welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm lebo diseko. our top stories: the us admits that coalition aircraft did strike an area of mosul where many civilians were killed last week. a new leaderfor hong kong chosen by the territory's elite as thousands protest outside. a year after turkey stopped the flow of refugees across these waters, we meet some of the syrians still trapped on greek beaches. and, on landmarks all around the planet, lights go out for earth hour, to raise awareness of climate change. did a us airstrike kill hundreds of civillians in the iraqi city of mosul?

the united states say it is now investigating but admits coalition forces were carrying out air strikes, where many people have been killed. the fight to retake the city from the group calling itself islamic state started last october. the iraqi army is being supported by us—led coalition airstrikes. they have re—ta ken all of east mosul, and have now made key gains in the west of the city. and are they're closing in on the densely—populated old city. this red area shows the part of the city still under i—s control. this red area shows the part of the city still under is control. the united nations says it is stunned by the terrible loss of life caused by recent airstrikes. eyewitnesses say many victims are buried under the rubble. other residents say is. is using civilians as human shields, but blamed indiscriminate air strikes for many of the deaths. our middle east editorjeremy bowen, who is near the front line, reports. translation: snipers positioned

themselves on top of buildings. everybody is killed, the sniper and everybody who lives there. our middle east editorjeremy bowen, who is near the front line, reports. thousands of people have arrived, have walked out of those parts of mosul still controlled by islamic state. they need food, they need water, they need shelter. it's a massive humanitarian challenge, and not nearly as big as the one that may literally be coming down that road in the next few weeks. from where the black smoke is, which is where the islamic state positions are here in mosul. this is very much a theatre of war.

the people who have been coming in have been talking about what they have been through. they have talked about air strikes that have come in in the last few days and killed, as well as killing people from is, have killed hundreds of civilians. they have complained that the jihadists have used them as human shields. but they have also, in tears and anger, spoken bitterly about the effects of air strikes on civilians. i spoke to multiple witnesses who said that there are perhaps hundreds of bodies still lying in the rubble, that people cannot get to. if you take it all together, the effect of the war, the wounded, the

dead, and the massive humanitarian needs but the people displaced by the fighting, it comes together as a big humanitarian emergency and it is worsened by the fact that it is happening in the country that was already broken into pieces by war. it isa already broken into pieces by war. it is a huge challenge and it is really ha rd to it is a huge challenge and it is really hard to think of a bigger one anywhere in the world. the united nations is investigating the reports of civilian deaths. it is "stunned" at the loss of lives, according to its humanitarian co—ordinator in iraq. in the western section of mosul, where the fighting is at its most intense, many of these areas are small neighbourhoods, tiny alleyways, if the risk an explosion it is almost the as if it is a blast chamber. the impact is greater than

in an open area. this may account for part of the reason of why the impact has been so devastating. the family of the police officer who was murdered in wednesday's attack outside parliament in london have thanked those who were with him when he died. pc keith palmer was stabbed to death on wednesday, in the grounds of the palace of westminster. in the statement they said... "we have been overwhelmed by the love and support for ourfamily, and most especially, the outpouring of love and respect for our keith. we would also like to express our gratitude to the people who were with keith in his last moments. there was nothing more you could have done. you did your best and we are just grateful he was not alone. we miss him so much, but we are also incredibly proud of keith." meanwhile, a former head of the metropolitan police has called for changes to security at westminster, following wednesday's attack there. former commissioner lord blair said there should be a review of the arming of officers.

our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. minutes after the terrorist attack in the precincts of the palace of westminster. on the ground is constable keith palmer, who was stabbed to death. his killer, khaled massoud, has been shot to death by police. meanwhile, armed officers here have left the scene to investigate the gates, where masood's car has mounted the pavement and crashed. the gates, meanwhile, have been left unguarded and wide open. anyone could have got through. an understandable error according to a former head of scotland yard, who nevertheless leaves that in the future security who nevertheless believes that in the future security will have to be more stringent. i'm absolutely certain that they will have to be a review now of the outer soft ring. always behind it is the inner core of armed officers, but pc keith palmer has paid for his life for that soft outer ring and i think his family at least, and everyone else, need reassurance. the bbc has obtained new footage of the police response.

a fleet of cars carrying teams of marksmen racing down the embankment. this was shortly after khalid masood's trail of carnage which began on westminster bridge. questions remain unanswered about his route to radicalisation. he was a violent criminal before converting to islam more than a decade ago. one of his victims who have arrived is this romanian tourist, who was hurled into the thames. she was in london with her partner, who was also hurt. in romania, a friend paid tribute to the emergency services in london. translation: we would especially like to thank the doctors and nurses, all the medical staff, for everything they are doing to help them. today at scotland yard, police officers who were part of the emergency response laid flowers in memory of their colleague, keith palmer, who they tried to help. june kelly, bbc news.

in breaking news — fire and rescue service in merseyside, in the north—west of england, dealing with the aftermath of a suspect that gas leak. a special rescue team working on the area, around 30 people have been treated with injuries. at least one was seriously injured. the building was flattened and train services were suspended. we will bring you updates on this story as we get them. the european union have stressed the need for unity. 27 countries signed a new declaration but the uk was absent. this gathering was the eu's concert to brexit. this gathering was the eu's

answer to brexit. 27 leaders from across europe returning to rome, to where the first steps to the creation of the eu were taken, to reaffirm their vows of unityjust as the uk prepares to quit. i do think that brexit, the exit of britain, is a tragedy. the leaders were marking exactly 60 years to the day from the signing of the treaties of rome, in the very same room where they stood now. back then, just six nations met to create an economic partnership. countries who had fought each other putting aside differences to rebuild europe. today, in a lastly expanded union, 27 prime ministers and presidents signed a new rome declaration, pledging to continue to co—operate, even as they face challengers all around. their countries are emerging from the economic crisis,

but there are fears about jobs, terrorism, migration, and divisions amongst the leaders too. europe as a political entity will either be united or will not be at all. only a united europe can be a sovereign europe, in relation to the rest of the world. and only a sovereign europe guarantees independence for its nations, guarantees freedom for its citizens. on this anniversary they were marches by it you support this— this was in london, more than 20,000 estimated to have taken place. in rome, the gatherings were small. what worries the eu leaders, it is their opponents that are energised right now. eu leaders are trying to find a new impetus for their

project, to confront brexit and other challenges they face the problem that they have is how to rekindle enthusiasm for the eu across europe. a demonstration in london against the triggering of article 50. protesters were calling for britain to remain inside the eu and also fighting a hard brexit which would mean leaving the single market. pro european rallies in berlin. those taking part saying the eu is not dead and fears that more countries may leave the eu after brexit. police clashed with anti—eu demonstrators, offices and seizing iron bars and knives scuffles in the streets as well. meanwhile, in the

uk, the uk independent party have lost their only member of parliament. douglas ca rswell lost their only member of parliament. douglas carswell is leaving three years afterjoining the party and will continue to sit as an independent mp. the goal of the uk leaving the eu has been achieved. i thought about doing it a couple of days afterwards but then i thought, it is such a momentous and one of such wonderful news, i held back. it is happening in three days time, it is wonderful. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: what next for donald trump after healthcare becomes the first big failure of his administration? let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis.

so proud of both of you. with great regret the committee have decided that south africa be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers in fiji. this is bbc news. i'm lebo diseko.

the latest headlines: the pentagon has acknowledged that aircraft from the us—led coalition hit a district in the iraqi city of mosul where many civilians were killed. the new leader of hong kong will be selected shortly in a vote dismissed as a sham by pro—democracy activists. president donald trump put on a brave face on saturday after accepting that he failed in his election promise to overhaul president obama's health reforms. he tweeted that obamacare would collapse and vowed to put together a ‘great‘ replacement. republicans withdrew their health—care bill shortly before a vote in congress after it became clear they didn't have enough votes to get it through. mr trump says he's learned a lot during the process. he blames the minority democrats for the failure. us vice president, mike pence, told a crowd in west virginia that

congress wasn't ready to pass the legislation but both parties will come together and end obamacare. yesterday wasn't a victory for the american people, it was a victory for the status quo in washington, dc, and it was a victory for the disaster of obamaca re. but i promise you, that victory won't last very long. applause the american people want obamacare gone and as the president said today, don't worry america. he just tweeted this morning. obamacare's going to continue to explode and when republicans and democrats finally decide to come together and repeal and replace obamacare, we'll be ready to get the job done. the new leader of hong kong will be chosen shortly,

in a vote dismissed by pro—democracy activists as a sham. the territory's chief executive will be selected by a specially—appointed committee of nearly 1,200 people, most of them loyal to china. around 1,000 people have taken to the streets in a pro—democracy march ahead of the election. there are three candidates to succeed the outgoing leader cy leung. his deputy, carrie lam, is beijing's choice for the top job. her main rival, former finance chiefjohn tsang, is the public‘s favourite. the final candidate is retired judge woo kwok—hing. we judge woo kwok—hing. have live pictures ahead of vote, we have live pictures ahead of that vote, the 1200 seat selection committee looks like they are getting ready to go in and take part in that vote. not sure entirely how long the process will last, but of course we will bring you the result as soon as we get it. we're

expecting that in around four hours. these are live pictures from hong kong. you can see the sign for the chief executive election, that is before the 1200 seat election committee, mostly pro— beijing, will pick their candidate. there are three candidates to take over from the outgoing leader, his name is cy leung. his deputy, carrie lam, is beijing's choice for the top job and according to opinion polls, her main rival, the former finance chief, john sang, is the public favourite. the final candidate is retired judge woo kwok—hing. they are meeting and greeting at the moment and our correspondentjuliana liu is in hong kong and she is watching the developments. bring us up to date. good morning, lebo. a few moments

ago we found out the general public don't get a vote, the people who are voting on a committee ofjust under 1200 people. this is an election committee that is comprised of members largely loyal to the chinese government in beijing. they will be choosing hong kong's next leader and we should be getting a result in just under three hours from now. in terms of the three candidates, the front runner is clearly carrie lam, she is the former chief secretary of hong kong, there are other contenders, john tsang, a financial secretary, and a retired judge, woo kwok—hing, but the front runner is carrie lam, she is widely seen as the preferred candidate of beijing

and that comes from a series of indirect statements to hong kong media as well as supporters‘ opinion pieces written about her who are very pro— beijing. she is expected to win. the candidate needs just over 600 votes to win. barring any last—minute scandal, it is extremely likely to be carrie lam. what is the mood in terms of the pro—democracy push in hong kong at the moment? well, certainly the pro—democracy movement still has quite a lot of support in hong kong. this is the first chief executive election since the pro—democracy protests of 2014. those were quite unprecedented. and just yesterday there was a protest attended by about 1000 people and at the moment people are gearing up to

protest outside this election then you as well. those sentiments are still very strong. the front runner, carrie lam, has promised to heal divisions in society and tackle that but it is unclear exactly how she would do that because she is quite unpopular. opinion polls show that john sang is the preferred candidate of the general public. of course he is not expected to win. many critics of mrs lamb and those who are not out right critics believe that it would be extremely difficult for her to heal divisions in society. great to heal divisions in society. great to have you bring us right up to date. results from those elections expected in around three and a bit hours. of course as soon as we get a result we will let you know. president erdogan says turkey might hold a brexit—style referendum

on whether to pursue eu membership. turkish attempts to join the eu have been stalled since 2005. his comments come a year after the eu and turkey agreed a deal to stem the flow of migrants entering europe. but bureaucratic delays have left thousands stranded. paul adams sent this report from the greek island of chios. a year ago these waters fell silent. a deal was struck, enforcement followed. europe breathed a sigh of relief. but it‘s not over. on chios, the camps are overflowing once more. a surge of new arrivals joining those who have been trapped here for months. abdullah arrived here the day the eu—turkey deal went into effect. one day earlier and he could have moved on, but he has been stuck for over one year. long enough to draw unfavourable parallels with life back home. with isis minmi you will be told by

them in the second. i just want to live like a human being. here, they let you live because there‘s no need to kill you. but they kill your hope, they kill your dreams. the government—run camp at vial was supposed to be a model reception centre, but secret filming from inside shows a place migrants call ‘the cage‘, where new arrivals are held for the first few hours. an intimidating first glimpse of europe and the start of a long bureaucratic process that seems designed to halt them in their tracks. people that expected to spend here just a few days are stranded here for months, which has impacted on the psychology of the people. they don‘t have the perception that tomorrow the situation will be solved. they think this thing could go on for years. the damage is not hard to find. abdul left aleppo last year. injanuary, he learned his mother and sister were killed

in an airstrike. he feels utterly lost. i want a safe country for me because i have lost everything. everything... future and family. my life. the principal at the heart of the eu—turkey deal is that turkey, just over the water, is a safe place for refugees and other migrants to return to. now, the syrians in particular dispute that and say that turkey is not safe for them. a greek court is due to rule on this soon. much will depend on the outcome. for the migrants stuck on the islands, clarity is badly needed. paul adams, bbc news, pauladams, bbc news, chios. a gunman who barricaded himself inside a bus on the main strip in las vegas has surrended peacefully. the stand—off began near the cosmopolitan hotel casino

and part of the las vegas boulevard was closed after the shooting which left one person dead and another one in hospital. now, lights have been going out around the globe for earth hour. landmarks like the brandenburg gate in germany were plunged into darkness for sixty minutes to draw attention to climate change. people in berlin pedalling bicycles to generate electricity for some late night musical entertainment. in russia, more than 1,000 buildings including the kremlin took part in the international event. campaigners gathered by candle light in moscow‘s red square to mark the tenth annual earth hour. while in the philippines, star wars fans duelled with lightsabers along manila‘s darkened business district. millions of people from some 170 countries are expected to take part in the symbolic gesture to save electricity. now for some daredevil action. if you‘re scared of heights, you might want to turn away, but for the adrenaline seekers,

here‘s something to feast your eyes on. these are slackline enthusiasts and they‘ve set themselves up to have some fun in the sky at a festival in an old quarry in the czech town of beroun. the lines were 40 metres off the ground and stretched out for at least 100 metres. while some made it look easy, others found the balancing act a bit too difficult. but don‘t worry they were all safely strapped on. don‘t worry, they were all safely strapped on. lucky they were, quite difficult to look at i must say! you can get all of our stories on our website, bbc.com/news. can get all of our stories on our website, bbc. com/news. thank can get all of our stories on our website, bbc.com/news. thank you for watching. hello there, good morning.

it really was a lovely start to the weekend and there‘s more sunshine to come on sunday. these were saturday‘s blue skies, taken by a weather watcher in aberdeenshire. here, the temperature rose to 19.1 celsius, making it the warmest day of the year so far, closely followed by west wales, northern ireland and into cumbria. we‘ll see similar temperatures again on sunday. but it‘s pretty cold out there at the moment, especially underneath that high pressure where we‘ve got no wind to speak of. maybe one or two mist and fog patches short—lived. not as cold to the south due to the wind, but across the northern isles, we have a touch of frost already, especially chilly in the glens of scotland, parts of northern ireland. it will warm up quickly in the sunshine. a lot of sunshine, almost wall—to—wall sunshine. still some cloud in shetland, perhaps orkney, a little bit of lighter cloud across the english channel and

stronger winds still blowing in southern parts of england and wales. light winds further north. lots of sunshine across the bulk of scotland, away from the northern isles. this time the highest temperatures further west in scotland. in western scotland, we could get up to 18 degrees in parts. 18 possible in the north and west of wales. generally about the mid—teens. the edge taken off the sunshine by the stronger winds in southern england. it could be a touch cooler than saturday in devon and cornwall and those temperatures pegged back right on the coast with the onshore breeze. a lovely evening if you‘re heading to wembley for the football on sunday. but once the sun goes down we will find those temperatures falling very quickly. perhaps not quite so low, because on monday there will be a bit more cloud around, especially moving northwards into northern england and southern scotland, northern ireland. still a lovely day in the north—west of scotland. for most of england and wales there will be some sunshine. not as windy in the south. temperatures still 16—17 degrees. not as warm where we have that cloud. we‘ll find things gradually change as we look towards the south—west. we push away the area of high

pressure that‘s keeping it fine and sunny and we‘ll introduce some showers perhaps across northern ireland, across wales, or western parts of england. further east it may well be dry and across scotland it is largely dry, but more in the way of cloud here. that‘s the slow theme we will develop over the weekend. cloud increasing. the chance of some rain as well. but we will have the winds more from the south, so with the sunshine it will still be on the warm side and it won‘t be as cold at night. the latest headlines from bbc news. i‘m lebo diseko: the united states military has admitted that aircraft from the american—led coalition did strike part of the iraqi city of mosul where a large number of civilians were killed. it said it had opened an investigation but accused islamic state group fighters of using civilians as human shields. the new leader of hong kong will be chosen shortly in a vote dismissed

as a sham by pro—democracy activists. the territory‘s chief executive will be selected by a specially—appointed committee of nearly 1200 people — most of them loyal to the chinese leadership. there are three candidates. eu leaders have stressed the need for unity. 27 leaders signed a new declaration but the british prime minister was absent. article 50 will be triggered this week. now on bbc news, it‘s time for dateline london.