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: brexit comes a step closer for the uk — but scotland's leader drops a political bombshell and demands a second independence referendum. i believe that it would be wrong for scotland to be taken down a path that it has no control over, regardless of the consequences for our economy, for our society, for our place in the world, for our very sense of who we are as a country. turkey announces a series of sanctions against the netherlands as the diplomatic row between the two nations appears to reach breaking point. the largest humanitarian crisis in more than half a century — we report from somalia as 20 million face a deadly famine. thousands of flights are cancelled as americans on the eastern seaboard face the worst snowstorms of the season. hello.

britain has stepped significantly closer to leaving the european union parliament has given its final approval to a crucial law allowing the government to trigger brexit. mps in the house of commons overturned amendments from the upper house, the lords, seeking guarantees on the rights of eu nationals in the uk and on how much say parliament will have on the final terms of the brexit deal. this from our political correspondent, chris mason. so, it was the final stage of the whole process of getting a law to give the british prime minister, theresa may, permission to say to brussels that the uk is going to leave the european union. now, you might think, well, that's a bit odd. didn't british people vote to leave the european union almost a year ago, so why couldn't she have just done it anyway? well, there was a challenge in the courts, that decided that there had to be this law for the brexit process to start. that took place a couple of months ago.

since then, the legislation has been working its way through the commons, the elected part of the british parliament, and the lords, the unelected, appointed part. tonight it passed its final hurdle in the house of lords, which means the bill will become an act. it will receive royal assent. it will become british law. but mrs may, the british prime minister, is not expected to go ahead and trigger article 50, the mechanism for starting the brexit process, for a couple of weeks yet, even though as of tomorrow morning she will actually have the power to do so. and british politics has been given another almighty twist — complicating the brexit process — by an announcement from the scottish government that it's planning a second referendum on independence. scotland's first minister says it's necessary to protect scottish interests because of the government in london's approach to brexit. the british prime minister, who would have to approve it, has called it a "divisive" move. our scotland editor, sarah smith reports from edinburgh.

this is a big and bold move from nicola sturgeon, a dramatic political moment, one that is a huge gamble for her. but it is a risk she says she is ready to take. what scotland deserves, in the light of the material change of circumstances brought about by the brexit vote, is the chance to decide our future, in a fair, free and democratic way. a democratic decision she says must happen before the uk leaves the eu. it could have been avoided, she claims, if the uk government had been prepared to negotiate a separate brexit deal for scotland. we have worked hard, really hard, to try to find agreement. the prime minister and her government have been given every opportunity to compromise. our efforts have instead been met with a brick wall of intransigence. opinion polls still don't suggest more than 50% of the country

would want to vote for independence. the economic circumstances are much harderfor you than they were in 2014. do you really believe you could win another referendum on independence? yes, i do. absolutely, i believe that. i believe that it would be wrong for scotland to be taken down a path that it has no control over, regardless of the consequences for our economy, for our society, for our place in the world, for our very sense of who we are as a country. that would be wrong, and therefore my judgement is that we should have that choice. outside, people came to share a significant moment. but this big decision can't be made here alone. the scottish government will need the prime minister's permission for another referendum. instead of playing politics with the future of our country, the scottish government should focus on delivering good government and public services for the people of scotland. politics is not a game. in the scottish parliament, a majority do support another independence referendum,

even though the tories, the lib dems and labour will oppose it. nicola sturgeon tells us she's forcing this debate on us because of brexit, and the uncertainty and division that that's caused, so how on earth can creating more uncertainty be a good thing? nicola sturgeon has seized the initiative today, and taken theresa may by surprise. she did not know this announcement was coming. but ms sturgeon will need the agreement of the uk government before she can have another independence referendum. theresa may could refuse to allow it, or she could insist any vote takes place after brexit is complete, after the whole of the uk has left the eu. when the prime minister met the first minister here injuly, she said they would reach a uk—wide agreement on brexit. that failed. now, they must try and agree the terms of a scottish referendum. their predecessor signed a deal to allow the last independence vote, one they said was a once—in—a—generation event. and don't forget, both these men then lost theirjobs

after losing referendums. tonight, voters in scotland will have to start thinking all over again about whether they want to stay in the united kingdom, a decision recent polls suggest is very finely balanced. what we've seen over the last few weeks, actually, is support for independence actually going up in the last few polls. what this tells us is that, if you thought this was a foregone conclusion, for either side, to take this for granted would be absolutely wrong. this is going to be a really, really tight race, whenever the next referendum happens. clearly a second independence referendum is going to be a high—stakes venture for all concerned, with the result currently impossible to predict. let's round up some of the other main stories: the usjustice department has asked for more time to respond to congress, which is inquiring into president trump's unproven allegation that barack obama ordered the tapping of his phones in trump tower.

the house intelligence committee had been seeking a response by monday. a justice department statement said more time was needed to provide evidence. an independent report has found president trump's planned changes to the health insurance law known as obamacare would massively reduce federal deficits but would leave an extra 14 million americans uninsured next year. the congressional budget office, which is non—partisan, also says premiums will keep rising. the white house insists more people will be covered under the changes. iraqi forces say they are still closing in on fighters of the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, in mosul. the us envoy co—ordinating the battle has said any is fighters still in the city will die there — now the last road out of mosul has been captured by the iraqi army. an egyptian prosecutor has approved the release of the country's former president, hosni mubarak. he could be out in a day or two. he's currently confined to a military hospital in cairo. earlier this month a court ordered

the charges dropped that linked him to the deaths of dozens of protesters in 2011. the turkish government has announced a series of diplomatic measures in retaliation for the dutch decision to prevent two turkish ministers speaking at campaign rallies in rotterdam. it is refusing to let the dutch ambassador return to ankara and contacts between the two governments will be suspended. at a news conference, turkey's deputy prime minister warned of what he called racist and fascist views, and — in his words — ‘a great destruction of europe'. translation: i would like to share some of the measures, for now diplomatic ones, that will be taken. first of all, it was decided that, until the netherlands make good on the matters we have stated, the dutch ambassador to turkey, who is on leave outside our country at the moment, will be banned from entry, meaning he won't be allowed to return.

secondly, it was decided that, until the netherlands somehow compensates for what it has done, high—level relations and planned meetings, for ministers and above, will be put on hold, and will be postponed for a while. indefinite permissions given last december to the flights that carry dutch diplomats are revoked, as of today. if our attitude is not taken seriously, if the netherlands, which started this crisis, does not take necessary steps to resolve the results of this crisis, then turkey will discuss the matters, and if needed will take additional measures, and try and make the netherlands turn back from its mistake. turkey will not be harmed by this. turkey will protect its rights. turkey will protect its honour. but i would like to state that some european countries, starting with the netherlands, will be harmed by this,

because nothing good will come out of racism, fascism, anti—immigrant sentiments, or marginalising people by categorising them. these are signals of a great destruction in europe. europe may turn into a state of argument, conflict within itself, in several years. earlier i spoke to ilhan tanir a turkey analyst and managing editor of the washington hatti. it is all about the words. as we know, there are five weeks to the referendum in turkey. it is a very important one for president erdogan — after 15 years, president erdogan really needs to win this otherwise it is going to be a failure and embolden the opposition. there is also an election in holland and look at the sanctions that the turkish administration

is holding, there is not a lot there. turkey is not going for economic sanctions because everybody knows that the turkish military really needs technology from the netherlands. does president erdogan seemed to be a little more nervous than you may expect about the referendum? some of the big names in his party are not coming out for him. yes. the former president, the former prime minister from a year ago and other very important leading officials and many others are not campaigning for yes and also a couple of atp media are not really campaigning for yes. there is a clear division in the akp

party that we have never seen and that shows in the polling that before this conflict over the weekend, president erdogan's yes votes are behind the no votes. i think that explains quite well why the ministers did this over the weekend. do you think president erdogan may overplay his hand here? the netherlands is quite important to turkey, isn't it? or does he know how to play it because he is such a seasoned campaigner? i think that president erdogan, again, he sees this referendum in five weeks‘ time as life—and—death, his final act. so he goes all out. again, today, he referred to germany and the netherlands as nazis.

he repeated that today. here's insulting other eu countries. it looks like there is nothing that can stop president erdogan at this point. i think he is overplaying that he may think that if he wins the referendum all the damage he is causing today may be able to be repaired again. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: can photographs alter the way we live? exploring the power of digital imagery, to promote social change. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours then the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him

with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much do you think? i don't know really. i've never been married before. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: brexit gets a step closer for the uk but scotland's leader drops a political bombshell and demands

a second independence referendum. turkey announces a series of sanctions against the netherlands as the diplomatic row between the two nations reaches breaking point. aid agencies are warning that time is running out to save more than 20 million people facing famine in africa and the middle east. united nations officials say the crisis in nigeria, south sudan, yemen and somalia threatens to be the worst in 60 years. in somalia, conflict has intensified the effects of a two—year drought. it's left nearly three million without enough water and food and vulnerable to disease. our correspondent andrew harding is in baidoa in south—west somalia. you may find some of the images in his report upsetting. this is baidoa, a town besieged by two unforgiving enemies. the soldiers are here to guard against al—shabab, the militant islamists controlling the countryside in this corner of somalia.

but it's the second enemy, drought, that is now far more dangerous. nine—year—old ali has just been carried into the local hospital. he's unconscious. but it's not from hunger. not yet. after three years of failed rains, clean water is hard to find. the doctors here believe they're battling a sudden outbreak of cholera. inside, weak from diarrhoea, dozens of new cases. many families have walked miles to get help. it's a cruel opening salvo of disease before famine marches into town. we are feeling this situation is getting very bad. out of control? yes. due to the disease outbreak, this is totally different. and can you deal with it? with our capacity, no. for now, there's an orderly queue at baidoa's main well. a nurse, abdul razzaq muhammad, has volunteered to oversee the rationing.

but every day more people are coming into town from the parched countryside. the famine is going fast, very fast. there isn't enough food. there isn't enough water. and the problem is very big. like any town under siege, baidoa is digging in and praying that reinforcements arrive soon. as things stand, they only have enough supplies here to help one in ten of those who need it. and there's little doubt things are going to get a lot worse. new arrivals seeking shade on the edge of town. during the last famine in 2011, many left it too late before moving to seek help. so maybe this counts as progress. but it's hard to get the timing right in such a gruelling climate. this woman buried herfour—year—old daughter and five—year—old son on thejourney here,

probably cholera again. and what happens if the aid supplies run out? those helping say the main lesson of 2011 is to sound the alarm early. what we want to do different is we want to say there is a famine that is coming. we are sure it is going to come, and especially if the april rains fail. so what we are saying is get us help now, get us the resources we need now, and we will save the children that need to be saved. and look how easy it can be. after 15 minutes of treatment in hospital, nine—year—old ali opens his eyes and asks his father for water. in a besieged town, one life saved, many more to go. andrew harding, bbc news, baidoa, somalia. some more stories in brief now: the number of people killed in saturday's landslide at a rubbish dump on the outskirts of the ethiopian capital has risen to more than 60. rescue workers are still searching for survivors, but say hopes

of finding anyone alive are fading. it's not yet clear what caused the collapse in addis ababa. many of the victims had been living in makeshift homes on the site. new figures show defence spending by nato members rose slightly last year but most european nations are still below the threshold of 2% of economic output that president trump has insisted on. nato's annual report shows the united states spentjust over 3.6% of gdp on defence. only britain, estonia, greece and poland hit 2%. the former taiwanese president, ma ying—jeou, has been charged with allegedly leaking confidential information. he is being accused of ordering the release of details from a wiretapping investigation of a political rival in 2013. ma has insisted he's innocent. his supporters believe the case is politically motivated. the man known as carlos the jackal

has gone on trial in france, accused of a grenade attack at a shopping centre in paris more than a0 years ago. two people died. under his real venezuelan name, ilyich ramires sanchez, he's already serving two life sentences for a series of murders. for many years he was one of the world's most wanted men. the north—eastern united states is battening down for the worst snowstorm of the season. 50 million people along the eastern seaboard are under blizzard warnings. schools have been closed and thousands of flights and trains cancelled and the german chancellor has had to postpone a visit to meet president trump. it's a bitter end to what's been an unusually mild winter, as nada tawfik reports. satellite images showing the scale of the nor‘easter hitting the eastern seaboard. the eastern seaboard. and as the snow falls, it's promised to worsen dramatically quickly. it's proven already treacherous. in wisconsin, chaos on the roadways. a0 cars involved in a crash on the interstate in the midst of the storm.

blizzard warnings are in place from pennsylvania to maine, and in new york, where as much as 20 inches is expected by tuesday evening, a state of emergency has been declared. new york's mayor bill de blasio warned this could be one of the biggest snowstorms in recent memory, and urged residents to stay indoors. if you must go out, do so for as limited a time period as possible. if you need to travel, use mass transit if at all possible. but the best thing to do is to stay, in if you can stay in. on monday, president donald trump gave assurances that officials were prepared for this severe storm. everybody in government is fully prepared and ready, and the entire north—east, it seems, is under a very severe winter storm warning. so let's hope it is not going to be as bad as some people are predicting. but the blizzard has disrupted diplomacy. president trump was due to meet the german chancellor angela merkel. her trip to the white house has now been postponed until friday. just days before spring,

and coming after an unusually warm winter, shoppers find themselves feeling weather whiplash, buying snow blowers and salt for one last blast of winter. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. we're bombarded by thousands of images every single day, some we ignore, some we like, love, share. but what do they do to the way we think and how do they influence the world around us? jane o'brien reports from new york on a new exhibition exploring the power of digital imagery to promote social change. this is a french choreographer whose exuberant dance videos went viral. his work is included in this exhibition, perpetual revolution, to show how internet imagery can help

with social change and prevent gender stereotypes. within photography it generally meant the photographer was photographing something negative, famine or war, the idea somehow the images would help promote change. now people are photographing themselves and creating their own kind of change. so it's fantastic that gender greer people and trans people have had this mode of communication in order to build community and represent themselves. —— greer. to build community and represent themselves. -- greer. gender isjust one theme. the exhibition also explores the impact of web imagery on perceptions of refugees, social justice, climate change and more. but there is a common thread that anybody who spends any time on social media will grasp immediately, and that's the power of the

networked image, pictures we create 01’ networked image, pictures we create orfind online networked image, pictures we create or find online and networked image, pictures we create orfind online and disseminate networked image, pictures we create or find online and disseminate to others in an endless cycle of sharing. but what long—term impact are they having on us and perhaps more importantly how are we using them to influence others? there is, of course, a dark side. the terrorist organisation, so—called islamic state, or isis, now produces patent the false but tweetable images of a utopian society under its rule. isis is the one instance in which the social change is bad. they make propaganda in a variety of different languages. a lot of it ends up being translated into english, but they're aiming at anyone who might come and join their cause. this exhibition shows how digital imagery reflects society, but ina digital imagery reflects society, but in a world that often feels influx, it also shows how we can use

oui’ influx, it also shows how we can use our visual culture to rear reinvent ourselves and even create a new reality. jane o'brien, bbc news, new york. egyptian archaeologists have recovered part of a colossal, 3,000—year—old statue from muddy water in a cairo suburb. a crane and dozens of workers hauled out the torso. the hope is it can now be put together with the statue's giant head, extracted from the site last week. the figure may depict one of the ancient world's most famous leaders rameses the second, the conquering pharaoh who ruled egypt for more than 60 years. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. hello there.

the relatively settled theme to the weather continues for at least another couple of days. it's going to be relatively mild during the day on tuesday but breezy for many of us, particularly windy across northern parts of scotland where the met office have issued a yellow warning for the strength of the winds, causing some disruption for the northern isles of scotland with some heavy showers on the cards as well. further south across the country, most places looking dry first thing tuesday morning. pretty mild too. around the country at 8am, heavy showers for the northern and western isles with the odd rumble of thunder combined with those strong winds and some big waves. but for much of scotland and northern ireland, a bright start for most. some isolated showers. cloudy at times for northern england down to wales and the south—west. a bit of mist and hill fog. perhaps the odd spot of drizzle. for much of england and central eastern parts in particular, relatively bright. some sunny spells breaking through.

a cloudier day than we saw during monday. most places, dry. strong winds as you can see, gusts up to 70mph developing across the northern isles of scotland with some heavy showers too. less breezy elsewhere, still mild for this time of year. in the sunnier spells we're likely to see 15 or 16 degrees. could be a degree or so higher in one or two spots. the first day of the cheltenham festival, a decent looking day. cloud but quite bright. mild, 13 or 1a degrees with a gentle south—westerly breeze. heading through the latter part of tuesday evening and overnight, a few spots ofjust light patchy rain moving south across england and wales. quite cloudy with some mist and hill fog in the west. further north, clearer skies moving in, particularly for northern england and scotland and northern ireland. temperatures a bit fresher here first thing wednesday. wednesday is looking like a decent day for many of us. high pressure in charge. variable amounts of cloud. cloudy towards the south and south—west for a time.

the best of the sunshine towards north—eastern parts of the country. some rain in the far north—west but elsewhere dry and temperatures still in the mid—teens. a pleasant enough day on wednesday. into thursday, a bit of a change because we've got this next atlantic low pressure system brings this fairly weak weather front. another breezy day on thursday especially in the north—west. it's here we will see a few outbreaks of light patchy rain. further south and east across much of england and wales, still mild and dry. 1a degrees or so. slightly fresher towards the north—west. that fresher theme continues into friday and saturday and things will start to feel a bit more unsettled into the weekend. bye for now. the headlines on bbc news: britain has moved significantly closer to leaving the european union. the uk's parliament has given its final approval to a crucial law that allows the government to trigger brexit. but the process will be complicated by the announcement from the scottish government that it wants to hold a second referendum on independence. the turkish cabinet has confirmed it is taking sanctions against the netherlands, as diplomatic relations between the two nations deteriorate further.

the dutch ambassador will not be allowed to return to ankara, a protest by the turks over the dutch refusal to allow two ministers to address rallies in rotterdam. aid agencies are warning the current humanitarian crisis in nigeria, south sudan, yemen and somalia threatens to be the worst in 60 years. in somalia, conflict has intensified the effects of a two—year drought, leaving nearly three million without enough water or food, and vulnerable to disease. now on bbc news, hardtalk.