welcome to bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: a double defeat for downing street. mps back a bill to prevent a no—deal brexit and then block borisjohnson's bid for a snap election. borisjohnson‘s bid for a snap election. as for a snap election. the road to brexit becomes evt more as the road to brexit becomes even more uncertain, charting a way forward for westminster. assessing the damage of dorian — rescuers reach parts of hurricane—hit bahamas for the first time. the bbc is there. having flown over the abaco islands, ican having flown over the abaco islands, i can tell you there is mile upon mile that looks just like this

scene. hong kong caves in to campaigners, withdrawing the controversial extradition bill that sparked months of unrest, but protesters say they will persist. the global threat from greenland's glaciers. we have a special report as the country's ice melts at a record rate. the british prime minister boris johnson has suffered two major setbacks for his brexit strategy. first off, a cross—party group of mps was successful in getting a bill passed to prevent a no—deal brexit. the bill potentially forces him to do something that he's repeatedly ruled out, namely asking the eu for yet another brexit delay unless a deal is secured. the prime minister's response

was to call for a general election on october 15th but he failed to get enough support from mps. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports now on the day's events. are we through the looking glass now? the prime minister is demanding a new parliament over there, an election, yet he says he doesn't want one. the other parties say they do, but may yet stand in his way. it won't be settled until the commons closes a door on the possibility that borisjohnson could take us out of the eu next month without a deal. reporter: have you lost control, prime minister? his brexit, at any cost. what is the plan going forward? order. questions to the prime minister. but, if he gets his way, this first joust of shouting in prime minister's questions could be his last. the prime minister. can he confirm now that he will allow the people of this country to decide on what he is giving up

in their name with a general election on october the 15th, or is he frit? there's only one chlorinated chicken that i can see in this house, and he's on that bench. he's desperate, absolutely desperate, to avoid scrutiny. the riposte — read his lips. "you're a great big girl's blouse." and, in his third day in office, after five questions from me, we haven't had an answer to any of them. the ayes to the right, 327, the noes to the left, 299. but they were successful at this stage, voting to prevent the prime minister taking us out of the eu in october if no deal is in place. now it's up to the house of lords, though, preparing to bed down to talk and talk until it is done, racing against the deadline, before parliament shuts next week.

so the main battle inside might soon be outside, if, or more likely when, a general election is finally called. this the first official request. there must now be an election on tuesday 15 october, and i invite the right honourable gentleman to respond to decide which of us goes as prime minister to that crucial council. labour says not yet, not until the anti—no—deal plan becomes law, but that could be in days. i look forward to the day his government and his party, and all the austerity and misery they've heaped on this country, are turfed out of office. it's a cynical movement from a cynical prime minister. when it came, the decision was against number ten. labour abstained. the ayes to the right — 298. the noes to the left — 56.

confident in the bunker it's not "no" for good. it's a no, not yet. so as we've heard a cross—party alliance of mps has voted for legislation to try to block a no—deal brexit and to force the prime minister to ask for another brexit delay unless a deal is agreed. so how might things develop from here? our deputy political editor john pienaar has more. wherever you stand, all you can do is watch. see how british politics has changed almost beyond recognition, traditions of consensus and compromise discarded. chanting: stop the coup! chanting: brexit now! in there, the argument has become as angry and bitter as it is out here. yesterday, borisjohnson lost the first round. even some tory critics say

he overplayed his hand, treated the rebels too harshly. he is on the losing side again today, but now borisjohnson has set his sights on an early election, and this deadly serious game is on. point of order... mps are ploughing in a single day through the bill to block no—deal and delay brexit — more than enough of them to beat the government. labour, snp and plaid, lib dems and the tory outcasts. many different aims, but a single plan — stop a no—deal brexit. so what does the rebel alliance want? well, to outlaw no deal, obviously, and opposition leaders want an election after that mission is accomplished. meanwhile, in meetings, on social media, in the tea rooms and among the statues, some outcast tories and labour mps want a brexit deal. others want a referendum. labour is promising one after the election, maybe on a new deal, if there is one, otherwise a choice between no—deal and remain. and that's what the lib dems want.

they want to stop brexit. and so does the snp, who believe this crisis could be taking us closer to an independent scotland — the end of the union. now, down there, perhaps the most genteel debating chamber in the democratic world, well, things are about to turn ugly. this country has high standards... the lords must pass the rebel bill too. in debates, in debates about debates, opposing sides doing all they can to support or resist the attempt to rule out a no—deal brexit and bind the prime minister's hands by law. signs are it will be as passionate, maybe as bad—tempered, as the upper house ever gets. what then? what is the prime minister's plan? well, a 15 october election, if only the commons would let him. but it takes two thirds of mps to agree to an early election. that is 434 of them, and we saw that yesterday the numbers weren't there. what about labour?

they look split. some close tojeremy corbyn say they would like to move within days to back an early election. others want to wait until they can force borisjohnson to break his defining promise and seek a brexit extension in brussels, though he has promised we would leave, deal or no deal, by 31 october — humiliation. the outcome — anybody‘s guess. if this was a game, it would be gripping. but this is no game. we are going to live brexit now for a while. —— leave. hurricane dorian is approaching the east coast of florida, after causing devastation in the bahamas. at least 20 people are known to have been killed in the islands with that number expected to rise. the prime minister, hubert minnis, said parts of the island nation were left decimated. from there, our correspondent aleem maqbool reports. 0h, oh, my god! that's the mud.

with the hurricane finally moving off the bahamas after many terrifying days, we have been able to survey the devastation for the first time. and it is shocking. parts of the low—lying abaco islands have been obliterated. massive storm surges would have overwhelmed this entire area. the airport won't be accessible for days. and other parts of this island chain are still too dangerous to get anywhere near. we can confirm now seven deaths, but we know that given the extent of the devastation that there will be more to come. we just can't endure — go through a devastation like this with that minimal doubts, unfortunately. we are on the north side of the storm... the international space station capture dramatic images of hurricane dorian now swelling in the ocean close to florida. and with this hurricane, after many days now,

just about moving off the northern bahamas, it means some areas at least i have said enough skies that aircraft can take to them and for the first time finally assess the devastation that's because —— some areas at least have a safe enough skies. but it is abaco and grand bahama that have borne the brunt of the store's are, where in the coming days humanitarian needs are going to be acute. aleem maqbool, bahamas. to the us now, where dorian is expected in the next few days. major general van mccarty is from the south carolina national guard. general van mccarty, thank you for joining us. what are you doing to prepare for dorian? we have been monitoring the storm over the last few days, certainly we have been making preparations in ensuring the men and women of the south carolina national guard, along with the

entire first responders have been prepared and co—ordinated. most of oui’ prepared and co—ordinated. most of our soldiers and airmen deployed on oui’ our soldiers and airmen deployed on our coast are at the shelters where they will be riding the storm out. as soon as the storm passes over, and a safe, we will then come back out and make the re—entry into the area and to assess the damage and you certainly look to provide response to anyone who may have been injured —— and to certainly. specifically, general, what are the kind of things you have been helping people get involved with? part of our mission has been helping our public safety and transportation in the evacuation of the coastline. 700 of our soldiers and airmen have supported that mission. we reversed

one of the lanes of our large interstate highways. we helped affect out and we also had some of our military police that were assigned to the state law enforcement edition, they will be assisting in law enforcement duties and making sure the areas that have been evacuated will be safe from looters and other things that could affect those who have left their homes. we're just looking at satellite images, general, of dorian turning off the florida coast. from your experience of these kind of events, what is the biggest risk, the biggest danger to life? we have experienced, i think it is pretty much statistically ruled out that the floodwaters —— we have statistically determine the floodwaters of the greatest risk to human life. wind speeds are

dangerous, but it is the volume of water that may come and reign that provides tremendous hazards —— rain, they can flood homes and businesses and daters from our experience over the four years — we've seen the greatest loss of life and injuries from floodwaters. general, thank you very much. thank you. i appreciated. —— appreciate it. let's get some of the day's other news: iran says it will free seven of the 23 crew members of a swedish—owned, british—flagged tanker seized in the strait of hormuz in july. an iranian foreign ministry spokesman said the sailors from latvia, russia and india would be sent home for humanitarian reasons. iran accuses the vessel of "violating international maritime rules. " the seizure came two weeks after an iranian tanker was held off gibraltar with the help of british troops.

the american songwriter lashawn daniels has died in a car accident aged just a2. he was behind some of pop music's biggest hits such as lady gaga's ‘telephone' and destiny child's ‘say my name'. he leaves behind a wife and three sons. youtube has been fined a record $170 million in the united states to settle charges it illegally collected and shared data from children. authorities said the video—sharing site, which is owned by google, violated a law preventing internet companies from using the personal information of children under 13 without their parents' consent. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: it's still to come: all about romance in france as a it's all about romance in france as a zoo it's all about romance in france as a zoo has a baby boom.

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.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has suffered two major setbacks for his brexit strategy. mps have backed a bill against a no deal brexit and blocked his bid for a geneeral election. rescuers have begun reaching parts of the bahamas where hurricane dorian has destroyed whole communities. protest leaders in hong kong have rejected a package of proposals from the territory's chief executive carrie lam aimed at ending months of unrest. some opposition figures say they will continue to protest until other demands are met, including direct elections. in earlyjune, many hundreds of thousands of protesters marched

on the streets of hong kong. they peacefully opposed a bill that would allow for people to be extradited to mainland chinese courts controlled by the communist party. the city's leader carrie lam dismissed them. so, disaffected with the peaceful path, radicalised activists adopted ever more violent means of opposing the proposal. the political crisis continued to deteriorate. and still the government refused to officially withdraw the extradition bill. then a humiliating climbdown. the government will formally withdraw the bill in order to fully allay public concerns. the secretary for security will move a motion according to the rules of procedure when the legislative council resumes. fellow citizens, lingering violence is damaging the very foundations of our society. especially the rule of law.

the motion must be passed in octoberfor the bill to be officially shelved. but it is almost certain to do so. the chief executive also said that she and other ministers would open up channels of dialogue and would invite a panel of experts to conduct some form of study. this is being seen here as an olive branch delivered by the hong kong government on the orders of beijing. with the hard—line approach failing to take the heat out of the pro—democracy movement, the authorities have tried another way. the question is will it be enough? the requests we made three months ago are crystal—clear. even carrie lam accepted one of our demands which shows that with the power of people finally we successfully forced government and get awareness. the protests will continue until we have a free election. this movement is not only about opposing the extradition law but also a movement that hong kong people are fighting for a better future and fighting

for real democracy. if hong kong ‘s leader had taken the steps towards the beginning of the process, the entire crisis would probably have been avoided. the problem is it has taken so long to reach this point that activists want so much more in order to leave the barricades. like an independent enquiry into police actions and universal suffrage no less. and this especially goes for hard—line youth prepared to be detained or evenjailed. the coming days and weeks will reveal what impact this move will have. scientists researching the huge greenland ice sheet say this

summer's melting has been one of the most severe on record and it's raising the level of oceans around the globe. they say climate change is accelerating the rate of melting and that will increasingly threaten millions of people living in coastal cities and low lying areas. our science editor david shukman has this special report from greenland. the sea around us is choked with icebergs. there are so many, our boat struggles to get any further. more and more chunks like this are breaking off the greenland ice sheet, and each one adds more water to sea. eventually, all of this ice will melt and raise the level of the ocean. only by a tiny fraction, but in the decades ahead, as the planet heats up, more ice here will melt, with potentially catastrophic

implications right around the world. for low—lying countries like bangladesh, even a small rise in sea level could pose a real danger. but, if the melting accelerates, florida and many other places will be severely affected during the course of this century. but, in the worst—case scenario, parts of eastern england and dozens of cities around the world could actually go under unless new defences are built for them. for the people of greenland, the flow of ice is increasing. it is a spectacular sight, and a sign of a warmer climate that would be helpful, especially for farmers. we find these cattle grazing on the shore beside the icebergs. but these young greenlanders say they're worried that the more the ice here melts, the more flooding there will be in other parts of the world. it is scary because — well, we have no control

of it, you know? and it is a lot of water. if this continues, it will someday just cover the whole country. so what can be done? well, a new forest might help. the scientists who study greenland's ice hope these trees will soak up the carbon from all their flights. i was criticised online for having a high carbon footprint. and i thought, ok, that's legitimate, but i can do something about it, because i was aware of people planting trees here in south greenland. and i got involved, and we started to make it happen. planting trees won't stop more ice breaking into the ocean. only action on a global scale could make any serious difference. and, in the meantime, the melting here means seas everywhere are bound to rise. david shukman, bbc news, greenland. italian prime minister has unveiled his new cabinet in a coalition that is expected to improve ties with the

european union and have a still softer sta nce european union and have a still softer stance on immigration. luigi dimaio will be the foreign minister. the new government will be sworn in on thursday, ending nearly a month long crisis. —— luigi di maio of the five star movement, will be foreign minister. and the economy ministry has been handed to roberto gualtieri, an influential member of the european parliament from the democratic party. we're often telling you about the plight of endangered species around the world. animals that are dying out at a perilous rate. but one zoo in central france has been trying to address the problem. beauval zoo has recently enjoyed something of a baby boom, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. you have to hand it to the animals around here. they are doing their bit. love is in the air, everywhere i look around. the latest addition,

this as yet unnamed indian rhino, spending some quality time with her mum. but she is only one of a glut of babies that have appeared in the last few months. there was dastan, the persian panther and the first d raft the persian panther and the first draft ever born in this zoo. transmack beauval zoo draft ever born in this zoo. tra nsmack beauval zoo contains draft ever born in this zoo. transmack beauval zoo contains about 10,000 animal, with more than 700 birds each year. from the smallest rock to, to the giraffe and the koala bear and the gorilla. it's not just a recent phenomenon. the first giant panda cub to be born in france recently celebrated his second birthday. visitor numbers are soaring as people want to celebrate the pitter—patter of tiny pores. ——

paws. transmack i the pitter—patter of tiny pores. —— paws. transmacki love the pitter—patter of tiny pores. —— paws. transmack i love all my animals, and especially enjoying seeing them evolve over time. —— translation:. some of the animals here are being reintroduced to the wild. two gorillas were recently sent to reserve in gabon. zoo keepers insist they can play a small pa rt keepers insist they can play a small part in the preservation of the species on the planet. tim allman, bbc news. and in a reminder of our top story, members of parliament voted to reject prime minister boris johnson's plan for an early general election. this comes after the prime minister lost control of the house of commons, and members of parliament backed a bill to block a no—deal brexit if the prime minister hasn't agreed a plan with the eu ahead of the 31 october deadline. now all eyes will be on his next move. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team

on twitter — i'm @duncangolestani. hi there. many northern areas were quite chilly on wednesday and it was a very windy day with gusts of 50, 60 mile an hour across the north and west of the uk. today it does not look bad. pressure is building so fewer showers around although it will be quite breezy it will be less windy. quite breezy it will be less windy than what we had on wednesday. there's wednesday's low pushing off to scandinavia, high—pressure building in the south—west and you will notice the isobars are still close together across the north—west and warm front moving in introducing thicker cloud with showery bursts of rain for scotland and northern ireland and that will spread its way southwards as it fizzles out into the rest of scotland and northern england and the midlands.

it will introduce something a little less cold into the north—west corner of the country so we will see 15—17 degrees here and elsewhere plenty of sunshine, highs around 18 to maybe 20 degrees. that's how thursday is looking. through thursday night, high pressure continues to bring dry weather for england and wales we see the weather system pushing into the north—west, a band of rain slowly spinning its way south eastwards turning fairly breezy and even windy once again. as the temperatures range between 9 and 12 degrees to start friday morning. area of low pressure then to the north of the uk will introduce this band of rain which will continue to spread its way into central and southern areas as friday wears on. behind it, blustery showers but also some sunny spells. a rather cloudy day for much of england and wales, outbreaks of rain which will eventually become confined to more southern counties of england by the end of the afternoon. elsewhere it could be quite bright as some good sunny spells, blustery showers in the north—west and those temperatures are still below the seasonal average, 14—18 degrees.

that cold front slips its way southwards into the near continent. it will be quite a chilly start to saturday but high pressure builds in again not just for saturday but also for sunday so we could get some dry and sunny weather for the weekend. saturday still quite breezy down the east coast as that low pressure clears away, maybe just one or two showers but for most it is dry with lengthy sunny spells and a little bit of cloud building in the north and west. on the fairly cool side in the north, 14—16 degrees, 18 or 19 in the south. there's a chilly start to sunday as well under those clear skies but high pressure again dominating the scene for most. weather fronts trying to push into the north—west on sunday, could introduce more cloud to the hebrides and the northern isles and maybe northern ireland but for much of the country again, lighter winds thanks to high pressure, sunny spells and a little bit of cloud. and those temperatures range from 15—18 degrees.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: there've been dramatic scenes in the british parliament. british prime minister borisjohnson suffers two major defeats. first, mps back a bill that will prevent a no—deal brexit and then deny his call for a general election. at least 20 people are known to have been killed after hurricane dorian hit the bahamas. the prime minister, hubert minnis, said parts of the island nation were left decimated. the storm's now heading towards the us state of florida. hong kong's leader has withdrawn the controversial extradition bill that sparked months of unrest. but protesters say they will persist. there's plenty more on our website. now on bbc news: