a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: britain's government backs the prime minister's brexit deal, but now the hard part — getting it through parliament. the eu's chief negotiator gives his seal of approval. next up — talks about a trade agreement. the death toll rises from the californian wildfires. we travel with one man back to a home that's been destroyed. and michelle obama talks about the difficulties of raising a family and how couples‘ therapy helped. britain is one step closer to leaving the european union — after a stormy cabinet meeting, prime minister theresa may has declared she now has the support of her ministers for a draft deal, agreed with brussels, paving the way for brexit. but there is still considerable opposition within her own party

and in parliament — it is far from clear whether the deal will go through. the only alternatives, she says, are to leave with no deal, or there'll be no brexit at all. here's bbc political editor, laura kuenssberg. her deal, her call, her gamble. the cabinet has just had a long, detailed and impassioned debate on the draft withdrawal agreement and the outlined political declaration on our future relationship with the european union. these documents were the result of thousands of hours of hard negotiation by uk officials and many, many meetings which i and other ministers held with our eu counterparts. i firmly believe that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best that could be negotiated. and it was for the cabinet to decide whether to move on in the talks. the choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the northern ireland backstop.

but the collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outlined political declaration. this is a decisive step which enables us to move on, and finalise the deal in the days ahead. these decisions were not ta ken lightly. but i believe it is a decision that is firmly in the national interest. when you strip away the detail, the choice before us is clear. this deal, which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings back control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protectsjobs, security and our union, or leave with no deal or no brexit at all. i believe that what i owe to this country is to take decisions that are in the national interest. and i firmly believe, with my head and my heart, that this is a decision which is in the best interests of our entire united kingdom. so her deal is on.

after five hours of talks, a pact has been sealed that could determine her future, the government's future, and, of course, all of ours. but it was not smooth or unanimous. they might have reached a collective decision... reporter: are you resigning, mr fox? ..but i'm told about ten cabinet ministers expressed reservations, fears the agreement keeps us too close to the eu. reporter: a cabinet united? a collective agreement. and concerns it will never make it through the commons, and there was no formal vote. i am absolutely part of the cabinet because i am satisfied that the deal that is currently available does meet our demands. why the caution? voila. "voila," brexiteers fear the eu has got too much, tying the uk in too closely,

maybe for good. we have been able to find common ground and meet our common objectives. there are big problems back home though. the fine print of the deal shows, if there isn't a big trade agreement in future, great britain would be in a customs union with the eu, northern ireland effectively in a single market. not something theresa may's dup allies want to accept. it certainly doesn't appear that we will be able to support it, because it breaches the red line in terms of having differences between northern ireland and the rest of the united kingdom, in terms of regulation. obviously, we would still be in the customs union as well, and we cannot have that. and in far greater number, if brexiteers‘ suspicions about the deal are proven once they have read it properly.. here it is. you've got it. i have it here. ..they might pull the plug on the prime minister altogether. i think this is a major problem for the government

because it destroys trust. the prime minister made some very clear promises in her various speeches, but perhaps most importantly in the conservative party manifesto. one of those was, we were leaving the customs union. in this arrangement, we can only leave the customs union with the permission of the european union, which is a worse situation than we are currently in. will you move against the prime minister before she has a chance to bring this to parliament? i shall have to spend some money on some candles this evening and read carefully what the text says. strong voices on the right will almost inevitably be joined by resistance from the left. i don't believe that the deal that i have heard of so far is in the national interest. it doesn't meet the needs of all parts of britain, it doesn't give us a security of our trading relationship with europe in the future through a permanent customs union in which we have a say. remember, most ministers did back theresa may tonight, albeit without enthusiasm. the cabinet was even rewarded with glass of wine for their efforts at the end,

but it's far, far too early for theresa may to toast success. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. in california the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the state is still rising. at least 50 people are known to have died but many are still missing and it's likely to take weeks to put out all the blazes. some have already made a painful return to homes which have been completely destroyed. the bbc‘s danjohnson reports. a week ago, this was the centre of a vibrant town. now, it is drained of colour and devoid of life. it's people like bill who gave this place its character. this is the first time you have seen your house,bill? first time. there's not a lot left. this is the porch, this is the living room. this is my bedroom, that was her bedroom. back there is the kitchen. it is scorched earth, it's flat, it's gone.

it's flat, it's cleared. wow, how do you deal with this? yeah... tyres popping, cars are burning. this is what he faced, driving through the firestorm. we're moving, we're moving. go. he was the last from his street to make it out. yes, people, it is blowing, it is hot. what happens next? what do you do? rebuild, re—start. start life again. i am alive, i have the clothes on my back, i have my family. these are the people who did not make it out. but it is impossible to grasp the scale of loss, notjust individual lives and family homes but the shared experiences of a community — where they prayed, where they shopped, where they settled to retire — all of it smothered, ruined, dead. danjohnson, bbc news, paradise.

let's get some of the day's other news: the white house has confirmed that president trump's deputy national security adviser, mira ricardel, is leaving herjob, but she will remain in the administration. just a day ago the office of first lady melania trump issued a highly unusual statement, saying mrs ricardel "no longer deserves the honour of serving in this white house." a so—called super—earth has been discovered orbiting one of the closest stars to our sun, six light—years away. the planet is thought to have a mass more than three times the earth's and is mostly rocky and very cold, with a massive atmosphere. libya's prime minister has told the bbc he expects the younger brother of the manchester arena bomber will be extradited to britain before the end of the year. hashem abedi has been in custody in libya since soon after the attack in may last year. it killed 22 people.

he's wanted in britain for murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause explosions. this from our international correspondent, orla guerin. a city paying tribute to its dead. manchester in mourning in may 2017 after a suicide attacker turned a concert into a scene of carnage. the authorities in britain and in libya believe the bomber, salman abedi, did not work alone. this is his younger brother, hashem, who has been held in tripoli since just after the attack. britain requested his extradition a year ago. very nice to see you... and on a visit to italy today, libya's prime minister told us the bereaved won't have to wait too much longer. translation: i think we will finish the legal procedures in libya between now and the end of the year. we are co—operating fully,

because we understand the suffering of the families of the victims. as libyans, we also suffer attacks, so the subject is important for us. and just to be clear, prime minister, are you saying that extradition will happen, and it is simply a matter of time, or is there a possibility that the extradition request could be turned down? translation: no. we are following the legal process. according to the general prosecutor, we can extradite him after we complete the legal process in libya, it's only a matter of time. for those caught up in the horror of the attack, the wait for answers and forjustice has already been too long. one survivor, now paralysed, has his doubts about libya's promises. we've seen this before with libya, cooperating, and it takes years and, you know i get that the prime minister has said it will be the end of the year.

we are in november now, you know, do i truly believe that he's going to be back on british soil within the next couple of months? you know, let's see it. the chaos of libya won't help. this was the capital, tripoli, in september. there were clashes near the prison where hashem abedi is being held. the prime minister insists the suspect is safe. the pain does not end for the families of the victims, but there may now be hope that someone will stand in the dock. orla guerin, bbc news, palermo, italy. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: is thailand's military government using a campaign against so—called fake news to silence its critics? the bombastic establishment

outsider donald trump has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local campaign headquarters, and the heavy, routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced round their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers, who'd long felt only grudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy, suddenly felt welcomed. very glad to have you with us on bbc

news. the latest headlines: britain is one step closer to leaving the european union after ministers backed the prime minister's brexit deal. in california the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the state is still rising. at least 58 people are known to have died but many are still missing. the clock is ticking in florida where recounts are under way for bitterly contested senate and governor's races. sound familiar? 18 years ago florida was under the spotlight for its hanging chads during the presidential race between george w bush and al gore. so, as rajini vaidyanathan reports, you could be forgiven for thinking "here we go again". in the end it comes down to these,

cold ha rd votes. in the end it comes down to these, cold hard votes. here at in brow with anna cross for a's 66 other counties millions of ballots are being counted again. years ago a here delivered george w bush the presidency. the scrutiny is as intense today. it can go in and see what they are doing right now? al—sayed a group of republicans are protesting. linda gallagher, a donald trump supporters that she is suspicious of the way the recount is being conducted. we don't know what is being thrown away, what has been tampered with, we don't know. so thatis tampered with, we don't know. so that is my whole issue is right now i don't know, even if, whoever wins, if they win, i'm going to think as fraudulent. if you win? if we win then i note that it is right. a smaller group of democrats are also here. memories of that recount in 2000 are enough to make this woman shudder. it is like deja vu. it is

very upsetting. we need to have elections were they count every vote. they are the ones try to steal the vote, not the democrats. it's the vote, not the democrats. it's the republicans. they have got it upside down. last week the republican candidates for senate and governor, rick scott and ron desantis were both claiming victory. but as vinyl votes trickled in the margin over their democratic opponents became small enough to trigger recounts. the screaming in browa rd trigger recounts. the screaming in broward county... in the year 2000 recou nts broward county... in the year 2000 recounts in browa rd broward county... in the year 2000 recounts in broward county help set the scene for one of the most contentious election results in history. george w bush beat al gore in florida byjust 537 votes. tv anchor cover that in his back to this one. -- this tv anchor. why is it happening again? we are asking the same question. why is it happening again? i have more faith that we will have better vote tally because we have gone more electronic

andi because we have gone more electronic and i think we have advanced from the time of that election 18 years ago that we all want to forget. teams are working around the clock to recount votes in these florida races. they have a deadline of thursday to make sure they get through them all. once a's done, if there is a margin of error of less than eight quarter of a percent in any of these races than they have to do the count all over again —— but this time it will be by hand. whatever the outcome it's likely the result will be contested in court. votes in every election, but in florida in a matter even more. rajini vaidya nathan there. rajini vaidyanathan there. this was a big election issue. hundreds of central american migrants travelling through mexico towards the us have reached the mexican border city of tijuana. a caravan of around 5,000 more is currently making its way north. the us defence secretary has been defending president trump's decision to send thousands of troops to the border. caroline rigby reports. relief, exhaustion — after a month on the road.

this is the us border in the mexican city of tijuana. up to 1000 migrants are thought to have arrived here in recent days, but this is just a splinter group which pressed ahead of the main larger caravan that follows behind. that contains around 5000 people from central america who say they are fleeing persecution, poverty, and violence. all dreaming of a better life in the united states. hoping president trump will let them in. translation: we're not bad people. we hope he will let us through because we're going to find work and we want to be able to provide the best for our children. translation: i want to work, help my family. have a better future for myself. i have everything will work out. but this is what awaits them at the border.

thousands of us troops deployed by donald trump to defend against what he's described as an invasion. short notice deployment. how are the troops doing? very exceptional, sir. on a visit to the border on wednesday the us defence secretary expand the role of the military was to construct barriers and obstacles in order to reinforce security. law enforcement is left in the hands of the customs and border police who have the statutory authority to carry that out. at the present i do not anticipate military personnel coming in to direct contact with migrants. the issue of migration continues to be a divisive one in the us, but with thousands more migrants expected to arrive in tijuana in the coming days it's clear many remain undeterred by the increasingly tough rhetoric against them. caroline rigby, bbc news. cuba is cancelling a long—running overseas medical programme that's

sent thousands of cuban medics to treat patients in brazil. jair bolsonaro, the new president—elect of brazil, has been critical of it — saying the doctors were only receiving a fraction of their entitled wages. the bbc‘s tim allman has the story. cuba may not have had all that much success exporting its own particular brand of socialism, but for decades it has sent out doctors and nurses to provide healthcare to the poor around the globe. and one of the recipients was brazil. but not any more. cu ban television announcing their doctors were coming home. translation: the elected president of brazil, with direct derogatory and threatening references to the presence of our doctors, has declared and reiterated that he will modify the terms and conditions of the more doctors programme. these unacceptable conditions make it impossible to maintain the presence of cuban professionals in the programme.

after the announcement, jair bolsonaro tweeted... medical schemes like this one are a big moneymakerfor havana. the doctors only receiving part of their salary, the rest going directly to the government. jair bolsonaro had threatened to end the programme unilaterally. cuba beating him to it. he may not yet be in office, but brazil's next president is already making waves. tim allman, bbc news. as part of the bbc series beyond fake news, today we're looking at thailand. it has one of the highest rates of social media use in the world, and the ruling military government is worried about the spread of so—called fake news. it has amended an already draconian law against computer crimes.

but we've found the law is being used against critics of the military. former first lady, michelle obama, has begun an international tour promoting her new memoir, "becoming". the book reveals that she had a miscarriage, and used ivf to conceive both her daughters. she talks also of seeking couple's therapy with her husband, former president barack of course. she told cbs news there were times when their relationship had problems. i tell young couples, it's like when you get married you've got that moment, those years, if you're lucky, where it's just the two of you, individuals on your paths. you come together when you need to. all works until you have kids. yourfirstjoint project where the inequalities are felt. you know, i'm working and managing childcare and sick kids and trying to co—ordinate myjob and he's flittering in. tensions started to arise. and we knew that we needed to have a place where we could

really work these feelings out. was he like, great, let's go to counselling? oh no! oh no, no. i can't wait to go! barack is a problem solver. it's like, i'll buy a book and we will study... on relationships. oh relationships, yeah. we will study chapter 12. you read chapter 13. and we can figure this out. you know, it's just one of those things. we don't need help from anybody. and i was like really? because for me, i was like i need to go to somebody who's gonna tell you... you're wrong. exactly. and i talk about that. it's like well i didn't get that. the period of counselling for me was a turning point. because i learned i was still responsible for my own happiness. it wasn't his job to solely make me happy. i had to figure out my space in this. michelle obama talking to gayle king of cbs. thank you so much for watching. hello there. wednesday brought us another fine autumnal day with plenty of sunshine in the south and the east.

we did have some more cloud, rain, and breezy conditions across north—western parts of the uk. this was the picture as the sun set in oxfordshire. some of us got as high as 16 celsius on wednesday. well above average average for the time of year. through the day on thursday, things will remain mild. mostly cloudy skies. there will be some brighter spells developing later on in the day. through thursday we have got a weather front sitting to the far north—west. it's high pressure across the new continent that will be driving our weather over the next couple of days, keeping it largely settled. a bit of rain affecting western parts of northern ireland and the north—west of scotland. elsewhere a largely dry day. one or two mist and fog patches across parts of england and wales. some low cloud around as well. there will be some sunshine by

the afternoon across the north—east of england into eastern scotland as well. those temperatures will be on the mild side, again reaching 13—15 degrees across the country. some rain for northern ireland, into scotland overnight thursday into friday. further south across england and wales you keep the low cloud. we could see some mist and fog patches developing. it will be frost free across the board with temperatures down to 6—11 degrees for most of us first thing friday. friday, a largely dry day. weather fronts kept out at bay by this big area of high pressure, which is pushing in making its influence felt across the country. as we head through the course of friday and into the weekend many of us that dry theme. there could be quite a lot of low cloud, some mist and fog, particularly for some central, southern, and eastern parts through friday morning.

it will brighten through the day. it will stay on the mild side. we have the temperatures reaching the mid teens on friday. a slight change as we head into the weekend. largely dry, settled conditions, but things will feel a little cooler compared to the very mild weather we have had for much of the past week or so. there is the chance of seeing some mist and fog around. i think on saturday, for most places, early—morning mist, fog, and low cloud should clear to leave sunny skies, fairly light winds coming in from the south—east. temperatures not quite as warm as thursday and friday. up to about 10—12 degrees, it shouldn't feel too bad. a repeat performance on sunday. a south—easterly breeze clears any early morning mist, fog, and cloud. autumnal sunshine by the afternoon. temperatures around 10—11 degrees. goodbye for now. the latest headlines for you now from bbc news: after a stormy cabinet meeting, britain's prime minister has declared that she has the backing of her ministers for a draft agreement with the european union on the terms for britain to leave. but there is still considerable opposition within her own party and in parliament. it is far from clear whether the deal will go through. the european parliament's representative guy verhofstadt

broadly welcomed the deal, but said he still hoped britain would one day return to the fold. germany's foreign minister called it a great relief. the irish prime minister said it was a satisfactory outcome. in california, the death toll from the wildfires ravaging the state is still rising. at least 58 people are known to have died, but 130 are still missing and it's likely to take weeks to put out all the blazes. some have already made a painful return home to houses that are completely destroyed. you are up to date on the headlines.