party, where any split, big or small, could makejeremy corbyn's dream of power harder to fulfil. john pienaarof edinburgh won't be prosecuted over his car crash last month in norfolk. prince philip, who's 97, gave up his driving licence following the accident, in which his land rover collided with another vehicle. the crown prosecution service says further action was not in the public interest. now on bbc news, sport today. hello. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: a first world alpine ski gold medal for slovakia — as petra vlhova takes gold in the giant slalom. the holders and the host nation are drawn together in the newly revamped davis cup tournament. and caster semenya will next week challenge an iaaf rule that aims to restrict the levels of testosterone in female runners. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with news from the alpine skiing world championships in sweden where petra vlhova made history on thursday. her victory in the giant slalom made her the first slovakian to win gold in an individual event. the olympic champ

john pienaar at westminster.this evening, where she's held further brexit talks with the president of the european commission, jean claude juncker. she has been seeking legally—binding changes to the northern ireland backstop, the guarantee of no hard border between northern ireland and the republic, after brexit. mrs may said the talks had been constructive, but emphasised that time was of the essence. 0ur europe editor katya adler is in brussels. what do you reckon is going on behind—the—scenes? what do you reckon is going on behind-the-scenes? even behind closed doors, their meetings between jean—claude juncker and theresa may, and we had they will meet again next week, are cordial. the attorney general is also expected back here in brussels tomorrow. in private, eu officials are tearing their hair out. with only 37 days to go until brexit day, there is a big political impasse between the two sides over the backstop, the guarantee to avoid a hard border between northern ireland and ireland after brexit. the eu

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.abour's plans, which would see the ukjoining a customs union with the eu, were defeated by 83 votes, and jeremy corbyn confirmed tonight that labour would now back another eu referendum. our political editor laura kuenssberg is at westminster. what's changed in the brexit process today, if anything? mps were voting ona today, if anything? mps were voting on a menu of options, but the most important tonight is, i think, that the house of commons rejected labour's auto division for brexit, and the invocation of that is that they should all have their plan b, and that is to push and campaign for another referendum on whether or not we should stay in the european union, with staying in on the ballot paper. it's important to say that jeremy corbyn confirmed they would move to that position, but he still said they would look at the other available options, but it's absolutely the case that the pressure in the labour party that's already been very intense for the leadership to push for anothe

order to "blackmail" mp5 into supporting her "deeply flawed deal". 0ur deputy poltical editor, john pienaarrime minister coming through. time is almost up to cut a brexit deal with brussels mp5 might support. each time, mrs may is finding mp5 less patient than before. order! prime minister's statement. but her only option today, another appeal. stick with me. the same message, only now with more urgency. the talks are at a crucial stage and we now all need to hold our nerve to get the changes this house requires and deliver brexit on time. the labour leader is keen to offer suggestions but much keener to expose mrs may's appeal for time as a ploy. it appears the prime minister has just one real tactic — to run down the clock hoping members of this house are blackmailed into supporting a deeply flawed deal. jeremy corbyn wants britain to stick with eu customs rules. mrs may says no. forget compromise there. and mrs may won't rule out leaving with no deal. some agree, but many don't. the prime minister not only is kicking the can down the road, yet again, she again refuses to take no deal off

john pienaar, bbc news, luton. let's go back to laura in westminster.s the real beginning of something substantial? could there be other defections, do you think? there may well be. just because today has been a long time coming, it doesn't mean it matters any coming, it doesn't mean it matters a ny less. coming, it doesn't mean it matters any less. it's no secret that since he won as party leader, there's been significant unhappiness inside the parliamentary party in labour, about jeremy corbyn's style of leadership at many of his policies and particularly over his handling of the anti—semitism crisis that has gripped the labour party. it's no surprise that in the end a small group of his mps have finally decided to walk out the door. i also think it's highly likely in the next couple of days you may see a sprinkling of others doing the same. but the numbers are still likely, at this stage, to be small and there is a question about how much impact a handful of mps sitting as an independent group could have. but what is also happening, which is differen

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. process. labour's plans, which would see the ukjoining a customs union with the eu, were defeated by 83 votes, and jeremy corbyn confirmed tonight that labour would now back another eu referendum. our political editor laura kunessberg explains what has changed in the brexit process tonight. the most important thing to is, i think, that the house of commons rejected labour's alternative vision for brexit and the implication for thatis for brexit and the implication for that is that they shift on to their plan band that is that they shift on to their plan b and their plan b is to push foran campaign on plan b and their plan b is to push for an campaign on another referendum as to whether we should stay in the european union, with staying in on the ballot paper. it is important to say thatjeremy colvin said they would move to that. it is absolutely the case that the pressure in the labor party that has already been very intense for the leadership to push for and other public vote is only

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.ent trump will declare a national emergency to secure funding for a border wall with mexico. he will also sign a funding bill to avert another government shutdown. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. he says the president had been threatening this national emergency call and now he's going to deliver. if you go back of course it was mexico that was going to pay for that wall. that didn't happen so donald trump demanded 5.7 billion from us taxpayers. but congress didn't vote for that and so he shut the government down. that didn't work, so he reopened the government, ordered three weeks of negotiations. they have now come to an end and he is going to sign a bill tonight which will give him a fraction of that money. so instead he is going to declare a state of emergency. that is the nuclear option. because this is opposed by democrats as well as republicans lawmakers who fear it marginalises them and also what would be to stop a democratic president in future, say, d

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.nk of england mark carney has urged mps to break the current stalemate. in a speech warning of growing threats to the global economy, he said a no—deal brexit would create an "economic shock", at a time when china's economy was slowing and trade tensions were rising. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity is at the bank of england. and they, the governor has been criticised in the past for some of the warnings he has delivered. are the warnings he has delivered. are the circumstance is different now?|j think the circumstance is different now?” think they are, yes. i counted the number of times he used the r word and he used the word recession three times, not in the brexit context but in the context of a wider threat to the whole world's economy. he mentioned things we have had before, like global growth is slowing down and there is a huge burden of debt in china. and also some unsettling parallels with the time before the globalfinancial parallels with the time before the global fina

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories.t claims it has identified a possible third suspect linked to the salisbury novichok poisonings. denis sergeev, thought to be a russian military intelligence officer, was reportedly in the uk at the same time as two other suspects who carried out the attack last year. the kremlin has offered no comment. airbus says it hopes to redeploy a "significant number" of the british workers affected by its decision to end production of the a380. the company says it took the "painful" decison to stop making the world's biggest commercialjet because of a fall in demand. around 200 people work on the airliner in bristol and north wales. the cafe chain patisserie valerie has been saved from closure, after an irish private equity firm agreed to buy it. the deal with causeway capital partners will keep the company's remaining 96 stores open, safeguarding around 2,000 jobs. the duke of edinburgh won't be prosecuted over his car crash last month in norfolk. prince philip, who's 97, gave up his driving l

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.e to our political correspondent jonathan blake, and asked how significant today was for british politics. it is quite something for three members of any party, let alone the governing party, to decide that their time is up and they have no option left but to resign, and that's what we saw today with sarah wollaston, heidi allen, and anna soubry setting out their reasons, both in terms of the policy that the conservative party has pursued in recent years, talking about the welfare programme of cuts, letting down the most vulnerable in society, to what anna soubry he described as the "hard right members of the conservative party having taken it over from top to bottom and running the show," as she put it. also to the government's handling of brexit, all those reasons combined mean those three tory mps have nowjoined the seven labour mps who announced they were resigning at the beginning of the week, and joan ryan added to that number yesterday to take the independent group to ii. so we

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.e mp for enfield north, joan ryan, has announced that after four decades, she's leaving the labour party. in a statement, she said she'd "made the terribly difficult decision to resign" and vowed to continue to represent her constituents and speak up for them as a member of the independent group of mps. he's been credited with reinventing the once stuffy house of chanel, and was a giant in the rarefied world, of fashion haute couture. the designer karl lagerfeld has died at the age of 85. he was one of the industry's most prolific figures, producing several collections a year, not just for chanel, but fendi and his own label. our correspondent lucy wiliamson is in paris for us tonight. lucy... thereafter was already appearing outside the chanel workshop and the death of karl lagerfeld for many marks the end of an era across the fashion world. in a world that worships brands, karl lagerfeld enjoyed the status of a god. a workaholic with a sharp tongue and a brilliant eye for what would

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.his country, and he has flatly denied that people are going hungry because of an economic crisis. huge crowds today marched in support of mr maduro's rival, juan guaido, who has been recognised by the us and others as interim president. 0ur international correspondent 0rla guerin sent this report. people power on the streets of caracas today. the opposition still summoning the crowds, still keeping up the pressure. and on the ground, their charismatic young leader, juan guaido, already compared to barack 0bama. his ascent has been swift, fuelled by little more than the power of hope, but he is now recognised by leading western countries as the interim president. 0rla. president maduro, very nice to see you. thank you for having us. in an opulent setting, we met the other president of venezuela, nicolas maduro. embattled, internationally isolated, but still occupying the seat of power. though many of his people are going hungry, he is still refusing us aid waiting across the border in c

here is john pienaar. his photography.s flash john: all in number, big in ambition. the trio of mps waed away from the tory party and joined the breakaway band who had already quit labor, taking their first steps into the political center with an independent group. with the labor quitters, they make 11. the newest recruits sitting out there grounds for divorce from the tory party. >> friends and family who enabled me to win -- john: brexit a big reason for going. >> the hard-line anti-eu squadro that have ded every leader var the last 40 years are now running the consve party, top to toe. they are the conservparty. >> i am not leaving the conservative party. it has left us. john: the conservatives said they had grown too harsh. >> i tired of caeling numb. no longer represent a government who cannot open their eyes to the suffering endured by the most vulnerable in society, suffering which we have deepened whilst having the power to fix. john: all three have lost faith in mrs. may's handling of brexit. >> the party that was once themo trusted on the economy and busine

but first, here's our deputy political editor john pienaar at westminster.been a dramatic moment of a kind we won't quickly forget. you couldn't ask for a clearer demonstration of the way brexit has torn at the fabric of the big parties from within, just as it's torn at trust between the public and politicians. we can't at this moment call this an historic turning point. we've seen splits in the past, notjust the big labour splits of the 1980s, but other examples. what we are seeing now are the big parties splitting and fraying at the edges. we can expect more mps to walk away from their parties. more on the labour side than the toriy side, and we can certainly expect more of a kind of tensions that we've seen in the coming days and weeks, and months. in private, eu officials are tearing their hair out. with only 37 days to go until brexit day, there is still a big political impasse between the two sides over the backstop that guarantees to avoid a hard border between northern ireland and ireland after brexit. the eu points to what it sees as a mistakeen com

now dictate the terms of any extension to the withdrawal process. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar eustice is a brexiteer, but he's resigned not because he opposes theresa may's plan for brexit, the deal she's trying to thrash out in brussels and get through the commons. he supports that plan. he's resigned because he believes she's mishandled the whole process, and believes that she's put the future of brexit itself at risk. now, the breaking point was theresa may promising mps a chance to vote against a no—deal brexit. now, that was under pressure from the threat of the ministerial resignations, but he saw the threat of no—deal as putting useful pressure on brussels. he was also upset at mps given a chance to vote to delay brexit beyond the leaving date of 29 march. his worry — a short delay could become a long delay, then a longer delay, and eventually perhaps an indefinite delay. now, as it is, the chance for mps to give their verdict on or before 12 march. there is no knowing whether mrs may will finally beat the odds and brexiteers will finally roll in behind her because they

here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar.n, are you expecting any more resignations? seven mps left, now what? more unhappy mps could quit. and jeremy corbyn‘s thoughts? goodbye to you all. he was not keen to talk but at all. he was not keen to talk but at a business conference in london, what about the mps who quit? it was because of anti—semitism and brexit. what are you saying that there are a larger number who said those complaints are justified ?|j larger number who said those complaints are justified? i regret seven mps decided they would no longer remain part of the labour party. i thank them for their work. i want party. i thank them for their work. iwant our party. i thank them for their work. i want our party to be strong, i wa nt i want our party to be strong, i want that party to be united around the policies that we put forward. i recognise that leaving the party means you have got to take people with you and i am determined to do that. not quite an olive branch to unhappy labourmps, that. not quite an olive bran

john pienaar, bbc news, belfast.rd the prime minster is heading to brussels on thursday, let's talk to our europe editor, katya adler, who's there for us tonight. what kind of reception do you think the prime minister will receive? they say they are in listening mode and she will be meeting jean—claude juncker and donald tusk, the man who represents all 27 eu leaders in brussels. but don't hold your breath for a big breakthrough. the prime minister comes here hoping to persuade eu leaders for changes on the backstop guarantee over the irish border. but they need more fundamental persuasion and that is if they can trust the prime minister. its sound harsh but eu leaders were taken aback about is putting it politely, when after the prime minister signed from the brexit deal in november, which included what the eu considers big concessions for the uk inside the backstop, now she turns around and says it's not good enough. eu leaders understand theresa may is under pressure in her party and parliament, but they believe s

here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar, his report contains flash photography.ll in number, big ambition. today a trio of mps walked away from the tory party and joined the breakaway band who had already quit labour, taking their first steps into the political centre as an independent group. with the labour quit as they make 11. jeremy ryan joined last night. the new recruits setting up their grounds for divorce from the tory party. friends and family who enabled me to win... wrecks it a big reason for going. the hardline, anti—eu awkward squad that have destroyed every leader from the last 40 destroyed every leader from the last a0 yea rs destroyed every leader from the last a0 years are now running the conservative party from top to toe. they are the conservative party. i am not leaving the conservative party, it has left us. the conservatives said another had grown too harsh. i am tired of feeling numb. ican too harsh. i am tired of feeling numb. i can no longer represent the government in a party that cannot open their eyes to the vulnerability of those in s

now dictate the terms of any extension to the withdrawal process. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaarthis? george eustice is a brexiteer but he's returned lidl resigned not because he opposes theresa may's plan for brexit. the deal, he supports it. he resigned because he believes she's mishandled the process, and he believes she's put the future itself at risk. the breaking point was theresa may promising mps the chance to vote against a no—deal brexit. that was under pressure of the threat of ministerial resignations. but he saw the threat no deal is putting useful pressure on brussels, and he was upset that mps had been given to vote to delay the exit date. his worry is that a short delay could become a long and a longer delay, and eventually perhaps indefinite. as it is, there will be a chance for mps to give their verdict on or before march the 12, and there is no knowing whether mrs may will beat the odds and brexiteers will roll in behind her because they see her plan is the only brexit available. george eustice has shown how frustrated and angry brexiteers are at the way this h

john pienaar, bbc news, belfast.en aged between three and eight have died in a fire at their home in stafford, in the west midlands. their mother managed to jump from a first—floor window with a younger child and her partner. the local fire and crime commissioner paid tribute to the emergency services, and described what happened as heartbreaking. sima kotecha reports. windows shattered, the inside of the house blackened by the fire that ripped through the upstairs. it happened close to 3:00am in the highfields area of stafford. eyewitnesses say it sounded like an explosion. four children were killed. from left to right, six—year—old keegan unitt, four—year—old tilly rose unitt, three—year—old olly unitt, and eight—year—old riley holt. well, firefighters were faced with very difficult conditions inside the property, due to the severity of the fire. our fire investigation team are currently working with colleagues from west midlands fire service and staffordshire police in order to find out how the fire started and sp

and this john pienaar with labour's deputy leader. i want this party to stay together.at our conference, i think people should stay and fight their corner. we need an electorally viable labour party. the feeling among a lot of your colleagues now is this breakaway is unstoppable. well, i hope it isn't. and i hope people should do everything they can to try and stop it from happening. you'll be trying to stop this breakaway? i will definitely be trying to stop it, yeah. i've been trying. i mean for the last two years i've been trying to hold everyone together. before we go back to rob watson, if you have got questions on brexit you can send them our way. rob will be back with us in about 20 minutes to ta ke back with us in about 20 minutes to take on that. but let's speak to him right now. i want to talk about the labour party because we hear all the stories about potential breakaways for the tories and the labour party. they rarely come to fruition. that is right. that is because tribal loyalties in british politics are immensely powerful. that is just the way it works

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.ultiple charges by a court in new york. his real name isjoaquin guzman, and he was accused of trafficking tens of thousands of tonnes of cocaine, heroin and marijuana into the united states, engaging in a criminal enterprise, conspiracy and firearms offences. malcolm beith is the author of the book ‘the last narco — hunting el chapo, the world's most wanted drug lord' hejoins me now from virginia in the us. thank you for being with us. how significant is this conviction of el chapo? thank you. in terms of the bigger picture, it is not really a victory in the war on drugs. the war on drugs will continue, it will have some ups on drugs will continue, it will have some ups and downs with lots of collateral damage. tens of thousands of deaths that we cannot seem to be stopping in any way. what is is a good step forward in the judicial system's role in the war on drugs. instead of dropping el chapo down in northern mexico, he was brought all the way to brooklyn to face trial. he was one of

here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar.ny more resignations today? seven mps lost, now what? good morning. more unhappy mps could soon quit. and jeremy corbyn‘s thoughts? good morning to you all, and goodbye to you all. he was not keen to talk but at a business conference in london, what about the mps who quit? it was because of anti—semitism and brexit. what are you saying that there are a larger number who said those complaints are justified ? i regret that seven mps decided they would no longer remain part of the labour party. i thank them for their work. i want our party to be strong, i want that party to be united around the policies that we put forward. i recognise that leading the party means you have got to take people with you and i am determined to do that. not quite an olive branch to unhappy labourmps, but his closest senior ally went further. we need a mammoth listening exercise and address some of those criticisms that have been made. i think we need to find a way forward. it is too late to stop the seven who

john pienaar, bbc news, belfast.to clare rice from the school of law at queen's university belfast, who's an expert on brexit. she joins us now from our belfast studio. good evening to you. what did you make of what the prime minister had to say? nothing overly surprising. i think we we re nothing overly surprising. i think we were all very aware that she came with a very friendly audience. audience of largely business leaders here in northern ireland and they have been very supportive of the withdrawal agreement and the idea of the backstop as it is shaped currently within that agreement. so in many ways, she was speaking to a favourable audience with people that we re favourable audience with people that were already on her side and really her task today was to offer those reassu ra nces her task today was to offer those reassurances that despite the ongoing talks that are coming on at the moment with regard to try to twea k the moment with regard to try to tweak and somehow reconfigure the backstop, that actually

chris williamson has speaking to our deputy political editor, john pienaar. been a number of complaints against me and i did not believe they have any foundation andi not believe they have any foundation and i make sure that i clear them up. can you claim that the have apology for what you said it?|j up. can you claim that the have apology for what you said it? i do not know what the complaints actually say at the moment. but i am dedicated anti—racist all my life. i was an active member of the anti—nazi league in the 1970s. i fall anti—semites literally on the streets. and i was on the council responsible for bringing about the holocaust memorial day in derby, the first local authority in the country in 2001 to commemorate that date —— day. so my record on fighting racism isa day. so my record on fighting racism is a very strong one and i intend to demonstrate i am dedicated anti—racist and absolutely abort any form of bigotry, including anti—semitism. form of bigotry, including anti-semitism. you do except you should not have say what you said them the meet

tom watson, deputy leader, speaking to my colleague, john pienaar.back the government this morning and we will find out more from them in the next couple of hours. we will indeed, thank you very much. the vote is scheduled around 5pm and results after 7pm. let's return now to our main story. that a british woman who ran away to join fighters from the islamic state group in syria four years ago, and now wants to return to britain. we can talk now to elizabeth pearson, from the defence think tank the royal united services institute. what will authorities hear be trying to work out about what she has been doing? we don't yet know what will happen to her, whether she will be returning here. but, she might be a high—profile case, as indeed everybody remembers the image of the bethnal green girls but about many, of return is coming back. when they come back it is a multi—agency approach, police investigation looking for possible criminal prosecution, mental health services tend to be involved, social services... array of different services... array of diff

john pienaar, bbc news, westminster.to secure a brexit deal that could win parliamentary support, has been talking again in brussels with european commission presidentjean claude juncker. mps want changes to the agreement theresa may spent around two years negotiating, so that the so—called irish backstop would not bind britain into keeping indefinitely to european union rules. the eu has repeatedly said it won't renegotiate the accord. well, i've had a constructive meeting with presidentjuncker this evening. i have underlined the need us evening. i have underlined the need us to see legally binding changes to the backstop to ensure it cannot be indefinite. that's what is required, ifa indefinite. that's what is required, if a deal is to pass the house of commons. we've agreed that work to find a solution will continue at pace. time is the essence, and it in both our interests that when the uk leads the eu it does so in an orderly way. so we've made progress and the secretary of state for exiting the eu, the brexit secre

our deputy political editor john pienaar gave us this update from westminster. resigned not because he opposes theresa may's plan for brexit, the deal she is trying to thrash out in brussels and get to the commons. he supports that plan. he has resigned because he believes she has mishandled the whole process and believes that she has put the future of brexit itself at risk. the breaking point was theresa may promising mps a chance to vote against a no—deal brexit, a last resort under pressure from the threat of the ministerial resignations, but he saw the threat of no—deal as putting useful pressure on brussels. he was also upset at mps given a chance to vote to delay brexit beyond the leaving date of march 29. his worry that a short delay could become a longer delay and a longer delay and eventually perhaps an indefinite delay. now as it is, the chance for mps to give their verdict on or before march or 12. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is: north korea and the united states have publicly disagreed over why their summit ended