welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to 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 more tensions between turkey and europe following claims the turkish secret service spied on turks living in germany. 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 gulf, 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 seize 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. nevermind 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's 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. yes, 69, no, 59. there were no abstentions. the amendment is therefore agreed. the vote was called by the scottish national party after the uk voted for brexit. 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 people in 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 clear. 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's undeniably the intention of the eu. the eu wants the divorce to be as painful as possible. that's simply because they can feel that other nations of europe want to leave this political structure.

they don't want a domino effect. blackmail didn't work. project fear didn't work either. so they have to try to make the separation as painful as possible. will they succeed? i don't 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 editorjon 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 coal will soon 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. the new measures will undo the clean power plan, 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 for 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 obama—era 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 picking back up, 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 oil 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. in other news: the wife of the westminster attacker khalid masood has said she is saddened and shocked by her husband's actions. in a statement through police, rohey hydara expressed her condolences to the families of the dead and wished a speedy recovery to those injured. the wife of french presidential candidate francois fillon has been placed under formal investigation as part of the inquiry into so—called fake jobs. mr fillon was under formal investigation earlier this month. he is accused of paying hundreds of thousands of euros to his family for work they did not do. the centre—right contender and his welsh—born wife, penelope, deny any wrongdoing. the former first lady

of ivory coast, simone gbagbo, has been acquitted of crimes against humanity at a trial in the commercial capital, abidjan. the charges relate to violence that followed a presidential election in 2010 when her husband, laurent, refused to concede to alassane 0uattara. 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. 0ur 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 smash the ambition of islamic state. we drove through the streets taken back by is in the last few days. we drove through the streets taken

back from 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, muhammad was 50 metres from an is 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's 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. stay with us on bbc

news, 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. we've all seen the distressing images of those caught up

in the conflict in syria. but what is it like inside the country's most notorious prison? the bbc has been hearing from a former detainee who has now started a new life in london. to protect his identity and the safety of his family, we can't tell you how old he is, or how long he was imprisoned. it comes as researchers at goldsmith‘s university have for the first time created an accurate model of the inside of the prison. you may find some details in charlotte franks‘ report upsetting. it feels like they are pouring fire through your veins. you feel literally fire in your arms and you ask people and you say, what i have to do not to be tortured like this? he is living safely in london now, but salam still vividly remembers the torture him do it inside one of syria's most notorious prisons. locked up for opposing president

assad's regime, he was detained at the place synonymous with fear and death. inaccessible tojournalists, little has been known about what goes on inside until now. a group of former detainees have been helping forensic architects at goldsmith‘s university to recreate the prison —based on sound they remember hearing inside. sounds are really important element inside sednaya because there is a regime of silence. prisoners are not allowed to speak or scream when they are being tortured, so there is this co nsta nt being tortured, so there is this constant silence which amplifies the sense of hearing. held in darkness and in silence, the inmates a posture be hearing became acute and they heard everything. translation: ican they heard everything. translation: i can tell you they are beating with bells or sticks or the broomsticks.

ican bells or sticks or the broomsticks. i can tell if they are punching or kicking or hitting them against the wall. i can tell the difference by the sound of screaming or the sound of tools hitting the body. researchers in london used this memory of sound to conduct a model of the entire prison and located the witness testimonies within it. salam is now trying to rebuild his life here, but he struggles with the memories. i still have nightmares which include torture, running away from soldiers and just being taken back to syria, one way or another. 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. our correspondent hywel griffith is in queensland and says many parts of the state remain difficult to access because the roads

are blocked. cyclone debbie hit the coastline most than 2a hours ago but now it is the beginning of a mopping up exercise a massive scale. one of the biggest problems is that this main highway that connects the coastline is closed in several parts you to flooding. you can see that is causing real problems and cutting off towns like bowen, possible iron, all because of the impact of the cyclone. we seen a steady stream of state emergency vehicles making their way down here. theirjob is to open up the road again and reach those outlying areas. but they're not the only ones being deployed at the moment. we've seen helicopters overhead, again trying to assess the damage and reach anyone who is in need. for the teams on the frontline the next few days will be difficult. this team expects to be choppered into one of the most promote areas hit hard by cyclone debbie. they are

having to pack potentially four days and it could become isolated, to reach out to some of the communities who were hit by the cyclone. when they get there they will have to assess the risks, assess safety and make sure everyone is safe and recovering from the impact of the storm. a plane has caught fire after skidding off a runway whilst landing at an airport in peru. all 1111 people onboard the peruvian airlines flight evacuated safely before the aircraft caught fire. the airline said the boeing 737 swerved off the runway after landing at the small airport in the andes. one minister said the aircraft was having trouble slowing down after touching down on the tarmac. authorities are investigating. germany's federal prosecutor has opened an investigation into suspected spying by turkey on turks living in germany. it follows reports that turkish intelligence handed to its german counterpart a list of alleged supporters of the man turkey blames for last year's failed coup, the muslim cleric fethullah gulen. but german ministers said spying

by ankara on turks living in germany would not be tolerated. there was no immediate response from turkish officials. sarah corker reports. since last year's failed coup in turkey, 41,000 people have been arrested and president erdogan declared a state of emergency. the turkish government blames this man, the exiled muslim cleric and former ally of mr erdogan, fethullah gulen, of organising the coup. now there are accusations that the turkish secret service has been spying on turks living in germany, alleged gulen supporters. translation: we have repeatedly told turkey that something like this is unacceptable. no matter what position someone may have on the gulen movement, here, german law is applied and citizens will not be spied on by foreign countries. it follows media reports that turkish intelligence handed a list of people suspected opposition

sympathies to its german counterpart and asked for cooperation. tensions between the two nato allies are already high. berlin infuriated ankara by cancelling turkish campaign rallies on german soil ahead of next month's referendum on expanding presidential powers. in southern turkey, the fiery rhetoric against europe continued. translation: i am warning europe on this referendum, which is our domestic business. europe should not meddle in our domestic affairs and mind its own business. know your place. and as eligible turkish voters living in germany head to the polls, hundreds of turks on that alleged intelligence list have now been warned by the german authorities that they were targeted. 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 to 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 by wendy ponca are really an expression of the creation story. the connection to the stars.

so she's chosen a space age type material. i don't believe they are really meant necessarily to be worn, because of the material. they really are more of a statement and 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 across the arms and over the 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 tooth 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 includes this garment, based on the native blanket dress. the style is now frequently worn by young navajo 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 solely the source of inspiration for others, they are themselves changing concepts of style and identity. much more coming up on bbc world news. most of us are on twitter, including me. 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 triggering the uk's departure from the european union. it will be delivered to european council president donald tusk on wednesday, setting up two years of intense negotiations. president donald trump has signed an executive order scrapping the us's green energy targets and boosting its troubled coal industry.

us environmentalists say the move will hinder efforts to curb climate change and have vowed to challenge it in the courts. there's deepening concern for thousands of civilians caught up in the conflict in western mosul. a us general leading the fight to recapture the iraqi city from the so—called islamic state has admitted coalition forces were probably involved in many civilian deaths. now on bbc news, in a change to the scheduled programme, there's a chance to watch again an interview with one of the leaders of south africa's anti—apartheid struggle ahmed kathrada,