hello. welcome to newsday. i'm mike embley in london. the headlines: the party does have confidence... theresa may survives a vote of no—confidence from her own party — but the challenges over brexit remain. here is our renewed mission, delivering the brexit that people voted for, bringing the country back together, and building a country that truly works for everyone. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: president trump's former lawyer is jailed for three years. he says he felt it was his "duty to cover up his boss's dirty deeds". more details emerge about the strasbourg shooting suspect, as the manhunt continues across france. this is bbc world news. it's

newsday. it's 9am in singapore, one in the morning here in london, where the british prime minister has survived a no—confidence vote from her own conservative party. that's the good news for theresa may. the bad news? a third of her own members of parliament voted against her. so, 317 conservative mps were eligible to vote in the election. 200 voted in favour of the prime minister. 117 voted against her. so that's a majority of 83. enough, but damaging, and not much help at all to her chances of getting her brexit deal approved by parliament. before wednesday's vote the prime minister had hinted to conservative mps that she does not intend to lead the party into the next general election — that's meant to be in 2022. she insisted her focus should be on delivering brexit — somehow. our political editor laura kuenssberg starts our coverage. just a warning, there is flash photography coming up. decision time. survival time.

for a prime minister and a party twisted together in a years old fight. applause only the conservatives would do it like this behind those walls. a challenge in the morning, the rebels seen off before it's time for bed. the result of the ballot held this evening is that the parliamentary party does have confidence. applause 200 of her mps wanted her to stay, 117 wanted her to go. a clear result, but a party in obvious conflict. no further confidence vote can take place for at least 12 months. applause despite the applause, what do the tories really have to celebrate beyond tonight? it was another lonely journey to the microphone. the prime minister had to promise she'd go, in order to stay for now.

this has been a long and challenging day, but at the end of it, i'm pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot. whilst i'm grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me and i have listened to what they said. following this ballot, we now need to get on with the job of delivering brexit for the british people and building a better future for this country. a brexit that delivers on the vote that people gave, that brings back control of our money, our borders and our laws, that protectsjobs, security and the union, that brings the country back together rather than entrenching division. that must start here in westminster, with politicians on all sides coming together and acting in the national interest. so, here is our renewed mission. delivering the brexit that people voted for, bringing the country back together, and building a country that truly

works for everyone. resilient but not inscrutable. this is not the end of this argument, or a triumph over hearts and minds. of course i accept this result, but the prime minister must realise that under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the queen urgently and resign. there are lessons for her, lessons for the party, this had hardly been an ideal day for the conservative party, but the party has voted very comfortably that it wants her to stay, wants here to take us through brexit. the prime minister might have won, the divisions and bitterness are right out there. listen to how her chancellor talked about some of his colleagues. i think this vote today will do is flush out the extremists who are trying to advance a particular agenda. but a win is not the same as a true victory. survival not the same as succeeding.

another tory prime minister's leadership fractured, if not broken, by a decades old dispute of the party's own. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. well, as you've heard, european leaders have already said they have no intention of renegotiating the brexit deal agreed with the uk. but in brussels there is maybe some slight movement — in the form of a draft document leaders will sign after a summit on thursday. adam fleming reports. this draft is floating around and it has got a few very, very interesting things in it, and what those things are is that they amount to the assurances the eu is planning to give to theresa may, so that she can take them back to the house of commons and try and persuade mps that the withdrawal agreement is not not that bad after all. it is all about the northern irish backstop, remember that policy for avoiding a high border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. lots of eu rules and regulations

to apply to northern ireland. one of the brexiteers‘s fears, and many other mps‘s and parliament's fears, is that that backstop, the uk will never be able to escape from it, it will be the end state, but all along the eu has said no, that is not the case, it's only temporary. we don't like it very much, we want to avoid it at all costs, it is only a backup if it is needed. so they are going to great lengths to show how temporary they want it to be, this document being sent around tonight, being signed by eu leaders, contains commitments by the eu that they will continue to negotiate future trade agreement with the uk, even if the backstop comes into place at the end of the post—brexit transition period. so even if the backstop is in place, the uk and eu will continue to negotiate future trade deal that could get rid of it, or swipe it away so you do not need it any more. that is to prove that the eu is serious when it means the backstop is temporary

and it is not going to be for ever. that was adam fleming reporting. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. a judge in new york has sentenced donald trump's former lawyer and self—described fixer to three years in jail. michael cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges in august. those were related to hush money payments to women who said they had affairs with the president, which he denies. mr cohen also admitted to lying to congress about a proposed trump tower project in russia. nada tawfik was in court. michael cohen hung his head and took it in disbelief when the sentence was read. he was hoping for no jail time, but thejudge was read. he was hoping for no jail time, but the judge ultimately imposed three years in prison. substantial, but still on the lower

end of sentencing guidelines. the judge said that michael cohen had lost his moral compass and should have known better as a lawyer. and he said that no future co—operation could be taken into consideration in sentencing. now, michael cohen was president from's long—term fixer, his people lawyer who protected his interest for more than a decade. —— people lawyer. getup was for the president, saying he had been living ina president, saying he had been living in a state of personal and mental incarceration ever since working for mrtrump and he incarceration ever since working for mr trump and he said he had a witness, a blind loyalty to the president. michael cohen ended his statement in court by apologising to the american people, saying that they deserved better than being lied to. michael cohen is the first of mr trump's inner circle to be sentenced to prison. he will be able to voluntarily surrender himself on march six. it has not been sent directly to prison yet. it is no wonder that the president has

distanced himself from michael cohen. these crimes have implicated the president directly. and it's still uncertain what possible consequences could come of this. justice department guidelines say that a sitting president cannot be indicted, but there is nothing stopping prosecutors in the future when mrtrump is stopping prosecutors in the future when mr trump is out of office from bringing a case forward if they feel it is warranted. that was nada tawfik reporting from the courts. also making news today: the european parliament has ratified the eu's trade deal with japan, the largest it has ever struck. it's been called the cars—for—cheese deal, with drastically cut tariffs on both sides. the european commission estimates that eu exporters will save more than a billion dollars a year on duties. seven mass graves have been discovered in a former islamic state group stronghold, syrian state media says. they contain hundreds of unidentified bodies that seem to have been tortured.

a syrian red crescent official told reporters there were several women among the dead, and said some of those killed "were blindfolded and handcuffed". two cardinals facing allegations linked to sexual abuse have been removed from pope francis‘s inner circle, the vatican said. australia's george pell and chile's francisco javier errazuriz will no longer sit on the council of cardinals, set up by the pope as an international advice body. both cardinals deny allegations against them. the afghanistan football federation has vigorously denied claims that some officials have sexually and physically abused players on the national women's team. world football's governing body, fifa, has suspended the aff president keramuddin keram for 90 days pending an investigation. the ban can be extended depending on the outcome of the probe. there was an unusual interruption in colombia's senate when protestors threw a bag containing rats and mice on to the floor of the chamber. a total of four rodents

were involved, but only this one escaped. the demonstrators are thought to have been making a point about corruption. a story steel on the move from 2a hours ago. -- still. hundreds of police are still hunting the gunman who escaped after a shoot out at a christmas market in france. three people were killed, 13 others wounded in strasbourg. it's thought the gunman may have crossed the border into germany — security forces there are on alert. investigators say it was an act of terror. damian grammaticas reports from strasbourg. this is a city on alert. hundreds of police and soldiers on a manhunt for a killer. but where did he go? even the nearby border watched to stop him slipping away. cherif chekatt, the suspected gunmen.

police now appealing for help finding him. he'd opened fire near the christmas markets. this is the old heart of strasbourg. people barricaded themselves inside. among his victims, a tourist from thailand, here on holiday with his wife. cherif chekatt, 29 years old, has been in prison, has 27 convictions for crimes like robbery and was already on france's terror watch—list. "the shooting went on for 30 or a0 minutes," rabin says. he filmed police scrambling for cover and says he knew the gunman. "yes, he was in prison here and in germany too," he says. outside the shop where he took cover, ali told us he saw chekatt go past shooting and recognised him as they'd been in prison together. "i saw people running, running," he says.

"police running too. everyone was saying there were gunshots." so now, strasbourg's famous christmas market has been shuttered, all business stopped. the christmas market is one of the big attractions that draws visitors to strasbourg. we don't know when this one will reopen. france has been put on the highest level of alert, and the government says that security will now be stepped up at christmas markets across the country. damian grammaticas, bbc news, strasbourg. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: as prime minister theresa may hangs, we ask what comes next in her battle to secure brexit. john lennon was shot at the entrance to the dakota building, in the centre of new york.

there's been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil, and the flowers have been piling up. the 14th ceasefire of this war ended at the walls of the old city of dubrovnik. this morning, witnesses said shells were landing every 20 seconds. people are celebrating the passing of a man they hold responsible for hundreds of deaths and oppression. elsewhere, people have been gathering to mourn his passing. imelda marcos, the widow of the former president of the philippines, has gone on trial in manila. she's facing seven charges of tax evasion. she pleaded not guilty. the prince and princess of wales are to separate. a statement from buckingham palace said the decision had been reached amicably. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm mike embley in london. our top stories: theresa may has survived a vote of no confidence in her leadership and says she's determined to see through the brexit process. donald trump's former laywer michael cohen has beenjailed for three years. he told the court in new york that he blamed his crimes on his former boss. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the straits times is leading on malaysia's move to defuse tensions with singapore. it comes after malaysia withdrew two of its vessels that had been in the republic's territorial waters. and the new york times leads on this heartbreaking image of family

members grieving over the graves of their loved ones, who were killed in el salvador by ms—13 gang members. and finally, the japan times leads on visa tests to be held abroad. the foreign ministry plans to hold japanese language tests in at least seven countries for a new type of work visa. theresa may's time as british prime minister has been overshadowed by the brexit process. so how might wednesday's leadership election affect what happens next? here's our deputy uk political editorjohn pienaar. they've been demonstrating here for months, rain or shine, for or against brexit. obsessed? maybe.

but they're also right to feel brexit is the biggest issue facing britain in decades. bigger than tonight's decision to keep on and not sack theresa may. it's still herjob to try somehow to break their brexit deadlock, and tonight's vote was never going to make that easier. theresa may is still facing a deeply divided house of commons, party and cabinet. still struggling to win over brexiteers who fear that the brexit plan could leave the uk trapped inside european union rules indefinitely. some of them sit in cabinet. two have walked out since this was filmed, more of them are potential leadership candidates. and today, one brexiteer warned a no—deal brexit was still possible, and mrs may, or presumably another leader, had to get more concessions out of brussels or else. it's very difficult to support the deal if we don't get changes to the backstop. i don't think it'll get through. i'm not sure if the cabinet will agree for it to be put to the house of commons. among the cabinet's former remainers, some would support a softer brexit with closer eu links than mrs may's. though they're not saying that.

they are saying they would fight against leaving without a deal and the commons wouldn't wear it. you've been clear, in your view, that a no—deal brexit is not a runner? i have been clear that the house of commons will stop no deal, the fact that i think it'll stop the deal does not mean we should not continue preparations just in case and some people pointed out it could nevertheless happen, but i think no deal would be such a bad outcome for the country that i believe house of commons will assert itself and stop it. so far, though, there's no sign of european leaders agreeing at tomorrow's eu summit that britain could leave eu rules on its own time in its own terms. in berlin today, the german leader spoke plainly. "we have no intention of changing the exit agreement," angela merkel said. today, mrs may warned that any leader would be short of time. the brexit timetable is tight after tomorrow's summit.

in the new year, before january 21st, the delayed meaningful vote in the commons is due. if the government is defeated it must report back on its plans for the next steps within 21 days. but any deal must also be approved by the european parliament before it takes effect. then at 11pm on march the 29th, the uk is due to leave the eu. but the prime minister and her deal are still facing defeat by mps. no—one can yet rule out a brexit tied closely to the eu or a fresh referendum. and however long theresa may has left in office, the biggest question of all — what's britain's future — still hangs in the air. john pienaar, bbc news. the vote of confidence which theresa may won by a margin of 200 to 117 is just the latest scrap in a very long—running internal conservative party conflict over the uk's relationship with the european union. the opposition labour party also has its divisions on the issue, but it's conservative prime ministers, from edward heath to margaret thatcher tojohn major to david cameron, who've been buffeted by the europe question. our correspondent james robbins considers the troubled path that's led to this vote.

britain, and in particular conservative prime ministers, have agonised over europe for more than 60 years. agonised over going in, then over being in, now over getting out. but the divisions this time look unprecedented in scale and, to some, they're doing britain real damage. certainly the mess is in the spotlight and the whole world is looking on pretty appalled with good reason because there are points when a country looks ungovernable and it looks to the rest of the world i think like one of those. so, how did we get here? when the original six members of the european community signed their founding treaty of rome in 1957, britons saw it as an irrelevance to its post—imperial destiny. # it's a crazy feeling...#

in britain, wartime austerity was giving way to the promise of prosperity. but that same year, the first british colonies were celebrating independence and britain was struggling to find a role. by the 1970s, a new alliance with our european neighbours beckoned. officially we became members at midnight local time. britain under the tories finally joined the common market. is europe stronger with britain a member? yes. and once upon a time, even margaret thatcher was a euro enthusiast, campaigning in the 1975 referendum. but as prime minister in the 1980s, she became increasingly hostile to sharing more sovereignty. no, no, no. but her own downfall was accelerated by deep tory divisions over europe. in the 1990s, her successor john major could not turn the rising sceptic tide.

he won opt—outs for britain, including from the euro in the maastricht treaty, but that wasn't enough. fast forward to this century and, in 2016, david cameron tried to see off a growing threat to his party from the right by betting on a referendum. he lost. the british people have spoken and the answer is we are out. i do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination. theresa may took over, but through the tortuous brexit negotiations, she's often found her own party harder to deal with than the governments of europe. the leading historian of post—war britain sees an unprecedented level of national division. the way the votes fell in the referendum illuminated very starkly the very great differences in lives and life chances across our kingdom. we are a people that no longer knew ourselves. it is stress testing our party system desperately and if parliament can't cope with the stress of this

we are in deep trouble. for theresa may, the great political challenge remains — how to extract something from europe while trying to reconcile all the divisions at home. james robbins, bbc news. where do we look for an idea what the british public, generally, thinks of wednesday's events? the town of market harborough, in the english midlands, mirrored the national brexit vote two years ago, with a majority of 51 to 49% in favour of leaving the eu. alex forsyth went to test reactions there. six and three, 63. it wasn't just the bingo numbers being watched at market harborough's conservative club tonight. all eyes were on the figures dictating theresa may's fate too. i'm really pleased for her because i think she really deserves to be given a chance. i think she's had some real hard press. i'm disappointed. i think she's got us into an awful mess.

when members gathered for their christmas dinner before the vote, talk was of how the tory party has handled brexit so far. jim's a long—term conservative supporter. he voted remain but accepts the referendum result. just not what's happened since. for the last two and a half years, they've done nothing but back bite, argue with one another. brexit—backing mick said the prime minister has been part of the problem. i thought she'd be a maggie, a bit stronger, but she ain't. do you still think brexit‘s going to happen? i don't know, i don't know. but for sylvia, who supported the tories for almost 60 years, it's time the party rallied around the leadership. it's going to be tough and all we can do is accept what she can achieve for us and make the best of a bad job. in market harborough, the referendum result almost mirrored the national picture.

it backed leave, but onlyjust. earlier today, people here said it was time those in westminster improved their approach to brexit, although there is still division about the way ahead. you have been watching newsday. i'm mike embley in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. we will be seeing how financial markets and the business world are receiving the news of the british prime minister's confidence vote win. yes, it has been quite momentous day for the british prime ministers. she survived a vote of no—confidence in her leadership, to 100 of mps back her, but the third of her mps, 117, voted against. she called on politicians to act together in the national interest. hello. there'll be a definite chill

in the air over the next couple of days. not only will the air be cold, we have strong winds to contend with, which will exacerbate the chilly feel during the day ahead. it should be dry for most, but not quite for all. a frontal system lingering in western areas bringing some outbreaks of rain here. that front making very little progress, though, because it's running up against this big block of high pressure, and the squeeze between the two will be driving brisk south—easterly winds across the country. it will not feel warm by any stretch of the imagination. now, we're starting off thursday on a largely dry note. a fair amount of cloud around and a few showers peppering north sea coasts. and our weatherfront bringing cloud and some patchy rain for northern ireland, the far south—west of wales, the far south—west of england. elsewhere, we will develop some long spells of sunshine. however, we will have the wind to contend with, particularly gusty for some west western coastal areas. so, put a thermometer outside, it might say five, six or seven degrees, but factor

in the wind chill and it will feel more like —1 for the channel islands, freezing for birmingham, one degree in glasgow. a very chilly—feeling day leading into a pretty chilly night thursday night into friday. there'll be more in the way of clear, starry skies ahead. winds easing a little so that will allow temperatures to drop, particularly across scotland, england and wales. you can see this blue shading on our temperature chart. towns and cities will get down to freezing or a touch below. it could be colder than that in the countryside. not quite as cold across the far west, particularly northern ireland, because here, there'll be more cloud, there'll be some patchy rain. this old weather front still lingering here as we go through friday. elsewhere, a decent amount of sunshine. still the potential for one or two showers blowing into north sea coasts. now, these numbers don't look particularly impressive — three, four, five degrees — but by friday, the winds don't feel as strong, so it might feel a bit less bitter.

so as we head towards the weekend, a change, because these frontal systems here will have a bit more impetus about them. they will make more progress. they'll bring some wet weather across the country but that rain running into cold air. just about wherever you are there could be, for a time, a little bit of snow. over high ground in northern ireland, northern england and especially scotland, there's the potential for fairly widespread and potentially disruptive snow. we'll have to keep you posted on that one. however, milderairwill waft in from the south—west all the time, so wintry weather will slowly but surely turn back to wet weather, and eventually all of us will get into the milder air on sunday and monday, but there will still be wind and rain at times. i'm mike embley with bbc news. our top story: theresa may has survived a no—confidence vote from her own party. mps backed her by 200 votes to 117 in a secret ballot. mrs may said it was time to get on with the job of securing brexit. she will travel to brussels later to seek further assurances over northern ireland. donald trump's former lawyer is jailed for three years, for paying off two women

who said they'd had affairs with the president. michael cohen also admitted lying to congress about a proposed trump tower in russia. and this video is trending on bbc.com. french police are still searching for a man who killed three people in a shooting in strasbourg. the public is also being asked to help find the suspect, cherif chekatt. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: scotland's finance secretary has announced he won't increase the higher rate income tax threshold to £50,000.