welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: donald trump lashes out at his own party — after the republicans‘ shock defeat in alabama. are a lot of republicans feel differently. they are happy with how this turned out. but as a leader of the party, i would have liked to have had the seat. the british government loses a key vote in parliament on brexit — just before a crucial eu summit. and we have a special report from the democratic republic of congo — where violence could be pushing the country into famine. and — up, up and away — how prisoners in the uk used remote—controlled drones to smuggle drugs inside. the democrat doug jones has spoken of a new momentum in american politics.

his surprise win in the alabama special election is the first time the conservative southern state has sent a democrat to the senate in 25 years. mr trump has been distancing himself from the defeated republican candidate, who he endorsed during the campaign, but the loss complicates the president's chances of passing major legislation. alabama's new senator—elect has said he wants to work with politicians from both parties. i want to sit down with folks from both sides of the aisle, both sides of the issue. i want to talk to people from both sides of the issue, not just political people from both sides of the issue, notjust political parties, to learn what they can and make an informed decision. the result hasn'tjust shifted the political landscape in alabama, it might have impact across the country, as the bbc‘s nick bryant reports. amidst all the noise and rage of american politics, it's worth remembering elections are often decided in quiet suburbs. that was true in alabama,

where moderate republicans didn't turn out for their party's radical, scandal—hit candidate, and where many don't much like donald trump either. it's a rejection of donald trump. tracy james is a lifelong republican, who yesterday went democrat. it was also a protest vote against the president. i do think donald trump has a problem in the republican suburbs. you don't know what's going to come out of his mouth next. you don't know whether we're going to go to war with north korea. you don't know if he's going to insult a woman in congress. i think they're very uncomfortable with that. modern—day democrats aren't supposed to win in staunchly conservative states like alabama. it hasn't happened here for 25 years. no wonder the blizzard of confetti. alabama has been at a crossroads. it has been at crossroads in the past and unfortunately, we have usually taken the wrong fork. tonight, ladies and gentlemen, you took the right road. the losing republican

candidate, roy moore, thought he was on his way to washington, but he was hit by allegations, which he denies, of sexual misconduct against teenage girls and shunned by senior figures in the republican establishment. that's where the anger of his dejected supporters was directed. it's really sad for the people of alabama what took place in this state tonight. you think you've been betrayed by the republican establishment? absolutely, no doubt about that. # you can't always get what you want #. it's true, you can't always get what you want. a lesson for donald trump, who has strongly backed roy moore. so get out and vote for roy moore. do it. so this is a big black eye for the president and also a failure of the trump political playbook, to deny accusations of wrongdoing as fake news and to attack accusers. with a republican majority

in the senate reduced to a single seat, it will be even harderfor the president to enact his stalled legislative agenda. the democrats hope this result is indicative of an anti—trump wave which will help win them back capitol hill in next year's congressional elections. this senate race doubled as a battle for the soul of the republican movement and thus marked a defeat for conservative insurgents against the party establishment. that too is a setback for donald trump and his unorthodox brand of politics. the british prime minister, theresa may has suffered a significant defeat in parliament over her brexit plans. rebel members of parliament from her own conservative party put forward an amendment, that means the government will have to put the final brexit deal through full parliamentary scrutiny. this is how the result was announced — and it was close. the ayes to the right — 309.

the noes to the left — 305. our political correspondent, alex forsyth said the result is a blow to theresa may's authority. it's a blow for her authority, because it shows she can't get everything she wants to through the houses of parliament without being challenged, and sometimes by mps on her own side. and this comes just before she goes to brussels tomorrow to meet other eu leaders, so it's unwelcome timing. the government did all it could today to stop this happening. but it's worth saying this was a very narrow vote. there were just four votes in it, and there were 11 conservatives that voted against the government. so the numbers aren't huge, but what it really highlights is, because there was a general election injune in the uk, theresa may lost her majority in parliament, and that means she has to rely on every vote, which shows just how tight the parliamentary maths is, how she is beholden to mps on her own side, and other parties, which of course makes her position in these negotiations with brussels very difficult.

and tonight, we've seen it play out, the impact that can have. hundreds of thousands of people — most of them children — face starvation in the democratic republic of congo. the crisis is centred on the central kasai region where fighting erupted last year following the killing of a traditional leader in clashes with security forces. since then anti—government factions have been locked in a spiral of violence with government troops and otherforces backed by kinshasa. the bbc‘s africa editor, fergal keane has gained rare access to this unfolding tragedy. some parts of his report are distressing. the grass grows over, it conceals. day by day the truth recedes in view, but the un patrol knew we walked for three months to get

here. when i saw my daughter sick, my heart was full of sadness. children make up the majority of the nearly 1.5 million people displaced here. it began injune last year after a local chief rebelled against after a local chief rebelled against a corrupt and brutal government. he was killed. in the terror that followed, both sides committed atrocities. translation: we were sleeping when they entered our plays and asked who are all these people sleeping here? we can kill the men who are here and then after killing them we will tell our chiefs and show off how many people we have killed in this village. and nurse points to the swelling caused by malnutrition. by pressing the skin, he can assess the severity of the condition. imagine walking on these lairds. with the worst fighting

over, people are returning to their villages. but they find homes burned, property looted. translation: we were starving, for we have no food. we headed to the main road to look for food but there was nobody. only dead bodies. then, a young woman, weakened by disease. she has been taken home to die. at this dude distribution, only half rations were being given out. the world food programme is running out of money to feed the hungry and is warning that many will die without international support. money that may have helped provide nutrition and healthcare may have helped provide nutrition and healthca re has may have helped provide nutrition and healthcare has been stolen by a corrupt elite, aided by foreign corporations. this is the heart of the matter. as i put it to the governor. is a government official do you any sense of shame about the

looting of the corruption that has helped to bring your people to this misery? translation: this concept of corruption cannot be challenged. but it should not be tied to congo or africa and use it to justify the absence of action. the most important thing is that when you give money you get some guarantee that this money is well used. this is the government run hospital in the second city of the province. this three—year—old has just passed away. at her distraught mother waits for news of another sick child. and a lullaby as tiny lungs fight to survive. just some lives from so many here, hanging in the balance.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a whole new ball game — how rugby is making inroads in a country that is devoted to football. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict that has claimed over 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of serbia, bosnia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off

from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life. the monica lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton in his place in history as only the second president to be impeached. good to have you with us. one main headline this now, president trump is distancing himself from the controversial republican candidate roy moore after his loss in the alabama special election. more now and the fallout from the al obama election and the surprise victory of the democratic party candidate over roy moore. —— fallout from the alabama election. thank you very

chilly all—time. i guess there must be some relief. he would have faced ethics hearings and efforts to him from the senate. there was no real good outcome for republicans in this but we had the least bad outcome. certainly all of those situations that you outlined would have occurred, had roy moore won this race. you will have heard quite a few republicans wondering if both houses of congress are now up for grabs next year. surely it is hard to do, draw lessons from alabama. roy moore was a uniquely polarising candidate. i see one of your collea g u es candidate. i see one of your colleagues say that they put up the only guy and alabama who could loose toa only guy and alabama who could loose to a democrat. i think that is true. he was a particularly toxic candidate that there are still disturbing candidates for republicans, the kinds of people who voted for roy moore in alabama at

the same kinds of people who voted for the democratic candidate governor in virginia. that is especially true of college educated suburban women. the pattern is disturbing. that does not mean republicans will lose the house or the senate next year. midterm elections in america are always difficult for the party in power and next year looks to be very challenging for republicans. there are worries that, aren't there? although mr trump says now and what every set before the campaign got going, he backed roy moore quite publicly that exuded steve bannon and the national committee. is it possible we are reaching the limits of the effectiveness of the donald trump approach? both roy moore and donald trump as wallace steve bannon as chief strategist have followed a strategy of appealing to a narrow slice of the electorate. i think we saw with this loss yesterday the limits of that strategy. we shall

see soon enough. thank you very much indeed for your insight. european leaders are to meet in brussels on thursday to discuss the issue of migration. the talks are expected to focus on extra funding to stem the flow of people from sub—saharan africa. it comes as more than 100 men and women were rescued from a sinking boat off the coast of libya as they attempted to cross to italy. the number of people migrants in the mediterranean has passed 3,000 for the fourth year in a row. andrew plant reports. soaked through, shoeless and limping along. 114 migrants all from sub—saharan africa rescued off the libyan coast as their boat began to sink beneath the water. we almost died, the libyan navy helped us out of the sea. our boat

almost capsized. we lost everything, almost capsized. we lost everything, almost all of us we thought was going to die. these people had been on their way to europe their boat thought to have left the coast of libya about 100km east of tripoli towards the town of misrata. they'll now be moved to detention centres outside the capital. almost 1,000 migrants arrived in sicily over the past few days, successfully crossing the mediterranean. it's estimated around 3,000 have died attempting the journey. those that succeed often complain of mistreatment at the hands of libyan guards. meanwhile this detention centre in benghazi, libya's second largest city, is restocking for the winter season with blankets and mattresses in preparation for more arrivals. the policy here is to repatriate the men women and children who arrive more than 4000 sent back

to their home countries this year. around 164,000 migrants have arrived in europe in 2017 less than half the number last year. at its height in 2015 the number was more than a million. but with southern european countries still bearing the brunt all 28 eu leaders are due to discuss the issue at talks in brussels on thursday. andrew plant, bbc news. here in the uk eight people have been sentenced for smuggling drugs into prisons by using drones. police have identified at least 49 drone flights carrying contraband thought to have been worth as much as one point six million dollars. daniel sandford has the story. cameras originally set up to take pictures of wildlife catching instead britain's most prolific drug smuggling gang. recording the pilot mervyn foster

time and again flying the drone from the field outside hewell prison in worcestershire, its illegal cargo hanging underneath from fishing line. from the field, the smugglers had a view directly into the jail and the prison block where the drone's cargo was pulled in through the windows. over the months, the gang grew in confidence and sophistication. they started by simply throwing the drugs over the prison wall but then they started using drones and they added to the contraband, mobile phones, weapons, screwdrivers and even a freeview box with a remote control. cameras inside the prison caught one of the ringleaders, john hickinbottom, with an improvised hook used to catch the fishing line and recover the contra band. the gang, led by armed robber craig hickinbottom,

is thought to have smuggled in over £1 million worth of drugs and phones, continuing even after they'd been arrested and charged. the contents of the loads on at least 49 flights were specifically ordered by individual inmates from the midlands to scotland. the recent epidemic of drones being used to airlift contraband into prison grew from nothing injust four years. we didn't see this one coming so the drones literally came from nowhere, they were flown in and it actually just was a game—changer for us so we had to look at our procedures and methods and intelligence against the gangs for opportunities to breach the perimeter and the walls here. to crack the case, officers downloaded the memories of the drones they seized and links back to mobile phone calls the smugglers were making. the prison's ministers had to invest millions of pounds in a new national network of police and prison officers working together, which helped catch this game. what we've shown here is that this is the most prolific gang we've come

across and we've been able to deal with them. they are going to be serving jail time and that is huge success. but with huge profits being made by the smuggling gangs, keeping drones away from prisons is going to be a lengthy battle. daniel sandford, bbc news, at hmp hewell in manchester. six months ago the grenfell tower claimed the lives of 60 victims and made hundreds homeless and now the royalfamily are made hundreds homeless and now the royal family are going to a commemoration. it is the abiding image of 2017, it scars the west london cityscape and, perhaps, the conscience of the country. that it happened in one of the richest parts of london has made it for many a tale of two britons, living side by side, but separately. the dale youth boxing club used

to train in grenfell tower, their gym was lost to the fire, now they use this concrete corner of a multi—storey car park. three, two... stay down. the club coach is gary mcguinness. he says years of gentrification, of regeneration projects, have made the old london working—class, who used to thrive here, a diminishing presence. regeneration, what does the word mean, like, you know? you know, it seems like it means clear out for the locals to me. that's what's going on around here, ain't it, basically, as you see. you know, the locals are getting pushed out. the kids can't afford to buy places around here. do you think it's got worse over the years? of course it has, yeah. yeah, yeah. definitely, yeah. you should be concentrating, watching what he's doing. the grenfell tower fire exposed this long, steady, drifting apart of rich and poor. but don't push a simple rich poor interpretation too far here. five members of moutaz chellat‘s family died in the fire. for him, the problem is not that there are rich and poor, but that increasingly the poor are disregarded.

if you're going to ask me who i blame, i don't blame the rich people in holland park because they didn't come down here and light the fire, do you know what i mean? theyjust happen to live where they live, it's not their fault. but if you're going to ask me who the blame is, yes, i blame the council, i blame the local authorities, i blame the government that are supposed to look after these sort of buildings. but why are they not maintaining them? that's when you could turn around and say, well, probably it's because they don't care about these sort of people. you know, these so—called disadvantaged people that live in these council estates and things like that. "so—called disadvantaged", he says. for the people of grenfell do not recognise the version of themselves that has entered the public imagination. nina masroh has lived on the estate for nearly 30 years. we were portrayed as a poor, uneducated, disadvantaged people who didn't work, on benefits which is the actual opposite. a lot of people do work. there are some very highly educated people living on council estates in gre nfell tower itself.

there were architects, there were engineers, people worked in social media, in technology, it. so to have this kind of view, simply because somebody lives on a council estate, that they are not worthy or they are less than anyone else, is a complete... it's a fallacy. did you feel insulted by it? deeply insulted, deeply insulted. i think also there was that sense of... 0h, they're all just a bunch of foreigners. that's what makes london, i suppose that's what makes the uk. we're a multi—cultural society. its location has made grenfell tower a graphic symbol of inequality in britain, an inequality that before the fire was hidden in plain sight. 71 people died in this block, it is difficult to escape the rebuke to all of us that its charred remains represent. allan little, bbc news, in west london. we will report on that service as it

gets going. in brazil, football is like a religion. the entire country seemingly obsessed with the exploits of the national team. but one of the fastest growing sports in brazil is rugby, and proponents of the oval—shaped ball are hoping the game can change lives, as tim allman reports. well, that's the question being asked at this further lower in rio dejaneiro. asked at this further lower in rio de janeiro. boys and asked at this further lower in rio dejaneiro. boys and girls playing a different kind of ballgame. something that took a little getting used to. we arrived four years ago

with four oxford rugby players and the reaction from the kids was obviously, what are you doing here? this is quite an isolated favella so there was a mixture of having an oval ball and having four massive by oval ball and having four massive rugby players from the uk and one from australia coming was a bit of a shock. the kids train twice a week, supported by volunteer coaches, but if they want to play, they have to go to school. this isn'tjust about sport, it's also about raising ambitions. translation: in brazil they say for example that because i'm black i will never manage anything in life, i'll obviously become a builder or a drug—trafficker. being a builder is a good job but why can't i become an architect, a doctor or a lawyer?” find it cool and it keeps us busy, doing a sport we love as well is going to school allows us not to worry about what's going on in the favella. the team from the favella even get the times to play against a

side from a private school, crossing social divides, improving lives. in brazil, they know how important sport can be. tim allman, bbc news. the us fed has agreed to raise interest rates by zero —— 0.33%. they are predicting growth of 2.5% growth in gdp in 2017 and 2018. abedi king penguin has made its first public appearance in singapore. —— a baby king penguin. it's the first in nearly a decade. it's the first in nearly a decade. it is called milo, which means round in japanese. it is called milo, which means round injapanese. —— it is called milo, which means round in japanese. —— maro. it is called milo, which means round injapanese. —— maro. the family seemed very curious about the new family member. that's it for now.

thanks for watching. well, after a very brief mild spell, those temperatures are coming down again for the next few days, and into the start of the weekend. and, for thursday, it's low pressure which dominates the scene. tightly packed isoba rs across the country meaning fairly windy, and they'll be blowing in lots of showers, particularly to western areas of the country. and these showers will be of a wintry mix during the overnight period and first thing on thursday. some snow to the higher ground of scotland, northern ireland, northern england, wales, maybe the south—west of england, and some wet sleetiness down to lower levels for a time, too. so, first thing on thursday, we are again looking at an ice risk, particularly from the midlands, north wales northwards, so watch out for these. there could even be some lying snow around on some of the higher routes, for example the pennines and across scotland. but we start thursday off on quite an unsettled note. it's going to be windy, particularly in the west,

gales on exposure, showers here and wintry over high ground and wintry showers in parts of wales, the north—west england. ice to watch out for, too. largely dry to start in eastern and south—eastern parts. there'll be some early sunshine around, but it will be quite chilly. the same east of the pennines and eastern scotland. but further west, loads of showers and again some heavy and even sleetiness down to lower levels as well. and then, through the day, very little change. it stays blustery, i think the winds slowly easing down through the day. they'll continue to be strong in the north and the south—west, with gales here. plenty of showers with wintryness again over higher ground and central and eastern parts of the country should be drier, with some sunshine. but notice the temperatures down on wednesday's values, in single figures for all. it's going to feel cold if you add on the wind. then, as we head on in towards friday, we open the floodgates again to the arctic as this area of low pressure moves across in towards scandinavia. so it does mean a cold and frosty start in places for friday, and also a risk of some ice. but i think, generally speaking, friday is looking like a quieter day, more in the way of sunshine around, lighter winds for many.

still fairly breezy around the coasts, where we'll see wintry showers at times. now, that cold air is with us obviously through friday and into the start of the weekend. but then, for the second half of the weekend, we'll start to see this plume of mild air making inroads slowly. a cold start on saturday, watch out for ice. sunshine around through the morning. i think that's slowly fading as more cloud piles in from the west, maybe a few showers, and it's going to be another cold day. on sunday, more cloud generally, sunshine will be very few and far between, and there will be a few showers, but that milder air slowly making inroads. this is bbc news. the headlines: the democrat doug jones has spoken of a new momentum in american politics — after he clinched a surprise victory in the alabama senate race. democrats are calling for the postponement of a final vote on president trump's planned tax reform. the president wants that vote to be held next week. the british prime minister theresa may is preparing to meet european union leaders in brussels — hours after a parliamentary defeat

on a key piece of brexit legislation. mps voted to give parliament a legal guarantee of a vote on the final deal. 11 members of her own conservative party rebelled. the united nations is warning that a reduction in the number of peacekeeping troops in the democratic republic of congo is likely to lead to more instability and loss of life. the unfolding humanitarian crisis has lead to severe acute malnutrition affecting hundreds of thousands of children. now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament.