for the second night in a row, theresa may manages by a narrow margin to see off a tory rebellion over brexit. this time, the government won against an amendment by pro—eu tories to try to keep the uk in a customs union. it was unfortunate that we did not win. our amendment again was supportive of the white paper, supportive of the white paper, supportive of the prime minister's position, but wanted to guarantee a customs union if the deal was not successful. there can't be traps in a customs union. that's not what we promised the electorate. that won't deliver a brexit and we'd never be able to have any free trade agreements. victory tonight, even if byjust a handful of votes, gives the government some breathing space — but for how long? also on the programme... a complete volte—face. yesterday, about us intelligence claims russia interfered in the us election, president trump said this... president putin, hejust said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason

why it would be. following outrage in the us, today he said this. in a key sentence in my remarks, i said the word "would" instead of "wouldn't". the sentence should have been, "i don't see any reason why i wouldn't, or why it wouldn't be russians". yemen's humanitarian crisis deepens, with one child dying every ten minutes. aid workers say yemenis are victims not only of war, but also, of global indifference. where's the water gone? a reservoir in the lake district shows why there'll be a hose pipe ban in the north—west of england. and saving the puffin — why they are thriving on an island off wales, but not in the rest of the world. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: joe root‘s second straight century fires england to a comfortable odi series win against india. good evening.

theresa may has, for a second night, narrowly survived defeat in the commons over brexit. the government saw off an amendment to the trade bill, brought by pro—eu conservatives, which would have kept the uk in a customs union with the eu if no deal is agreed on a frictionless trade arrangement before january next year. it follows the government caving in to amendments by brexiteer mps yesterday. but the government has had to abandon its attempts to force parliament to go into their summer recess early after labour, snp and some conservative mps were planning to vote against it — the prime minister was accused of suggesting the idea only to stop tory rebels having time to stir up any more trouble against her. meanwhile, the official brexit campaign group vote leave has been fined £61,000 and referred

to the police for breaking electoral law. more on that in a moment — but first, here is our deputy political editor, jon pienaar, on the day's events at westminster. what does the cabinet in crisis look like? takea what does the cabinet in crisis look like? take a look. crisis, what crisis? forget brexit for a moment, theresa may was keen to talk up some good news. while the cameras are in, ican good news. while the cameras are in, i can report employment has hit a new record. a slightly awkward silence. brexit is the biggest issue by far silence. brexit is the biggest issue byfarand silence. brexit is the biggest issue by far and tories fighting in the 0pen. ministers like the new brexit secretary just the angry 0pen. ministers like the new brexit secretaryjust the angry brexiteers and former remainers trying to bar his path. order! the ayes to the right, 301.

the noes to the left, 307. tonight, byjust the noes to the left, 307. tonight, by just six the noes to the left, 307. tonight, byjust six votes, the government dodged a damaging defeat. former remain tories tried and failed to force ministers to join the european customs union, if nothing else is agreed against all their past promises. and it has emerged tory mps were once defeat would have led to a vote of no—confidence the government. would have led to a vote of no—confidence the governmentm would have led to a vote of no-confidence the government. it is u nfortu nate no-confidence the government. it is unfortunate that we didn't win. 0ur amendment, again, was supportive of the white paper, supportive of the prime minister's position, but wa nted prime minister's position, but wanted to guarantee a customs union if the deal was not successful. so i feel like i have been loyal to my prime minister throughout the week. it is others who have to look at themselves and ask themselves whether they have been. there cannot be traps in a customs union, that is not what we promised the electorate,

that will not deliver a brexit and we would never be able to have any free trade agreements. the main benefit of brexit, if we had lost the vote tonight, that would have triggered an immediate confidence motion in the government. the cove na nt has motion in the government. the covenant has plan a route to brexit but it is hard going. today, the word has gone out from investors, give compromise a chance, allow the brexit plan to move on. as we leave the european union, we want to provide continuity for businesses, consumers and our provide continuity for businesses, consumers and our trading partners. this bill sets the scene for the uk's independent sovereign trade policy. we will approach that with optimism and confidence.” policy. we will approach that with optimism and confidence. i think the government is in a considerable model. they did not start off with a plan and they have not really got a plan and they have not really got a plan that even convinces half of their own cabinet and certainly a numberof theirown their own cabinet and certainly a number of their own backbenchers as we have seen today. so much persuading to do, so little time. around 80 local tory chairman were called into number 10 as well, many

grassroots members are said to the betrayal of brexit. the idea the government and even contemplated the nuclear option of invited a vote of no—confidence if it had been beaten tonight tells you just how precariously the struggle is balanced. theresa may's brexit plan has cost her two senior cabinet ministers and despite tonight's victory, it is still on a knife edge, with her party so deeply split and labour prepared to exploit those divisions, it is not easy to see how theresa may could get any plan through parliament or break the brexit deadlock. there will be no clocking off early for mps, ministers dropped a plan to adjourn for the summer break this week. labour and tory mps opposed it, so no extra time to take a breath. brexit is still a work in progress and time is running very short. in a moment, we'll speak to our europe editor, katya adler, but first, our deputy political editor, john pienaar, is in westminster. john, two narrow victories in as many nights for theresa may over her brexit plans. but this won't be the end of it? no, it won't, fiona. theresa may and

her cabinet soldier on. upright, but tottering slightly towards a reckoning in the autumn which downing street is hopeful will lead toa downing street is hopeful will lead to a breakthrough. senior officials and government ministers are privately perfectly open about their expectations that brussels will demand more concessions, more ground from the government. and that would cause and it will cause more problems and trouble at westminster which could threaten the entire brexit plan and even the position of theresa may as prime minister. meanwhile, those most worried about brexit hope quietly there could be another chance of another referendum. as a result of this. what could ease pressure on the government? 0ne senior conservative close to theresa may told me the great hope was that brussels would give ground, maybe under pressure from a more sympathetic european leader, showing the compromise plan of theresa may was a mission with

pursuing. right now, from here, there is no obvious sign of that happening. downing street will say they are pursuing a painstaking and patient plan, but the government looks as much like a mouse in a maze with no exit and time is running out to pull off a dramatic escape act. and they must be watching all this in brussels. what do they make of it? well, fiona, farfrom dropping their hands with glee, eu leaders are worried and they are looking at this political turmoil in the united kingdom and they think it makes it increasingly likely there will be a chaotic no deal brexit and the eu really wa nts chaotic no deal brexit and the eu really wants a deal. why? basically, out up your self—interest, the eu is convinced a no deal scenario would bea convinced a no deal scenario would be a disaster for eu businesses. convinced a no deal scenario would be a disasterfor eu businesses. but when i say this eu is focused on a deal, i am when i say this eu is focused on a deal, iam not when i say this eu is focused on a deal, i am not talking about a final trade deal or a final customs deal. the kind of detail we are hearing about in westminster. because the eu

knows that will be finalised only after we have left the eu. what it is focused on right now is the uk's exit deal, the so—called withdrawal agreement. i can remind you that is already 80% agreed between the eu and the uk so this eu is honing in on that remaining 20% and it is very, very difficult. 0ne on that remaining 20% and it is very, very difficult. one of the key sticking point remains the irish border issue. my sources in brussels say the commission is trying to reword the wording on the island at the moment in the hope that it will make it more acceptable to the prime minister. from brussels and westminster, thank you, both. the official brexit campaign group vote leave has been fined £61,000 and referred to the police for breaking electoral law. the electoral watchdog said vote leave — which was supported by senior politicians, including borisjohnson and michael gove — exceeded its spending limit by funnelling extra money through another pro—brexit youth group. vote leave says the report is politically

motivated and inaccurate. vicki young reports. taking its message around the country, supported by high—profile politicians like borisjohnson and michael gove. let's vote leave, take back control. vote leave was the official pro—brexit campaign group during the eu referendum. it masterminded a famous victory, but the independent elections watchdog says it broke the law. parliament set a remit for the electoral commission, which is about making sure that there is transparency and accurately of how the money spent is reported and where money comes from. and that's what we're looking at today. and it's for us to make sure that where we do find people have broken those rules, we make that clear. i'm voting to leave the european union because... the commission found that vote leave linked up with a youth brexit group, beleave, run by darren grimes. he's been fined £20,000 and referred to the police. the investigation centered on a donation of more than £675,000 made by vote leave to this smaller group.

the commission said this should have counted towards vote leave's £7 million spending limit because the two groups were working closely together. it means vote leave exceeded its limit by almost half a million pounds. my name's ann. i'm calling from the vote leave campaign. but vote leave says it's confident the findings will be overturned because the report contains what it calls ‘false accusations‘. it's a very one—sided report. we wish they'd followed due process, and had they done so, just like they gave us the all—clear on the first two occasions they investigated us, they would have given us the all—clear again on the third investigation. shamir sanni was a volunteer for vote leave who raised concerns about spending. these institutions, like electoral commission, are built to protect the mother of all parliaments, they're built to protect british citizens, they're built to protect what and who we are as british citizens. and any mp that chooses to undermine that is perverting democracy. laws on spending during elections were put in place by parliament

to ensure fairness and transparency. vote leave have broken those rules, and that's sparked anger in an already furious brexit debate, with some even calling for a rerun of the referendum. we're talking about deliberate cheating. we cannot have confidence that this referendum was secure, and it should be rerun. the faux outrage that we are hearing today from members of all sides of this house, some of whom have now left, is nothing to do with a breach of the rules by the leave campaign, it is due to the fact that they lost. they're not representing the people. they lost that referendum, despite the fact that they overspent, themselves, by millions of pounds. downing street said britain's vote on its eu membership was a legitimate democratic exercise. calls to do it all again are likely to fall on deaf ears. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. in a stunning u—turn,

president trump says he ‘misspoke' yesterday in his press conference with the russian president. he has come in for a storm of criticism from political friends and foes alike for supporting president putin's assertion that russia did not interfere in the us election over american intelligence's repeated assertions that he did. now president trump says he got his words wrong and meant the opposite. chris buckler has the latest from washington. with president trump, nothing comes without a little drama, even what some might regard as an apology. without a little drama, even what some might regard as an apologylj some might regard as an apology.” have full faith in our intelligence agencies. theyjust turned off the light, that must be the intelligence agencies! after so much outrage, he had little choice but to shed new light on what he said in helsinki. as the appeared to support vladimir putin's claimed that russia did not meddle in the american presidential election. i would like to clarify, ina key

election. i would like to clarify, in a key sentence in my remarks, i said the word would, in stead of wouldn't. president putin, hejust said it is not russia. i will say this, i don't see any reason why it would be. the sentence should have been, i don't see any reason why i wouldn't, 01’ don't see any reason why i wouldn't, or why it wouldn't be russia. what mrtrump did or why it wouldn't be russia. what mr trump did yesterday was to betray the fbi, the cia and others and to betray the american public and that is why i used the term that this is nothing short of treasonous. former intelligence chiefs, political opponents and even several senior members of donald trump's republican party lined up to criticise the president and question his claim that it president and question his claim thatitis president and question his claim that it is better to forget the past when there are real present—day concerns about russian activities.” understand the desire and the need to have good relations. that is perfectly reasonable. but russia is a menacing government that does not share our interests, it is much our values and that has to be made very

clear. so should president trump be rebuked? that was a question he did not and such. republicans were embarrassed by the stark contrast of annan battled trump compared to the —— who appeared all too cosy with the old enemy and sided with vladimir putin over america's own intelligence agencies. head took a shower of heavy criticism president trump appears to have taken cover under the sun pocklington misspoke. but water is in virginia's seemed more than a little unsure of exactly what america's foreign policy is. it's like we are making, being friendly with people we should not be and not being friendly with people we should be. i think president trump could have done a betterjob but also i realise he is not, you know, he is not a politician. i think we are in the dark on friends and we've been given and twists from the president as faras given and twists from the president as far as this is true, this is not true. and with investigations are

still ongoing into allegations of interference and collusion, it's not just the white house looking to shed light on what russia might have been responsible for. as we saw, outrage over president trump's comment yesterday, what has the reaction been to his u—turn today? there is a fair amount of disbelief and this is a pretty remarkable reversal by president trump. bearing in mind it took over 24 trump. bearing in mind it took over 2a hours for this clarification and a pretty crucial clarification to come from the white house. as far as opponents are concerned they simply suggest perhaps he misspoke because again he was trying to attack these ideas that there was collusion and certainly that is something that concerns him deeply. he seems to try to dismiss ideas that the could of been cyber attacks or electoral interference in order to stop those allegations. he even had written on his notes today, in his own

handwriting, there was no collusion adding to the words he had prepared. all these denials came after howls of protest from within his own party. donald trump is a man who likes to think he calls the shots but this appearance with president putin seems to have been a step too farfora putin seems to have been a step too farfor a president who putin seems to have been a step too far for a president who occasions can be somewhat less than diplomatic. thank you very much. mps and lords could be sacked if new plans to deal with allegations of harassment and bullying are approved. the new code of conduct for parliament follows a number of allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour last winter that saw ministers resign and suspensions across different political parties. mps will vote on the proposals on thursday. labour's ruling body also today approved a new code of conduct, but was forced to concede it will review it after it immediately came in for criticism. the code is in response to claims the party has been slow to tackle anti—semitism. following protests earlier this year, the code states anti—semitism is ‘racist‘ and ‘unacceptable', but the party's mps and jewish leaders say it doesn't go far enough. up to seven million

people will be affected by the first hosepipe ban of the summer in england. there's already one in place in northern ireland. united utilities says a temporary ban for homes in the north—west of england from the 5th of august will "safeguard essential supplies". other water companies across england say they have adequate supplies and have no plans to impose similar bans. danny savage reports. haweswater, in cumbria, united utilities' biggest reservoir. falling water levels here have triggered the hosepipe ban. the lack of water has even exposed the remains of the village flooded to create this vast storage facility. unions have today criticised the company for losing too much water through lea ks. they say they are tackling it. we take it very seriously, and we work round—the—clock, whatever the weather, on fixing leaks. and actually, we've met our regulatory leakage targets for the last 12 years, but we know that we can do more, which is why our aim is to reduce that even further. the ban affects nearly the whole

of north—west england, where united utilities has seven million customers. it will come into effect on 5th august, unless there's prolonged rainfall between now and then, which looks unlikely. the hosepipe ban could reduce usage by up to 10%, taking the pressure off supplies. but an awful lot of precipitation is needed if these reservoirs are to be replenished. there simply hasn't been enough rainfall in an area of britain where it usually comes down in abundance. daniel hibbitt is an award—winning lawn expert in lancashire and greater manchester. he is concerned the ban will damage his income. i was ok until the end ofjune. but july, i have just started to see people ringing me up, saying, don't bother this week. the lawn is dying, and things like that. if they bring the hosepipe ban in, the lawns that are looking good, and i am cutting regularly, if they are set to die off, then 80% of my business, icons do.

sports pitches like this bowls green are exempt from the ban. this afternoon, ijoined a group of players who accept the restrictions. i am not cross that we are short of water. i am happy that we have had such hot sunshine. and if shortage of water is a by—product then we just have to be careful. does it make you cross it is coming in? no, not at all, i think it is the right thing to do. i think we'll have to do our bit. look at the reservoir, how low it is, it is obvious we have not got enough water. there is already a hosepipe ban in force in northern ireland and the republic, where blisteringly hot weather has melted roads and it has seen bowsers in use. united utilities other big site in the lakes is thirlmere. it is also getting low. this is now about safeguarding limited water supplies until this lengthy dry spell ends.

danny savage, bbc news. 75% of the population of yemen is in need of humanitarian aid, according to the un. it says yemen's is the world s worst humanitarian crisis, with one child dying every ten minutes from preventable causes. for more than three years the country has been divided by a fierce civil war between the internationally recognised government — backed by a saudi led coalition — and houthi rebels — allied with iran. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, yemen s president mansour hadi, who's lost control of large parts of the country, has denied that attempts to return him to power have reached a stalemate — and he's defended the saudi campaign which has killed many civilians. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin and cameraman anthony clifford have been in southern yemen. and a warning, you may find some of the pictures in her report distressing. an ancient civilisation, ringed by mountains and entombed by conflict. yemenis have spent years living in the shadow of the gun. and here's the result.

this is what childhood looks like in yemen. if you live long enough. many don't. ramzi is now growing up a nomad, thanks to the war. he arrived at this camp in hodeidah province a month ago and says it's very tiring. ramzi spends his days collecting water. he says he misses his home and his toys. he had to leave them behind when his town was shelled by houthi fighters. at 11 years old, he's the man of the family. his home is a bare tent, where his mother, azizah, has only her children and her grief. she tells me ramzi's father was killed 18 months ago — collateral damage in

a saudi air strike. translation: when my husband was killed, we were not able to see his body. we only saw pieces. and we couldn't tell it was him. that was worse than the news of his death. well, to add to the misery here, there's a dust storm kicking up now, and there's no escape from the punishing temperatures. many families here have been trapped in these conditions for months, waiting for help that hasn't come. aid workers say yemenis are victims not only of war, but also, of global indifference. and now, more than ever, they are victims of hunger. like tiny nagiba, who suffers from severe, acute malnutrition. we found her in her mother's arms, at a local clinic. she is three months old, but weighs about half what she should.

her doctor is confident that nagiba will recover, but he's haunted by those who didn't survive, like the boy he lost last month. translation: a father came, carrying his son, who had diarrhoea and vomiting. i wanted to save him, but the boy died at the door. the man couldn't afford food, much less medicine. and that's the reality across yemen, as the civil war grinds on between government troops and shia houthi rebels. but this remote battlefield is part of a regional power struggle. government forces are backed by a sunni—arab coalition led by saudi arabia. the rebels are allegedly armed by saudi's rival, shia iran. what usually goes unseen

is britain's role. it's still a major arms exporter to the saudis. years of war have brought the arab world's poorest nation to the brink of collapse, but have not brought the exiled president, abdrabbuh mansur hadi, back to power. easy to see who he relies on now — his allies, saudi arabia and the uae. we managed to meet president hadi at the southern port city of aden, on one of his rare visits to home soil. given that the united nations has said that the majority of civilian casualties here were caused by air strikes by the saudi—led coalition, have you ever regretted the decision to bring them into this conflict? translation: i don't regret it at all. otherwise, we would not have liberated parts of the country.

from aden... without the support of the coalition, these areas would have been under the control of the houthis. we believe the coalition operation decisive storm is the most successful one that has ever been undertaken by the arab world. you say it's successful, president hadi, but three years on, you are still not in control of the capital. more than 10,000 people have been killed and the united nations says eight million people here on the brink of famine. if decisive storm had not happened, it would have been the beginning of a major civil war, lasting even longer than the conflict in somalia. but it has already been far too long for many. like mohammed bashir.

the very embodiment of yemen's agony, ravaged by hunger. war and poverty delayed his parents bringing him for treatment. two days after these images were taken, he passed away, this broken country now a graveyard for its young. 0rla guerin, bbc news, southern yemen. and our international correspondent 0rla guerin who made that report is standing by to answer your questions on yemen. you can find her on twitter at @0rlaguerin or by using #bbcnewsten. the european union and japan have signed the world s largest free trade deal, which will eliminate nearly all taxes on products traded between the two countries. europe's dairy farmers will be amongst the winners, as their products are the eu's largest export to japan. the european union said the deal sends a clear signal

against protectionism, at a time when the us has raised tarriffs on goods such as steel. the public spending watchdog has dismissed suggestions that the government's promise to increase nhs spending could be paid for with a "brexit dividend" and claims the government's promise to boost the nhs with an extra £20 billion an extra £20 billion over the next five years will require tax rises or spending cuts. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed reports. it seemed like such a simple offer. lots more spending on the nhs, paid for by supposed brexit dividend, and this... across the nation taxpayers will have to contribute a bit more, in a fair and balanced way to support the nhs we all use. a bit more tax. but can billions of pounds for health be found so easily? the government's own economic watchdog isn't convinced. if the government didn't announce any tax increases or cuts in other spending to help pay for this health announcement, you would see

the pressure on the public finances mounting over the years to come. you'll be starting off with a more expensive health service to have to pay for and then in future years the cost of that would rise as the population gets older. the government has said it can pay for at least some of this new money for the nhs by what it calls the brexit dividend. is there a brexit dividend? the impact of brexit, and we don't quite know what brexit is going to look like yet, was likely to mean a smaller economy and fewer tax revenues. that's probably likely to outweigh any reduction in the money that we need to pay directly to brussels as part of the eu budget. this is the challenge the 0br has set the government. should it borrow more to help fund the nhs? that might be difficult — the government's debts are already £1.8 trillion. should it cut spending? that might be hard — the government has already been spending for almost a decade. that leaves tax rises.

my reading of the 0br today is that it thinks those rises could be substantial. paying for public services is expensive and that has put the government in a bind. spend more to improve the nhs, but also keep trying to tackle that national debt. by next year we're going to be bringing the debt down as part of gdp, that's a very important sign of progress. and of course because of the pressures in the nhs, because of the increased demand we recognise that is a priority. the direction of travel is clear. tax rises ahead for our health care. it could mean more tax on our incomes orfuel or higher business taxes. when will we know? put november in the diary. the budget. when all will be revealed. kamal ahmed, bbc news. england have beaten india decisively in the one—day cricket international