this is bbc news. the headlines: britain's prime minister theresa may is to ask the european union for another delay to brexit. theresa may a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. is also going to co—operate with our top stories: jeremy corbyn, a move that has britain's prime minister has asked for another brexit delay and seeks infuriated hard brexiteers within talks with the opposition in a fresh her own party. bid to break the logjam. celebrations in algeria as president bouteflika resigns after 20 years in power, this debate, this division, bowing to weeks of pressure and protests. cannot drag on much longer. it is putting members of parliament he has 82 and has been in powerfor and everyone else under immense 20 years. the corruption trial of pressure. malaysia's former prime minister, najib rajak, it's under way shortly. he is accused of stealing billions celebrations in algeria as president abdelaziz bouteflika resigns after 20 years in power, bowing two weeks of dollars from the country past wealth fund, 1mdb. —— from the of pressure and protests. peace country's soften wealth fund. talks in afghanistan go on but the taliban's shadow still long shadow.

and focus on the moon, we celebrate oui’ and focus on the moon, we celebrate our newest celestial neighbour. —— and the taliban still casts a long shadow. hello. britain's prime minister is to ask the european union for another delay to brexit, to give her more time to reach agreement in parliament. theresa may has also said she'll try again to reach a compromise with the leader of the labour opposition, jeremy corbyn, which has incensed many senior figures in her own party. here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. after two failed attempts at brexit, and a big split in cabinet, the prime minister finally felt forced to consider compromise, her announcement in downing street a dramatic change of direction. i know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave

with no deal next week. i've always been clear that we could make a success of no—deal in the long—term, but leaving with a deal is the best solution. so we will need a further extension of article 50, one that is as short as possible, and which ends when we pass a deal. i'm offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition and to try to agree a plan, that we would both stick to, to ensure that we leave the european union and that we do so with a deal. if we cannot agree on a single unified approach, then we would instead agree a number of options for the future relationship, that we could put to the house in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue. crucially, the government stands ready to abide by the decision of the house. but to make this process work, the opposition would need to agree to this too. the labour leader, invited now to offer his ideas for brexit, again spelt them out. we've put forward our proposals,

which are to ensure there is a customs union with the european union, that there is access to those markets, and above all, there's protections of our standards of consumer, environmental and of course, workers‘s rights. and we'll ensure that those are there, on the table, so that there is no danger of crashing out. but at westminster, most mps lean towards a so—called softer brexit, potentially closer to the eu than that on offer by mrs may. conservative brexiteers are angry, and the thought of building bridges withjeremy corbyn, or trying to, has gone down badly, especially with one who's a likely contender for mrs may's job. the result will almost certainly be, if corbyn gets his way, that we remain in the customs union, so that we can't control our trade policy, the huge areas of lawmaking we can't control, and brexit is becoming soft to the point of disintegration. senior mps, who've been pushing for compromise,

have welcomed the possibility of brexit by consensus, but weren't taking it on trust. after 2.75 years, she's now said she wants to reach out. but we have been here before. and the net result was the prime minister listened politely, but her mind remained closed. and she really needs to give, i think, parliament an indication that she is willing to move. if mrs may does buy more time, it's time that'll be used by her critics and potential successors, who are keen to end her time in number ten, and carry on brexit under new management. john pienaar, bbc news, downing street. it's not just about what the uk wants, of course, all 27 member states of the european union have to agree too. france's president has declared that although the eu is willing to help theresa may, it can't be held hostage to britain's "political crisis". here's our europe editor, katya adler. here in brussels, eu decision—makers listened very carefully

to the prime minister's statement this afternoon, and they want to be glass half full about it, although there is a certain dose of scepticism in there. they like her intention to look for compromise and for national unity around brexit, but then those that i speak to say they have seen very little evidence of it so far, either in government or in parliament. the french foreign minister this evening said, "let me know if anything changes". so the mood has lightened slightly. but eu demands on the uk have not changed at all. basically, the uk has up until next week, remember, the eu leaders‘s brexit summit on 10 april, to either get the withdrawal agreement passed through parliament, or leave the eu without a deal, or ask for a longer brexit delay. now, the prime minister says that she will do that, but if and when she does, eu leaders have some pretty strict conditions attached. first and foremost, they will demand that the uk prepares to take part

in european parliamentary elections at the end of may. they don't believe that she will be able to get her brexit house in order before then. there's also talk now of trying to get the uk to commit to being a constructive eu member, as long as it stays inside the european union, so as long as it delays brexit, because there are concerns, for example, it could block the eu budget, that needs approval in the coming weeks and months, and that is a key concern in brussels. let's get some of the day's other news. a new study has found that canada's arctic is warming up twice the rate of the rest of the world. the changes are already evident in more than half of the country and is likely to be caused by human activities. canada's likely to be caused by human activities. ca nada's prime likely to be caused by human activities. canada's prime minister has announced that the former

attorney generaljody wilson—raybould and the former treasury board member jane wilson—raybould and the former treasury board memberjane philpott are no longer part of the cabinet. both ministers quit the cabinet, saying they have been put under pressure not to prosecute a construction company. —— liberal caucus. police in los angeles have arrested a suspect in the murder of nipsey hussle. they say the suspect fled the scene. the rapper, who became a respected community figure, was shot down as he was leaving the store. chinese woman was arrested outside of mar—a—lago, she was said to be carrying a memory stick with malicious software on it.

there have been celebrations in algeria after president abdelaziz bouteflika announced he was standing down. there've been weeks of protests since the 82—year—old announced he planned to stand for a fifth term, but now many are on the streets celebrating his departure. rana jawad reports. a military officer in algeria's final years under french colonial rule. foreign minister for over a decade and a coup participant. his gradual rise to the presidency in 1999 appeared to be driven not by design but by circumstance. his primary task was to rebuild the country and its economy but first, he needed to end algeria's brutal but dying civil war, sparked by the military‘s refusal to recognise the election victory of the islamic salvation fund. a range of amnesties we re salvation fund. a range of amnesties were granted to local is militants, it was a strategy with initial su ccesses it was a strategy with initial successes that were later partially

reversed to a newborn insurgency, led by al qaeda, in the country's vast desert. over time, led by al qaeda, in the country's vast desert. overtime, president bouteflika rapprochement with the west and efforts on economic reform did little to free the state from its dependency on oil revenues, and growing unemployment. born in morocco in 1937, he went on to rule algeria for 20 years, the landside election victories that prevented the rise of any political opponent that could replace the president or his political party, the national liberation front. in more recent yea rs, liberation front. in more recent years , eve n liberation front. in more recent years, even senior liberation front. in more recent years, even senior members of the country's literary and intelligence services were quietly sidelined. the man who once said he would not accept being the quarters of president spent his last years in a wheelchair after a stroke in 2013.

ra rely wheelchair after a stroke in 2013. rarely appearing in public and feeling fierce debate over who was really in charge. despite this, he was put forward as a candidate for a fifth term in office 2019. this sparked massive and rare public protest, challenging the prospect and the ruling party's group on algeria. whether by design or circumstance, this man managed to survive algeria's tumultuous history but the 2011 upheaval in neighbouring countries that toppled long serving heads of state. however unlikely it seemed in his final yea rs unlikely it seemed in his final years at the helm. we will have more than that later in the programme and you can keep up—to—date any time with the reaction in algeria to the reaction algeria, all at the bbc news website. the corruption trial of the former

malaysian prime minister najib razak will get under way soon. he's accused of stealing billions of dollars from malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, 1mdb. the current prime minister, mahathir mohamad, reopened investigations after he defeated mr najib in elections last may. jonathan had as our south asia correspondent, he is in kuala lumpur right now. this has become one of the world's great financial scandals. it certainly has, mike. it is very complex scandal. the amounts of money arejust is very complex scandal. the amounts of money are just staggering. the us justice department estimates $4.5 billion went missing from this government run investment fund, swiss authorities think it might even be higher. these are very fla m boya nt even be higher. these are very flamboyant malaysia finance year, he was considered the jinping flamboyant malaysia finance year, he was considered thejinping in this negotiation of funds. —— kingpin. the former prime minister, najib

rajak, set up the fund, he supervised it in his role as finance minister and is alleged to have received significant sums of money himself. this trial today is the first of, we think, at least three that have already been scheduled, maybe many more. these are seven charges, money—laundering, criminal breach of trust, corruption, out of 42. this relates to only one of the businesses involved in this government investment fund where najib rajak is alleged to have received sums of about $10 million, transferred it to his bank account in 2014 and 2015. he has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him, his trial has been repeatedly delayed by petitions from his own lawyers. once it starts today, we assume now it is going ahead, it will be the beginning of a marathon, in which the current government hopes to show transparent legal proceedings to convince najib rajak‘s supporters, he still has many, they are dealing with him differently than the way he is alleged to have dealt with many of

his own opponent. just briefly, billy this is going to be a long process. what are you expecting most immediately to happen. —— clearly. the attorney the —— immediately to happen. —— clearly. the —— prosecution will outline the case. this is not the largest amount of money that is alleged to have gone missing and i think in many ways, many malaysians will attest, what is important is that it starts and that the people see the process. there were huge demands for najib rajak to be locked up when he left power last year, the government is very keen to be seen that it is following due process of law, that is fair, and i think that once the malaysians see the court process begins today, they will believe that there is justice being begins today, they will believe that there isjustice being done. thank you, jonathan. much more to come on the programme, including this. 40 years after humans first stepped on the moon,

and new exhibition celebrates our celestial neighbour. —— a news. —— a new. 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. good to have you with us on welcome back. good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: after several hours of talk through may has said she will ask another brexit delay and is trying to insult the opposition. celebrations in the algerian capital after president bouteflika resigned, bowing two weeks of pressure. after yea rs, after years, the —— the southern afghan province of helmand has the strongest taliban presence. lyse doucet has been in the conservative stronghold lashkargah, asking people there what they think of a possible return of the taliban, nationwide,

as part of a peace deal. the war can feel far away here in lashkargah, the capital of helmand, a conservative southern province. it means danger. no danger, he says. just a year ago the taliban were very close to here and they were pushed back. you could see the life thatis pushed back. you could see the life that is in the city now. the roads are full of traffic. the shops are open and full of goods. is it better or worse now in lashkargah? business is good for this man. for afghans like him peace makes sense. he sells goodsin like him peace makes sense. he sells goods in the rural areas still in taliban hands. they are things they once banned, speakers for music, phones with cameras. translation: the caliban are sons of the soil. they are our brothers. not sad for their return. does make

caliban. our politics, everything will be sold. if only peace was so easy. until a few months ago this was a frontline until government forces pushed the caliban are back beyond this river. —— taliban. but now the city feels peaceful. this province has the strongest presence of taliban anywhere in afghanistan. 70- 80% of the of taliban anywhere in afghanistan. 70— 80% of the districts either controlled or contested by them. which means, wherever you go, the war isn't far away. i met the elders at this camp on the edge of the belmont river. forced to flee here yea rs belmont river. forced to flee here years ago. they have lived through it all. the youngest among them has only known war. translation: when there is war in the country i can honestly say whatever dreams you have you can't

reach them. i have graduated from school. i want to be a doctor. but if this war goes on my dream will not come true. and today security is tight. early this morning a bomb exploded under an afghan's journalist's. afghan government forces secured the city where british troops were on spaced. us forces still do battle in this province. there is more talk now of peace with the caliban. but on the grounds, the war goes on. —— taliban. we take you back to that story from algeria that president boote flickr is standing down after 20 years in power, he is 82. he had announced he had planned to stand for a fifth term. he has decided to go. we speak to our analyst. welcome. thank you for coming in.

tell us what you expect to happen next. it could be crucial for the country. the constitutional council is expected to meet today to discuss the resignation from bouteflika and discuss the next move. under articles one and two was declared the president is to is vacant because the post—holder is unfit to rule or has resigned or is dead, the constitution said that the speaker of the senate, the upper chamber of the parliament, would take over as interim head of state stop and he would have 90 days to call fresh elections and wants a new president has been elected that would take over and things would move on. the people of algeria, the protesters over the last five weeks, they have been calling for a smooth transition for democracy and freedoms and liberties, but also for the removal

of the entire political elite in the country. not just for president bouteflika to step—down. because they think that mr bouteflika is one pa rt they think that mr bouteflika is one part of a whole system who are siphoning off the wealth of the country and are taking advantage of the facilities there and everything to their own aims and goals. now, in algeria, about half the population is under the age of 30. and there is a high percentage of them who are unemployed in a country that is very rich in oil and gas. so people are wondering what happens to this wealth, where is the money going? the infrastructure is poor, the services are poor, et cetera. what happens after that is the role of the army. so far the chief of staff of the army has been talking about protecting the demands of the people and ensuring a smooth transition. however, people are a bit worried that the army might take over as it did in the early 1990s when the islamist are poised to win the election, the latin was cancelled

and the army took over. this was followed by a dedicated bloodshed in about people dead. at the moment the price of oil is down. they need to fix the economy because of problems like that. thank you for that. as you say, algeria has a terrible, bloodied history. we go live to algiers. how would you describe the scene there and the mood there in the capital? to me it was like tonight algeria on the world cup football. you had people coming from everywhere. the smoke, the fireworks, people were singing. it was like a really special atmosphere. you had people around the corners talking, sharing views about the situation. it was really

an impressive atmosphere to note. and, just briefly, people have been calling not just and, just briefly, people have been calling notjust for the and, just briefly, people have been calling not just for the president to go, but for the whole governing elites to stand down, what are the chances of that in the present mood? —— tonight. chances of that in the present mood? -- tonight. what i can say is that many of the people have been meeting tonight and the last day were really optimistic about what is going on. they were saying, ok, did you see what happened in just six weeks, and tonight there was a guy who told me that bouteflika was 80% of the system, because he was the head of the system, now that the head is gone the rest of the body will colla pse gone the rest of the body will collapse by itself. we could hear tonight that many people were saying

we have bouteflika out, now the general of the army has to go and the prime minister, and they were saying the president during the transition time, they were saying he has to go out as well. ryad benaidji, live from the other during capital. thank you so much for coming through to us full for centuries, the moon has been a source of of fascination and inspiration. and to mark 50 years since humans first stepped on the lunar surface, new york's hudson river museum is hosting a show, looking at how it's been portrayed in american art. we took a tour with chief curator laura vookles. the moon is never there by accident. so if it's there it's a very thoughtful thing that the artist has

done. we all have a romantic notion of the moon. so you see a moon there and, all ofa of the moon. so you see a moon there and, all of a sudden, you of the moon. so you see a moon there and, all ofa sudden, you might of the moon. so you see a moon there and, all of a sudden, you might ask yourself some questions, like "was the artist really outside? what were they thinking? do they just want a source of light for this landscape? my source of light for this landscape? my supposed to think it is midnight? ami my supposed to think it is midnight? am i supposed to think it is a certain time of year with no certain time of night? " here is one of the most important and best—known paintings in this exhibition. norman rockwell's puppy love. it is a romantic view of a boy and girl who had been outfitting a stop to gaze at the moon. 40 years after he pointed —— painted it, nasa hired norman rockwell to champion the space programme along with other artists. this is a view he painted three years before they landed on the moon. we went down to nasa and

saw models of the moon and models of the lunar ladder and even painted what he thought the earth would look like when they were on the moon. we are all part of one big planet. no matter where you are in the world you look up and see the world. and we sort of care about it and it reminds us to care about the earth and ourselves. so i think it can be and ourselves. so i think it can be a unifying thing. as scientists learn more, as people build rockets to go to the moon, as people had pictures showing exactly what it look like, did people feel less romantic? i think we feel as romantic about the moon as ever. finally, let us leave you with this feelgood story about elephants stuck in the mud. that's what rangers from kenya's wildlife service had to deal with at lake kapnarok. it's believed the three elephants were searching for water when they got stuck in a wallow. their distress calls also brought dozens of locals to the scene.

they were finally freed when they were pulled from the wallow by ropes. that is it for now. thank you so much for hello there, good morning. at the moment, it feels like winter has made a comeback. we've had everything thrown at us in the last 24 hours. lots of weather watcher pictures of big hailstorms affecting the uk, and of course, the sunshine coming out in between has led to some lovely rainbow pictures as well. we're seeing a short, sharp burst of really cold air that's come down from the arctic. you can see how that colder air has plunged southwards, and with it all those shower clouds. the cloud that's in the north sea is coming back into scotland and northern england, which is why we're seeing some sleet and snow, and it's quite slippery over some high—level routes. some icy patches around, with temperatures in many places close to orjust below freezing. so a cold start really, i think, to wednesday, and a pretty miserable morning across the far north of england and scotland. some rain, some sleet and snow across the hills. that wetter weather clears away from northern england, pushes its way into northern ireland, mostly rain here, and across north wales. but some heavy showers in the south—east and east anglia. some hail and thunder possible here.

for many central and eastern parts of the uk, shouldn't be too windy, so those showers could hang around a bit, but it will be windy in the north and west of the uk — strong to gale—force winds here. so these are the temperatures, 7—9 degrees. it will feel colder in the wind. especially northern and western scotland, northern ireland, maybe the far south—west of england, and the channel islands, nearer to 2—4 degrees. that's how it will feel in the wind. we've got low pressure dominating our weather at the moment, which is why we're seeing all these downpours. it's cutting off that supply of colder air, mind you, on thursday. we've got that weather front wrapped around a low, so that's the focus for some more persistent what is probably mostly rain at this stage across northern scotland. some wetter weather curling back into south—west england, moving into wales, and into the west country too. a few heavy showers elsewhere, but a fair bit of sunshine around. not a bad day for northern england, southern scotland, and those temperatures are creeping up to around 9 or 10 degrees. and, as we head towards the end of the week and into the weekend, well, it's an improving sort of story. it will feel a bit warmer. i think many places will be dry, and there'll be some sunshine around as well.

we've got our low pressure from thursday into friday, still anchored to the south—west of the uk. but, instead of a northerly wind that we're getting at the moment, we're going to find more of a south or south—westerly wind, so that means the temperatures will get a boost. we've still got the threat of some downpours in the south—west of england, wales, perhaps into north—west of england. eastern scotland, eastern england probably having a drier day on friday, with some sunshine at times. those temperatures continuing to climb up to 13 or even 14 celsius.