welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the rights, 306. no to the left, 325. the british government survives a vote of no confidence as the prime minister tries to put 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. dozens still unaccounted for following the attack on a hotel in kenya. at least 21 people are known to have died. four members of the us military in syria are killed by so—called islamic state, but the country's vice president insists is has been defeated. and taking to the skies — why some are hoping small aircraft could revolutionise transport in africa. britain's prime minister has begun

discussions with opposition parties to find a way forward on brexit. britain is due to leave the european union in 10 weeks and parliament is deadlocked. theresa may survived a vote of no confidence on wednesdayjust a day after her government suffered the biggest defeat in british history, a decisive rejection of the brexit deal she's spent two years negotiating. but she's insisting she won't soften her "red lines" to allow a closer relationship with the european union, so it's hard to see room for compromise. mrs may spoke in downing street on wednesday night of the urgent need to find common ground. 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. that's why i am inviting mps from all parties to come together to find a way forward. one that both delivers on the referendum and can command the support of parliament. this is now the time to put self—interest aside. the big question now — what next? british members of parliament are split between some who prepared to see the uk leave the eu without any deal, others favour keeping closer ties with europe, others think the whole issue should be put back to another referendum. seniorfigures in the eu say the rejected withdrawal agreement is not up for renegotiation, but any movement at all depends on the british government coming forward with a unified position. from brussels, our europe editor katya adler. 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 coordinated 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 wait 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's 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's why the eu prefers to let the dust settled now in the uk

that's why the eu prefers to let the dust settle 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 improvements, and eventually, they'll decide it's going to take more time to renegotiate something. for now in brussels, it's an exercise in watching the uk, waiting for change, and hoping eu unity lasts till this brexit process is resolved. 0ur europe editor, katya adler there, with the view from brussels. with so many unanswered questions, our website could help. let's net someof-

has urged president trump of the union address because of the partial government shutdown. she's highlighted security concerns because the secret service hasn't been funded for the last 26 days. but the homeland security secretary, kirstjen nielsen, says the secret service is fully prepared for the address. the farm credit council says many are struggling to make ends meet, particularly soybean farmers, who've been hit by high tariffs from china, the main export market. the main opposition candidate in the nigerian presidential election has told the bbc he doubts the polls will be free or fair. atiku abubakar has appealed to the international community to help ensure the credibility of next month's poll. meanwhile, president muhammadu buhari has assured voters that he is not too old or ill to seek a second term. kenya's red cross says 45 people are still unaccounted

for following the end of a hotel siege by militants in nairobi. 21 people are now known to have been killed. a british man and a us citizen are said to be among the dead. the somali militant group, al—shabaab, 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. as panic spreads, some risk their lives to save others. 0thers

others are trapped inside. this man tells me in the toilet for 12 hours. at one anti—gay pup of living and tweeted a farewell message to his family. you start to wonder about the children, who will be there in the children, who will be there in the special times like when they are finishing high school, university, getting married. as the first funeral takes place, the death toll continues to rise. the attack has hurt and angered many. a terrorist does not have a religion. it is an international which we have two confirmed to all together. in the aftermath of this attack, hard questions are now being asked. how could it have happened right in the capital? how

could heavily armed militants had under did? and a tax of this end i the end ‘the 19 afteri ‘the 19 after i i militants - i9 after i i militants struck. hours after themilitautssttude seek hours after themilitautssttudo seek out every person that was in the funding, planning involved in the funding, planning and execution of this heinous act. 0.9 the style out the style of out the style of the - og the style of the - sfive | the same style of the siege five years ago. same style of the siege five years agoz‘éfi 7 77 some anne soy, bbc news, nairobi. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility for a blast in northern syria, fifilefiélllifljfiyi uifijflfifiilé, .. including two service members.

this comes amid confusion over president trump's decision last at the time he said that so—called islamic state had been defeated, a claim his vice—president is sticking with despite this latest attack. we are now actually able to begin to hand off the fight against isis in syria to our coalition partners and we are bringing our troops home. the caliphate has crumbled and isis has been defeated. applause hidden —— he did not mention the latest attack in his address. fighting is continuing in several parts of the country. the latest attack happened in manbij in the north of the country. this report comes from cbs correspondent charlie d'agata in the village of ash shafah in eastern syria. there is not much left of the villages on the way to the front line here, but the isis fighters to tell them only days ago remain a legal threat, launching attacks in

areas thought to be secure and lacing the only road in and out with explosives. it is a tactic to plant roadside bombs in the overnight or early morning. all we can hope is they have been cleared and review not trigger one. tractors and truckloads of resident clean. the closer we got to the fighting. in ash shafah, where we found the cage read allies launching aid a right of mortars. locked in a right to the end against remaining pockets of ice is inferior. they are not the only ones here. not more than a few hundred yards away easily find an american position fighting bright side was the, and they have been firing mortars in that direction essentially since we got here. how important is it that you to have american forces on the ground fighting right beside you? translation: they are playing a very big role. theirforces have been

very effective. we give them co—ordinate for isis locations and air force co—ordinate for isis locations and airforce and co—ordinate for isis locations and air force and other hillary do all they can. the american onslaught has been ferocious. the coalition reported 575 airstrike on 1100 targets during the first two weeks of this month alone. but while these ground forces are making forces, on the sharp end of this fight, though one here is talking about isis being defeated. you have been on the. describe what it is like air. translation: they are still putting up translation: they are still putting up strong resistance, firefights. they still do not want to surrender. as we left, we thought this destruction caused by, the fiesta is fighting this region has seen since the against isis began. this is what an isis retrieve looks like between heavy artillery, american and coalition airstrikes, hardly a building is left standing. and for

all the talk of withdrawing american troops as we are on our way out, a convoy of us led coalition forces was on its way in, headed straight for the frontline. 0ne commander said he isis is now fighting for their very existence, a fight that is farfrom their very existence, a fight that is far from over. let's ta ke let's take you like to michael carpenter. he was deputy assistant secretary of defense in the 0bama administration. he's in washington. what are you thinking about the current administration policy on theory and the situation there was to mark clearly, i think vice president pens and president trump jumped the down on the announcement that isis has been defeated. the troops on the ground do not believe that isis has been definitively defeated. in fact they are still struggling with the remnants of isis far north as manbij, and right now i

think the administration's policy here is also a little bit in college because you have president trump announcing that the us will withdraw all troops from area and then you have him backing away from that claim and you have his national security adviserjohn bolton and others as well, including vice president pens are saying we will have troops remaining for sometime come. i think the boat out kurdish allies on the ground inferior, but also isis is felt, i think the policy is a little bit unpredictable, they are not clear what the united states intends to do. i think our allies - a little do. i think our allies are a little bit confused as well. so all the uncertainty, i think, bit confused as well. so all the uncertainty, ithink, actually bit confused as well. so all the uncertainty, i think, actually plays against us in the uncertainty, i think, actually plays aga itit us in the uncertainty, i think, actually plays aga it only in the uncertainty, i think, actually plays aga it only emboldened he uncertainty, i think, actually plays aga it only emboldened items to and it only emboldened items to seize the moment and to try to conduct types of attacks that they did today. it is a strange thing,

isn't it, to have the us vice president reiterate the president's policy that killed 1a people, including 1a policy that killed 1a people, including 1k us nationals and not mention the attack. you are not suggesting the us should not leave the area at some point? no, i'm not in favour of the area at some point? no, i'm not infavourofan the area at some point? no, i'm not in favour of an indefinite us presence in syria, but i think the way this whole policy has been rolled out, as i said, it is the left—hand not in co—ordination with the right hand, and the various different senior administration officials have not in saying the same thing. surely that is bad policy and also as i said earlier, it emboldened both isis remnants on the ground who want to use this momentum right now to try to show that in fact they are not defeated and that they will struggle against the then inflict casualties for a weeks and months to come. itjust so happened that this attack occurred powerless before vice president pence's address in the state

department and it was a hot spot in a town in northern syria that has contested right now i kurdish forces, turkish forces, russian forces, turkish forces, russian forces and us forces, and so i think that all this sort of confusion from washington emboldened the fight is on the ground from crisis to try and do as much as they can write now —— writenow to seek chaos and destruction on the ground. thank you very much. we were coming back on this for the moment. stay with us on bbc news. much more to come: what's in a name? why a confidence vote in greece is having a big impact across its northern border. 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. confidence in her government.

she's now begun consulting other parties over a new brexit plan. dozens are still unaccounted for following the attack on a hotel in kenya. it is confirmed at least 21 people died. the united nations has called for a thorough investigation into the deaths of hundreds of people in the democratic republic of congo. the un says nearly 900 were killed during three days of inter—communal clashes last month in the western town of yumbi. caroline rigby reports. the democratic republic of congo is one of the largest united nations peacekeeping missions in the world, but despite the un's presents, violent incidents continue. and now the un has revealed it has credible reports indicating at least 890 people were killed injust reports indicating at least 890 people were killed in just one region over three days last month. it is believed ethnic violence erupted between two communities in

the north—west of the country, over the north—west of the country, over the burial of a tribal chief. centred around four villagers in yumbi territory, the clashes also destroyed hundreds of homes, as well as hospitals and schools, and forced around 60,000 people to flee to the neighbouring republic of congo. we are going to try to interview these people and try to figure out exactly what happened. there are some allegations that there may be state officials who are complicit but we have not been able to look into these allegations yet. what we are going to do is to continue our investigation. we understand that the congolese government has also initiated an investigation. last month, the country held its § gags??? election, ,, ,. ,, gags??? election, the . ,, delayed presidential election, the results of which i disputed. results of which are disputed. polling was postponed in several regions, including yumbi, because of u nrest regions, including yumbi, because of unrest and ebola outbreak. it is unclear as i whether this latest —— vote.

the greekarime minister, survived a confidence vote in parliament, after his governing coalition broke down in a row over the renaming of macedonia. the result clears a major hurdle in gaining approvalfor a deal to end the 27 year name dispute. the bbc‘s nick thorpe has more. almost exactly four yea rs almost exactly four years since his syriza party came to power, this was a vote alexis tsipras had the wind. his government has surprised many by lasting this long. in his final speech before the vote, he said his sight on elections due later this year. translation: i ask with honesty and clarity the reaffirmation of the national assembly's confidence in this government, a government which led the country out of the bailout programmes, led the country out of the crisis, and can give a future prospect to the greek people. version of events fiercely rejected by kyriakos mitsotakis, leader of the largest opposition party, new

democracy. translation: the title of this parliamentary debate is vote of confidence in the government is in reality the last act of performance played for four years at the expense of the greek people. in the end, alexis tsipras and his government live to fight another day. 151 votes to 148, simple majority. now he can press ahead with his name challenge, ratification in the greek parliament of the name northern macedonia. that is deeply unpopular with greeks, who feel the name macedonia belongs only to them. and it is also controversial in skopje, where many macedonians turned up to protest, even as their parliament was ratifying the deal with greece last friday. 27 long years after the republic of macedonia declared independence from yugoslavia, the night's vote in the greek parliament

brings a solution to the naming dispute, one decisive step closer. that is despite continued opposition in both countries. it goes without saying that africa is a vast continent, so inevitably there are many remote locations, inaccessible by road. so demand is growing for small aircraft that can land and take off in far flung areas. but there are just a few hundred private jets in the whole of the continent. now companies in south africa are trying to change that by making small aircraft more affordable. here's the bbc‘s vumani mkhize in johannesburg. have you ever sat on an aeroplane and wondered how it is made, or what keeps it in the? well, you're about to out. and at an aeroplane factory injohannesburg to out. and at an aeroplane factory in johannesburg at a to out. and at an aeroplane factory

injohannesburg at a company that specialises in making small aircraft for the international and domestic market. there are forged and 81 registered private jets and the whole of africa, with a majority being in nigeria and south africa. however, the continent still lags far behind the united states, which has over 12,000. while the factory not make jets, they are capitalising ona not make jets, they are capitalising on a growing demand for private aircraft in africa and they literally taking to the skies. africa is developing and aviation is small enough ago, so this is where we can really get our foot in the door and we can become the standard aircraft for africa. it is easy to see the benefits of private aviation. no queues at the check—in counter and there is greater flexibility in terms of travel schedule. it comes at a cost, however. these planes range between 132180,000 us dollars. look at this amazing green plan. so this is the very first flight ever of this aeroplane. this is short, our chief test pilot. how are you? you testing

this for the first time? a short flight? really? nice fund. —— one. so now that we have seen how the aircraft are made, how about we take the skies? i am here to meet the founder of a company that has been called the uber of the skies because of its affordable prices. how are you doing? i am super, nice to meet you. so this is one of your uber of aircraft? basically we basically - we are our baby. basically what we are trying to do here is we are just to is to §¥;?3?fi%{ij 5 .- i— is is to 5255532555557 55” w 5' so so cheap to g?” aviation is e5 ‘miation is disrupting ?‘ industry, , per kilometre, mag; to ‘times ‘ times the

w 22226; fly up a fly up 1 fouri any time. vumani mkhize, bbc news, johannesburg. a huge ice disc has formed on a river in westbrook, in the american state of maine. the 91 metre disk is slowly rotating and gaining in size. visitors have been braving the freezing temperatures to see this spectacle. it is not, it seems, evidence of alien habitation. an ice disc is a natural phenomenon that occurs at bends in rivers, when fast moveing water breaks off a chunk of ice and keeps it turning, grinding it against the surrounding ice to form a perfect circle. there is more on that and all the news any time on the bbc news website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. thanks for watching. hello.

0ur weather is taking on an increasingly wintry flavour through the coming days. we're moving into arctic air. the isobars are lining up from north to south, following this weather front south. it will clear southern counties of the uk through the day today. today's certainly a cold day for all of us. should be some decent sunshine around, but there will also be some wintry showers. a frosty start pretty much across the board, with a risk of ice, especially across the northern half of the uk. here's the weather front first thing. it will push its way into east anglia and the south—east during the morning rush hour. further north, clearer skies. remember that ice, but also the additional complication of some snow showers pushing into scotland, some pushing into eastern coastal counties of england too. snow possible to sea level in scotland, a couple of centimetres across the mountains, perhaps 5—8 centimetres. here, we are looking at a wintry mix, but a covering i think possible across the hills. mostly rain or sleet, though, as that system finally tucks into the continent by lunchtime.

the showers following on from the north, though, in the arctic air, will be wintry, and we will see further showers particularly for eastern coastal counties through the afternoon. they'll tend to thin out across scotland. a cold afternoon, even in the sunshine. and then, through the evening and overnight into friday, a widespread frost will develop. thursday night likely to be our coldest night of the week. you may have noticed, though, towards the west there was a frontal system trying to approach. now, obviously a frontal system bumping into cold air has the potential to turn wintry. that little bit of cloud mayjust bolster the temperatures briefly for the likes of plymouth and belfast. but as the system pushes into the cold air, for northern ireland, we could see a difficult mixture of rain, sleet and snow during the early part of friday. the weather system looks like it will perhaps bring some more significant snow for scotland for a time. further south, i think it will be perhaps snow initially, particular across the hills and the mountains, but turning

—— particularly across the hills and the mountains, but turning increasingly back to rain as the system pushes in, because we are bringing in a slightly southerly air stream, so some slightly milder air. but there is a lot of uncertainty in this element of the forecast, and if you are travelling on friday, it will be worth getting your latest update. 0n into the weekend, our story remains chilly, the temperatures perhaps coming up a couple of degrees on the figures we'll see through the end of the week. but i think there'll be a lot of cloud around on saturday. maybe some sunny spells on sunday, but overall, the story for the coming days will definitely be a rather wintry one. this is bbc news. the headlines: the british prime minister says she's begun discussions with other party leaders to find a way forward on brexit after surviving a vote of no confidence. on tuesday, theresa may's brexit plans were categorically rejected by parliament. the vote of no confidence was called by the opposition labour party. kenya's police chief has said 21 people are now known to have died in tuesday's attack at the hotel and office complex in nairobi. joseph boinnet said among the dead

was one police officer. another 28 people who were injured in the attack have been admitted to hospital. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility for an explosion in northern syria, which killed four us nationals, including two service members. kurdish media says more than a dozen locals also died in the militant attack, which took place in the kurdish—held town of manbij. you're up to date with the headlines.