a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: the british government suffers its first defeat over its brexit bill after the house of lord rules eu nationals should be given the right to remain in the uk. french presidential hopeful francis fillon remains defiant over allegations of fraud as his campaign suffers another setback. syrian government forces once again enter the ancient city of palmyra months after the so—called islamic state drove them from it. and, it's being called the greatest blunder in oscar history — the pairfound responsible for that envelope mix—up are told they won't be back again. here in the uk the house of lords has dealt the government

its first serious blow over the brexit bill which will trigger the process of leaving the eu. the upper chamber voted by a large majority to give european union nationals who already live here the right to stay in the uk. the prime minister has so far refused to give any such assurances. our political editor, laura kuennsberg, reports. they have voted, contents 358. wow. not contents 256. so the contents have it. "wow!" you can hear them say. the lords beat the government by more than 100 votes. a bid to force ministers to say people from other eu countries can stay here, and to say so now. it seems to me a win—win for principle, humanity, decency and honour. and i hope the house of commons will now follow the example of the lords and make sure that it confirms this improvement to what was otherwise a pretty dire set of legislation. it's very arrogant to assume that your argument is

the only one of principle and yours is the only moral one. once people start using words like "high ground", "principle" and "moral", i think it's a load of humbug. they voted so that nearly 3 million people, like engineer alexandrine cantor, whether from france or finland, poland or portugal, can have a guarantee they can stay in the uk after brexit. she got the keys to her new flat here just yesterday and doesn't want to leave. the first days after brexit was like a feeling of heartbreak. my fear is the job i left everything for is now uncertain as well. and isjust...| invest... now my life is here and i don't want to, i don't want to restart. i don't want to be in danger in my home. as we head out, the government's adamant alexandrine and others

will be able to stay. but they won't give that guarantee until the other countries in the eu are willing to do the same for brits abroad. the clash had the lords packed, even rowdy. peers vying to speak. with spot the home secretary perched next to the gilt throne, carefully watching on. we are bleeding the best academics fro this country, we are bleeding the best academics from this country, at the present time, who are leaving one by one, or are thinking about leaving because they do not see themselves having a future in this country. that is urgent, it needs to be dealt with now. this is about the honour of this house. this is about us speaking to what people need to put their fears and their anguish at bay. and we really have a responsibility to those people. why is everybody here today so excited about an amendment which looks after the foreigners and not the british? it's true.

pass this legislation as quickly as possible to activate article 50, and then to negotiate to give these people the rights they deserve to stay in our country. reporter: are you ready for defeat today, prime minister? the prime minister is not known, though, for changing her mind, altering direction. but seven months in, she's not used to defeat. at least not yet. the french presidential candidate francois fillon has suffered another setback after the small centrist party udi said it was suspending its support for his campaign. mr fillon is refusing to quit the race, despite now facing a formal investigation over alleged fraud. he denies any wrongdoing. greg dawson reports. the report contains some flash photography. it has become a staple

in the calendar. the paris agricultural show. in france, winning the rural vote can be key to winning the rural vote can be key to winning office. but before francois fillon could sample the cheese he had to deal with the awkward announcement that he is under investigation. allegations that his wife was paid for years for work she did not do. he insists he is staying in the race. translation: i will leave it up to the french people because only the popular vote and not a one—sided procedure can decide who will be the next president. i will not give up. i will not with drawer. i will go on until the very end. but a ready political ally has suspended its support. the centralist udi party has suspended its support. the young centrist

candidate, emmanuel macron, has never held office but his popularity is rising. he will present his policy at a news conference. he criticised francois fillon for calling this a political assassination. translation: words have a meeting and several times francois fillon has chosen to use big words, it is rather a sign of a loss of nerve or a loss of reality. thursday is also a big battle the national front leader marine le pen, the first to visit the agricultural fair. she will attempt to build further support she makes a speech about the french economy. she faces about the french economy. she faces a separate investigation after being accused of misusing eu funds which she denies. it is not affected her ratings and she remains the most likely candidate to continue on to

the next stage. there's been outrage at a judge's decision to grant bail for the wife of a man who killed 49 people in the pulse nightclub in orlando, florida, lastjune. noor salman, widow of omar mateen, is accused of obstruction ofjustice and aiding and abetting his material support to the so—called islamic state and her trial is pending. a california federaljudge said ms salman is not a flight risk or a danger to public safety. the magistrate ordered that she be released on a bond. and into the custody of her family. we believe it isa custody of her family. we believe it is a just, equitable and appropriate decision that allows the two reunite with her children. thejudge acknowledged the fact she suffers from pds g —— ptsd. in other news: the company which owns the messaging service snapchat has been valued at $24 billion.

that's after it successfully sold 200 million of its shares to big investors in new york. those investment funds and banks will be able to start trading snap incorporated shares on thursday. it's the biggest wall street debut of a tech company since facebook, in 2012. deadly storms — like this one in illinois in the us — have killed three people after pounding through several states in the midwest. packed with hailstones the size of baseballs, winds above 100mph and torrential rain, they've destroyed homes, leaving thousands without power. barcelona football club have confirmed that their manager, luis enrique, will be leaving at the end of this season. he's led the team to two la liga titles, the copa del rey twice, and the champions league, since taking over in 2015. no reason has been given, but barcelona say it's mr enique's decision, and that he has proven himself to be a great coach who brought great success. on his first day as president, donald trump signed a ban on us government money going to international groups that perform or even provide

information on abortions. many global charities are worried this order will hit healthcare for women, particularly in poor and developing countries. to try to counter this, a special fund—raising conference is taking place in belgium called ‘she decides'. the bbc‘s yogita limaye has been to nepal, a nation that depends heavily on international aid. she's come here to get an abortion. it's not illegal in nepal, but there's extreme social stigma around it. and so she doesn't want to show her face. for women like her, a proper medical facility like this one run by a global charity, is a refuge. many end up going to illegal clinics. this man lost a loved one to an unsafe abortion. miles away from his village, he agrees to meet us at a tea shop. his wife's sister died after having pills she was given to end her pregnancy.

she wasjust 19. translation: the clinic she went to didn't even have a sign board. someboady that looked like a nurse gave her medicines and told her she would be fine in a couple of days. that evening she started bleeding heavily. we tried to rush her to a proper hospital, but she bled to death on the way. nearly half of all pregnancies in nepal are unintended, which means safe abortion services are crucial. this country heavily depends on charities to provide them. but now, those organisations will no longer be able to get aid money from america if they continue to perform abortions. the us government doesn't directly fund abortion services in any country. here in nepal, a lot of theirfunds go towards family planning activities, provided by ngos. but typically, large charities offer both. and now they stand to lose us aid money, which could leave a big hole

in theirfinances. president trump's order goes one step further than previous republican governments. organisations won't even be allowed to tell women that abortion is an option. marie stopes, which runs the centre, says they simply can't agree to those terms. and so the family planning services they provide with us money could be severely impacted. if we lose that funding, then there's one in four women that want family—planning and can't access it. the reality is those women who can't get family planning because this funding is cut will need abortion services at some point in their life. we estimate that around 80,000 women will actually seek abortion due to this, of which half of those, through no fault of their own, not knowing where the safe providers are, not having choice, will go to an unsafe provider. it's a move that's meant to be anti—abortion.

but they won't end it in countries like this one, they could become more unsafe. yogita limaye, bbc news, nepal. now in washington it's emerged that allegations of collusion between donald trump's 2016 presidential campaign and russia is going to be investigated by the us house of representatives intelligence committee. the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee, devin nunes, said they would investigate russian cyber activity, and whether there were active links between russia and us individuals. until now, republican members of congress have been reluctant to agree to democratic party demands for an investigation. the white house maintains there were no improper communications. stay with us on bbc news — still to come, orphaned and gravely injured in an airstrike — we travel to turkey with a british surgeon to see how one of the syrian war‘s youngest victims is faring now. first the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly the tables,

the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards and it was a matter of seconds before the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb on a remote pacific atoll. the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang and bang. the constitutional rights of these marchers have their rights as citizens of the united states and they should be protected even in the right to test them out so they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you it's going to boil up when you get to the stage? well, it worries me, yeah. but everything will be all right in the end as they say. bbc

news. the headlands this: —— the headlands this hour: the british government is beaten on its brexit bill after a vote in the house of lords rules ministers must guarantee the rights of eu nationals to remain in the uk. iraqi soldiers say they have taken control of the last major road out of western mosul, preventing militants from so called islamic state from escaping. government forces already control the eastern side of the city — they're now engaged in a major offensive aimed at capturing its western half. they claim that more than 25,000 people have fled the fighting. meanwhile human rights observers say the syrian army and its allies have entered palmyra — the desert city that's home to the world—famous ancient ruins. it is currently occupied by so—called islamic state. these pictures show pro—government forces on the outskirts of the city two days ago. the development comes after fierce battles against is

it's understood the army has taken control of a western neighbourhood in the city. barak barfi is a research fellow at the new america foundation. he met and interviewed syrian president bashar al assad in october and visited aleppo in november. palmyra, ancient, very well—known, is it significant to the war and to the shape of the country? inaudible. forgive me, we are not hearing your sound. we will try to come back to you. police hold that thought. let's move on for a second. now last year we brought you the story of 5 month old maram — the little girl who lost both her parents when her home in syria's aleppo was bombed. she was terribly injured — with a broken arm and 2 broken legs — her plight made her a symbol

of the suffering in syria's war. a british surgeon david nott — operated on her — before she was sent to safety in turkey. he didn't know whether she would survive. now, several months later, he's travelled to turkey to see her. our correspondent quentin sommerville was with him. so much of aleppo's pain is anonymous, but maram's suffering was unforgettable. an air strike killed her parents and left her gravely ill. inside syria, dr david nott worked to save her leg. there was shrapnel inside her hip. from here, and only five months old, she was evacuated to turkey, lost and alone. but after months of searching, the bbc tracked her down and reunited the two. everything at home at christmas is lavish. we have lots of food.

we have lots of happiness and i left this little girl without any food and without any happiness. it's going to be a bit emotional, to be really honest. a bit emotional. right. oh, my goodness me. well, well, well. well, well, hello. gosh. gosh, she looks beautiful. you look beautiful. absolutely beautiful. look what i've got for you. it's a dolly. dolly. it's a dolly.

is her leg healing? the final surgery was nearly too much. maram almost didn't make it. well, that's not bad at all, actually. her wounds are healing, but then there will be work to reconstruct her bones and repair damaged nerves. it's said children can't remember pain. few, though, have as much to forget as maram. when i saw maram today, it was very emotional. and as a doctor, you try and stay fairly unemotional when you're dealing with lots of people with injuries. i suppose, having got children as well, now, and how much you love that child and, you know, a tiny piece of my heart was left with maram. and that's what i've been thinking about every day since leaving. and this morning was a beautiful

moment to meet her again. the extraordinary british surgeon david nott, and young maram, whose life he helped to save, along with many others, frankly. life on earth began hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought — that's according to researchers who have discovered fossils of one of the earliest living organisms. the creature — half the width of a human hair — lived more than 4 billion years ago — not long after the formation of the earth. our science correspondent pallab ghosh has more. how did life begin? it's one of humanity's biggest questions. the discovery of some of the first lifeforms to have ever existed on earth may begin to provide some answers. they were discovered in these rocks, which were found in canada. and here it is — one of the planet's

very first inhabitants. it was less than the width ofa human hair, and very simple. but it ate and consumed oxygen, like we do. and, to the shock of the scientist who discovered it, the lifeforms existed hundreds of millions of years earlier than anyone had ever imagined — not long after the earth was formed. we've got it. we've got the oldest fossils on the planet. this is exciting. it relates us to our origin. this is one of the reasons for intelligent life to evolve. so where does the lifeform fit in, in the story of life on earth? the earth formed just over 11.5 billion years ago, a molten mass of rock that began to cool. not long after that came the first oceans, which spread all across the planet. it was right at the bottom of those primordial oceans that some of the very first lifeforms emerged,

4.28 billion years ago, next to cracks which began to form on the surface, springing forth warm water and minerals. 1 billion years ago, life got started. all sorts of new types of organisms exploded on the scene over the next few billion years. the first humans evolved around 2.5 million years ago. and modern humans arrived very recently, by comparison, just over 200,000 years ago. the claim that living organisms emerged on earth so early is controversial, but if confirmed, indicates that life is an unstoppable force, and suggests that the universe is teeming with it. the best blockbuster movies often end with an unpredictable twist, and this year's oscars surely lived up to that — a mix—up saw la la land named best picture, when it was actually moonlight. well now, it's been announced the two accountants responsible

for muddling up the main award envelopes will not be employed to do thejob again. with more from hollywood, here's james cook. the head of the motion picture arts and sciences organisation said it was the responsibility of the accountancy check the integrity of the results. although it seems that it was mr cullinan who was at fault. he is accused of treating a pitcher moments before checking the award. emma stone had just come off stage after receiving her award for la la land. supposedly he was taking a photo of her, not attending to his work. the result was that he handed over the wrong result to the presenters, and they went on to the stage and of course, we know what happened next. the academy says it is reviewing its relationship with the accountancy firm price

waterhouse that curtis —— pricewaterhousecoopers. they have had a long relationship for checking the results of the oscars. it is being reported that the two partners of pricewaterhousecoopers in question, the senior partners with the firm, that they are not going to lose theirjobs the firm, that they are not going to lose their jobs with the firm, that they are not going to lose theirjobs with that company, but you have too think that in an industry which is entirely built in its reputational terms on being precise, on being accurate, on being reliable, you have to wonder whether these two people will ever live this down. yes. we go back to the developments in syria. we are hearing that the syrian army is entering palmyra. we speak to barak barfi, a research fellow at the new america foundation. thank you for hanging on for us. it is worth saying that you met and interviewed president assad in october. you are in aleppo in november. we don't have a lot of

time, but palmyra is well known. how important is it in the war of the future in the country? not an much. it has been a hot potato exchange between isis on the regime since 2013. the key cities here are raqqa, the self proclaimed capital of isis. and a border town on the iraqi town. and a border town on the iraqi town. and the gas fields in the basin that the regime needs to generate electricity. those are the big three places that the regime really needs to run isis. i think this is more a symbolic victory for the regime. we have been reporting on the huge setbacks for isis, but it does seem that the coalition has been supporting the rebels and this is being chipped away. we are told that these talks in geneva edging forward. what hope you see from them? where do you see the country, ultimately? the regime has always

been very strong in its your negotiations. with a weak or strong, it refuses to negotiate. it wants to negotiate a complete and utter surrender of the opposition. and at this point, with the support of the russians in the air, and the shia iranian groups on the ground, and 110w iranian groups on the ground, and now the ultimate isolationist approach of donald trump in america, it is very close to reaching its goal. that said, the regime will not be able to extend its rule throughout the country. there are too many groups in the country. it is too fragmented for president assad to put back together in the dundee. -- humpty dumpty. thank you for joining dundee. -- humpty dumpty. thank you forjoining us. stay with us on bbc news. well, a very blustery night out

there for some of us, particularly across southern parts of the uk, especially the south—west, around the bristol channel. breezy inland too. and really, the weather is going to be very unsettled over the next few days. lots of clouds, lots of weather fronts out there in the atlantic, ready to come our way. this is what we've got through the early hours. here are the winds, quite strong in the south. some rain and hill snow across more central parts of the uk. and then we've got temperatures near freezing across the north, with some showers as well. now, the good news is that the winds will ease, eventually, through the course of the morning. it will still stay relatively breezy, and you can see there's a bit of cloud and rain again across parts of the midlands wales and the north—west in the morning. but i think by lunchtime, most of the uk should be enjoying fine weather. so this is a snapshot of thursday at 3pm in the afternoon. predominantly sunny, really a very pleasant day,

quite breezy, though, still, especially across that south—eastern portion of the uk. some nice weather through yorkshire, not so bad in the north—west. but then, eventually, into northern ireland and scotland, we run into here, and there's quite a few showers around, and it feels on the chilly side as well. and there is a rain on the way for northern ireland. that won't arrive until thursday evening. clearfor a time in the evening across the rest of the country, before more rain. so these are low pressures here spiralling our way. this is the start of a very unsettled period through friday. and that's going to take us right into sunday as well. so rain around on friday, at least for some of us, not necessarily there in scotland. could be even sunny in the afternoon. and then by the time we get to saturday, that weather front‘s still with us, or at least that area of low pressure is with us, with the cloud and rain spiralling around it. it will be quite breezy as well. wherever they rain occurs, it is going to feel on the chilly side, probably no higher than about six degrees, six or seven degrees, across some of these more northern areas, and barely touching double figures in the south. plymouth, i suspect, around 9.

that takes us across saturday into europe then. and what's it looking like across the rest of the continent? actually, quite a bit slow to come across the alps. unsettled for spain. very unsettled, as we have established, across the uk, and also into france as well. so a large chunk of western europe experiencing that very changeable weather on saturday. and into sunday, the same thing continues. you can see lots of fronts here. low pressure across the uk. brolly to hand. but clearly there will be breaks in the weather. it is not pouring all the time. here is the weather for the weekend if you happen to be thinking about it already. so, wet at times, and the winds will be quite strong, and it will feel on the chilly side. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. the british government's brexit bill has suffered its first defeat after the house of lords said ministers should guarantee eu nationals' right to stay in the uk after the split. however, it is merely a setback as mps will be able remove the lords' changes when the bill returns to the house of commons. embattled french presidential

candidate francois fillon has suffered another setback to his political campaign as a political ally freezes its support. it follows the revelation that mr fillon is facing a formal investigation over a fake job scandal involving his wife. he denies any wrongdoing. syrian government soldiers have entered the ancient city of palmyra three months after the so—called islamic state re—captured it from them. the city, which has both strategic and cultural importance, has changed hands several times during the conflict. it's understood the army has taken control of a western neighbourhood in the city. now it's time for a look back at the day in parliament.