was taken purely for business reasons at the white house, specifically donald trump, doesn't agree that it was business reasons. he thinks it was a political move and he tweeted this morning that he was unhappy about it, that she was being treated under fairly and not only did he tweet from his account but it was also re— tweeted by the unofficial president of the united states' account which has raised a lot of eyebrows over here. almost immediately, shares in nordstrom dipped although they later recovered and clearly there is concern as there has been from the point at which he launched his campaign, that there is a conflict of interest. eu

have the president and he also has a family with a big business empire. —— here you have the president. here, president trump has decided he won't keep these things separate. the concern is it has a chilling effect with people dealing with different arms of the trump empire. if they want to change the terms of business or drop a particular area, will it come back to bite them? thousands of people in the philippines have spent another night out on the streets and in temporary shelter after a fire ripped through a shanty town in manila on tuesday. the fire service is being criticised for not responding fast enough. catharina moh reports. in a single night, 15,000 people became homeless. this is what is left of perola compound, a shanty town in the filipino capital, manila. as residents pick through the charred remains of their belongings, investigators continue examining what caused the blaze,

which lasted eight hours. initial reports point to faulty wiring or an unattended gas stove. the residents also blamed the fire service. translation: there was an explosion and the fire started. when the firefighters arrived, they didn't enter the compound, they looked around, they didn't want to enter, that is why the fire lasted until the morning. they didn't try to extinguish it early enough. officials say 90 fire trucks were deployed to the area but with the narrow, sprawling alleyways it was hard to reach the blaze. and with the homes packed tightly together, the fire quickly spread, destroying everything. despite the ferocity, no—one died, though dozens were injured in the stampede to escape. nearly a quarter of manila's residents live in densely populated slums, and fires break out frequently, though few have been this widespread.

hundreds of people have now been moved to makeshift evacuation centres and aid agencies are at work. but thousands still remain in the surrounding streets, guarding what little they have managed to salvage during the chaos. the international committee of the red cross says it's putting its aid work in afghanistan on hold temporarily. that's after six staff members were killed in an attack on one of its convoys. two employees are missing. the aid convoy was taking supplies to areas of the northern province ofjowzjan, when it was attacked. afghan authorities said they believed the attack had been carried out by islamic state militants. sarah corker reports. six aid workers, shot dead, as they tried to help remote afghan communities. the red cross called it the worst attack on the charity in 20 years.

translation: at hospital, doctors confirmed six bodies are arrived at oi’ confirmed six bodies are arrived at or pm local time on wednesday. some with close range gunshot wounds. the eight person aid convoy came under fire in northern afghanistan, close to the capital of the jowzjan province. we decided to put on hold all our operations in the country because we also need and want to mark what is a horrible incident which came as a huge shock for all oui’ which came as a huge shock for all our staff first and foremost in afghanistan but also to respect the families. we have six of our collea g u es families. we have six of our colleagues that were killed. nobody immediately claimed the attack but mosul —— local police say they believe the so—called islamic state was responsible. to charity workers are still missing and a search

operation is under way. northern afghanistan has been hit by snowstorms. the red —— red cross said they need supplies. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: an aerial ballet — with a cast of thousands. starlings delight uk birdwatchers with their annual murmuration. there is mr mandela, mr nelson mandela. a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british this author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable

value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories. head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news. i'm lebo diseko. the latest headlines: britain's parliament has voted overwhelmingly to allow the government to begin formal divorce talks with the european union. the us senate has confirmed president trump's controversial choice for attorney general — right—wing senatorjeff sessions. let's stay with that story now. lets's talk now to stuart gerson, a former acting us attorney general during the clinton administration and who also worked with senator sessions whilst serving at the department ofjustice. jeff sessions has had allegations of

racism, that he does not treat minorities fairly and yet his role as attorney general is to make sure that laws to protect these groups are carried out. easy feat for office? yes, i think he is. he will have more restrictive views but he will faithfully and force of the law. he has been responsible senator, he is an affable fellow. one would expect that he would agree with president trump on many things. these allegations do not seem to have gone away. you have worked with him, what is he like? he is a

southern gentleman. it is hard to paint in as a racist even the fact that he has multiracial grandchildren, half asian. it is the sort of thing that those in that lobby will pursue. the race card is played perhaps too often. we'd talk about people that force civil rights, you are dealing with an individual that has carried through from administration to administration of it is likely that the sessions administration is not going to sit to break new ground but it will faithfully and forced the law. the other criticism is that he is going to be donald trump's puppet. isn't this something likely to happen? i doubt it. i understand you hear this sort of criticism all

the time and it started when robert kennedy, the brother ofjohn f. kennedy, the brother ofjohn f. kennedy was made attorney general but he's very much likejohn ashcroft, the attorneys general in the george w bush administration. when push came to shove, he stood up to the administration and refused to sign that the killer warrant and i expectjeff sessions do the same. when the nominee for the supreme court suggested that the president comments about the court will work out of line... people grow into these offices and understand the ma ntle these offices and understand the mantle of authority that they have and that they represent the people. it is likely jeff and that they represent the people. it is likelyjeff sessions will displease many people because he and the president are blind but in these

terms of implementing the constitution, i will believe that jeff sessions will wallow in the law and will of lies the president to that effect. —— follow the law. and will of lies the president to that effect. -- follow the law. his nomination was so divisive, are we likely to see him stretching out a hand, the live branch or is it more likely to power through and enforce what he wants to do?|j likely to power through and enforce what he wants to do? i do not think the attorney general has the pleas of the congress but the fact is he served in congress for quite a long time and had a good reputation. all these here is a very unfortunate because we are so divided that the merits of what is being considered are put aside and the parties are at each other‘s throats. these nomination, one democrat only voted forjeff sessions, from west

virginia. again, there will be many liberal democrats who will be dissatisfied on many occasions with the performance of the administration and with that of the attorney general to bejeff sessions but again, i think they will be responsible, albeit in a conservative view, in enforcing the law. we appreciate your time. thank you for having me. more than 7,000 people have already died in yemen's devastating civil war. now the united nations is warning that the country is on the brink of a catastrophic famine. it's trying to raise more than $2 billion to help. with more than 3 million people suffering from acute malnutrition. our correspondent nawal al—maghafi is one of the few western journalists to have travelled to yemen in recent months. she has the story. fatima is the face of hunger in yemen. in the six months since we met her, every day has been a struggle to get food.

her mother says they are barely surviving. fatima is not alone. there are over two million children like her. 90% of yemen's food is imported and most of it arrives here, at what was once its busiest port. but all the cranes needed to off—load the ships have been bombed by the saudi—led coalition. and the port is barely functioning. the saudis have imposed an aerial and naval blockade, controlling all imports to the country. they say they are stopping arms from getting to the houthis and their allies. but that means that very little food is getting through. the world food programme has bought new cranes for hodeda's port but we have been told the saudi coalition has refused to allow them in for at least two months. these delays in bringing foodstuffs onshore, either commercially or humanitarian, means there's less available and therefore, the prices will go up.

from what i've heard, the saudi argument is that firstly, the port is in control of the houthis, so they are handing over cranes to a port that is in control of the rebels. they also say that these cranes could be used to off—load arms for the rebels and therefore, fuel the fight. what would you say to that? those cranes are for wfp. those cranes are brought in and funded for wfp, who are the logistics cluster, to bring those food goods off ships that are coming in. the port is controlled by the same people who have always controlled the port, the same as the sea offshore is controlled by the saudi—led coalition. so we just want these cranes in so we can do our work, to make sure the humanitarian pipeline is a strong as it can possibly be. the fighting for control of the port has been going on for over six months, with neither side winning. and it's the most vulnerable that are left suffering. nawal al—maghafi, bbc news.

now here's the inspiring story of 9—year—old new yorker, isaiah bird. isaia was born without legs, but that hasn't stopped him pursuing his passion for sport. my name is isaiah bird, and i'm nine years old, and i love wrestling. i also like football, soccer, swimming, baseball. what makes me unique is i have no legs, and i was born this way. god made me this way. many people say, like, you have no legs, you can't go up there, you can't come down here. and i ignore that.

it's just not nice. i'm, like, why are you doing this to me? the first time i met isaiah, i rememberthat like it was yesterday. i said i want to play basketball. i saw this young man hopping around. it was shocking. he had no legs, and i was amazed at how quick and how happy he was. isaiah bird does not see a disability in himself. he does anything that any other kid does, sometimes better. it's like i've got two families, it'sjust like a miracle.

i feel supported. he knows he can always rely on me, and he knows that i will not let him go, that this is going to be for life. i am so proud of isaiah bird, because of everything he has accomplished. his name should be isaiah bird, amazing human. i wake up every morning with a smile on my face. my motto is, no excuses. you get back up, and you do what you do. tens of thousands of starlings are performing a nightly ritual or murmuration in cumbria in the north west of england. their synchronised flying creates an amazing aerial ballet. the friends of the lake district group has organised a number of viewing events before the season ends later this month —

as dave guest reports. it's an aerial ballet with a cast of thousands. a mass of starlings flying in mesmerising harmony. the dictionary tells us this is called a murmuration. it also tells us the word has been in use for hundreds of years, but why murmuration? nobody really knows why it is called this. it's an interesting word because they do not really murmur. it is an old word. short answer, nobody knows. but why do they form these patterns and move together in harmony? again, nobody really knows. there is some suggestion that come together at dusk in a big group because it protects them from predators. why they do this and amazing aerial ballet before they settle down for the night, nobody knows. why would they pick this spot? it is a stunning landscape. why would anyone want to spend a night here? and so an audience gathered in cumbria for one of the greatest free free shows on earth.

this is one of several murmuration viewings posted by friends of the lake district. someone estimated there was 60,000 or so starlings out there. i will take their word for it. i'm not sure i would count them. then as darkness falls, so too do the starlings. it is curtain down on another perfect performance. those pictures are pretty breathtaking. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @lebo? diseko hello, there. over the next few days it is going to feel like we have been plunged into the deep freeze,

and do not expect crisp, cold weather and blue skies. in fact, for much of the time it will be grey skies. a lot of cloud, and actually, during wednesday we already saw a lot of cloud creeping in across eastern areas. this weatherwatcher at gower, near swansea, did capture some sunshine. but under the cloud, further east, we were pegged well down into single digits, because of all the cloud, and also because of this increasingly cold air feeding in on an easterly wind. the easterly wind providing some wintry showers through the early hours down the east coast. a mixture of rain, sleet and snow, snow particularly inland. could get some icy stretches and, wherever you are, a very cold start to thursday morning. through thursday, there will be some brightness and sunshine around, again, the best of that will be out west. but for central and eastern areas, a lot of cloud, this nagging easterly wind still providing some wintry showers, particularly close to the east coast. now, we could see some quite hefty showers across the northern isles.

inland, the increasing chances of seeing some snow showers. and you can see these temperatures just 2, 3, 4 degrees. in fact, that is the story, as far as the temperatures go, right across the country, but remember, in these western fringes, there is a better chance that we will see some sunshine. now, during thursday night and on into friday, really, it is more of the same. easterly winds continue to deliver some wintry showers, these showers increasingly falling as snow. a frosty start to friday morning just about everywhere. and during friday, we cannot rule out a wintry flurry really anywhere across the country. probably nothing too disruptive but there could be some small accumulations in places, and a cold—feeling day, 2, 3, 4, 5 degrees at best. and then we head into the weekend. we still have high pressure anchored

up over scandinavia, bringing us these easterly winds. still the wintry showers, the increasing chance that these will be falling as snow, particularly in eastern areas. again, out west that's where we'll see the best of the sunshine. in fact, parts of scotland, especially up to the north—west, seeing quite a lot of sunshine on saturday. by sunday, temperatures in the south just beginning to lift up a little bit, and that takes us into next week. more of a south—easterly wind, so we could see something a little less cold into the south by then. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm lebo diseko. senators in the us have confirmed president trump's controversial choice for attorney general. alabama senator, jeff sessions, appointment was approved by 52 votes to a7. it came after a series of divisive confirmation hearings about his record on civil rights. there's been criticism of donald trump's use of the president's official twitter account to complain about the nordstrom retail

chain discontinuing his daughter's clothing line. critics have said a president should not use the oval office to advance his family's business interests. a huge fire has swept through a crowded shanty town in manila — leaving 15 thousand people homeless. the fire raged overnight before being put out on wednesday morning. the fire service has come under criticism for not responding fast enough. now on bbc news: wednesday in parliament.