welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe — my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: south africa's governing anc is preparing to vote for a new leader to replace president jacob zuma. the british prime minister theresa may says the agreement of eu leaders to begin the second phase of brexit talks is an "important step" on the road to a smooth withdrawal from the eu. eu leaders warn that the upcoming talks will be even harder. austria's conservative party agrees to form a coalition with the far—right freedom party. wildfires in california are continuing to burn out of control — scorching an area larger than new york city and paris combined. and: a rare skeleton of a woolly mammoth goes up for auction in france. hello.

south africa's governing african national congress is preparing this weekend to pick a new party leader to replace jacob zuma — who is also the country's president. the anc is still the dominant political force, but has faced a loss of public trust. president zuma is also facing corruption allegations — which he denies — and there are warnings that the party could split as the country faces mounting economic challenges. virginia langeberg reports. with jacob zuma stepping down as leader of the anc, south africa is lifted a virtual crossroads. ever since 1994, the first election where people of every race were allowed to vote, the anc has won overwhelmingly. that was the year that brought an end to white—minority rule. now, for the

first time in more than two decades, there is the possibility south africans could turn their back on the party that led the country towards liberation. jacob zuma's presidency has been plagued with allegations of corruption since he took office in 2009. public protests have been held every ‘s handling of the economy and he has survived eight no—confidence votes in parliament. said the incoming anc leader will not only need to regain the trust of voters, but also unite the trust of voters, but also unite the party. while there are seven candidates, it is widely thought that two have the best chance of winning. this man is currently the deputy president and is running on an anticorruption deputy president and is running on an anticorru ption ticket. deputy president and is running on an anticorruption ticket. some a nalysts say an anticorruption ticket. some analysts say he is most popular with the middle—class and has gained a lot of support from anc around the country. this woman is jacob zuma's

former wife. she promises to put more of the country's economy back into black hands. riddick ‘s say she is too close to jacob zuma. whoever comes out on top of the anc leadership battle in the coming days will be well placed to become the country's president in 2019. it is ata time country's president in 2019. it is at a time when south africa has faced two economic recessions in less tha n faced two economic recessions in less than one decade. unemployment stands at more than 27% and gross national debt at $150 billion. more later in the programme — and plenty of background on our website — including profiles of the candidates — and an explanation of how significant this election could be. go to bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.

a senior un official has strongly criticised the wealth gap between rich and poor people in america. philip alston said the us government's tax reform bill — together with the health and welfare reforms proposed to pay for it — could produce a dramatic increase in inequality. for palestinians have been killed and 150 wounded in clashes with the israeli army. alice denney and sources say most of the casualties most of the deaths occurred near the gaza border. zimbabwe's president emmerson mnangagwa has consolidated his power after members of his ruling zanu—pf party endorsed him as their leader and candidate for next year's election. the new leader, who took office after robert mugabe was forced to quit when the military took power last month, declared the party is now on a "new trajectory". and military police in the

netherlands have shot and wounded a man who threatened officers with a knife at the airport in amsterdam. the main entrance was evacuated but later reopened. authorities say the situation is now under control and no other injuries have been reported. eu leaders have confirmed that brexit negotiations can move on to the next stage — but they've warned the talks will be even harder. the british prime minister, theresa may called it an important step on the road to a ‘smooth and orderly‘ brexit. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. the men with the message — part one is done. the european union is ready to grant the prime minister's wish, and move on. she was a tough, smart, polite, and friendly negotiator, and so we were able to conclude that sufficient progress has been made. to get this far on brexit, there has been some conflict

and a lot of compromise. what is needed to get to the end of the next phase, and is theresa may's goal of a full agreement by march 2019 realistic? still realistic and, of course, dramatically difficult. the real negotiations on the second phase will start in march next year. i cannot say when these negotiations will be concluded. but i don't hope that i will have to have as early morning meeting with the british prime minister than the one i had last week. hopefully with fewer last—minute trips to brussels in the middle of the night, the negotiations step up. it has been a slog to get this far, but their words this morning are part of our history now, the official end of the beginning of our departure from the european union. it has taken time, but at last the government's negotiating team can crack on with initial talks about how we do business in future, and vitally, the transition a couple

of years after brexit itself. the uk and the eu have shown what can be achieved by commitment and perseverance on both sides. i'm pleased that it's been agreed we should make rapid progress on an implementation period, which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. the eu's brokers believe the cabinet at home must bury their differences, though, to give a clearer picture of how they want the future to look, before getting a decent hearing. the divide within the conservative party is going to make it very difficult for us to negotiate a way through, as a country. and theresa may, ultimately, has to be able to deliver for business here. business need that certainty now. the 27 we are leaving behind don't agree with much of what the uk has already put on the table, especially during the transition period. they want the european court to be in charge during that whole time,

for the uk to accept any changes, without a say, and for immigration to stay the same. this is a big junction. phase two will be even tougher, she warned. we'd like it to look as much like the current relationship as possible, but that wouldn't necessarily be the view of everyone. it's a marathon race. we have just finished the first mile. given how far apart the two sides were, and the distance between the different wings of the tory party, the prime minister might feel entitled tonight to take a pause for breath, a moment to savour having reached this junction. but, with clashes in the commons to come, in the cabinet, and contradictions between the european union and the uk still, she has little time or energy to waste on celebration. and, to reach this point, not even halfway, she has already had to yield so much. indeed, at times, it felt

like the prime minister simply might not make it even this far. it is a very long way still until the end of this whole journey. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, brussels. austria's conservative people's party has struck a coalition deal with the anti—immigration freedom party. if the coalition is confirmed, austria would become the only country in western europe to have a far right party in government. bethany bell is in vienna with the latest. we have a government which is conservative and far right, and it was noticeable that during the election campaign, it was dominated very much wider question of the anti—migrant feeling, and in fact it was interesting that the freedom party even accused sebastian kurz‘s conservatives of stealing their positions when it came to anti—migrants. what will be interesting to see is how the two parties balance out their ministries. they announced this coalition deal but they did not give any details,

the two leaders. they say that tomorrow they are going to meet austria's president, alexander van der bellen, who basically has to give the green light for this coalition to go ahead. they will then speak to their parties, and it will be very interesting to see how they cope with their similarities on the right, and also their differences. one of the things that did emerge a few days ago that we know i think a lot of people will be wondering exactly how the freedom party will fare in government. sebastian kurz and his conservatives, some people say they will be able to try and tame the freedom party from its populism, others will say they are actually being pushed more towards the right. this will be what the austrians will be watching in the months ahead. wildfires in southern california are continuing to burn out of control — scorching an area larger than new york city and paris combined. a firefighter died tackling the flames north of los angeles — following reports of a mayday call. attention is now turning

to the underlying conditions driving the wildfires — it hasn't rained in parts of california for more than eight months. james cook reports from fillmore. 11 days and still it burns. more than 8000 men and women are now battling displays, saving homes one by one. not far from here the fire claimed the life of a 32—year—old firefighter, father and husband. he is survived by his wife ashleigh, his two—year—old daughter evie. they were expecting a second daughter in the spring. it's not clear what went wrong here, but the terrain is steep and dangerous and mr iverson was apparently overrun by flames after a sudden shift in the wind. the gusts destroyed homes as well, almost 700 of them. two apartment blocks and two hotels

also burnt down and another 18,000 buildings remain at risk. this is one of five homes in this tiny neighbourhood which was destroyed when the flames swept through here so fast that firefighters had to abandon the area. which ones survived and which were destroyed was a matter of pure luck. alan lawson and his family were among the lucky ones. their home was scorched but it survived, thanks in part to neighbours who lost everything but stayed to fight the fire. the most rewarding thing is i think seeing them. some of the guys who lost their houses were working side—by—side with us to keep our house safe for a few days. all week the skies here have been alive with activity as pilots battled the blaze from the air. the wildfire has now ravaged an area the size of new york city and washington, dc combined. and with more gusty winds forecast, firefighters say they expect the battle to intensify this weekend. the us secretary of state says

north korea needs to show a ‘sustained cessation of threatening behaviour‘ before meaningful talks can begin. rex tillerson was speaking at a meeting of the un security council in new york. mr tillerson also questioned the commitment of moscow, and especially beijing, in trying to reign in the secretive state‘s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. as chinese crude oil flows to north korean refineries, the united states questions china‘s commitment to solving an issue that has serious implications for the security of its own citizens. recently the north korean regime has sought to portray us sanctions as harmful to women and children but this is a hypocritical regime that spends billions on missile programmes while its own people suffer great poverty. the regime could feed and care for the

ordinary people if it chose welfare over weapons development. the bbc‘s nada tawfik is at the united nations. she explained more about the security council meeting, and what rex tillerson had to say. many may remember that just on tuesday when rex tillerson was addressing an audience at a think tank event on north korea, he said the us was ready to enter into talks without preconditions. the white house quickly came out and denied that, saying the us policy had not changed at all and so today we saw rex tillerson toughening his stand and saying that north korea had to earn its right to get to the negotiating table and they had to show commitment, walking backwards nuclear programme before talks could get under way. it is interesting because it echoes a lot of what the us‘s allies said today in the council. the japanese foreign minister,

who presided over this high—level meeting, he said that we should not be conducting dialogue for the sake of dialogue. the security council resolution is quite clear that north korea needs to end its programme so there should be no compromise on that front. one of canada‘s richest men, the pharmaceutical billionaire barry sherman, and his wife honey have been found dead at their home in toronto. he made his fortune as the founder of the pharmaceutical company apotex. police described the deaths as suspicious, but said they were not being treated as murder. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: prince harry and meghan markle announce the date for their wedding. 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 lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. you are watching bbc news. the

latest headlines: south africa‘s governing anc is preparing to vote for a new leader to replace resident jacob zuma. and eu leaders have confirmed the brexit negotiations can move onto the next stage, but they have warned the talks will be even harder. let‘s return to our top story now — our africa editor, fergal keane, has travelled through the anc stronghold of the eastern cape. many dreams of freedom were born here, died here and were reborn. from its earliest days, the eastern cape was an anc stronghold. new brighton was where the party‘s military wing was founded, and the first south african township i visited in the years of apartheid. when i first came to this township, more than 30 years ago,

the anc were still banned, mandela was in jail, jacob zuma was in exile. but to the people who live here now, that‘s all ancient history. what they care about is what the anc hasn‘t done. anger over the failure to deliver enough houses and services saw people here force the closure of this museum to the heroes of the freedom struggle. they‘ve come in from the rural areas... paul mbewana is a lifelong anc supporter who led the community protest. he is astonished at the looting of state resources that has burgeoned underjacob zuma. in fact, i‘m disgusted with it, because it‘s eating all the resources which are meant for the poor, the poorest of the poor. so they can‘t... they can‘t benefit from services and all those things. but go north into still impoverished rural areas and you are reminded

of an essential fact. the virus of corruption, moral and financial, was present long before zuma. here, tens of millions were squandered by the white regime to create so—called independent homelands, where black people were to be dumped far from the cities. it‘s partly that memory that keeps older voters, like this 77—year—old, loyal to the anc and zuma. "i like jacob zuma because he‘s part of the anc", she told me. "he took us to freedom. "even if they remove him, he took us to freedom". but a culture of protest is thriving in south africa, driven by a free press and independent judiciary fighting to rein injacob zuma. i came here to fort hare university, alma mater of nelson mandela, and four other african presidents, and found students eager for change. my perception of our politicians is that they are people who are self—absorbed, who do not have the best interests

of the people of this country, especially the poor people, who fought for them to be in power. do not put the leaders that are going to continue with the culture of robbing poor south africans‘ money. bring leaders that are progressive, that see vision, that see progress, that want to improve the lives of south africans. that‘s my stand. south africa‘s strength has always been the determination of the majority to confront injustice, whether racism or corruption. it‘s that spirit which will demand accountability from whoever ends up leading the anc. fergal keane, bbc news in the eastern cape. 0pposition parties in peru have submitted an impeachment motion against president pedro pablo kuczynski who has been accused of receiving illegal payments from a brazilian construction company. the

motion, which was signed by politicians from most parties, says mr kuczynski lacks the moral capacity to lead peru. he has denied the allegations and rejected calls for his resignation. the company, 0debrecht, has admitted paying bribes to officials in brazil, peru and many other countries to secure lucrative building contracts. the former king michael of romania will be buried with full state honours in bucharest on saturday. more than 20,000 romanians have queuedin more than 20,000 romanians have queued in recent days to pay their respects to the country‘s last monarch who died last week at the age of 86. king michael was forced to abdicate by romania‘s communist leaders nearly 70 years ago and lived most of his life in exile in switzerland. the date has been announced for prince harry and meghan markle‘s wedding. the service, at st george‘s chapel windsor castle, will take place on saturday may the 19th.

it will take place on the same day as another major event, the fa cup final. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell explained it‘s a break with tradition for the royal family. there will be, i am sure, a great deal of attention from around the world, as there always is to the british royalfamily, world, as there always is to the british royal family, but particularly on this occasion from the united states of america. and the united states of america. and the date, saturday the 19th of may. the choice of a saturday is unusual but certainly not unprecedented for a royal wedding. there have been royal weddings on saturdays before. iam sure royal weddings on saturdays before. i am sure the calculation has been that because there is to be no public holiday in the united kingdom for this royal wedding, as there was for this royal wedding, as there was for william and kate, the fact it is being staged on a saturday will give those who are so minded an opportunity to go out to windsor, not far from opportunity to go out to windsor, not farfrom london, opportunity to go out to windsor, not far from london, to opportunity to go out to windsor, not farfrom london, to be part of the celebration, as the couple said

they wish to be the case. i am sure, although the wedding itself is in the chapel inside windsor castle, there will be a carriage procession through the towns that people can join in. the other interesting thing is that saturday the 19th of may as the date of one of the biggest sporting events, the fa cup final. now, prince william is president of the foot will association and he would normally attend the cup final. —— football association. 0n would normally attend the cup final. —— football association. on this occasion, i expect he will have to give it a miss. that was nicholas witchell at buckingham palace. a rare skeleton of a woolly mammoth goes up for auction in france tomorrow, with auctioneers expecting it to fetch up to 450,000 pounds. the skeleton was discovered around ten years ago in the siberian permafrost. hugh schofield reports from paris. according to the auctioneers, it is the largest woolly mammoth skeleton in private hands. on this display in new york it stands 3.4 metres high, with magnificent curving tusks that reach more than three metres in length. —— on display in lyon.

it is also a rare example because 80% of the skeleton is the original bone, with only 20% resin used to complete assembly. translation: if you want to put it in a room it must be big. look here in a building hall, it doesn‘t seem disproportionate. indeed, you need space. there are not 50 people in lyon who could find room for it. around the world only about a thousand who could. but in an apartment hall, a company hall, everyone would be pleased and it is funny. translation: this wine cellar in one year after exhibiting the mammoth doubled its turnover and noted a 30% increase in visitors and had the opportunity to do a special mammoth vintage wine, which brought tourists to the region from all over the world because the tourist office promoted this mammoth skeleton. woolly mammoths lived alongside early man,

who hunted the animals and portrayed them in cave drawings, but they became extinct more than 10,000 years ago. this male was believed to be about 50 years old when he died. scientists say his teeth show signs of decay which may have been a factor in his death if it was unable to graze. finally, the oxford english dictionary has chosen its word of the year, and it is youthquake. first used in the 1960s, it is defined as a significant cultural, could —— chul, political or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people. it has been used more recently in relation to the effect of young voters in britain and france. it is going to be quite chilly

first thing on saturday, certainly a good frost around. but the weather will turn milder over the next couple of days. in fact, by the time we get to sunday, i suspect double—figure temperatures across the south of the uk. at the moment there is a dip in thejetstream. that‘s when cold air comes in from the north. here, we start to see a south—westerly flow of air, which will push the weather front and cloud in our direction and this area of milder air will be in place across the uk by the time we get to sunday. but saturday is still going to be quite a cold day across most of the uk. and the cold snap is still not quite over. in fact, look at this. we‘re still getting weather watcher pictures with nice, snowy scenes across the uk, mostly across the hills now. so first thing on saturday morning, a widespread frost across the country. these are the city temperatures. outside, in rural areas, it will be much colder. even as low as minus 6. saturday morning start off on a beautiful, crisp note, through plymouth and bournemouth, all the way

to brighton and dover. the midlands also nice and sunny, but crisp temperatures around. —1 in nottingham. freezing across most of yorkshire and into scotland as well. we start to see slightly milder air at this stage getting into parts of northern ireland. 0n the whole, a nice start to the day, but there will be a change on the way later in the morning on saturday. in fact, clouds will be increasing and it might turn cloudy across wales and maybe around merseyside, into the west midlands and the south—west. here, at times, it could rain. the best of the sunshine in the east and the south—east and the far southern counties. then the change happens to that milder weather through the course of saturday night into sunday. the weather fronts comes off the atlantic, we develop a south—westerly wind. so that milder air will arrive through the early hours of sunday and for many of us sunday is going to be at least starting off on a cloudy, damp note, if not wet note in many areas. quite breezy too for a time. we could even see gale force winds across the far north. look at the temperatures — back up to double figures, even in scotland.

the extreme still hanging onto around six degrees. that damp weather will last right through the course of sunday but by the time we get to monday it looks like things will be drying out. a little bit of a dip in the temperature. so into next week, it looks like the weather will dry out but it‘s still going to stay relatively on the mild side. this is bbc news. the headlines: south africa‘s governing anc is preparing to pick a new party leader to replace president jacob zuma. there have been allegations of widespread bribery, and warnings that the party could split over the election, as the country faces mounting economic challenges. eu leaders have agreed to move brexit talks on to the second phase but called for "further clarity" from the uk about the future relationship it wants. the first issue to be discussed,

early next year, will be the details of an expected two—year transition period after the uk‘s exit in march 2019. austria‘s conservative party has agreed to form a coalition with the anti—immigration freedom party, which would make austria the only western european country with the far—right in government. now it‘s time for a look back at the week in parliament.