i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: the british government survives a vote the british geuemrgentfiw ,,,, ,, together a new brexit plan. it will not be an easy task but mps know they have a duty to act in the national interest, reach consensus, and get this done. but any renegotiations won't be straightforward — the eu insists the best deal is already on the table. eras—55 eat 1,7 ::- 1,7 a and another first for women in india — as a 38—year—old woman climbs to the summit of a men—only holy mountain in kerala.

live from our studies live from our stssiss in live from our stséiss in singapore where britain's prime minister has narrowly survived a vote of no—confidence in her government, winning byjust 19 votes. u: guess s ass- séss— 1552’22; n: lost the parliamentary vote she must now re—group, and re—submit a new plan by the start of next week. mrs may says she is committed to taking britain out of the eu, and has already met with rival parties to break the impasse. i believe it is my duty to deliver on the british people's instruction

to leave the european union, and i intend to do so. so now mps have made clear what they don't want, we must all work constructively together to set out what parliament does want. east that ass; is "st a‘ataaa’a’a’a’j’a‘aa’aa’aa aaaa aaia . . s... whether or not they have got confidence in the government. -

she got through that but the big hurdle still facing her is that the different parties and the different groups within the parties in parliament cannot agree on what type of brexit they want, so theresa may today extended the offer to the other main party leaders to say let's talk about it, let's see if we can find a consensus. the leader of the official opposition, the labour party, that isjeremy corbyn, did not attend those talks because what he said was, unless you take the idea of an ideal no deal brexit off the table, well, i am not going to sit down with you. despite this up—and—down 48 hours in westminster, on the back of a really tumultuous few weeks, we are where we were before, which is a really difficult situation and a parliamentary deadlock over what kind of situation they want. yeah, really difficult situation, and it also seems that will be hearing from brussels, but there is little movement there. they have said today that there is no room for negotiation and there are no other options on the table, is what that mean options are moving

forward 7 well, brussels has consistently said what they already negotiated with the prime minister would not be renegotiated, they have also said they are waiting to look to the uk to see the next steps, to see what parliament wants in this situation and when it comes to those different groups in parliament, you can really boils down to a few. there are some people who want a whole another referendum, they want is put back to the british public to see what they say about the situation. there are some people, the brexiteers, and were happy to just leave the eu with no deal if it comes to it, they happy with what is called a hard brexit. then you have mps who are pushing for a softer brexit, a closer relationship with the eu. the challenge for mrs may is trying to reconcile all of that and get it past the eu. and we'll have more on brexit a little later: but first american servicemen are among several people killed in a suicide attack in northern syria. so—called islamic state says it

carried out the assault, in manbij. the city has become a potential flashpoint in the wake of president trump's decision to withdraw all us soldiers from syria. the vice president, mike pence, has since insisted that so—called islamic state has been defeated. we are now actually able to begin to handoff the fight against isis in syria to coalition partners and we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. applause our correspondent, david willis, has been giving me more reaction from washington. no response from the commander in chief himself, but the acting defence secretary, patrick shanahan, extended the thoughts and best wishes of the defence department and all the pentagon to the relatives and loved ones of those killed and injured in this attack. from a man who has the ear of the president, south carolina senator lindsey graham, came

an arch response, however. lindsey graham said the president's declaration that islamic state had been defeated and that american troops would now be withdrawn may actually have energised and emboldened is, and he said that he hoped president trump would look long and hard at his administration's policy in regards to syria. so what are analysts now saying, david, could this potentially change the trump administration's policy of withdrawing troops from syria? it is an interesting question, and there are about 2000 american troops in the north and the east of syria. that question was put directly to the defence secretary patrick shanahan this afternoon and he declined to comment. but i think this will undoubtedly focus minds within the administration.

there have been competing accounts as to how rapid withdrawal of american troops will be in there are thought to be islamic state pockets still operating in certain syrian towns, so the generals are bound to urge caution on the part of president trump. and i think that there is a danger that the withdrawal of american troops, of course, could create a vacuum into which what remains of is could step. the most senior democrat in the us congress, nancy pelosi, has written to president trump suggesting he postpone this year's state of the union address, arguing that security cannot be guaranteed because of the government shutdown. in her letter, mrs pelosi suggested to mr trump that he should deliver the speech in writing unless federal agencies reopen. aid agencies say more than a thousand rohingya muslim

refugees have crossed into bangladesh from neighbouring india in recent weeks because they fear deportation to myanmar. india has been deporting small numbers of refugees, sparking criticism from human rights groups. more than 700,000 rohingya muslims fled from myanmar following a brutal military crackdown in 2017. the greek prime minister, alexis tsipras, has narrowly survived a confidence vote in parliament, after his governing coalition party broke down in a row over the renaming of macedonia. mr tsipras can now push ahead with his controversial deal to allow greece's northern neighbour to be renamed the republic of north macedonia. the plan only needs parliament's approval to go ahead. now take a look at this rare giant ice disc. it's more than 90 meters wide and has formed naturally in a river

in the us state of maine. pictures of it shared on social media have been mesmerising people around the world. ice discs can form at bends in rivers, where faster water chips away at the edges of the spinning ice. 21 people are now known to have been killed. the somali militant group, al shabab, has claimed it was behind the attack. 0ur senior africa correspondent anne soy reports. it looks like a normal afternoon outside a restaurant, but this man has a deadly plan. in a matter of seconds, he detonates his suicide vest. at a different location in the dusit complex, his accomplices open fire before entering the building.

then everything is thrown into chaos. this man told me he hid insids ths toilst for hours. at one point, he gave up hope of living and tweeted a farewell message to his family. you start to wonder who will take ca re of you start to wonder who will take care of your children. i thought of special times, like them finishing high school. starting university, getting married... as the first funeral takes place, the death toll continues to rise. the attack has hurt and angered many. the terrorist does

not have a religion. it is an international phenomenon, which we have to confront all together. in the aftermath of this attack, hard questions are now being asked: how could it have happened in the capital? how could heavily armed militants have driven around undetected? and how can attacks of this nature be averted in future? president kenyatta announced the end of the operation 19 hours after militants struck. we will seek out every person that was involved in the funding, planning, and execution of this heinous act. another al—sha baab attack, carried out after the siege five years ago. the response showed that some lessons have been learnt, but many want security stepped up.

anne soy, bbc news, nairobi. the australian prime minister scott morrison is visiting fiji and vanuatu — no australian prime minister has visited vanuatu since 1990 and fiji since 2006. 0ur sydney correspondent has been explaining the significance of these visits. well, as he said, it has been several decades since any australian prime minister went to vanuatu, so i think locally it is of huge significance and we saw scott morrison stand alongside vanuatu's prime minister yesterday, talking aaaaa . a. aaaa aaa a a. a. igéiéiégéiiaiégiiaéifi-éi aijf'aa a .a aa scott morrison did talk then about introducing some direct help issues, like climate change and also some infrastructure issues.

today, when he meets the prime minister of fiji, there will be some similar discussions, talking about allowing some workers from pg come in and help the agricultural sector. it is big news here in vanuatu in fiji, back in australia, maybe not quite so significant. it is seen as the prime minister away doing so foreign affairs before he gets ready for the serious business of a general election here later this year. is is also an attempt to counter the rising influence of china in the region? absolutely. scott morrison, that phrase again, showing up to be sure that australia keeps its influence. australia is still the biggest spender and donor of money within the pacific region but china isjust behind it and the growing force, last year we saw talk that china may be looking to build a military base within the area, maybe even in vanuatu.

scott morrison reacted last year by setting up a new sort of civic pacific initiative, talk of helping with infrastructure, talk of helping with military training within the region, maybe even upgrading a military base in fiji. now he is showing up, trying to show that australia is the biggest friend of the region. one issue is climate change in australia's record on burning fossil fuels, there is some concern in fiji that could be contributed to global water level rises globally. there is also the issue of neil prakash, who was born in melbourne to a fijian father. over the christmas period, australia revoked his australian citizenship, saying he could probably be a citizen of fiji. however, fiji are saying they do not want any part of it. there is a very close, no politics to be worked out there, however, ithink we'll see both leaders about that close relationship. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme: an indian woman climbs to the summit of a men—only holy mountain in kerala. but can she expect congratulations or protests? also on the programme: the brexit view from brussels. we will analyse what help, if any, theresa may might get from her european partners. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished, as buildings crashed into one another.

this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: in her government. a new brexit plan.

four members of the us military presence in syria have been killed in an attack carried out by so—called islamic state. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the south china morning post reveals nasa officials asked the chinese for help in planning an american mission to the far side of the moon. according to state media, the united states was among half a dozen countries that collaborated on china's moon landing earlier this month. the new york times reports on the potential use of biological weapons by north korea. it says the us is increasingly concerned that pyongyang is far more likely to use biological weapons than nuclear ones. and the japan times leads on the retirement of the country's

star sumo wrestler at the age of 32. it shows a tearful kisenosato yutaka calling time on his wrestling career after losing a series of tournaments, despite spending two years at the top of his game. back to brexit, and the crucial question, what happens now? well, some mps are urging the prime minister to go back to brussels and try to renegotiate her brexit plan. but the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, said that the withdrawal agreement on the table was not open for renegotiation, and the eu's chief negotitator, michel barnier, said it was up to the uk to decide what it wanted. from brussels, our europe editor katya adler reports on the eu's position. quite a contrast to the hostility the prime minister can face when she talks to mps about brexit, this is how the eu's chief brexit negotiator was received today

in the european parliament, despite his plan's heavy defeat last night. right now, it's too early to assess all the consequences of this vote. we have always respected and we continue to respect the democratic parliamentary debate in the uk, and i will not speculate on the different scenarios. eu leaders are in a bullish mood. in a co—ordinated media blitz, starting moments after last night's vote, they quickly doused any illusions the eu would now rush forward with compromise solutions. the eu insists the ball is now in the uk's court. translation: it's now up to the uk to tell us what happens next. we still have time to negotiate, but we're first going to hear from the british prime minister. what ireland does not want to hear from theresa may is a demand

for changes to the backstop, that fallback plan in the brexit deal to avoid a hard border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland. some people may seem to believe that a hard border can be avoided just by saying there won't be one. in order to avoid it, you need an agreement on customs and an agreement on regulations, and that's why the backstop is so important. so far, the eu hasn't flinched in its support for the backstop. there are only ten weeks to go now until brexit day, but the eu is still taking the long view. eu leaders say they won't budge now until mps start uniting around one particular alternative to theresa may's plan, and even then, brussels isn't making any promises. you see, there is a growing sense here that mps could still go for a softer brexit, or even a second referendum, resulting, maybe, in no brexit at all. that is why the eu prefers to let the dust settled now in the uk

before they take any action. which could take a while. emmanuel macron is one of many eu leaders assuming the government will now end up asking the eu for more time, effectively delaying brexit. translation: that's what they'll do. i kind of know them. first, they'll come to us asking for improvement, and eventually, they'll decide it's going to take more time to renegotiate something. for now in brussels, it is an exercise in watching the uk, waiting for change, and hoping eu unity lasts until this brexit process is resolved. for more on the ongoing brexit crisis, head to the bbc news website. there is full background and analysis, as theresa may tries to work out a way forward for her government. go to bbc.com/news and follow the links. a 38—year—old indian woman has become the first female to climb a mountain where until now only men were allowed,

for religious reasons. dhanya sanal‘s ascent to the summit of the mountain in kerala follows the historic entry to a prominent hindu shrine by two women earlier this month. the sa barimala temple was historically closed to women of child—bearing age, and the event prompted massive protests across the state. i've been getting the thoughts of dr mangala subramaniam, an expert on gender issues in india, who told me more about why this was such a big moment. i think it's tremendously significant, particularly when you think about women's rights and gender parity. i think a woman has an equal right, as much as a man does, to pursue her faith and worship the lord. but in this case, i think climbing this mountain, you know, which is really tough terrain, demands physical fitness of a woman, and for a woman to be confident to do this i think

is a tremendous accomplishment. and the fact that there was no resistance to her moving, or to her walking up the mountain, is another significant aspect, compared to actually the two women who had tried to enter the temple in sabarimala. but on the other hand, it is notjust about making a law. it is about enforcing the law, right? so, on the one one hand, the supreme court allowed this

through its verdict in 2018, for women of childbearing age to enter sabarimala. i think it's also a hallmark of india as a great democracy that the court is independent, that the judiciary is being independent and being able to make this law. and subsequently, as i mentioned, the enforcement of this law, enabling women actually to be able to enter this temple and actually pursue the faith as much as men can or women of non—childbearing age can. and briefly, doctor, what effect is changing rules such as these having for women in india, briefly? i think it's tremendous change for women to first of all feel confident that the law is behind them, and that they will actually be able to pursue things and the court will be behind them. but i think the other part here is to think about change as being slow. social change is never quick, and therefore you see the resistance from traditionalists here.

but i think there have been many such traditions in the past aaa; aa aa aaa aaaa a: teaa:’§ change to actually occur. do you preferi fox or the resident pet. ten pet . ten downing street, larry pet of ten downing street, larry kick—out? pet of ten downing street, larry kick-out? yes, we see larry the cat a lot, but we - not seen the try to take over number ten. hello.