you are watching bbc news. our top story coal in parliament in the uk gets ready to vote on alternatives to the prime minister's exit deal, which has been defeated three times. they will consider a range of i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: here in the uk, mps are getting alternatives, including a closer tie ready to vote on a range to the european union, and whether of alternatives to the prime to the european union, and whether to allow a referendum on the final minister's brexit deal. deal. north korea gives its first reaction to the break—in at its embassy north korea has in spain in february, given its first reaction to a break—in at its embassy in spain in february, calling it a grave terrorist attack. calling it a grave terrorist attack. pyongyang said it was watching rumours that the fbi had i'm rico hizon in singapore. played a role. also on the programme: and this story is a comedian who plays a fictional president on tv is on course to win trending on bbc.com: the first round of a comedian who plays a fictional president on tv is on course to win the first ukraine's election. round of ukraine's election. exit polls give the satirist iam very i am very happy i am here, but this volodymyr zelenskiy a clear lead is not the final action. so the over the incumbent petro poroshenko, by 30%—17%. final will be what i saw, but we that's all. will see the result. this is the stay with bbc world news. exit poll. new york, paris, milan — now the fashion world is watching shanghai, as designers try to crack

the lucrative chinese market. it is 7:00am in the morning in singapore and midnight in london, where british mps are once again getting ready to vote on alternatives to theresa may's brexit deal. the prime minister has been urged not to ignore them if they back a softer brexit later. mrs may's deal has already been rejected three times. here is our political correspondent iain watson. chanting: shame on you! the original brexit day has been and gone, and the protests carry on. chanting: give us all a final say! this week, crucial decisions

will have to be taken if mps are to avoid leaving with no deal by the new deadline of 12 april. tomorrow, parliament will debate alternatives to the prime minister's proposals. and this cabinet minister made it clear he could live with a closer relationship to the eu, if that's what mps want. if parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the european union without a deal, but is voting in favour of a softer brexit, then i don't think it's sustainable to say, well, we'll ignore parliament's position and therefore leave without a deal. was the prime minister seeking divine intervention today to break the deadlock? she could resurrect her defeated deal, and hold a fourth vote on it this week, if it appears to be more popular than any of the alternatives. up to nine different options could be discussed by mps tomorrow. some would see the uk retaining close links to the eu, such as a customs union, making trade easier with the european union

but more difficult to strike trade deals with other countries. and single market membership — again, easier trade, but less control of immigration. but some mps are still pressing for no deal, and others say that any deal should be put to a new referendum. and that is the option favoured by labour's deputy leader. we need to move beyond brexit, and it seems to me the only way we can do that now is with a people's vote. a people's vote is the solution, not an option. theresa may faces some tough choices this week. there is no question of her cancelling brexit, or as it's known in the jargon, revoking article 50. but some other options favoured by mps, a customs union, for example, also run counter to the conservative manifesto. if she goes along with that, she could lose some of her top team around her cabinet table. or she could take a different option and call a general election. a senior conservative has said that pragmatic preparations are under way

for a possible election, but that prospect has horrified many in the party, and a former occupant of number ten. i think a general election will solve nothing, at this moment. so what is his solution? in the interests of ending the chaos we have now, and that could continue, we must have a government that has a working majority, and that is the only reason for a time—limited unity government. so a cross—party government to unite a sometimes very cross country. not likely, but these days, normal political rules don't apply. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: north korea has given its first reaction to a break—in at its embassy in spain recently, calling it a grave terrorist attack. pyongyang said it was watching rumours that the fbi had played a role. the us has already denied any involvement. an organisation that wants to overthrow north korea's leader said it was behind the raid,

as michael bristow reports. the intruders did something that would be unthinkable in north korea. they destroyed pictures of two previous leaders, a promotional video makes the ultimate aim clear. they want to get rid of north korea's ruling family. the break—in is thought to have been carried out bya is thought to have been carried out by a little—known group. the spanish authorities said the attackers had tricked their way in and roughed up diplomats for several hours, before leaving with computer equipment and documents. it is not yet clear who the raiders were, or why they attacked the north korean embassy in madrid. pyongyang has now given its first response to the intrusion. it called it a grave terrorist attack, and noted the rumours that link the break into the us intelligence agency the fbi. that is something washington has already denied stop and you say that the united states government at least had nothing to do with this? the united states government had nothing to do with

this. thank you. all right. the raid in spain came in february, just a few days before the north korean leader, kim jong—un, met few days before the north korean leader, kimjong—un, met president trump in vietnam. that has only increased speculation that the break—in is part of a wider plan to get rid of mr kim. also making news today: the former us vice presidentjoe biden has denied claims by another democrat that he behaved inappropriately towards her. lucy flores said that during campaigning in 2014, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed the back of her head, making her feel uncomfortable. in the uk, the former opposition labour mp gisela stuart, a key figure in the pro—brexit vote leave campaign, has failed to apologise for the group breaking electoral spending rules. the organisation dropped its appeal against a fine after it was found to have exceeded spending limits during the referendum. the trial of vietnamese doan thi

huong, one of two women charged with murdering the estranged half—brother of north korea's leader, is due to resume shortly. malaysia's attorney—general rejected vietnam's request to free her. huong and an indonesian woman were charged with killing kim jong—nam by smearing his face with poison at kuala lumpur airport in february 2017. liverpool have returned to the top of the english premier league after a dramatic late goal against tottenham hotspur. the two sides had been drawing at anfield until the closing minutes, when an own—goal gave them a dramatic win. we will have much more reaction to that game coming up on sport today in half an hour's time.

here in the uk, we are expecting another eventful week regarding brexit. 0ur political correspondent iain watson has been telling me what we can expect. well, on monday mps, members of parliament here at westminster, seized control of the agenda from the government. they came up with their own alternatives to theresa may's deal. they will be discussing up may's deal. they will be discussing up to nine different options. now, some of those will involve what is called a so—called soft brexit, something around a customs union, with the eu, closer economic relationship, perhaps even staying in the single market. now, the last time we seize control, we did this once before, voice of parliament was reduced to a croak because they couldn't actually agree on anything amongst themselves. at the moment, people assume they are about to get a bit more agreement around this so—called soft brexit this time around. but if they do, whatever they decide isn't binding on the government. so what they would have to do next is parcel or in parliament, probably on wednesday,

instructing the prime minister, whether she likes it or not, to go back to brussels, ask for a longer delay to brexit, so they can get some kind of alternative plan, whether it is this idea of a closer economic relationship, or even a referendum, but then get the time needed for that plan to be negotiated and worked up. so that is effectively what theresa may is facing now. but of course, she has a lwa ys facing now. but of course, she has always said she is against both a referendum and the customs union, indeed, the manifesto her party stood on specifically excluded it. and others the two front runners, in your opinion, when it comes to these indicative votes? that's right, certainly from the votes last week it looks as though those were most likely. every single one of them fell short, but those that were least unpopular, shall we say, was firstly a confirmatory referendum on any deal that parliament negotiates, and secondly, on a customs union, as straight customs union proposal. there was a third proposal, which was more complicated than that, a little bit more like the situation that norway has, staying inside the

single market, and also a customs arrangement, but it looks as though quite a few of the options are quite close together. so if mps bang their own heads together, they might be able to reach that agreement. but it's not an agreement that immediately, i think, it's not an agreement that immediately, ithink, theresa it's not an agreement that immediately, i think, theresa may would say that she would take on board. some of her ministers are urging herto do board. some of her ministers are urging her to do so, but if she does, and if she goes against her own stated policy, for example on a customs union, then other ministers, other people around her top table, the cabinet table, could say we can't live with this. so we could actually see quite high resignations. and at that stage, then you have to question the prime minister's own position. would she herself choose to resign or perhaps call an election rather than see the very top of her party for the past? —— fall apart? the bbc has learned that more than 50 british is fighters have been captured in syria in the last three months. one of those men, a former police cadet from west london, spent five years

with the extremists. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin somerville has been speaking exclusively to hamza parvez, who was captured in the last is stronghold of baghouz, in eastern syria. the long line of surrender of the islamic group stretched far further than anyone expected. among these men, the bbc has learned, as many as 50 british fighters have been ca ptu red 50 british fighters have been captured in the calliper‘s final three months. this is one of ias's earliest british recruits. a lot of the westerners were kept distances from one another, because one of the primary fears was targeted drone strikes. so people didn't really wa nt to strikes. so people didn't really want to be associated with one another, just in case... because we didn't actually have the list of who is on the list or not, so we were really scared that this guy might be, this guy might be, and i will

just keep to myself. but hamza, for anybody else, if you realised you we re anybody else, if you realised you were on a drone hit list, then you might actually start questioning what you are doing in raqqa and why you were in islamic state? didn't you were in islamic state? didn't you think that was a time to leave the group? yes, of course, there is many times i thought it is time to pack up and many times i did try to pack up and many times i did try to pack up and leave. yes, but you joined the group willingly, the horrorfor most joined the group willingly, the horror for most people is they were either displaced, they were raped, murdered by islamic state. you willingly joined that murdered by islamic state. you willinglyjoined that group. they had no choice. it wasn't. .. willinglyjoined that group. they had no choice. it wasn't... if willinglyjoined that group. they had no choice. it wasn't. .. if you was to ask me would you willingly go andjoin was to ask me would you willingly go and join the was to ask me would you willingly go andjoin the group was to ask me would you willingly go and join the group which consists of one, two, three and four? one, two, three, four being rape, genocide,

enslavement, murder? anyone in their right mind would have never, ever gone over to havejoined right mind would have never, ever gone over to have joined something like that. so you were not in your right mind, then? i wasn't going to join something, or i didn't know that there was something waiting for me like that. most of the foreign fighters, when they do step in and when you do talk to them, the first thing they will say to you is that we will never, ever come if they had known what is isis. the tabloids call him hungry hamza. here he is on the left, 30 kg heavier. he complained on social media about missing british food and then almost starved in is's last stand, in baghouz. 0nly starved in is's last stand, in baghouz. only now does he condemn the group he has served for the last five years. there are many, many kids passed away from severe malnutrition. do you blame the west for that? no, i blame the islamic state of iraq, 100%, because they did have food, and they did have medicine, and they did have enough to provide, but they didn't. he grew

up to provide, but they didn't. he grew up in to provide, but they didn't. he grew upina to provide, but they didn't. he grew up in a privileged west london home to pakistani parents. he has now been stripped of his british citizenship. young british men brought ruin here. they turned their backs on their families, their friends and their country. now, they are paying the price. for most, there is no way back. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: losses for turkey's governing party in local elections — the opposition wins in the capital for the first time in 25 years. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world

to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. welcome back, everyone. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. yes, welcome. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: in the uk, parliament is getting

ready to vote on a range of alternatives to the prime minister's brexit deal. north korea has given its first reaction to the break—in at its embassy in spain in february, calling it a "grave terrorist attack". a comedian in ukraine, who's made his name playing the president in a satirical tv show, is favourite to take on the role for real. volodymyr zelenskiy is expected to beat the incumbent president, petro poroshenko, in the first round of voting which is taking place today. jonah fisher reports. fact is very quickly catching up with fiction in ukraine. this was the moment that a comedian who plays the president in a tv show found out he was beating the real president by more than ten percentage points. these are just exit polls, but the political establishment here has been shaken.

what's your reaction to these exit polls? great! this is the first fight. i'm very happy. but this is not the final actions. and you sure you'll win in the second round? i think so. we'll see, we will see! i spent a day with mr zelenskiy during the election campaign. at the time his grasp of politics was weaker than his understanding of british comedy. benny hill? benny hill, yes, it's more understandable than monty python. for me, monty python is better, i'm sorry. ukrainians feel they know how mr zelenskiy would perform as president because they have seen him star in a tv show as a teacher called vasiliy goloborodko who turns into a principled, honest president. this is the man mr zelenskiy looks set to face in the second round. ukraine's real president,

petro poroshenko. five years ago, the billionaire was swept to power in the aftermath of a street revolution. but he looks to be paying the price for the slow pace of change. the big loserfrom today looks to be yulia tymoshenko, the darling of revolutions past, this will be the third time she's missed out on the presidency. whoever ultimately wins will be confronted with ukraine's very serious problems. not least relations with russia and a war in the east that has killed 13,000 people. this election isn't over yet and there is still a second round to come, but tonight here in ukraine, it feels like a political earthquake.

voters rejecting the old in favour of something new, entertaining and almost completely undefined. jonah fisher, bbc news, in kiev. in turkey's local elections, the opposition has made some big gains, taking ankara. this is the first time in 25 years that president erdogan‘s ak party has lost control of the turkish capital. in turkey's largest city, istanbul, mr erdogan‘s party was leading by fewer than 3,000 votes when the official tally by the state news agency was stopped. the bbc‘s mark lowen has the latets from istanbul. president erdogan has lost control of ankara for the first time in a quarter of a century. here in istanbul and unbelievably close race. fewer than 3000 votes stand between the two sides, the governing ak party and the opposition. what has happened here in istanbul is the official count, the official figures

released by the state news agency has stopped at 99.9, 99.89% of the votes counted, one and a bit % of votes counted, one and a bit % of votes left to count. the opposition is saying that is an attempt by the government and the levers of power that it controls to snatch victory from the opposition and to deny the opposition a victory. in ankara, losing that city is a major blow. they have also lost several other cities as well as president erdogan‘s usually loyal conservative voter base has deserted him in large areas of the country because of a major economic crisis here now with turkey and recession and inflation at 20%. so all eyes now on what happens over the next few hours in istanbul, both sides claiming victory here. of course you will keep us posted. when it comes to further developments, of course,

this is a big blow to president erdogan. he will as you say, he is playing it as a victory of sorts. because of course when it comes to the presidential elections they are not for some time yet. no, but local elections are important here because it is where parties build their support through patronage, grassroots movements. remember president erdogan was the mayor of istanbul and that propelled him to ta ke istanbul and that propelled him to take power of national level. so they are important. it is a significant blow to him. really i think what we have seen tonight is president erdogan for many years was seen as president erdogan for many years was seen as unbeatable, infallible. with a moribund opposition. tonight, finally, that image is beginning to change and that will breathe i think a bit of fresh life into the opposition here, that they might at some pointjust be able to get control back of turkey. that was mark lowen nsw, speaking earlier to kasia. —— that was mark lowen nsw, speaking earlierto kasia. —— in that was mark lowen nsw, speaking earlier to kasia. —— in istanbul.

london, paris, new york — now, it's china's turn to put its best, and most fashionable, foot forward as designers look to shanghai to crack an extremely lucrative luxury market. big brands are looking for even bigger business at shanghai fashion week, alongside local designers. casey hall — the asia correspondent for the industry publication, the business of fashion — told me that brands hoping to make in—roads in china will need to address the disconnect between fashion and feminism. 0ne one thing that international brands should certainly do is start listening to their local china teams. i think some of the biggest missteps happen when international brands ascend messaging or marketing from their headquarters in europe or in america and don't listen to the import from china teams telling them what is happening on the ground here. i think that is quite endemic in the luxury industry in particular. some of the rising chinese brands that we are seeing here at shanghai fashion week i think are particularly well—placed to ta ke think are particularly well—placed to take advantage of this, because they have a natural advantage in understanding local culture and

local history. and what's happening in terms, especially for women, a new sense of empowerment among youngerfemale new sense of empowerment among younger female consumers. a lot of international brands have had some missteps in terms of advertising their brands over the past years. what sort of opportunities does the shanghai fashion week present to new and old designers?” shanghai fashion week present to new and old designers? i mean, shanghai fashion week really over the last five years has concentrated its effo rts five years has concentrated its efforts on promoting local talent, which i think has been a really smart move for them. prior to that there were a lot of international brands showing at shanghai fashion week. they were the real headliners. but more recently the stars of the show had been these young up—and—coming independent chinese designers, many of whom have gone abroad and been educated at some of the best fashion schools in the world. and then they come back to china to launch their own brand, they shall at shanghai fashion week, they shall at shanghai fashion week, they meet local designers, local buyers at the local market here.

that doesn't mean there isn't a place for international brands at shanghai fashion week. the opening show of this addition was actually from reebok, obviously a global international brand and they are using shanghai fashion week to help boost their presence in the china market. so there is still a place for international brands at shanghai fashion week but i would definitely say they are not the focus anymore. don't you think that there is also a fashion week overload? london, malone, new york, paris, beijing and shanghai, are there too many?” mean, there is a fashion week going on every single week of the year just about somewhere. and i don't think that any of the... outside the top four, i don't think a fashion week like shanghai for example is ever going to compete with paris to be the centre of the fashion world. what i do think is that shanghai fashion week is really well—placed to access the giant chinese consumer

market. bof along with mckenzie annually releases our state of fashion report and the most recent report found that in 2019 china is going to overtake the us is the world's largest fashion market. so there is a really growing fashion consumer generation here. they are more and more interested in independent and niche brands. and that really works in favour of these up—and—coming chinese designers. so i think that with shanghai fashion week choosing to focus on chinese talent, what they are doing is carving out a niche for their own domestic market which is so big that they don't necessarily need to compete with the rest of the world. rico there talking fashion. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. before i forget, belated happy mother's day to you and the mothers in the uk. the new zealand prime minister arrives in beijing to patch up

differences her largest trading partner. what challenges are they facing? many thanks for your wishes. happy mother's day belatedly to everybody. hello again. we are going to see some big changes in our weather over the next few days of this week. not much though on the mountains in scotla nd much though on the mountains in scotland at the moment in this weather watch picture sent to us. you got a sense that will change in a big way for scotland over the next few days as our weather turned significantly colder. 0n the satellite picture we've got a streak of cloud to the north—west of the uk. asa of cloud to the north—west of the uk. as a cold front working in towards our shores. if you're heading outside over the next few hours the only place you might come across rain is northern ireland and even hear the rain will be patchy in nature. this spells further east allowing some frost, so it will be quite a chilly start for a number of us quite a chilly start for a number of us first thing in the morning. there is our area of high pressure sleeping to the near continent. here comes al cold front, bringing the

thickening cloud, and eventually outbreaks of rain. the rain will return heavy and steady for western scotla nd return heavy and steady for western scotland and northern ireland. for eastern scotland and most of england and wales they have another fine day coming up with some spring sunshine, the best of it across southern counties. it might be able first, but don't be fooled by the rising temperatures in cardiff, hides up to 16 degrees. —— april one. there is one direction of travel for the weather and that's all things to get much colder. through monday evening and night time we will see the band of rain, the cold front, sink southwards across northern ireland and scotland, into parts of england and scotland, into parts of england and wales through the night. ahead of the front, seven degrees in london. starting to get colder air tipping across scotland and northern ireland as a shape of things to come. so really from tuesday onwards it is then that we will start to see

the cold airdigging it is then that we will start to see the cold air digging in. turning colder, rain or showers, the cold air digging in. turning colder, rain orshowers, cold the cold air digging in. turning colder, rain or showers, cold enough for some hill snow and overnight frost as well. this area of low pressure is going to be slipping southwards during tuesday, dragging in cold winds coming all the way from within the arctic circle. al cold front will be pushing eastwards, taking the rain with it on tuesday. colder air following. some heavy with hail and thunder and there will be snow on the hills as well. now a look at the temperatures. highs of seven degrees in belfast. fact in the strong northerly winds and it will really feel quite cold, especially compared with the weather we've seen over recent days. low pressure than stays with us through the rest of the week. this area of low pressure in the north sea bringing rain and potentially significant mountain snow across scotland and perhaps also the pennines as well for a time on wednesday. elsewhere another day of sunshine and heavy showers. the thing with the showers is where they come along they could drop the temperatures over a short period of time by four orfive temperatures over a short period of time by four or five degrees, temperatures over a short period of time by four orfive degrees, so it is going to feel pretty chilly out and about.