this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. 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. as the road to brexit becomes even more uncertain, we'll try to shed some light on the way forward for westminster. officials in the bahamas say hurricane dorian took the lives of at least 20 people, and has left thousands of survivors homeless. total devastation. there is nothing left in most of marsh harbour.

no homes, no banks, no gas stations, no hardware stores. it's just total — everything's gone. 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. 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, decades ahead, as the planet heats up, mores decades ahead, as the planet heats up, mores here will melt with potentially catastrophic implications right around the world. 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 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. shaving foam... 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 the 15th of 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 10. 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's 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. 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.

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. in the last few minutes dorian has been upgraded to a category three hurricane. with the hurricane finally moving off the bahamas after many terrifying days, the devastation can be assessed for the first time, and it is shocking. marsh harbour, on the low—lying abaco islands, has 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 near.

we can confirm now seven deaths, but we know more is to come. you just can't go through devastation like this with that minimal deaths, unfortunately. we are on the north side of the storm... the international space station captured dramatic images of hurricane dorian, now swirling in the ocean near florida. with this hurricane after many days nowjust about moving off the northern bahamas, it means some areas at least have safe enough skies that aircraft can take to them, and for the first time finally assess the devastation that has been caused. but it is abaco and grand bahama that have borne the brunt of the storm's ire, and where, in the coming days, the humanitarian needs are going to be acute. aleem maqbool, bbc news,

in nassau in the bahamas. well the hurricane could make landfall on the us coast on thursday. major general van mccarty is with the south carolina national guard. he told us what preparations they are making ahead of dorian‘s arrival. well we have been monitoring the storm for about a week now and certainly 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. right now, most of 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 it's safe, we will then come back

out and make the re—entry into the area and begin to assess the damage and certainly look to provide response to anyone who may have been injured. specifically, general, what are the kinds of things you have been helping and getting involved with? part of our mission has been helping our public safety and transportation in the evacuation of our coastline. 700 of our soldiers and airmen were deployed and supported that mission. we reversed one of the lanes of our large interstate highways in south carolina. we helped that 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, and i think it is pretty much statistically determined that the floodwaters are of the greatest risk to human life. wind speeds are dangerous, but it is the volume of water that may come and rain that combines to make tremendous hazards. they can flood roads,

homes and businesses and from our experience over the four years — we've seen the greatest loss of life and injuries from floodwaters. general, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: it's all about romance in france, as a zoo has a big 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 world 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 general 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. carrie lam explained why she was changing her position. 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. albert ho is a former chair of the democratic party and a former member of hong kong's legislative council. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. after all that violence, all those protests, why has she backed

down now? simply because there has been ongoing and mounting pressure on the government, and there is actually no progress and no hope for further genuine dialogue to be conducted between the government and those who are engaged in the campaign. soi those who are engaged in the campaign. so i think, you know, a programme seeking to move the bed forward , programme seeking to move the bed forward, to see whether she can get herself engaged. but very disappointingly, such a small concession does come too late, too little, and after so, so long, after such a political storm lasting for almost three months, leading to many clashes between the police and the processes , clashes between the police and the processes, and leading to the injuries of many and the arrest of over 1000 processes. so it is really disappointing. and so the campaign will still be carried on for the realisation of one of the most pressing demands, based on general consensus, namely the setting up of an independent commission for

enquiry. every movement, of course, has varying levels of enthusiasm and commit. do you think there will be some people who say, do you know what? she has made a concession now, let's try and get back to something resembling peace and they. going out on the streets? not everyone, but some people? maybe some people will have thought this is an indication of, you know, the good wishes of the government for a dialogue. but if you are in hong kong, you would realise that it is far from being adequate to take on board the many present demands of the hong kong people, especially this demand for setting up the commission of enquiry, is based on the general consensus of the community able to support not only all of the pro—democracy camp, but also the pro establishment sector. so there is absolutely no reason why the

government should decide not to accept this very reasonable demand, not to mention the democracy that is promised to hong kong people. at least in the immediate term, the establishment of a commission of enquiry is paramount and is imperative, and it will give us time, you know, to engage the people for a genuine dialogue. but beijing, excuse me, sorry, for a genuine dialogue. but beijing, excuse me, sorry, mr ho, beijing must be thinking, if we give any ground, gosh, whatare must be thinking, if we give any ground, gosh, what are we opening up for ourselves? they can't allow this to happen in hong kong, can they? well, they assume beijing is inflexible. and beijing could be flexible and it is not a big deal to set up an independent commission of enquiry. we have had that experience on many occasions before, and the setting up of such a commission will certainly give us a lot of time and space to engage the people, and

certainly the younger protesters would, you know, sit back and say why don't we participate in the enquiry, and let the truth be found out? albert, i am so sorry to interrupt you, we're just up against the clock. but it has been interesting talking to you. thank you very much. scientists researching the huge greenland ice sheet say this summer's melting has been one of the most severe on record, and it is 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 the second of his two special reports 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. we are 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're 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 kiniya,

the first giraffe ever born in this zoo. translation: beauval zoo contains about 10,000 animals, more than 600 species, with more than 700 births each year. from the smallest frog to the giraffe, the rhino, it is notjust a recent phenomenon. yuan meng, 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 paws. translation: i love all animals, all of them, and i especially enjoy when there are births, seeing babies, and seeing them evolve over time.

you are watching bbc news. thank you for watching and good buy. —— goodbye. hi there. many northern areas were quite chilly on wednesday. it was a very windy day, gusts of 50, close to 60 mph across the north and the west of the uk. but today, it's not looking that bad. we've got pressure building, so fewer showers around. although it will still be quite breezy, it will be less windy than what we had on wednesday. there's wednesday's low, slowly pushing off to scandinavia, high pressure building in the south—west. you'll notice isobars still close together across the north—west and a warm front moving. that will introduce 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, perhaps the midlands. but it will introduce

something a little less cold into the north—west corner of the country. so we'll see 15—17 degrees here, but elsewhere plenty of sunshine, highs around 18 to maybe 20 degrees. so that's how thursday is looking. through thursday night, high pressure continues to bring dry weather for england and wales, and we see the weather system pushing into the north—west, a band of rain slowly spilling its way south—eastwards. it will also turn fairly breezy and even windy once again. as the temperatures range between 9—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. so a rather cloudy day, i think, 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, a few blustery showers in the north—west, and those temperatures still below the seasonal average, 14—18 degrees. that cold front slips its way southwards into the near continent.

it'll be quite a chilly start to saturday, but high pressure builds in again, notjust for saturday but also for sunday, so we could be looking at quite a bit of dry and sunny weather for the weekend. for saturday, still quite breezy down the east coast as that low p i’essu i’e clears away, maybe just one or two showers here. but for most, it's dry, with lengthy sunny spells a little bit of cloud building in the north and west. and 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, the northern isles, 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 headlines: it's been another dramatic day the british parliament. prime minister borisjohnson has suffered two major defeats. first mps backed a bill seeking to prevent a no—deal brexit, and then they denied 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 said parts of the island nation were left decimated. the storm's now heading towards the us coast and has been upgraded to a category 3 hurricane. and hong kong's chief executive says she will withdraw a proposal that's led to months of unrest. the extradition bill was the original trigger for anger, but now protest leaders say demonstrations will continue until other demands are met, including direct elections.