hello, this is the briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. we are live from westminster, at the start of another testing day for the uk prime minister. britain's conservative rebels and opposition mps prepare for the next stage in stopping a no—deal brexit. after a momentous day, and a major defeat, prime minister borisjohnson says he'll try for a snap election. but, he's governing with no majority, after expelling 21 mps for siding with the opposition. in other news, after battering the bahamas, hurricane dorian is heading for the florida coast. brexit drama fuels uncertainty, pushing the pound to its lowest level in three years.

a very warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. as ever, you can be part of the conversation. tell us what you think. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. hello and welcome to a brain —soaked westminster. the weather perhaps a metaphor after yesterday's sunshine for what is happening as far as borisjohnson is concerned over his government. —— rain — soaked.

british mps are set to discuss legislation designed to extend the brexit process to at least the end ofjanuary, blocking a possible no—deal departure on october 31. this was made possible by a dramatic move on tuesday in which opposition parties, aided by a group of 21 conservative rebels, voted to take control of parliamentary time. prime minister boris johnson immediately said he would not ask the eu for an extension and confirmend that he would push for an early general election. our first report this morning is from our political corresponden, jonathan blake. it was boris johnson's first test of his authority as prime minister and parliament and it ended in a decisive defeat. some on his own sidejoined opposition parties in voting to take control of the house of commons to attempt to block a no—deal brexit. of commons to attempt to block a no-deal brexit. the ayes to the right, 328, the noes to the left, 301. 11 others want to force the prime minister divorce the prime

minister to ask for an extension if you can't get a deal. mrjohnson says he would never do that, to he succeeds —— they succeed, his only option would be to hold a snapper election. i don't want an election, the public don't want an election, i don't write, honourable gentleman wa nts don't write, honourable gentleman wants an election. but we will have to choose who goes to brussels on october 17 to sort this out and take this country forward. two-thirds of mps would need to back his call for an early election, but labour say they would do that once the legislation blocking no—deal brexit as law. he wants to table a motion for a general election. fine. yet the bill through first! after three hours of debate in the commons, those conservatives who voted against the government knew they would be thrown out of their party. mps are in charge here, for now. the

government must consider its next move as the battle for control of the brexit process grinds on. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. the pace and gravity of events here in mass minster is monumental and dizzying —— westminster. so what has been the european reaction? our europe editor, katya adler is in brussels. this idea of banning a no—deal brexit is sort of bittersweet for the eu because really you cannot ban a no—deal brexit, the only way you can avoid a no—deal brexit is to make a deal with the european union. and if we think back when in the brexit negotiations when theresa may was prime minister, there was a point where the eu was really begging, crossing its fingers, praying for parliament to take control over the brexit process. but actually, what parliament showed itself to be very good at is deciding what it didn't want from brexit, not uniting around what it did. and when the eu looks at the so—called rebel alliance now it can see yes, they are united

about wanting to avoid a no—deal brexit, they are very divided about what kind of brexit, if any, they do want. so you see here in the eu there's a feeling that a general election or another brexit extension, they've been around this block before and they will hear the prime minister saying he's going to come to brussels now in mid—october at the eu leaders‘s summit here and get a new deal. but the european commission today was very clear and scathing about the prime minister's assertion that negotiations with the eu are going swimmingly. their main reaction was to say that more or less, they are going to republish their no—deal preparations. this is a message for borisjohnson to say yes, we know you want to avoid a no—deal, but we won't avoid it at any cost. we're not scared, we think they're prepared and the eu may be not as good a wordsmith is the prime minister sometimes is, that is their way of trying to say bring it on. let's ta ke let's take a look at today's front pages.

the financial times, johnson stripped of majority, back in control of the commons. and the daily mail, you decide, britain. let's talk through all these developments. i'mjoined by let's talk through all these developments. i'm joined byjonathan charles, managing director of communications for the european bank for reconstruction and development. he's a former europe correspondent for the bbc and was based in brussels when borisjohnson was the telegraph's europe correspondent. yes indeed. good to see you, even on this miserable day. and miserable for borisjohnson, this miserable day. and miserable for boris johnson, of this miserable day. and miserable for borisjohnson, of course. so, 110w for borisjohnson, of course. so, now this vote means his hands are tied as far as any future brussels negotiations go? that is the narrative boris johnson negotiations go? that is the narrative borisjohnson is using and i think we've gotten so used to the drama of the last four years that we

sometimes underestimate massive events. this was a massive event last night. one thing that is also underestimated is the strength of brussels, the steel of brussels to defend what they regard as important european principles. in particular, the single market was up and i think michelle barnier, when they said in the sunday telegraph last weekend, we've been as flexible as we can, he is speaking the truth. they are not going to give away entry to the single market on less good terms to — the european members would get. the uk is demanding in fact many of the benefits of membership without being a member and that isjust the benefits of membership without being a member and that is just not possible. especially in the constraints of what is a very legalistic system. we have an unwritten constitution here in the united kingdom, we often forget in brussels it is all heavily sat down in paper, it is a legalistic system and they cannot stray from that.

evenif and they cannot stray from that. even if boris‘ hands were not tied, as he put it, he would still probably not be able to get a very different deals of the one theresa may negotiated. that is the absolute frontier of how far the european union is willing to go. we have this cross— party union is willing to go. we have this cross—party group of the rebel alliance, they've been dubbed by the media, they agree on what they don't want, but after three years of talking in negotiations, bitter and angry discussions in this building behind me, there is no consensus about what they do want. which means going forward, we are in the same position, aren't we? this is one of theissues position, aren't we? this is one of the issues if there was a general election. if you look at the opinion polls, there is time and again, a major outcome is likely to be aim hung parliament, it isn'tjust people in this building over here u.s.—led, but of course the country is split. there may have been some minor variations on the 52— 48%, but actually more or less, this is still actually more or less, this is still a 50-50 actually more or less, this is still a 50—50 split country. this makes it very difficult for the rebel

alliance, as they are now known, similarto starwars, to alliance, as they are now known, similar to star wars, to come up with something that gives people together. but we saw yesterday, that singularity of purpose, there is one thing the alliance does agree on, whether they are the conservative mark conservative or ex— conservative rebels now, or the opposition parties, and that is they are opposition parties, and that is they a re clearly opposition parties, and that is they are clearly aligned on getting this bill through to stop a no—deal brexit. that is clearly a priority andi brexit. that is clearly a priority and i think and feel that is done we won't be a large number of opposition mps coming forward and say we will agree to have an election. i think they want to make absolutely certain not only does this bill passed the house of commons today, gets to the lords this week, comes back to the commons on monday, but also gets royal assent. their worriers even if there is the second reading of this next monday or the final reading after the lords', there is still a possibility borisjohnson which i to

stop royal assent and it would become law. it is not going to be clear for some become law. it is not going to be clearfor some time, is it? we will have more from jonathan in about ten minutes' time and later we will have the reading for you where we look to those pages in more detail. let's move on to some of the day's other top stories. hurricane dorian is now moving up the east coast of the united states, after having remained almost stationary over the bahamas for several days, causing devastation. at least seven people have been killed in the bahamas but the full scale of the disaster is still unknown. dorian has now weakened to category two, but the northwest islands continue to endure heavy rain, high winds and storm surges. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. the wrath of dorian, the scale of destruction in the bahamas is unprecedented. this is now a humanitarian crisis. the vast areas are underwater, including grand

bahama international airport and the town of marsh harbour on abaco island. lingering over the bahamas, the stationary storm prolonged the nightmare for the island's residents. many took desperate residence to escape the rising waters —— desperate measures. some we re waters —— desperate measures. some were trapped for hours. the national hurricane centres as the storm is creeping dangerously close to florida's east coast. the state once predicted to take a direct hit may escape the west, but georgia and the carolinas are also in dorian‘s have our message for today is that this isa our message for today is that this is a very serious storm and it is just a few miles westward does make a set just if just a few miles westward does make a setjust if you —— a shiftjust a few miles westward is could bring it to our state. prepare for the worst, but of course we want to pray for the best. water rescue teams are on

standby, and the army has been drafted into deal with the looming threat. dorian‘s destructive journey is farfrom threat. dorian‘s destructive journey is far from over. threat. dorian‘s destructive journey is farfrom over. peter threat. dorian‘s destructive journey is far from over. peter bowes, threat. dorian‘s destructive journey is farfrom over. peter bowes, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. california officials have begun the process of identifying the victims of a boat fire that is suspected to have claimed 3a lives. santa barbara county sheriff said that dna samples would be required from the family of presumed victims to identify them. authorities have moved from sea rch—and—rescue operations to a recovery effort. only five people survived, all crew. the american supermarket chain walmart is to stop selling ammunition for handguns and some assault rifles. it's already ended its sales of assault rifles and raised the age for gun purchases to 21. walmart is the largest weapons retailer in the us. south african police have arrested dozens of people involved in days of ethnic violence against foreigners in some cities. at least five people have been killed. the president of nigeria has sent

an envoy to south africa for talks on the crisis. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we return to one of greenland's fastest—shrinking glaciers to see how rising temperatures have seen the massive ice sheet melt by a record amount. she received a nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was "a wonderful example of how to help people in need." we have to identify the bodies, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them.

britain lost a princess today, described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. you're watching the briefing. live from westminster on this very rainy day. our headlines: tory rebels and opposition mps prepare to bring forward a bill to prevent a no—deal brexit. as protesters celebrated, borisjohnson indicated the result makes an october general election more likely. let's stay with borisjohnson‘s call for a snap election.

after yesterday's drama in parliament, can he make it happen? here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. well, a lot depends onjeremy corbyn. he has been saying almost daily, bring on the election. many on labour's site have been insisting that stopping a note to your brexit must come first before an election, before a new referendum that some of them want. but either way, it takes two—thirds of the commons, 434 mps to agree an early election. mr cobb in public opposition could stop it going ahead unless the government finds another way. what about the eu? what will they make of it? — let mr corbin. the next eu leaders summit is on october 17 put up who would be there for britain if a snap election comes first. a labour pm offering another referendum or a re—elected tory with a new mandate wanting a better deal or to leave without one. if there is no

election, there is still no clear sign of eu leaders like president macron of france or angela merkel of germany dropping their demand that the eu's single market must be protected as they see it after brexit. the prime minister has been described as bringing new focus, you determination to brexit. hard to disagree with that, though. he has also accelerated britain was much journey towards new risks. critics say new dangers. whatever happens towards political split and public recriminations of a kind that no—one has seen before. jonathan charles, managing director of communications for the european bank for reconstruction and development is with us today on the briefing. let's talk about the possible election. is it a foregone conclusion and how will they decide ona conclusion and how will they decide on a date? the answer is that probably at some stage in the next few months we're probably going to have an election. the question is whether it will be boris's and of having it in october or not. but you have to have two—thirds of mps are

green. that is the rule under the fixed term parliament. at the moment it doesn't look as though the opposition in the rebel mps from the former conservative mps are willing to agree that because they want to focus on getting this no deal legislation through. there is a temptation i suspect if you are jeremy corbyn in that you would prefer jeremy corbyn in that you would p refer to jeremy corbyn in that you would prefer to see a week borisjohnson sitting in ten downing street for a couple of weeks stewing away there without a majority, unable to do anything. you feel momentum is on your side are not boris's. i suspect we're not going know whether there will be an election today, they may well put this off until after they had no deal legislation through. reports say they want boris johnson to stu in his ownjuices. let's talk about the rebel conservative mps. to stu in his ownjuices. let's talk about the rebel conservative mp5. 21 of them voted with the rebel alliance, they had the whip taken away. they are under threat of death

election in a general selection. are we going to see now the realignment of the disintegration of the conservative party, or is it hyperbole? i think we should think about how momentous a moment this is. think about it in realterms. ken clarke has been a conservative mp. father of the house. he is the older serving, longest serving mp in the commons, but i conservative since the 70s. the cabinet minister under margaret thatcher and john major. you have the grandson of winston churchill being told he has had the whip withdrawn. these are momentous moments for the party. she clearly is a political realignment. the question is whether it is enough, because clearly the party is trying to position itself to out brexit, the brexit party. it has been a strategy of borisjohnson. what we often see, though, with populist movements like the brexit party, that if they see an existing party, that if they see an existing party moved to the right of the territory, they move further to the right so they can outmanoeuvre the party. it may not be enough. there is no doubt. there were some great words from another cabinet minister who said he —— she would not stand again as an mp yesterday. it is

assigned things are shifting. she said she feels that she could do more outside parliament to effect change. thank you very much. we will see more of you in a little bit for a look at papers. now, it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett, and this is your wednesday sport briefing, where we start with the tennis news that ukraine's elina svitolina is through to the us open semifinals for the first time after a straight—sets win over britain's johanna konta. the 25—year—old who's seeded fifth broke in each set to secure a 6—4, 6—4 win on arthur ashe stadium and she'll face serena williams after she routed china's wang qiang, winning 6—1, 6—0 injust 44 minutes. you have to bring your best game to beat them. it doesn't matter who it's going to be in the semifinal, but obviously serena is an amazing champion.

probably going to be tough, really tough against her. while in the men's draw, daniil medvedev moved through to the semifinals after a a—set win over 2016 champion stan wawrinka. despite being troubled by a thigh injury in the first set, the russian recovered to move into a grand slam semifinal for the first time. second seed rafael nadal continues his bid for a fourth us open title later when he faces argentina's diego schwartzman in their quarterfinal. the spaniard is also looking for a 19th grand slam title overall and he faces a 20th seed who he's beaten in all seven match—ups to date. steve smith returns to the australian side for the fourth ashes test against england, set to get under way in manchester later on wednesday. the world's number one ranked batsman missed the third test defeat at headingley due to a concussion suffered in the previous match and comes back in for usman khawaja. among the bowlers, james pattinson is rested with mitchell starc named

in the squad having sat out the first three games. i think he's everyone in the world, looking forward to watching steve smith back, we always do. again, i think steve has missed one test match. he hasn't been out for 12 months. he came back from a 12 month layoff pretty well so aspect to hand him six days without batting pretty well. slovenia's primoz roglic holds the red leadersjersey heading into wednesday's hilly 180km 11th stage of the vuelta a espana. thejumbo visma rider is now almost two minutes clear of world champion alejandro valverde after claiming victory in the individual time trial over 36.2km on tuesday. previous leader nairo quintana of colombia dropped to fourth with 11 stages remaining. it might be more than three years until it gets under way, but teams in africa begin their campaigns to qualify for the 2022 football world cup in the coming hours. burundi are among the first to start things off when host tanzania, and after competing at their first

ever africa cup of nations injune, they'll be hoping to make it to a first world cup in qatar. and, of course, all the fixtures are on the bbc sport website. catching our eye on social media has been this story and the pictures with new zealand and sri lanka into the final over in their second t20 match in kandy. a fielding mix—up saw the black caps home. shehan jayasuriya looked likely to take a catch, but he collided with kusal mendis, and jayasuriya hit the boundary rope before releasing it, meaning a six was awarded with new zealand taking the win from the next ball to claim the series. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team, that is your wednesday sport briefing. scientists are warning that the massive ice sheet covering greenland may have melted by a record amount this year due

to rising temperatures. in the last year alone, it may have lost enough ice to raise the average sea level around the globe by more than a millimetre. our science editor, david shukman, returns to one of greenland's fastest—shrinking glaciers which he first visited 15 years ago. a barren and hostile landscape that is melting and breaking apart. the deep cracks are where future icebergs are born. soon, they will add to the level of the ocean. we try to get a closer look. the surface looks like something from the moon, a dirty grey and black, with dust and pollution and with microscopic algae. they all make the glacier darker, which means it melts faster, and i've seen that for myself. back in 2004, i came to this same spot. the glacier towered above me. archive: this massive wall of ice behind me...

since we last filmed here, the region has been warming twice as fast as the global average, and the effect on the glacier is startling. back in 2004, it would have been 100 metres thicker than it is now. that's like having a 30—storey building sitting on top. it's alljust going at an incredible speed. the dashed line is the average melt of the last ten years. scientist jason box has tracked how the glacier has been shrinking. and the red line is this year. you can see that we are below average. in fact, its record melt at this location. and all the ice here, he says, is now at risk because of the way the temperature has risen. already, effectively, that's a death sentence for the greenland ice sheet, because also, going forward in time, we're expecting temperatures only to climb. so we're losing greenland, it's really a question of how fast. it's been amazing to see what's happened to this place,

and it begs the question about what's going to happen to the glacier and so many others in the next 15 years, and what that means for sea levels right around the world. there are years when the ice that greenland sheds into the ocean is balanced by snow falling in winter. but that is becoming rare these days, and the message from researchers to millions of people living on coastlines is to be prepared for the seas to rise. david shukman, bbc news, in greenland. stay with me on bbc news. if you want an explanation of all the ins and outs of what happened in the ins and outs of what happened in the uk parliament yesterday, have a look at the website. there is plenty of information there. line by line details of the current parliamentary numbers and what they mean for the government as well as analysis from

our political editor. it is all there for you on the website and on there for you on the website and on the bbc news app. stay with us. the business briefing is coming up shortly. hello there. for the rest of this week, temperatures will be around or a little below the seasonal average and wednesday will be one of those days where temperatures will be below the seasonal and with strong winds it will feel quite cool, especially across northern airlie —— areas, especially when the showers come along. low pressure skirting around this area of low pressure, to whether france coming our way. rain to central, southern and eastern areas. that will clear away and sunshine behind. this next whether front wheel and chance — an enhanced show activity although some will be heavy, may be an even thundery. those winds are strong pushing from

the north—west, customer 40, 50 miles an hour, may be stronger than that, particularly around the irish sea coast. ten to 13 degrees. 17 to 19 perhaps across the south—east. wednesday night, showers continue for a while and begin to fade away asa for a while and begin to fade away as a ridge of high pressure begins to build in from the south—west. further showers across northern and western areas and going to be another chilly start to thursday with temperatures in single figures for much of the country. this is the pressure pattern for thursday. type pressure pattern for thursday. type pressure building in again like i mentioned. the wind is not as strong as wednesday but it will still be quite breezy especially in the north and west. because the pressure is building in, it should be dry with more sunshine around. a warm front pushing into the west of the country. abound of cloud on one or two showers tending to fizzle out as it moves south and east. it will introduce slightly milder air to the north and the west with 15 to 17 degrees for scotland, northern

ireland, 17 to 19 across the south—east. on friday another area of low pressure pushing down from the north—west. not quite of wendy as wednesday but a blustery day. outbreaks of rain spreading south and east, and behind it something cool and fresh, the low teens to the north, 17 or 18 across the south and the east. those temperatures generally hovering around orjust below the seasonal average. into the weekend, high pressure wants to build in once again. settling down on saturday and sunday and we should see a on saturday and sunday and we should seeafairamount on saturday and sunday and we should see a fair amount of sunshine around and temperatures close to 20 degrees in the south. next week it looks like much of the same with an and lank — met at atlanticare influence. —— atlantic influence.

this is the business briefing. iam ben i am ben bland. dramatic events in british politics but heightened uncertainty pushes the pound to its lowest level in three years. us factories are churning out less, fuelling fears about the health of the global economy. dramatic events in british politics are giving markets the jitters. prime minister borisjohnson lost a key brexit vote last night,