hello. you're watching bbc world news. i'm ben bland. our top story this hour. britain's exit from the european union begins. a letter, signed by prime minister theresa may, will be delivered to eu chiefs today, kick—starting the historic break with brussels. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour: a lucky escape as a passengerjet catches fire while landing in central peru. all 140 people were evacuated safely. australian officials assess the damage after cyclone debbie struck the northeast coast. a massive clean—up operation is under way. more tensions between turkey and europe following claims the turkish secret service spied on turks living in germany. i'm sally bundock. in business. with just hours to go before article 50 is triggered, we find out how prepared businesses are for this seismic change. and back in the race,

samsung gears up to show off its latest smartphone, but can it regain consumer's trust after its massive recall last year? hello. britain will today formally serve notice on brussels that it's leaving the european union. a letter signed by the british prime minister is being taken by hand to the president of the european council, donald tusk. as it's delivered, at lunchtime, mrs may will make a statement to parliament in which she'll urge the country to "come together" as it embarks on a "momentous journey." alex forsyth reports. more than four decades ago, the uk first signed up to the then european community. today, those years of union will come to an end. david

cameron's promised back in 2013 was key to getting to this point. he said britain would get to choose whether to stay in or leave the european union, leading two years of debate about the union. it is time for the british people to have their say. it is time for us to settle this question about written and europe. so, last year, politicians of all persuasions took to the streets of britain. they made their case for leave or remain. then richest people decided. the british people spoke, and we are out. for some there was jubilation —— british. for others, contemplation. even devastation. and for him a resignation. i think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction. the new prime minister pledged from the start to honour the result. brexit means brexit, and we are going to make a

success brexit, and we are going to make a success of it. and that process will begin in earnest today with a letter sent from here to brussels formerly saying the uk wants to leave the eu. then some two years of negotiations will follow with a whole host of issues to be resolved, everything from the rights of eu citizens living here and elsewhere, to britain's financial contributions to the eu and a future trading relationship. and there are decades of regulations that need to be unpick. the process of leaving will be complex and at times uncertain. there will be challenges and opportunities. and with the signature of the prime minister on this letter, it all begins today. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. and so it begins. there are many issues that need to be resolved. we will look at them later in the

programme. it will have a big impact on business. sally bundock can talk us on business. sally bundock can talk us through it. a huge impact. businesses have been tried to get their head around this fall nine months now. they need to sharpen their focus on what will be some drastic changes. for businesses across the continent it is time to sharpen their focus on how to deal with what, for some, will be some pretty drastic changes. here in the uk companies large and small have been coming up with contigency plans, something that is quite difficult to do given the level of uncertainty. and in the case of the big banks some have threatened to move staff to the continent if they don't get the brexit deal they're looking for. if we focus on the case for the city of london. in 2014, financial and insurance services contributed $159 billion to the uk economy. that's about 8% of the total. it employs almost one point two million people in uk. it also contributes a trade surplus of approximately $73 billion to the uk's balance of payments, meaning it brings lots of money

into the country. but the eu also relies on the uk. $6.6 trillion worth of financial assets are under management here in the uk. that's 37% of the european total. so, we will be talking about the situation as far as finance and big business is concerned. but also, lots of small and medium—sized businesses will be affected by this significantly as well. we will hear from a number of exporters about the challenges that are being created as a result of brexit and how they are planning ahead. all about coming up later in world business report. see you soon. thank you. we look forward to it. the other main stories this hour. president trump has used his executive powers to rip up measures put in place by barack 0bama to curb global warming.

he's ended a number of restrictions on the coal industry, and promised that more jobs would be created as a result. environmentalists have criticised the measures, saying they'll have serious consequences across the globe. a ceasefire is in place in syria to allow the evacuation of civilians from four towns and districts. the warring parties have agreed to allow residents of two towns besieged by the rebels to be bussed out, in return for safe passage for those living under government siege in two suburbs of damascus. the wife of french presidential candidate francois fillon has been placed under formal investigation. it's 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. they deny any wrongdoing. and now to peru, where a plane caught fire after reportedly skidding off a runway during landing.

more than 150 were on the plane. all managed to get to safety. pablo uchoa has the story. firefighters desperately fighting to put out a fire on this aeroplane, a rare sight at this airport in peru. it veered off the runwayjust rare sight at this airport in peru. it veered off the runway just after touching down. it then burst into fla mes touching down. it then burst into flames as a result of the force of the landing according to the ministry of transport. plumes of smoke to be seen at a distance, and shocked eyewitnesses posted photos of the incident on social media. miraculously, all 1111 passengers we re miraculously, all 1111 passengers were evacuated safely. 38 were taken to the hospital, but none with serious injuries. as part of the investigation, the captain has suggested it was caused by problems

with the landing gear. peruvian airlines praised those responsible for helping those get to safety. bbc news. after a powerful storm, the australian state of queensland is beginning to assess the damage caused by cyclone debbie. parts of the state remain difficult to access because many roads are blocked. 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. my main message today for residents on the whitsunday coast is please stay off the roads. we need you to stay off the roads because at nine o'clock this morning the adf will be doing a reconnaissance, they'll be looking at the structural damage which is happening on the whitsunday coast, and we need to be able to get our emergency services personnel in as quickly as possible. for many people this morning they are waking up and they are seeing the devastation that has happened in their communities.

our hearts go out to them. 0ur priority is to look after you, is to look after the families that have been deeply impacted by this horrific cyclone. obviously, there has been a large area that's been impacted, but the really severe area is that area around bowen, whitsunday, proserpine. those areas and the whitsunday islands remain difficult for us to contact and to get into. we're progressively getting information out of there. i'm pleased to say that the information that we're getting out of there that while there is significant damage there are no injured people. the tropical cyclone was downgraded to a tropical low at 3am overnight. currently it is located to the northwest of moranbah and is continuing to track to the southwest this morning. during today we expect the remnant low to begin a more southerly track and then take a southeasterly track during this evening. and that would bring the low down across southeastern queensland during thursday and friday. the bbc‘s amelia butterlyjoins us

now from airlie beach on queensland's coast. some of the descriptions are that this cycle and has left parts of queensland looking like a warzone. how bad is the damage where you are? everything was damaged. i have been walking around the main strip this morning. you can see trees have fallen down. roofs have come down. there was significant flooding as well. people are really upset and crying because they have lost their livelihood. a lot has damaged their community. have people been able to return to what is left of their homes? it is difficult to say

really. communication is struggling to get out to the wider country. there is no train service, no power, roads network, running water. people are banding together. people are helping each other out. but it is still hard to say even nearby who has been badly affected. it sounds like getting information is difficult. how are they keeping people informed? difficult. how are they keeping people informed ? is difficult. how are they keeping people informed? is itjust word—of—mouth? are people being given any idea of when they will get power back? there is no information coming out. it is 100% word—of—mouth. people have been helpful explaining to backpackers exactly how long this will last. they believe power will be for at least a week. some areas are really

locked. i have been shown pictures where things are very flooded. there is no way out by car. 0k, where things are very flooded. there is no way out by car. ok, for the moment, thank you very much. speaking to us from airlie beach on the queensland coast. a top us general in iraq has admitted that coalition forces were probably involved in the deaths of civilians during the fight to recapture the iraqi city of mosul from the so—called islamic state. general stephen townsend said an investigation had begun, 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 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, mohammad 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're 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‘ re

pushing forward. they're determined. gunfire their enemies are around 20 metres away. translation: they are french, saudis, chechens, 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, still to come: truck

fa ns stay with us, still to come: truck fans flip their lids at the monster jam world finals. 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 world news. i'm ben bland. the latest headlines: britain will begin its historic break with brussels. a letter signed by prime minister theresa may will be delivered to european council president donald tusk within hours. a passengerjet has caught fire while landing in central peru. all 140 people were evacuated safely. more now on our top story. as britain and the eu both prepare for the split, a number of issues still need to be settled. ben wright takes a look at what still needs to be resolved. brexit, britain's divorce from the

european union. as seismic for the country as this marriage split, is closely watched as this one. will it be as smooth as a conscious uncoupling? 0r be as smooth as a conscious uncoupling? or will it be eight beta breakup instead ? there's uncoupling? or will it be eight beta breakup instead? there's a lot to sort out, like money. the eu is likely to slap an expert bill on the table ——a bitter. brussels' opening bid could be as much as 50 million quid. what are eu citizens living in the uk and uk citizens living in the eu, are they going to be able to stay where they are? of sides want

this part of the deal sorted out pretty quickly. 0k, this part of the deal sorted out pretty quickly. ok, so, we splitting up. but what sort of future relationship are we going to have? how will the uk and the eu do business? a formal new trade agreement is going to take years to figure out. if there is a divorce deal, that might help smooth over the split. this is also a divorce before the deadline. they have just two years to hammer this out. the clock starts ticking now. germany's federal prosecutor has begun investigating accusations that turkey spied on turks living in germany. it follows reports that turkish intelligence gave its german counterpart a list of alleged supporters of fethullah gulen. he's the muslim cleric that turkey blames for last year's failed coup. 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. sport and we begin with tennis. number one seed stan wawrinka is out of the miami masters. he was dispatched in the fourth round by teenager alexander zverev, the german winning two sets to one.

wawrinka's fellow swiss roger federer fared better. he saw off roberto bautista agut as he bids for a third miami masters title. the numberfour seed needed two tie—breaks to get past the spaniard and make the quarter—finals. in—form federer has already won the australian open and indian wells masters titles this year. rafael nadal is through after beating nicolas mahut. the number five seed beat the frenchman 6—4, 7—6 in a tightly fought contest and will face the americanjack sock in the last eight. the spaniard has won 14 grand slam titles but never the miami masters. throughout history, the clothes we have warned worn have to find how we

think about ourselves and our identity. we are taking a new perspective on clothing. 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 0sage 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 bethany‘s crow heritage and the dresses that historically were worn by the crow 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. here's a must see from las vegas. front flips are usually reserved for gymnastics or trampolining, but a monster truck driver became the first in the sport's history to pull off a front flip at the monsterjam world finals. lee o'donnell, nicknamed the ‘mad scientist', completed it, much to the delight and surprise of the crowd. don't try that at home. it is going to stay warm and springlike really over the next few days.

cooler into the weekend, but some cloud and outbreaks of rain as well. on wednesday a cloudy start. 10—11 celsius to begin wednesday morning. some low cloud, mist and murk across the northern and western areas. it should remain largely dry across the day. a damp afternoon for much of scotland, northern ireland, northern england as well. some heavy bursts of rain over the higher ground, but mild despite the cloud and breeze, 12—14 celsius. cloudy and wet for wales. cornwall and devon seeing most of the rain. further east, it should stay dry. given the brightness, we could see 16—17. very we could see 16—17. mild despite the cloud cover. thursday, tapping into some warm air

of the near continent. especially of the south—east and east anglia. we could see up to 22 celsius. a very mild day further north and west. quite a different weather pattern from east to west. across the south—east, it should stay dry. some sunshine to the north and west, some outbreaks of rain, quite breezy as well. on friday, a band of more persistent rain putting in. quite a wet day for many on friday. still quite warm in the south—east, fairly mild for the north and west. that weather front clears during friday night, then entering showers and sunshine on saturday. things turning quieter into sunday. a ridge of high—pressure building in. a fairly cool night with some sunshine. saturday, scattered april showers, could be heavy with some thunder. temperatures down to 11, but could get up to 15 celsius. a cool start to sunday, but mainly fine because of that high pressure. we should see some sunshine.

but more cloud out to the west. more of a breeze as well. to sum up the weekend, quite a showery day on saturday with some sunshine between the showers. generally fine and settled on sunday thanks to the ridge of high—pressure. this is bbc world news. the headlines: britain's set to begin its historic break with brussels. a letter, signed by prime minister theresa may, will be delivered to european council president donald tusk within hours, triggering years of intense negotiations. a passengerjet has caught fire while landing in central peru. all 140 people were evacuated safely. officials say the fire probably started when the plane's wing scraped the runway. australian officials are beginning to assess the damage after the monster cyclone debbie pummelled the northeast coast. only one fatality has been reported, but some areas remain difficult to access because roads are blocked. 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