the eu agrees to delay brexit beyond 29th march, after late night talks in brussels. the next departure date depends on whether the prime minister can get support for her deal, a deal mps have already rejected twice. all options will remain open, and the cliff edge date will be delayed. i hope we can all agree we are now at the moment of decision, and i will make every effort to ensure that we are able to leave with a deal and move our country forward. we'll have all the latest on those late night talks here in brussels. back home, the pressure on the prime minister continues to mount. she's returned to london to convince

mps her deal remains the only way forward. also today: a convicted ira bomber known as witness 0 has named four men he says were responsible for the 1974 birmingham pub bombings. prayer call. a two minute silence is observed in new zealand in memory of the 50 victims of the mass shootings in christchurch one week ago. rescue operations in southeast africa try to reach thousands of people cut off by floodwaters following a massive cyclone. and coming up in the sport on bbc news... birmingham city have been deducted nine points for breaching spending rules. they drop to 18th in the championship.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one live from brussels. a delay to brexit has been agreed by european union leaders after talks dragged on late into the night. they decided to move the leave date back to 22nd may — but only if parliament backs theresa may's withdrawal agreement. if it's rejected again, the uk will have until the 12th of april to set out its next steps, or leave without a deal. the european council president donald tusk has said he's "far more optimistic now" than he had been at the start of the summit. here's our europe correspondent damian grammaticas. this morning, smiling, angela merkel, visibly relieved. with

emmanuel macron, with a satisfying air. one eu leader said he slept well last night for the first time since the brexit saga began. the reason they have given the uk a little more time, but set a definite deadline. decisions must be made before european elections happen in may. translation: if a country wants to leave the eu, it would be beyond strange for it to still participate in the european elections. this is the prevailing view amongst my fellow leaders. what eu leaders have done is give the uk three weeks to come up with a clear decision, either the uk must be out of the eu by the time european elections happen in may, or commit to taking pa rt happen in may, or commit to taking part in those elections if it wants to stay in longer. for eu leaders, this is about insulating themselves and their elections from the fallout of brexit. mrs may texted eu leaders this morning to say she was skipping the rest of this summit, heading

back to westminster as a matter of urgency. during my breakfast, i got an ms os from her that she won't be there because she is trying to convince members of parliament to support the deal. we heard that some european leaders last night were not reassured by what she said, that she could get this through, that she had a plan they had confidence in. she knows she is dependent on the mps. she lives in a democratic system where the mps are free to vote how they want. so she can't say here that she has a guarantee that it goes through in london. but it seems after hearing the prime minister ‘s speech last night, some, like emmanuel macron, man became even more sceptical that she can get her deal through. so eu leaders decided to seize the initiative, their advisers drafting the new deadlines giving the uk one last chance to make up its mind what it wants from brexit. i hope we can all agree, we are now at the moment of decision. and i will make every effort to

ensure that we are able to leave with a deal and move our country forward. how to move forward, though, is still open. what the eu's leaders have done is give a little time, clearing the way for parliament to rethink if it wants the uk's whole approach to brexit. all options will remain open, and the cliff edge date will be delayed. the uk government wants to have the —— will still have the choice of the deal, her deal, a long extension or revoking article 50. that would mean deciding to stay in this club. a no deal exit is also still possible as soon as just three weeks from now. damian grammaticas, bbc news, brussels. and damianjoins us now live. let's talk about this deal. it may be confusing for people because there are two dates in it. where is

there are two dates in it. where is the real deadline? three weeks, christian. april the 12th is the one that everyone has to focus on, because that is the date by which the uk has to have clarity, or it is out. that is the new cliff edge, if you like. the uk could go beyond that, but only if it has sorted out what it wants and has agreed a longer extension with the eu. the second date mentioned, in may, is only there if the current deal on the table is agreed to. that is a technical thing to pass the legislation. but there is a lot for the uk to face in the coming days because last night we had this extraordinary situation, theresa may outside the room. she spoke for an hour and outside the room. she spoke for an hourand a outside the room. she spoke for an hour and a half, then moved out while eu leaders decided what to offer her. what they did not offer and what she did not ask for was any change to the withdrawal agreement. that is not going to happen. what is still on offer is the possibility for the uk to leave with this deal,

with no deal or rethink, and rethink means look to a different future relationship. that means a closer future relationship with the eu, and that means redrafting the political declaration that sits alongside the withdrawal agreement. that would be something like a customs union, a norway type deal, anything like that. but the uk has to make these decisions now, the eu is saying, in the next three weeks and be clear by the next three weeks and be clear by the end of those three weeks. april the end of those three weeks. april the 12th is the date. thank you very much. an interesting thought from the danish prime minister, lars rasmussen, on his way into the building this morning. he said, we left them with the opportunity to rethink the whole thing. if they don't want a hard brexit and the prime minister wants to rethink her red lines, we can negotiate a whole new package. but that has to happen within the next three weeks. the onusis within the next three weeks. the onus is firmly on the house of commons. we are expecting press conferences from angela merkel and the french president emmanuel macron

in the next half hour. we will have those for you live on bbc news. for now, i will hand you back to london. christian, thank you. so to recap, theresa may has returned to the uk to continue to persuade mps to support her withdrawal deal. the commons could vote on the deal for a third time next week. but the prime minister is being urged again to allow the commons to freely debate and vote on a number of possible options to establish which solution might have a majority. brexit delayed, a crisis eased. but arriving back from brussels and downing street this morning, theresa may knows control over the brexit process could soon be in the hands of parliament. if he fails again to get her deal through the house of commons next week. if you want a brexit deal, you have to have this withdrawal agreement. unless people realise that by tuesday, we have a serious problem. if the deal is passed by mps next week, the eu says

brexit could happen on may the 22nd, giving parliament time to get all the necessary laws through. but few here think there is much of a chance of that happening. dozens of tories hate it and even those that voted for it last time think theresa may has blown it. she has picked up the crumbs they have thrown at her. it's absolutely humiliating. she will come back to westminster next week and then try and get her deal over the line with nothing new to offer the line with nothing new to offer the dup. defeat again would mean mps and the government have until april the 12th to prove to the eu that there is a plan b an agreed way out of this crisis that can get a majority in the commons. talks between opposition mps and ministers are already happening. there is certainly scope for compromise if parliament takes effective control of this. that is what we are talking to the deputy prime minister about this morning. the eu has given westminster a short breathing space, a three—week window to find wider support for a new approach. and it's

likely mps will soon vote on different options, from a brexit that keeps the uk closer to the eu, another referendum or halting brexit altogether. i think it's a case of crisis delayed. it is not crisis ended, because it just crisis delayed. it is not crisis ended, because itjust pushes it forward another two weeks. it makes it even more important now that parliament next week starts the process of trying to reach agreement on an alternative way forward. this morning a government minister said mps may be free to vote how they want. obviously, if the house is being asked to decide a way forward, it would be surprising if those votes were not free votes. we know that the uk will not be leaving the eu next friday, but as parliament and the bertens stagger towards next week, nothing is certain after that. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. there are so many options still open, ben. what is the personal pressure like now on the prime

minister? kate, it's intense. across the tory party, mps talk freely about her collapsing authority. they criticise her tone and tactics. she has returned from brussels further diminished, because she has been handed a route map through this crisis by the eu. they had to figure out her next steps. so much of the prime minister's future is now entwined in this deal that she is clinging on to and insists it is the only way to deliver brexit. there will be another vote on that, we think next week. but the problems she faces trying to get that through are the same now, if not worse than they were a few days ago. the dup don't back it. dozens of tory mps hate it. labour show no sign of swinging behind it. so if that goes down and isn't past, then we are into what is called indicative votes, a process of trying to sift through the various other sorts of brexit there might be, something softer, something more like norway's

relationship with the eu, may be another referendum, may be revoking article 50 altogether, people on her side who want a no—deal brexit in april, that argument will kick off in earnest. somehow, overthat two—week period, mps will have to do something they have failed to do for two years, which is to coalesce around a consensus. two years, which is to coalesce around a consensus. it's extraordinary that here we are in extraordinary that here we are in extra time of brexit, and mps are still about to embark on that argument again. ben, thank you so much. three weeks ago here on bbc news, we asked the audience to set the agenda for our brexit coverage for a day we called your stories. today, with brexit delayed, we decided to catch up with some of the people involved to see what they made of what has happened since. you abstained in the referendum, you didn't feel that you had enough information to make a decision one way or another. you are a remainer, and you voted to leave. where do you all sit today after the agreement to delay?

well, i commend the eu for trying to force our hand and trying to actually come to a decision and stop the back and forth and the stalemate. and hopefully, this will really make us think more urgently about the future and let's get some sort of deal, or extend it even further for a people's vote. i think it's kicking the can down the road, to be honest. and i think it was considerate of the eu to even give us this leniency, if i'm honest with you. i really don't think it's going to change things much at all. you're both very resigned, i have to say! a sense of flatness. are you exasperated by it, or you just exhausted by the whole late night decision—making? i think it's quite exhausting because each time a decision is made that seems to be important, you realise that we are actually still in the same position. we still have to decide whether we want a deal or no deal or whatever. i dislike the cajoling of the members of parliament to vote for a deal they repeatedly have said they do not want.

what needs now is decision, not indecision. i think the parliament should vote for a no—deal brexit and then start bringing forward legislation to address the very real concerns about the negative economic circumstances that would occur in an a no—deal brexit scenario. would a no deal sit well for you? no, not for me. absolutely not. i mean, there's absolutely no analyst looking at this from an economic or political standpoint who would agree that it makes sense to have a no deal situation. it makes no sense at all. i think the only positive that i can see is that we have had some sort of decision. but since we can't even decide on what deal, i'd be surprised if we can even prepare for a no deal in that amount of time. very briefly to all of you, you're all young, in your 20s, how have our politicians, how have they done in all of this? how would you assess their performance? it's quite embarrassing and i feel like given their level of education, i'm very concerned about

the education system and what kind of people they're producing, really. yeah, i think it's, it's a shocking display. yeah, quite awful. it shows them up to be completely incompetent. it's notjust hilariously bad, which it is, but it's also bad for the brexit process. because a britain that has a parliament incapable of making any decisions is not this sort of beacon of free trade and this global britain that britain really should be, post—brexit. and it's really, it's notjust bad in a comical way, it's quite damaging to the potential that britain could have outside the european union. thank you all very much indeed. what could happen next? our reality check correspondent chris morris is in brussels to try and explain.

we were struggling enough to deal with one potential departure date from the eu, and now of course we have two. if theresa may's deal, the deal she has done with the eu for the withdrawal agreement, it gets past in third meaningful vote, may 22 is the date we are looking for foran 22 is the date we are looking for for an extension. if the deal rejected, that date is april 12, which is not very much of an extension at all. the eyes of the eu in brussels and other capitals will be on the house of commons next week. an awful lot is going to be happening there. there will be legislation put forward to change in law the withdrawal date. there will be this potential series of indicative votes and other form of brexit including a softer brexit a bit like the relationship norway has with the eu. and that third

meaningful vote in the house of commons. if you look at what happened here last night, in the eu summit, you could in one sense see last night's summit as the moment that the eu sort of gave up on the chance of that third meaningful vote passing. they have then pushed the ball back into the uk court. they are ball back into the uk court. they a re really ball back into the uk court. they are really saying, there are two options. if the deal doesn't pass, andi options. if the deal doesn't pass, and i think the eu thinks it will not, there are two options left. to leave the eu with no deal, and secondly, to go for a much longer extension which would involve taking pa rt extension which would involve taking part in the eu elections. it's those two options, no deal or a longer extension, that i think the eu is saying to politicians across westminster, that's the choice you have to make. a former ira bomber has named four men he says were responsible for the 1974 birmingham pub bombings, at the inquest into the deaths of the 21 people killed.

our correspondent phil mackie is following the inquests. a significant development, phil? and a surprise development as well. because there was 18 months of legal argument before the inquests could begin over whether or not they could deal with the issue of the identity of the bombers, or the alleged bombers. the people who carried out those awful attacks in november 1974 in which 21 people were killed and 220 were injured. the decision was it was beyond the scope of the inquest. today we had from a man who had been an active ira bomber in birmingham at the same time, part of a team of seven people active in the city of birmingham. although he was in prison on the night of the attacks. he said, he was giving evidence anonymously via video link and referred to as witness 0, he said he has recently been given

permission by ira commander to identify people that he sate were pa rt identify people that he sate were part of that attack. mick murray, michael hayes, james gavin and seamus mclauchlan. mclauchlan was the officer in charge, according to him. at least one of those people is still alive. some of those names have been revealed by various investigative reporters in the past but they have never really been out there in the public domain. this will clearly give the families, many of whom were in court today and were able to hear these names read out in public for the first time, a chance to give further pressures to the authorities. what they want to happen as a result of these inquests is that the police investigation is opened again. six people were originally generals for the attacks and subsequently had convictions overturned. —— originally convicted for the attacks. but the families wa nt to for the attacks. but the families want to know he'll kill their loved ones and will they be —— who killed their loved ones and if they will be brought tojustice.

the time is1.20pm. our top story this lunchtime. the eu agrees to delay brexit beyond the 29th of march, later in the programme, the flying scotsman starts its summer programme of travelling around the uk. but today it pulls a very special carriage, one it hasn't towed since 1972. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news. we'll look ahead to england's opening euro qualifier against the czech republic. gareth southgate has some selection issues at wembley. new zealanders have observed two minutes' silence in memory of the 50 victims of the mass shootings in christchurch one week ago today. thousands of people gathered in hagley park opposite the al noor mosque where the shootings began to show solidarity with the muslim community. the country's prime minister jacinda ardern told survivors and families of the victims, that the nation mourned with them. rupert wingfied—hayes was there.

prayer call. exactly a week after the attacks here in christchurch, the muslim call to prayer rang out across hagley park, metres away from the al noor mosque. then the whole of new zealand stopped for two minutes to remember the 50 killed. when the imam of the al noor mosque, gamal fouda, spoke, it was not of the hateful crime, but of love. we are brokenhearted, but we are not broken. we are alive. we are together. we are determined to not let anyone divide us.

an estimated 20,000 people filled hagley park, people of every religion and of none. many women wore headscarves out of respect for their muslim neighbours. it seems a really small thing to do to wear a headscarf to just show some form of respect, but also care and love and solidarity, i guess. it's great that people can see new zealand for the love that we can give. but our hearts are broken. it's very saddening. it feels like the whole city of christchurch has again turned out today for another extraordinary show of support and solidarity for the muslim community and for the families of the dead. but while the prayers go on here, on the other side of the city, they are preparing for an even more solemn ceremony. at the linwood cemetery this afternoon, 26 victims of last week's massacre were laid to rest, including the youngest,

three—year—old mucaad ibrahim. in the days since the killings, new zealand has been unified in grief. but the killings have also raised profound questions for this country about the spread of a racist ideology that seduced the alleged killer. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in christchurch. rescue operations are continuing in south eastern africa to reach thousands of people cut off by floodwaters following a massive cyclone. boats and helicopters are being used to reach people still clinging to trees and roofs. more than 400 people are known to have died, but because many affected areas have yet to be reached, there are fears the final death toll could be much higher. ann soy reports from maputo. one by one, survivors of cyclone idai are being winched to safety. these are pictures of the first rescue efforts ta ken on the head camera.

it is a slow mission, hampered by bad weather and limited resources. others are arriving on dry ground by boat. the little ones, the injured and pregnant women are given first priority. tens of thousands are still stranded. rescuers are faced with the tough task of choosing who gets help first. translation: i have children, i have four children. and all they've got to eat is bread. we need aid now. translation: because of the cyclone, our homes are destroyed. we have nowhere to go, and we have nothing to start building again. translation: the first day, we received help. but they didn't give it to everyone. they only gave it to those who got inside. those outside received nothing.

it's been seven days since disaster struck. these people are lucky to have survived. but they lost everything. neighbours, homes, and all their possessions. the world food programme says they need more than £90 million to provide emergency supplies to 1.7 million affected people untiljune. here in mozambique's capital, volunteers are tirelessly receiving and repackaging donations for shipping to those in need. the response to the disaster has been growing by the day. and it's notjust here in maputo. the uk's disaster emergency committee launched an appeal on thursday night. the british government said that in march there was £2 million donated by the public, bringing its total contribution to £20 million. please, don't leave us. when you have given

food and medicine. because the biggest challenge will come on how now we reconstitute the lives of these families. in the worst hit area, large swathes are still submerged. buildings have been destroyed and roads washed away. but the most critical thing now is to get to those who have been cut off to safety. anne soy, bbc news, maputo. police have confirmed a body recovered from the humber estuary earlier this week, is that of the missing university student libby squire. the 21—year—old went missing after a night out in hull last month. humberside police say a man arrested on suspicion of abduction remains under investigation. danny savage reports. it was on wednesday afternoon that libby squire's body was recovered from the humber estuary. a lifeboat brought her body ashore at grimsby after it was spotted in the water near spurn point. libby, who was 21 and studying

philosophy at hull university, had been missing since the beginning of february. she vanished after a night out with fellow students in the city. a major police inquiry was launched with officers spending days searching a nearby park. it is bordered by the river hull, a tidal water course which flows into the humber estuary. it appears that libby somehow ended up in the water, somewhere around here, after she was last seen. the last confirmed sighting of her was on this bench close to a busyjunction. people living nearby today spoke of their sadness about what's happened. just, just shocking, to be quite honest. just shocking, not the sort of thing we're used to, it's such a close community round here. i really feel for her family. it's horrendous. police say specially trained officers are now supporting libby's family. her university says it is absolutely devastated by the loss and has

thanked people for the kindness and care shown over the past few weeks. danny savage, bbc news. the daughter of the man who saved the flying scotsman from the scrapyard has waved off the world famous locomotive on its latest adventure. for the next three weeks, it will pull passengers along the scenic swanage railway. our correspondentjohn maguire joined hundreds of steam enthusiasts in dorset this morning. even at the grand old age of 96, the flying scotsman still draws a crowd. this week, all my pupils know now that the flying scotsman was, is, the most famous loco in britain. just because it's so special, isn't it? it's pete's birthday today, so it's his special treat. i lived on the east coast and saw the flying scotsman regularly coming down through essendine,

where it broke the world record. the flying scotsman is now owned by the national railway museum in york, and spends the summer travelling the country, kept running by a team of dedicated engineers. it's like having a 150 tonne toddler. they have moods, and you just have to deal with them. that's part and parcel of working with a steam locomotive. they are machines, but they have a personality. temperamental the flying scotsman may be, and although these days the speed limit for steam is 75 mph, in her heyday, she travelled between london and scotland at more than 100. and today she is reunited with car 14, the devon belle, an observation carriage that she hasn't towed since 1972. and waving the two off at swanage railway was the daughter of alan pegler, a man who saved

the famous engine from the scrapyard in 1963. she has fond memories of the locomotive travelling across america to promote british businesses. i haven't seen this carriage since we were in the states, and i crossed north america down to san francisco across the rocky mountains in this carriage, looking at the beautiful scenery, feather canyon, the wonderful rockies. so i have very many happy memories travelling in this. the concorde of the steam age, and today as iconic and popular as ever. john maguire, bbc news, dorset. time for a look at the weather. here's lucy martin. it's turning cooler as we move through today and into the weekend. today predominantly cloudy skies like in this photo from one of our weather watchers. the colour

certainly coming from the spring flowers. if