hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. brexit has begun. this is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. britain is leaving the european union. formal notice came in the form of this letter — and now, two years of tough negotiations begin. both sides are ready. it will be a different relationship, but i think it can have the same benefits in terms of that free access to trade. our goal is clear. to minimise the cost for the eu citizens, businesses and member states. we'll bring you reaction from westminster, brussels, berlin, paris and malta. we will be live in washington. the chairs of a us senate investigating russian interference in the us election will speak to the president's son—in—law. and don't forget you can get

in touch using the #bbcos. the uk has been a member of the european union for 44 years. these worthy moments that it started to leave. this is the uk's representative to the eu, sir tim barrow, arriving in brussels this morning. in the briefcase that he is holding is a letterfrom morning. in the briefcase that he is holding is a letter from theresa may requesting the formal process of brexit to begin. you can see the letter being handed over to donald tusk, the president of the european council. he tweeted he had taken receipt to it. he also tweeted not long afterward, we already miss you. he also addressed the press at the

european council. so here it is. six pages. the notification from prime minister theresa may triggering article 50. and formal starting of the negotiations of the united kingdom's withdrawal from the european negotiations of the united kingdom's withdrawalfrom the european union. there is no reason to pretend that this is a happy day. neither in brussels nor in london. after all, most europeans, including must have the british voters, wish that we would stay together, not drift apart. thank you and goodbye. this is an image that those of you watching on the bbc news channel in the uk may have seen on the front of your

newspapers today. theresa may signing the letter in london yesterday before it was taken to brussels. here is the beginning of it. before today we weren't sure what form this letter would take. some people thought it may be a single line. it runs to several pages. the prime minister makes a on several issues clear. —— approach on several issues clear. —— approach on several issues. she goes on to say that the uk leaves without an agreement, and that is not the best option. our corporation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened, and we must work hard to avoid that outcome. the prime minister also sat down with the bbc‘s andrew neil. what we will be working for is a contra —— comprehensive free—trade agreement. we would like to see

free—trade, tariff free across borders, so we can continue that trade. it will be a different relationship. it will be a different relationship. it will be a different relationship because it will be a relationship because it will be a relationship based on membership of the single market and based on accepting all the other that voters rejected. what it will be is saying that we want that new partnership with the eu. we still want to work with the eu. we still want to work with you and cooperate with you. and actually, getting a trade agreement just about the uk. it's notjust about our businesses. it is about businesses in other countries being able to trade with us. i think it is in the interest of both sides to agree a really good deal. philip webster, the former political editor of the times, says the threat of security cooperation is a gamble. it could backfire because surely you can't bargain in this territory. european leaders have made it clear trade talks will only come after the

brexit deal is worked out. translation: we know there are tied commitments between britain and the european union, and of course germany, as a result of 44 years of membership. in the negotiations it must first be clarified how we go about dismantling these commitments. and also about how we deal with the many rights and duties tied up with membership until now. it is only if we sort that out that we next, and i hope soon, talk about our future relationship. let's bring in christian fraser of the bbc, who has been covering this story all day. we weren't sure how much detail we would get but we got a lot of detail in that letter informing us about how theresa may would approach brexit? we did, yeah. it was longer than we anticipated. what we got from it, and a lot of people have commented about this, was a warmer, more conciliatory tone

then we heard from the prime minister last year when she was talking to her own party at the conservative party conference, and in the lancaster house speech. there was a lot of talk about working together, the give and take there would have to be. there was a spirit of compromise. spare a thought for the prime minister. the handing over of the letter remarkably simple but from here in it is devilishly difficult. not only is she fighting ona difficult. not only is she fighting on a level in the european union she is fighting to keep the scottish nationalists at bay here in the uk. some in northern ireland want a referendum. and she is also fighting to keep her own party onside because there is that eurosceptic wing who will not be in the same spirit of compromise that she is. explain the pressure she is feeling from the eurosceptic wing. what does it want that she may not be able to give it

due notably the divorce settlement figure being bandied around and about 50, 60 billion euros. you have also pulled out another part, that for the europeans they want to talk about the divorce settlement first and to get that sorted so the uk stands behind its commitments. the uk wants to talk in parallel with those divorce talks about the future relationship. you can see it from the british point of view. what they will say is, there is no deal until everything is agreed. the europeans will say, unless you agree to this figure we put on the table, we will not talk about the future shape. there are all sorts of tricky issues that they have to overcome before they even get into the meat of the detail, which will of course take much longer than 18 months to two yea rs, much longer than 18 months to two years, you would anticipate. we are going to pick up on the point? is making enough few moments.

there is much to be done before it the uk leaves the eu. michel barnier is the eu chief negotiator. here he is the eu chief negotiator. here he is telling us his brexit team is ready. we also know the european commission has already published a timeline, that if things —— mapping out how the two years will go, leading to the point of brexit. let's do a bbc reality check on whether that two—year schedule looks realistic. chris morris is in malta, where an eu gathering has been taking place. iasked him to where an eu gathering has been taking place. i asked him to castan high on how fixed all of these

moments in the next two years are. in many ways, not at all fixed. given that it is such a short period, you might think negotiations would be starting tomorrow, after nine months of waiting since the referendum took place. we are in an eu process, which means it will be several weeks it is not a couple of months before negotiations begin. first of all, we have to get the other 27 countries producing a mandate for the european commission to negotiate with the uk. they will be meeting at a summit a month from today, on april 29, to agree that mandate. that mandate has to be turned into a formal directive, which means the negotiations may start in late may, i suspect probably earlyjune. the time is going to be very short, which is why people are trying to pass a lead into bite sized chunks. one of the problems is going to be as soon as they start negotiating, they will have a dispute over what they are negotiating about and when. we heard

the quote from theresa may who wants to negotiate the divorce deal and future trade in parallel. the european commission wants to sort out the principles first. there will be some big personalities coming to beer. —— there. one of the biggest isjean—claude beer. —— there. one of the biggest is jean—claude juncker. has he beer. —— there. one of the biggest isjean—claudejuncker. has he been talking in malta? yes, we had a quick word with him as he came into a forum about an hour ago. he said, this is an historic day but in terms of sadness that one of our members is leaving us. he said he himself was extremely sad but was trying not to say too much about the process. not until the draft guidelines on negotiations, ride. idon‘t not until the draft guidelines on negotiations, ride. i don't think he wa nts to negotiations, ride. i don't think he wants to complicate things. as we saw with donald trump —— donald tusk, he looked genuinely upset. this is not a cause for celebration.

but it is something on which the eu leaders will try to come together and provide a united front to the united kingdom. one of the things we will see players in the next few months is the eu saying every day, we are as united as ever, and the united kingdom trying to chip away at potential differences between member states and institutions. i'm not sure much success member states and institutions. i'm not sure much success they will have. now the uk has formally started the process of living, the other 27 are already looking at life beyond the uk, how we move on after that. the bbc reality tech team will be working overtime on brexit. you can find them on bbc television and online. in a couple of minutes on the programme, we will look at reaction from top eu officials, and also two major member states, france and germany. the accident that happened here is

of the sort that can cause a meltdown. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anybody lighting up in pubs and today, anybody lighting up in pubs a nd restau ra nts today, anybody lighting up in pubs and restaurants will face a hefty fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he was addressing a conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 yea rs it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago many resumes wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by the re—enactment of the first ascent. this is outside source live

from the bbc newsroom. our lead story: britain has formally notified the eu of its decision to leave. theresa may called it an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. some of the main stories from bbc world service. the south african anti—apartheid activist, ahmed kathrada, has been buried injohannesburg. president zuma did not attend the funeral at the family's request. bbc afrique. bob dylan will accept his nobel prize for literature in stockholm this weekend. he was awarded the honour in october, but didn't show up to collect it or deliver a lecture. we're told he intends to record a lecture. if that doesn't happen beforejune, he'll forfeit the $900,000 that comes with the prize. bbc world service. you find this in the most red list.

a missing indonesian man has been found dead inside the body of a python. london is a financial hub from any american banks. we look at their thinking as they look at brexit and what it might mean. here isa brexit and what it might mean. here is a report. the uk is about 3000 miles that way. some of america's biggest banks are less tha n some of america's biggest banks are less than a mile over that way. how is the decision to trickle —— trigger article 50, something happening over there, have an impact on the big banks your? this is not an existential issue. it is a really big hassle. banks don't like hassles. banks are not saying much, but some like goldman sachs behind me had indicated thatjobs will be leaving london. the numbers of people that are going to leave

london will be in the tens of thousands. that is in a city with millions and millions of people, many already employed in finance. there is a lot of noise being driven by the banking sector and by the sector's lobbying groups, trying to bend rules to their advantage. 0k, so bend rules to their advantage. 0k, so that takes care of the short—term. what about the long—term? short—term. what about the long-term? brexit itself doesn't necessarily trigger a mass exodus of employees out of london. but it will force ba n ks employees out of london. but it will force banks to look at the cost of doing business and the light over the time. the big question is, in a post—brexit europe, will london remaina post—brexit europe, will london remain a global financial centre? that will ultimately determine whether or not the american banks stay put. we're going to talk to some era live ina we're going to talk to some era live in a moment about a different story. toshiba has filed for bankruptcy protection from its us —based

nuclear subsidiary, weston house, because of escalating costs of nuclear pants —— plans it is building in the us. this is what happened to toshiba's shares in tokyo when these problems were announced. you can see at diving in december and it has continued since. a fall of more than 60%. some era joins me live from new york. some people may be surprised to hear toshiba are making nuclear plants in america? yeah, absolutely. this was a purchase made by toshiba. in retrospect the executives are probably thinking wasn't the best idea. there are two issues. first, the on toshiba. second, what this means for the nuclear industry globally. with regards to toshiba, this has been a big drag on the financial bottom line, and now there are even questions about how much financial responsibility toshiba will have for westinghouse and will

they even have enough money to cover they even have enough money to cover the costs? that will take a while to sort out. right now the company is in chapter 11, sort out. right now the company is in chapter11, in sort out. right now the company is in chapter 11, in bankruptcy proceedings. now comes the time for the negotiations, trying to figure out which creditors to pay and when. when you talk about the global industry of nuclear energy, it seems to be waning overall in favour of things like solar power and wind power, and the fact we saw that energy prices have just fallen so much, the importance of getting into nuclear has really gone down quite a bit in the last few years. that is the story in the context of the nuclear industry. from toshiba's point of view, help me understand how these problems in america tie in with the electronics business which are so many with the electronics business which are so many of us have dealings with? it's a subsidiary company. you

have toshiba, the main company, and lots of companies on different branches elsewhere. westinghouse is in fact one of them. because it is one of their subsidiary companies, they are on the hook for some of it. that's really where you are going to see a lot of negotiations happening between toshiba executives, westinghouse executives and other companies in the united states, just how all of that breaks down. in fa ct, how all of that breaks down. in fact, there are some people who are worrying whether or not toshiba has enough money in the bank to be able to cover all of these costs associated with westinghouse. thank you. you have covered the two stories. we will give you a rest at this point! next, we're about to talk about samsun. its latest smartphone range is coming out. this was its predecessor. remember this? it didn't do very well. it was pulled and ditched after a battery

fault caused some devices to catch fire. the bbc has seen one of the new ones. i had new ones. ihada new ones. i had a hands—on with it earlier. i can tell you that it's not a different from the other high—end smartphones out there. there are interesting features. it has taken all of the furniture out of the front of the phone, so literally most of the front of it now is the screen. there is a hidden home button. they have got rid of the branding and the stuff that goes around the top, and they have curved the edges. when you watch a video, all you feel like —— you feel like you are the big screen. there are other cosmetic changes. one of the things that samsung is really excited about is its new digital assistants, which it is calling bixby. what it does that is slightly

different from syria is it uses the camera as a pair of eyes. you can activate it with your voice and pointed at something in the room. i tried a bottle of wine. you pointed out the bottle and say, tell me more about this. up comes all of this information about the wine, and much it costs, the best vintage era etc. that is a neat gadget but whether it is enough to your people away from using google assistant that remains to be seen. i think samsung would like to say that is their big new innovation. you haven't got it with you? unfortunately, not. i haven't then allowed to bring it here! samsung has been cautious about the batteries, as you can imagine. they did have a disaster with the notice seven. they say they went back to the start, they have all kinds of new regulations to make it safer. they are not taking any chances. if anything, i wonder how much the battery is going to hamper the

device. these little things can do so device. these little things can do so much. they wouldn't tell me what the battery life is. they are certainly playing it safe. we talk about donald trump everyday. we talk about donald trump everyday. we don't talk about his wife very much. melania trump — she's not sought out the spotlight since becoming first lady, but we've seen her today at the state department. she presented the awards at an event honouring international women of courage. here are her opening remarks. it is therefore our duty to continue shine the light on each miraculous victory achieved by women. all capable of trying, truly leading the change to fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. barbara plett—usher was at the awards ceremony, and told me about how melania trump has stayed out of the spotlight. she is off the charts low profile.

euro must say she has no profile. she is not living in washington. she is still in new york until her son completed school term. even though there are reports that the paparazzi has given because she doesn't appear in public. on those occasions when to you has had officialfunctions, herface is so to you has had officialfunctions, her face is so inscrutable and she has such a practised smile at people can't figure out who she is, what's she thinking. there are people who think she is trapped in a miserable marriage. people who know her say that's nonsense. see is naturally restrained. she is trying to get her bearings in this unexpected new role. where do you face —— place as first lady? hillary clinton and michelle obama or publicly engaged. she is not like the more traditional version like nancy reagan orjackie kennedy. she has just

version like nancy reagan orjackie kennedy. she hasjust hired version like nancy reagan orjackie kennedy. she has just hired a communications director. she will be moving to washington in a month. perhaps that will change. at the moment we don't know much about her. this was a rare public appearance. now a science story that concerns this man. he was paralysed from the neck down after crashing his bike into a truck 80 years ago. now he can control his arm and hand through electrical sensors in his brain. his sensors connected to electrodes on his lower arm and upper arm. these pictures have been shared by him and the university he has been working with. it gives you an idea of the technology. he went through four months of virtual reality training to learn which brain signals instruct which movements. this technology was pioneered by the case western university in high our. —— ohio. this can circumvent the

injury. these pictures have been so —— shared by the university, as has this clip. i learned about this research through one of the doctors at the va. my father said, you really want to do this? i said, yes. somebody has to do research. if nobody does research, things don't get done. now we can tell the world it's possible to reconnect the brain and make the arm move again. i'm still wild every timei arm move again. i'm still wild every time i do something amazing. i ate a pretzel. i drank water. one day they had some mashed potatoes. lo and behold, i was able to eat the mashed potatoes really well. i'm always wanting them to do more. seeing the possibility is one of the biggest goals. yes, i'm in here but it's not like my life stopped when i got injured. it will help out a lot more people for years to come.

case western reserve university showing those pictures. speaking of websites, the big story today is the formal process of the uk leaving the european union, which has begun with a letter signed by theresa may delivered to donald tusk, president of the european council. i imagine you have many questions about this process. you are welcome to send them my way. i will do my best to a nswer them my way. i will do my best to answer them. if you want to in your own time, there are extensive articles on the bbc news website and the bbc news app explaining every aspect of the brexit process. i will be back in a couple of minutes. good evening. if you're watching

this time yesterday, thomas will have told you about the powerful cyclone that made landfall in queensland. it has brought some record—breaking weather with waves recorded a mile offshore at ten metres high. that is the height of two double—decker buses. it has brought a colossal amount of rain. we had 1.3 metres of rain in the clark mountain range. still more rain ahead. in the popular tourist destination, hamilton island, which bore the brunt of the strongest winds, we have had more than 300 millimetres of rain. although it has been downgraded to a tropical low, we have still got some nasty weather. it is a slow—moving area of low pressure. it is around thursday into friday. there will be another 100 to 150 millilitres of rain. it may even get into parts of new south

wales, where we have another weather system joining it. you can imagine all that rain has yet to filter down through the river system. we could have three to four days of fairly widespread riverflooding have three to four days of fairly widespread river flooding as well as flash flooding. some dangerous surfing conditions. we have had some severe weather across in the united states. very powerful storms. severe thunderstorms and tornadoes have been pushing across the central and southern plains, heading their way through arkansas, kansas, into the mississippi valley, and further eastwards. that same weather system, as it hits the cold air in canada, we could see some snow fall. we are seeing some of that crossing the rockies and the sierra nevada to the west as well. we have still got the flooding rains as well across parts of the north and south america. for the argentinian andes, some unusually wet weather this time of year which could result in flash flooding. unfortunately, more rain for peru. unusually early heat is

hitting india. we did so have some high temperatures a month ago, but this is more sustained and affecting more areas. the temperatures maintain those sort of levels. new delhi throughout friday and saturday. the thunderstorms more of an issue across the tibetan plateau and into the himalayas and the north—eastern states of india. let's header to europe, where we have lots of settled weather. we have got high pressure. it is turning more u nsettled pressure. it is turning more unsettled across the eastern mediterranean. more snow into scandinavia. the outlook is keeping slightly higher than average temperatures. darren betts will have more on the uk weather in the next half an hour. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. let's look through some of the main stories here in the bbc newsroom. brexit has begun. this is an historic moment from which there can

be no turning back. britain is leaving the european union. formal notice came in the form of this letter — and now two years of tough negotiations begin. our goal is clear — to minimise the cost for the eu citizens, businesses and member states. we'll be taking a look at what issues could be the most contentious for the two negotiating teams. the chairs of the a us senate inquiry into russian interference in the us elections say they will speak to over