i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story: british mps have been putting forward their plans for brexit, after voting to take control of the process from the government. they're set to stage a ballot on wednesday on which options they would accept. meanwhile, there are signs theresa may's deal is winning over i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: some critics, despite british mps put forward questions about her future. alternative plans for brexit, as speculation grows syria's kurds have about whether theresa may can called for the creation continue as prime minister. of an international tribunal, to try thousands of suspected members of the islamic state group. we report on the islamic state families that want to return to europe, but have been told and this story is they're not welcome. trending at bbc.com. a theme park in indonesia has covered the bare chests on two there are people around the world mermaid statues, 15 years after they were put in place. who will be watching this and they a spokesperson for the ancol will think leave her there. if they dreamland injakarta says they now want to respect eastern values. wa nted will think leave her there. if they wanted to go there, leave her. no, but it is not about what people are thinking about me. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also on newsday. .. claims of a "whitewash ofjustice", after us prosecutors mourn all those stories and the bbc drop all charges against us actor jussie smollett for allegedly news website. stay with us, i will be back with more. —— more on all of staging a racist and homophobic attack.

i have been truthful and consistent those on every single level since day one. i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one drop of what i have been accused of. and the power behind the pyramids. how ancient egypt's queens put the pharoahs firmly in the shade. this is bbc world news. it's newsday. thanks forjoining us. it's 8am in singapore and midnight here in london, where the political deadlock over how britain will leave the european union continues. mps are preparing to hold a series of votes in the house of commons later, looking at options for brexit which differ from theresa may's deal. but there are now signs that some leading conservative party brexiteers could back her controversial withdrawal agreement after all. here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. parliament has shown its power.

we know who's in control, and the answer's no—one. mps are getting ready to talk and vote their way through their ideas for brexit. but then what? brexiteer ministers especially insist mps taking control won't work. it's a negotiation between ourselves and the european union, and if parliament expresses a view, it may be entirely undeliverable. but the cabinet is split. there's amber rudd — she's backing mrs may's deal, but wants freedom for tories to vote as they choose. some junior ministers are saying privately they'll rebel and resign if they have to. mrs may kept them all guessing. one, who quit the government and voted to give mps a choice between brexit plans, stood by his decision. i think brexit should happen in the right way, which is leaving, but leaving on good terms, with the best possible opportunity of a good future with the eu.

so what'll be the choices? there's the pm's deal, twice defeated already. or a brexit deal closer to eu customs and market rules than mrs may's, maybe comparable to norway's. a fresh referendum's another option. and a brexit with no deal. mps insist they'll never support that, but it still seems possible. all of these proposals will be put forward. the speaker will select them. they will then be put on a ballot paper, and that will be handed to mps, and we'll be asked to indicate yes or no to each one of them, and mps can vote for as many of the ideas as they're prepared to support. still, the battle over mrs may's deal goes on. some rebels have backed away, but not enough. the chances of the prime minister getting her brexit plan approved by parliament at the third time of asking look slim. talk to any tory mp or minister, and her own chances of surviving long after this crisis, whether her plan goes through or not, look even smaller. boris johnson wants her job, but would he support her deal? earlier, he kept us guessing.

tonight, though, people queued to hear a hint of a grudging shift towards mrs may's plan, if there's a change of brexit policy, and did he also mean a change of prime minister? what i want to hear is that if this withdrawal agreement is to make any sense at all, then there's got to be a massive change in the uk's negotiating approach. another potential candidate is reluctantly backing her plan. well, it's not a good deal, but the alternative is a complete cascade of chaos. that's what i said a week ago, and now you're seeing it. and you're seeing proposals being put up, which are all worse than her proposal. and do you think, with your help, theresa may might get this deal over the line? she's got to get the dup onside, and i have some sympathy with them, because i want northern ireland to be protected inside the united kingdom. but i think she's got a decent chance. but today, the democratic unionists were sounding tough as ever. is there any chance of us changing our minds on it? unless there are significant changes

to the agreement itself, no. no—one‘s predicting the future of brexit, or mrs may's, with any confidence. no—one can, and in brussels, the eu's chief negotiator spoke today for many. all eyes on the british parliament. unusually, for any comment on brexit, no—one‘s disagreeing with that. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. there are frantic diplomatic efforts to install a ceasefire between gaza and israel, after the worst escalation of tensions in months. israel has sent tanks to the border, while palestinian militants fired a rocket from gaza into israel on tuesday, breaking a lull following a day of cross—borderfighting. the united nations has called for calm. algeria's army chief of staff has demanded president abdelaziz bouteflika be declared unfit to rule after weeks of protests against him. the president has already agreed not

to stand for a fifth term in upcoming elections, which have been delayed. a us drug—maker, accused of contributing to thousands of deaths because of its production of opioids, has settled a lawsuit for $270 million. purdue pharma, the drug—maker owned by the billionaire sackler family, is one of several firms named in the claim, which alleged they used deceptive practices to sell opioids. an indonesian theme park has covered the bare breasts on two statues to respect "eastern values". ancol dreamland in the capital city jakarta placed golden chest wraps on the mermaid figures, which have been at the park for the last 15 years. a park spokeswoman said they were becoming a more "family friendly" attraction. to syria now — where last

week, kurdish led forces took the last piece of territory that was occupied by the islamic state group. it brought to a formal end the self—proclaimed caliphate. but amid the celebrations, kurdish authorities say they're struggling to cope with the thousands of captured is men and women, and are calling for an international court to be set up to try them. our correspondent aleem maqbool has been given rare access to one of the camps — roj in northern syria — where many of them are being held. what should be done with the captured men and women of the islamic state group? it's one of the most urgent issues now the last enclave has been won back from is. hundreds of women who joined the group from around a0 countries are in this camp in northern syria. they include ilham from the netherlands, who admits to having joined is, but as yet has no idea where she might face trial.

we are asking the government to take us back, but i'm still here waiting. if you did go back to holland, what do you think would happen? i'll go to prison. my children, i hope, to my family. that's what's going to happen. and you could accept that? yeah. because i know i made a mistake. well, you'll understand there are people around the world who will be watching this and they will say, well, leave her there. if she wanted to go there, leave her there. yeah, but it's not a matter of what people are thinking about me. with few countries taking back their is group nationals, dealing with them has been left to the ill—equipped kurdish administration. this isn't a prison. it is, as you can see, a camp in a war zone. the longer it goes on, the more there is a risk that something could go wrong, there could be instability in the region again. unless a plan is put in place soon, this really is a ticking time bomb. people in the kurdish region

of syria have already suffered living under is, then losing so many lives fighting is, and here, countries like britain revoking the nationality of citizens who joined the group has gone down badly. the kurdish head of foreign relations abdulkarim omar says it's created a huge problem. "unfortunately, the international community has disappointed us", he says. "we can't hold and try these people alone. if the world doesn't help us, there'll be a problem again and the islamic state group will once again be a danger for all of us." after the final offensive to wipe the so—called islamic state from the map, we saw trucks that carted away, we were told, hundreds of is families. an ignominious end for the militants, but a reminder that children had been caught up in it all too. the administration here is urging countries to at least do something

to help rehabilitate these young, foreign victims, to try to stop the ideology into which they were born re—emerging through them in the future. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria. for centuries, one of hinduism's holiest sites, sabrimala temple in india's southern state of kerala, has banned women between the ages of ten and 50 from entering its grounds. when the country's supreme court ruled the custom was illegal, it sparked violent protests by conservative hindu groups across the region. nevertheless, two women did enter, but one of them has paid a huge personal price. our correspondent sangita myska has been to kanaka durga's home town to hear her story. symbolising the fight for equal rights in india. kanaka durga, who broke with nearly 1000 years of religious tradition, and who hindu extremists are now threatening to kill.

she lives under 24—hour police protection. and this is why. this is kanaka and a friend entering the sa barimala temple. weeks earlier, india's supreme court had ruled that a ban on women between the ages of 10—50 going inside was illegal. kanaka is a2. outside, conservative religious groups erupted in protest. priests conducted so—called cleansing rituals at the site because women like kanaka, of menstruating age, are considered impure. when i met her, this local government worker and mother of two was defiant. translation: i am not afraid of all these threats. i have not committed a crime to be punished this way. but for rahul easwar, who helped organise the protests, this fight is personal. generations of his family have been

involved in the temple. his grandfather was once high priest at sabarimala. he denies accusations that in defending the ban, he and others like him have stirred the hatred now directed at kanaka durga. we condemn the violence. we are partially responsible for it. we have owned it up and we apologise for that violence. nevertheless, he insists it's devotees like him that have been wronged. so we were saying that our human rights were being taken away. our right to pray were being taken away. in the shadow of a general election, sabarimala is a potent political issue. india's ruling party, the hindu nationalist bjp, led by prime minister narendra modi, claims that enforcing the supreme court's decision is an attack on the nation's biggest religion. india's relationship with religion is as complex as it is deep. but as this country rapidly modernises, deciding how far personal beliefs should be curtailed by secular laws is turning intoa painfuland protracted process.

when we met, kanaka hadn't seen her children for months. she claimed she was barred from the family home after her mother—in—law accused her of shaming the family and beat her badly. the police were at the house. i could see my children but i couldn't speak to them. they were crying and really scared. we decided to go and meet kanaka's family, who deny her version of events. when we arrived, we found kanaka's mother—in—law outside the house, sobbing. she says reuniting the family is impossible. i asked her when kanaka could see her children again and why she felt ashamed of her daughter—in—law, but she told us she didn't want to talk about it. since filming this report, kanaka has been allowed to see her children once a week. she's now fighting for custody. translation: i really miss my kids. starting a revolution is lonely, but eventually, people will realise

that all this was necessary to bring about progress for women in india. but until this country chooses to unite and define itself by that progress, it's women like kanaka who will pay the heaviest price. sangita myska, bbc news, kerala, india. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... prosecutors drop all charges against the american actor jussie smollett for allegedly staging a racist and homophobic attack. also on the programme: notjust pharoahs and pyramids, we'll take a look at how the queens of egypt were the real power in the ancient kingdom. let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. very good.

applause so proud of both of you. applause with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. chants streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. onlooker: wow!

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: british mps have put forward a range of alternative brexit plans — amid mounting speculation about theresa may's future. syria's kurds call for the creation of an international tribunal to try thousands of suspected members of the islamic state group. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the japan times has the latest on the fukushima nuclear site. it says the government is lifting the evacuation order on one of the two towns affected by the disaster. for the first time residents from okuma will be able to return to the area in mid—april. and the south china morning post has a story on chinese president xi jinping's final stop of his european diplomatic tour. it says during talks leading eu leaders have been open tojoining beijing's belt and road initiative.

the gulf news reports on tech company uber which has just signed a deal to buy dubai based rival careem. while much of the focus of brexit has been on westminster and brussels, other countries are waiting to see what happens next. chief among them, cambodia, with a report out of germany saying it will be the hardest hit developing country in the event of a no—deal brexit. to explain why, let's speak to leonie kijewski, a journalist in the capital phnom penh who has written about the potential impact in cambodia of a no—deal brexit.

it's interesting in london talking about the ramifications of breads ——of brexit. about the ramifications of breads --of brexit. cambodia is the main destination for the european union. everything but arms which can export to the european union, export tariff free. but if the uk leaves with a no— deal brexit, then this could fall through and cambodia might have to pay tariffs again which would potentially decrease its exports to the uk. this german report is suggesting that actually the people that are involved in the supply chain, if you like, that extends to the route in the heart of workers in cambodia could be pushed into extreme poverty. is that an exaggeration in your view?|j

wouldn't say it's an exaggeration, it's a possibility. it's still unclear because of the difference in areas that could take place, what will actually happen but the vulnerable people in cambodia, they have such a low income that if the general household wealth declines because of a bilateral trade decline, and they could be hardest hit. they will not get an income anymore and cambodia at the moment employs about 700,000 people in the garment industry which is what it exports to the uk, the garment industry. so it is definitely not an exaggeration. are you hearing about perhaps any kind of preparation is that the cambodian administration, the government is taking to reduce the government is taking to reduce the impact of perhaps no deal brexit. i haven't heard anything specifically for no deal brexit. pa rt specifically for no deal brexit. part of this might be because it's so part of this might be because it's so unclear what is happening. at the same time, cambodia is trying to

diversify its exports to other countries because the european union has threatened to with draw the arms agreement in general because of human rights breaches in the country so human rights breaches in the country so the cambodian government is trying to diversify its economy but it's a very slow process. we appreciate your time. it's fascinating to hear how the ripples stretch far and wide. thank you for joining us. thanking for having me. in a dramatic legal u—turn, all the charges against the american actor jussie smollett have been dropped. he had been accused of staging a hate crime against himself. to the anger of chicago's mayor and police chief, prosecutors now say they're dropping the charges because they don't see the tv star as a threat to public safety. a warning — laura trevelyan‘s report has flashing images at the start. jussie smollett was a red carpet regular, a tv actor who is now the

centre of the real—life drama with a surreal script. back injanuary, centre of the real—life drama with a surrealscript. back injanuary, he claimed he was the victim of a racist and i'm a phobic attack in chicago. but when the police investigated, they found that two men who supposedly attacked the actor claimed they'd been paid by him to stage the incident, as a way for him to get publicity and increases tv salary. the star was indicted forfiling a increases tv salary. the star was indicted for filing a false report to the police but today came the shock news that prosecutors had decided to drop all the chances against mr smollett, citing his volunteer work and his agreement to forfeit his $10,000 bond to the city. the actor claims he's been nothing but honest throughout. i've been truthful and consistent on every level since day one. i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one thing i was accused of. chicago's police chief, stunned,

had this reaction. wasjustice served? no. had this reaction. wasjustice served ? no. what had this reaction. wasjustice served? no. what do i thinkjustice is? ithink served? no. what do i thinkjustice is? i think this city is still owed an apology. while chicago's mouth fumed that his celebrity clearly played a part in the decision to drop charges against him. this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message that if you are in a position of influence and power, you will be treated one way. other people will be treated another way. there is no accountability in the system. as for jussie smollett‘s acting career after a ll jussie smollett‘s acting career after all this, the makers of his tv show, 20th century fox, say they we re show, 20th century fox, say they were gratified to see the charges against him dismissed. the pyramids and the pharoahs of ancient egypt have long been a source of fascination and wonder. but how about the royal women? a new exhibit in washington is turning the spotlight onto the queens of egypt — and how they ruled. the bbc‘s jane o'brien went along to cast her regal gaze. one of the most lavish tombs ever

discovered an ancient egypt's. this sd discovered an ancient egypt's. this 3d recreation shows just how beloved queen never terry must‘ve been. more than 3000 years and many looters later, it's probably as good as we will get to seeing what it was like. this sarcophagus is so important because it is the only thing that remains of the funeral set of queen nefertar. made of granite, her sarcophagus was discovered in 190a along with what may be the queen's knees. these knees are kind of a mystery that we are trying to solve. we can say they belong to a woman who died around the age of 40, who lived in the new kingdom. this could be queen nefertari but we can't say it's her. tracing the story of egypt's queens can be tough.

although many ruled in their own right, they still lived in a man's world and the history was often manipulated or even a raised. the tale is told in stunning hieroglyphics can't be trusted because they are also symbols of authoritarian rule. it's a very strange thing in a patriarchal society to allow a woman to step to the highest rung of the ladder and to lead her people so we know very, very little. we know the perfected image. there were many queens of egypt's this exhibition looks at six, spanning more than 1400 years of ancient history. it's hard to know exactly how they lived but there is plenty here to show how their diet and their memories were perfected. perhaps nobody personifies this more than the fabled beauty nefertiti. do we know she looked like that? we don't know what she looked like and her mummy hasn't been definitively identified and even if it had been, our could you go from one and say this is the skeletal face and lined you go from one and say this is the skeletalface and lined it you go from one and say this is the skeletal face and lined it up with

this is the actual reality. this is what you wanted to present to her people, what her husband wanted to present a hazard. this all - - this exhibition features cleopatra, whose life was manipulated over the centuries but thanks to this exhibition, she and the other queens emerge from their tombs as real women and notjust the stuff of legend. jane o'brien, bbc news, washington. you have been watching newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. coming up, we will have more on purdue pharma and their $270 million lawsuit. and we'd like to leave you with these dramatic pictures of a traffic bridge being completely washed away as a heavy storm batters new zealand's west coast. the bridge in the fraanosef township, south island, is seen slowly breaking apart, spilling concrete into the swelling waiho river. new zealand's meteorologists have issued a severe weather warning for the area. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news.

hello there. don't expect any major changes in our weather over the next few days. there is more dry weather to come, some spells of sunshine and patchy cloud as well. one subtle difference, it's going to turn a little milderfor a time difference, it's going to turn a little milder for a time at least. difference, it's going to turn a little milderfor a time at least. i pressure sitting to the south of the british isles. the wind allowing cloud to feed in over the top of that area of high pressure so continuing to bring areas of cloud from the north—west towards the south of the uk through the first pa rt south of the uk through the first part of wednesday. best of the clear spells as we start off across southern and western parts of england and wales, where we have the lowest of the temperatures. a touch of cross pass parts of the west country. further north, not as chilly because there is more cloud.

through the day, we continue to bring these areas of cloud south—east woods. a mixture of patchy cloud and sunshine. the best of it across wales in the south—west. equally the cloud across the far north and north—west of scotland. temperatures 11—14, may be 15 in aberdeen if we get some sunshine and shelter to the east of high ground. as we moved to wednesday and into thursday are not as much cloud by this stage but that could allow some mist and fog to form. again, some pockets of frost, temperatures widely holding up between three and six degrees. thursday, once again dominated by high pressure sitting just to the south of the british isles. the winds and high pressure moving in a clockwise direction introducing something of a south or south—westerly flow about the most of us as we move towards the end of

the week which will lift the temperatures. those day, areas of low cloud and some mist and fog patches. we should get to see some spells of sunshine. in the far north—west of scotland, more cloud and breezes. somewhere, we could get up and breezes. somewhere, we could get up to 17 degrees. similar temperatures could be achieved on friday, particularly the eastern parts of england and scotland. further north and west, but the northern ireland and scotland, beginning cloud. outbreaks of rain creeping in. and that is going to change the weather a little bit as we head into the weekend. as we move through friday and saturday, that front will slowly and painstakingly move south—east, taking cloud and rain with it but are behind, the winds round to northerly. things looking a bit cooler for the weekend and into next week, those temperatures are expected to drop further and we maven see some wintry showers.