a warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories. brexit begins. britain's prime minister signs the letter kick—starting the uk's departure from the european union. president trump scraps us plans to combat climate change. critics say it threatens the paris agreement and puts the planet at risk. deepening concerns for civilians in western mosul. we report on the thousands of people caught in the conflict. and celebrations in london as a royal marine, convicted of shooting dead a wounded taliban fighter, is told he'll be freed early. hello, and welcome.

the british prime minister, theresa may, has signed the letter to the european union that will trigger the process by which britain will leave the eu. it will be handed to the president of the european council on wednesday. mrs may said she was determined to use brexit as an opportunity to build a "global britain," with new trade alliances across the world. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. nine months of careful assembly, plenty of preparation, and attention to detail. the decisions that have been taken will affect all our lives and livelihoods, and her political future. banging the drum for trade with the golf, the prime minister wants to reach out. tomorrow we begin the negotiations to secure a new deep and special partnership with the european union. as we do so, i am determined that we should also sees this historic opportunity to get out into the world. but there's a job

at home to do, too. here in birmingham voters favoured leaving the eu but were split almost down the middle. never mind for now, negotiating with more than two dozen other countries, the referendum divided opinion here, notjust between north and south, or town and country, or even constituency and constituency, but sometimes street by street. in this part of birmingham on this side of the road, the harborne council ward where nearly 70% of people voted to remain, but on the other side of the road, the quinton ward, where there was a very clear verdict the other way round. in the next two years theresa may must try to seal her deal with voters everywhere who wanted very different things. others, like mike wheeler, a businessman, have even changed their mind in the last few months. ministers want to keep people

on side, but we brought mike and a group of businesses together to ask how. since the referendum, what we've seen is not what we expected, which was a massive crash of the economy and high levels of unemployment coming through. our sales have increased locally, our exports sales have increased and our employment levels have increased. so, we haven't seen what we expected, so that gives me a lot of confidence. we should finish the year much better than i thought we were going to finish. however, do i think uncertainty has gone away? absolutely not. i think it's here to stay and any false move by anyone in the government, really, could bring that back, just like that. let's get on with it. we can all do this, we can all do it together, and we're on the right trip together. i am bothered by short—term damage that can be done now, and which will be very hard for the government

to manage through policy. i'm optimistic about the future from what i've seen and it's fair to say that our members are cautiously optimistic about the future. i mean, we're seeing lots of our members continue to invest, continue to take advantage of the low pound, the exchange rates, etc. so, for exporters, it's been a real boon. yet, even from the looks on theirfaces, these prominent remainers are far less convinced. i worry that she will be pushed into a corner a little bit by the hard brexiteers, who will be reluctant to give an inch. with the prime minister almost ready to start a long and complicated process, the final product still looks unclear. but, however she fares, the shape of the country is being recast. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, birmingham. the scottish parliament has backed plans to call for a second referendum on independence from the uk. the vote was called by the scottish national party after the uk voted for brexit. yes, 69, no, if denied. it is

therefore agreed. any new referendum will have to be agreed by the government in westminster, but scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon, believes there's now a clear mandate for a second vote to take place. i hope the united kingdom government will respect the view of parliament. this is simply about giving scotland a choice. we agree that now is not the right time for that choice, but that choice should be available to the people of scotland when the terms of brexit are agreed to. with anti—eu sentiment growing across europe the upcoming brexit negotiations are bound to be contentious. the french presidential candidate marine le pen, leader of the far—right front national party, has told the bbc that she expects the eu to try and punish the british for their decision. translation: that is undeniably the

intention of the eu. the eu wants the divorce to be as painful as possible. that is simply because they can feel that other nations in europe want to leave this political structure. they don't want a domino effect. project fear did not work, so effect. project fear did not work, so they will have to make separation as painful as possible. will they succeed, i do not think so. president trump has signed a new executive order reversing many of barack obama's efforts to limit global warming. the order is meant to boost employment in america's energy sector, lifting a moratorium on the development of new coal fields. president trump has in the past called global warming a "hoax," and has repeatedly promised to help the struggling us coal industry, as our north america editor, jon sopel, reports. the coal industry was beginning to look like an endangered species in the us under barack obama but if president trump has his way soon coal will be king again

and today he signed a raft of measures reversing the policies of his predecessor. my administration is putting an end to the war on coal, we're going to have clean coal, really clean coal. with today's executive action i'm taking historic steps to lift the restrictions on american energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job—killing regulations. rules aimed at reducing carbon emissions. it will lift a moratorium on the sale of new coal leases on federal land and scrap a limit on greenhouse emissions or construction of new power plants. and no one can accuse the president of not being true to his word. so obama's talking about all of this with the global warming... a lot of it's a hoax. it's a hoax. we are going to put our coalminers back to work. this is waynesburg, pennsylvania, a town that voted overwhelmingly

for donald trump last november, in part down to his pledge to overturn obamaera pledges on energy. the colliery here shut down a year ago. today there's growing confidence their industry might be coming back. as of right now, money is coming right back, they do believe mining is going to pick up and they are going to get theirjobs back. around this area, mining is picking back up. but environmental campaigners are aghast and wonder where it leaves the paris limate change agreement that president obama committed the us to in december, 2015. 73% of americans believe that climate change is real and the government should act and lead on it. so mr trump's in the minority. if mr trump does not honour the paris deal, he willjoin a very small club that includes syria, nicaragua and uzbekistan. but the president wants to remove regulations that get in the way

of these american jobs. in essence, the president wants all men to be able to drill and miners to be able to dig, but the reason so many pits shut down wasn't because of regulation, it was because they'd become uneconomic as consumers moved to cheaper, cleaner forms of fuel. it's hard to see how the signing of an executive order changes that. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. officials in the australian state of queensland are beginning to assess the damage wrought by the powerful cyclone debbie. parts of the state remain difficult to access because many roads are blocked. only one fatality has been reported so far. the australian army is heading into the hardest hit areas, where tens of thousands of homes remain without power. let's get some of the latest on the storm's aftermath. bowen looks a bit like a warzone, but the good thing about it is there doesn't seem to be a hell of a lot of structural damage.

so there are a lot of trees down, we lost a few awnings, there's signs blown over. probably our biggest issue at this present point of time is the amount of power lines that are down and power lines covering the road. all the roads have been cut off around bowen, airlie beach, proserpine. it's going to be a huge job to clear those roads, so he we are asking people to stay indoors and not move until we can actually get our emergency personnel there. at the moment, not many reports of injury, but, having said that, we still know that a lot of people have lost communications, so we want to make sure that everyone is safe there. the priority will be to support the recovery. as the day progresses we will get an understanding of the damage from the storm. we have put in place enormous preparation for this storm.

it's one of the great advantages of all the technology you see around us to be able to anticipate these events. there are well over thousand emergency personnel and defence personnel who are literally ready to go in today. our correspondent, hywel griffith, spent tuesday in northern queensland, as cyclone debbie swept towards land. hejoins me now from ayr, that's about 150 kilometres north of where the cyclone made landfall. thank you very much for your time. what is the extent of the damage where you are? so, there is some damage here, but it is largely light debris and that kind of thing. nothing like pictures of bowen and airlie beach. what was fascinating is the damage inland. it's just kept going. roofs have been ripped off. powerlines are down in several parts

of the state. and the road. several parts of the highway are blocked by flash flooding and fallen trees. those are the things emergency services are now starting to have to deal with. how services are now starting to have to dealwith. how are services are now starting to have to deal with. how are the locals dealing with it generally? are they having to make other plans given the power cuts and things like that? yeah. people without power clearly wa nt to yeah. people without power clearly want to know when they will be reconnected, because that reconnects them to the world and let them know what is going on. many people have charged their phones but that only gets you so far. businesses and shops are starting to get back to normal. flights have resumed. however further south and closer to other areas, flights are grounded for now. you heard from malcolm turnbull that now it is the recovery mission. we will speak to

firefighters and emergency service workers. their next task is to get on to really regional and remote communities. some helicopters have been flying over. some emergency ci’ews been flying over. some emergency crews expect to be airlifted and dropped into emergency areas. they arejust dropped into emergency areas. they are just tried to check on everyone living in outlying areas and are trying to put things back together. —— trying. they want to put the infrastructure back to allow the place to start to recover. thank you very much for that. stayed with us on bbc news. —— stay. still to come. tribal chic. new feathers in the cap for native american fashion. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing.

the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. the latest headlines: britain's prime minister has signed a letter kick—starting the uk's

departure from the european union. it'll be delivered to brussels on wednesday. president trump has signed an order scrapping us plans to combat climate change. critics say it puts the planet at risk — and are planning a legal challenge. an american general leading the fight to recapture the iraqi city of mosul from the group calling itself islamic state, has admitted that coalition forces were probably involved in the deaths of civilians. general stephen townsend said an investigation was under way, but also suggested that the militants could be to blame. our middle east editorjeremy bowen is with the iraqi army as it advances into mosul from where he sent this report. mosul is being broken by war to take down islamic state. we drove through the streets taken by is in the last few days. the jihadists seized mosul in 2014,

posing as the liberators of sunni muslims. instead, they imposed a nightmare. and trying to end it was this general, 50 metres from an islamic state sniper. translation: it is a street battle. we advanced in teams from house to house. the enemy is very aggressive, using snipers and car bombs. fighting in a built—up area is the toughestjob a soldier can do. casualties are inevitable. mosul is a big city, which makes it worse. both sides are moving along passages knocked through walls because open ground is dangerous. through homes whose owners left in a hurry. dresses still hung in a cupboard.

the command centre was in the living room. translation: the fighting has become room—to—room, not house—to—house. they are surrounded. either they fight or surrender. they are not surrendering. it's close quarter combat. he had two hand grenades ready. could airstrikes help them? they're politically difficult, especially now the americans say their coalition probably killed at least 150 civilians. this fight is every bit as hard and slow and difficult as was predicted. gunfire but these soldiers seem capable,

and they are pushing forward. they are determined. gunfire their enemies are around 20 metres away. translation: they are french saudis, but mainly french and saudis. when we kill them, we find their identity cards. and now, civilians, when they can, queue for handouts. on this street, they said it was better than when jihadist came here to build their caliphate, to start a war to supersede islamic countries. and iraqis absorb more pain. jeremy bowen, bbc news, mosul. the latest in a series of special reports on the fierce fighting

in western mosul with our middle east editorjeremy bowen. a court in london has reduced the sentence imposed on a british marine for killing an injured taliban fighter in afghanistan, meaning he could leave jail in weeks. alexander blackman was originally given a life sentence for murder at his trial in 2013 ——a conviction that was changed earlier this month to one of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. duncan kennedy reports. cheering it was the news fellow marines had been waiting four years to hear. and, moments later, their euphoria was shared in the reaction of alexander blackman‘s wife. we are overjoyed at the judge's decision to significantly

reduce our sentence such that he can be released imminently. this is the moment we've all been fighting hard for. it's hard to believe that this day is finally here. as a marine sergeant, alexander blackman had been a decisive, accomplished leader of troops, someone who'd killed 30 times for his country. but on this tour of afghanistan, in 2011, he and his men went through what was called a tour from hell. they were provoked and violently targeted incessantly by the taliban. in this field, they found an injured taliban insurgent, sergeant blackman was recorded saying this. anybody want to do first aid on this idiot? no. he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. shot fire. he then added.

shuffle off this mortal coil. in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that angered thousands of military colleagues. but earlier this month that conviction was reduced to manslaughter because new evidence showed the mental strains on him had badly impaired his judgement. so today, his sentence was reduced to seven years, meaning he can be freed from this prison in wiltshire some time in the next few weeks. and while his supporters are delighted, the judges did stress that alexander blackman did break the geneva convention and that his actions could be used as propaganda by insurgents to show that british values are no different to anybody else's. claire blackman is now just a few days away from being reunited with her husband, but although she and their supporters see this as a day of justice, the message from the judges is clear — killing in war must always be covered by the rule of law. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in wiltshire. a passenger plane in carew caught

fire after skidding off a runway during landing. there are no reports of serious injury, but all on—board the plane evacuated for the fire spread. it is said that itjetted off the runway for unspecified reasons. authorities are investigating. —— evacuated before. throughout history the clothes we've worn have created powerful perceptions of who we are. and then — as now — fashion has been intertwined with culture. an exhibition at the national museum of the american indian in new york reveals how native americans today are developing their own contemporary look and changing the way we think about style and identity. jane o'brien reports. from couture the streetwear, daywear to costume, it's almost impossible to define native fashion. but that's hardly surprising. after all, each tribe is a nation

with its own identity and culture and there are hundreds of artists working across the vast american continent and they're all doing their own thing. what is the artist trying to do here? because these are not clothes i would wear. well, these two dresses are really an expression of the creation story. the connection to the stars. so wendy ponca has chosen a space age type material. i don't believe they are really meant necessarily to be worn, because of the material, we really are more of a statement in an exploration of these ideas. this one by contrast you could wear. it's a dress by bethany yellowtail and it's created in a very contemporary fashion, but it also has this line of faux elk teeth that run over the arms and chest. that's a direct reference to betha ny‘s heritage and the dresses that historically were worn by the women and were covered in these elk teeth dresses. even where the cultural references are obvious,

these clothes are anything but traditional. although that was the inspiration for margaret wood, who learnt to sew as a child. everyone had a traditional garment in the closet that they brought out for ceremonies and social events. then i started saying, those are good lines and wonderful colours. what if i did something that you could wear to work, and wear out to dinner, and notjust be associated with an indian gathering? the result included this garment based on the native blanket dress. the style is now frequently worn by native women at graduations and other important events, but what this exhibition demonstrates most profoundly is the independence of native designers. their clothes are no longer the source of inspiration for others, they are themselves changing concepts of style and identity.

we don't often feature monster trucks, but have a look at this. it is the first ever time a monster truck has pulled off a front flip without crashing. defeat was managed in las vegas, and as often say, please don't try this at home —— the feat. a reminder of our top story. theresa may has signed an historic letter triggering the uk's departure from the european union. that's all for now — you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcreged ahmad. hello there.

the next few days are looking more unsettled, more cloud and outbreaks of rain across the country. but at least one thing is for sure, things remaining on the mild side. we'll maintain south or south—westerly winds. mild overnight too, a lot of cloud around. most of the rain across northern and western areas. the odd heavier burst over higher ground. to start wednesday morning, quite mild in the south — 10—11, close to 6—8 in the north. a rather cloudy and damp start for wednesday. most of the rain continuing to affect north and western parts as we head through the day and in the afternoon many central, southern and eastern areas staying dry altogether. perhaps some brightness around. i suspect quite a damp afternoon for much of scotland and northern ireland, especially northwest england. heavy bursts of rain likely across higher grounds. mist and murk, temperatures in the low teens. quite breezy too, especially around irish sea coasts. some wet weather into wales. the south—west and to the midlands eastwards, quite dry.

given the brightness, 16—17, but remaining cloudy for most of us. we import some warm air across central, southern and eastern parts on thursday from the near continent, so we could be looking at the warmest day of the year so far on thursday afternoon, especially given some brightness in the south—east. 20, 21, maybe 22 degrees. but the weather for thursday across northern and western areas will maintain this cloudy, damp theme. outbreaks of rain at times. quite breezy too, with lighter winds further east. a little bit cooler generally on friday. still quite warm across the south—east. in the west, looking at 12—15 degrees. a band of pretty heavy rain spreading north and eastwards because of that weather front. that will clear away into the weekend and it looks like we have a ridge of high pressure building in for sunday. before we reach that point, it could be quite showery on saturday. april showers — some could be quite heavy,

maybe some hail and thunder mixed in. some sunshine around too and note temperatures are a bit lower again across the board. sunday, dry, with the high pressure exerting its force across much of the uk. high pressure across the north—west corner, also breezy. to sum up the weekend, plenty of showers around on saturday. some sunny spells in between, fine on sunday and nights will be quite chilly. the latest headlines from bbc news. britain's prime minister, theresa may, has signed an historic letter to leave the eu. it will be delivered to the european council president setting up two years of negotiations. theresa may will tell

mps now is the moment to come together. president trump signed an executive order scrapping green energy targets in the us and boosting the coal industry. environmental activists say it it will cause damage. there is deepening concern for thousands of civilians in mosul caught up in the conflict. a general leading the fight to islamic state has admitted coalition forces were probably involved in many civilian deaths. now on bbc news, a look back at