Its iam in london, 9am in singapore and 8pm in washington, where President Trump is dealing with a major setback to his agenda. His Republican Party has lost a key election in deeply conservative alabama. Mr trump backed the losing candidate, roy moore, despite claims of Sexual Misconduct against him. It leaves the president weakened as he tries to drive through key policies at home and abroad. Our north america correspondent nick bryant reports. Amidst all the noise and rage of american politics, its worth remembering elections are often decided in quiet suburbs. That was true in alabama, where moderate republicans didnt turn out for their partys radical, scandal hit candidate, and where many dont much like donald trump either. Its a rejection of donald trump. Tracy james is a lifelong republican, who yesterday went democrat. It was also a protest vote against the president. I do think donald trump has a problem in the republican suburbs. You dont know whats going to come out of his mouth next. You dont know whether were going to go to war with north korea. You dont know if hes going to insult a woman in congress. I think theyre very uncomfortable with that. Modern day democrats arent supposed to win in staunchly conservative states like alabama. It hasnt happened here for 25 years. No wonder the blizzard of confetti. Alabama has been at a crossroads. It has been at crossroads in the past and unfortunately, we have usually taken the wrong fork. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, you took the right road. The losing republican candidate, roy moore, thought he was on his way to washington, but he was hit by allegations, which he denies, of Sexual Misconduct against teenage girls and shunned by senior figures in the republican establishment. Thats where the anger of his dejected supporters was directed. Its really sad for the people of alabama what took place in this state tonight. You think youve been betrayed by the republican establishment . Absolutely, no doubt about that. You cant always get what you want. Its true, you cant always get what you want. A lesson for donald trump, who has strongly backed roy moore. So get out and vote for roy moore. Do it. So this is a big black eye for the president and also a failure of the trump political playbook, to deny accusations of wrongdoing as fake news and to attack accusers. With a republican majority in the senate reduced to a single seat, it will be even harderfor the president to enact his stalled legislative agenda. The democrats hope this result is indicative of an anti trump wave which will help win them back capitol hill in next years congressional elections. This senate race doubled as a battle for the soul of the Republican Movement and thus marked a defeat for conservative insurgents against the party establishment. That too is a setback for donald trump and his unorthodox brand of politics. Nick bryant, bbc news, alabama. In other news just hours after the us secretary of state offered to begin talks with north korea, the white house appears to have contradicted him. Rex tillerson said on tuesday that the United States was ready to talk, anytime north korea would like to talk. But a white house official has said no discussions can be held with pyongyang until it improves its behaviour. So whats going on . Frankly, i was surprised when secretary tillerson said we would talk with no preconditions and he would be prepared to sit there and talk about the weather. It is not a question of preconditions. It is a question of the framework of the talks. When we have the six party talks, the framework was that all six parties including north korea agreed on the purpose of the talks which was denuclearisation. Today we have a situation where north korea does not agree, so i think perhaps, as we say in colorado, secretary tillerson got out on the edge of his skis. Christopher hill. Staying with the region and south Korean Leader moonjae in is due to meet chinas president xi in the next few hours. There have been tensions between the countries not least over the deployment of an american Missile System in south korea. But there are signs that beijing may be softening its stance on the issue. Well have more analysis on all this coming up, here on newsday. The Us Federal Reserve has agreed to raise Interest Rates by a quarter of percentage point the third rate rise this year. Policymakers say it underscores what they called a solid gains in the us economy. The fed also boosted its economic forecasts projecting growth of 2. 5 in gdp in 2017 and 2018. The israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu says hes unimpressed by statements at a gathering of muslim nations. It follows bitter criticism of President Trumps recognition ofjerusalem as israels capital. The palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas told the meeting that his people would no longer accept an american role in the peace process. He is one of the worlds most successful road cyclists. But the uks chris froome is facing the prospect of being banned from the sport after an adverse drugs test. The four time Tour De France winner had twice the allowed amount of an asthma medication in his system during a race in september. Cyclings world governing body is investigating. Both chris froome and his team, sky, have denied any wrongdoing. More on our top story now and the democrats shock victory in alabama, which saw doug jones beat the controversial republican candidate roy moore in a special election for the us senate. David willis has the latest on the fallout from washington. The first democrat to win a senate seat in 25 years and a sense of relief on the part of many in the Republican Party who regard the possibility or regarded the possibility of a roy moore victory as an albatross around their neck going into the mid term elections next year. Roy moore would almost certainly have faced a Senate Ethics investigation and possible suspension or expulsion from the senate. That would have besmirched the republican name going into the elections. Despite the fact that they lost the seat there is nonetheless a sense of relief, i think, on the part of many republicans. What does this mean for donald trump in terms of pushing through a number of his policies . Does that leave him in a weaker position . It does, undoubtedly. It shows his vulnerability in this regard. Donald trump, despite the advice to the contrary from his advisers and from Senior Republicans in the senate and the house, backed roy moore to win this senate seat. That was not the way it turned out. It shows the vulnerability of the president as far as, just one year into his first term in office, coming out and campaigning for a candidate who was not successful in this election. You have to wonder now how much sway the president can have in terms of getting candidates elected and, indeed, the sway of steve bannon, once seen as near invincible, has as well. Does that mean that there could now be divisions emerging, deep seated divisions emerging in the Republican Party . It has been said that this was a fight for the soul of the Republican Party between the establishment and the firebrands, if you like, and the populists of which donald trump is one. Yes, that is another reason why many are relieved to have seen roy moore failing in this race because in a sense it resets the calibration and means that perhaps there will be a return to more establishment traditional politics. David willis there. As we heard, south koreas president moonjae in has begun a four day visit to china. Tensions between the two countries have been high due to the chinas anger about the deployment of the thaad Missile System in south korea. Definitely it will. The two countries enjoyed good relationshiop since 1992. And friendly bilateral relations were brought down to a historically low level because of the thaad system. And also chinese sanctions against north korea. But now china seems to like this president and they are sympathetic. Did they like mr moon better than the previous president , park . Absolutely, yes. Absolutely he was believed to be a person who is not biased against china. And in his election speeches. They have already met during the apec and the asean summits over the last few months. Of course, this travel ban by the chinese has only been partially lifted. Do you think this visit by president moon will mean it is totally lifted . At least it will pave the way for that. It depends on how much the thaad system will be kept there. At least there were signals suggesting that south korea agreed not to further deploy nor use that against china. And not to establish a military alliance, a tri Party Alliance against china. If china can be assured of that, it is likely they will lift their economic sanctions. Those economic sanctions are not legally imposed anyway. Impose economic sanctions against south korea. That is why we are starting to see Chinese Stores returning to the shopping districts in south korea and k pop stars starting to plan concerts in china. On the other hand, apart from this travel ban, what about north korea . Will this also be a major discussion point between the chinese and the south koreans . Korea issue without the input of the us. And south korea either. It is a dilemma now. It requires wholehearted cooperation between the us and china but these two superpowers do not seem to be ready to co operate. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme one more year of martial law as the philippines president is granted more time to fulfil his promise of totally eradicating Islamic State inspired militants. Also on the programme one star from the korean pop scene is tackling online abuse, by mocking those who criticise her. After eight months on the run, Saddam Hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. Saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. The signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3. 5 years of conflict that has claimed over 200,000 lives. Before an audience of world leaders, the president s of serbia, bosnia and herzegovina put their names to the peace agreement. The romanian border was sealed and silent today. Romania has cut its sources in the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. From sex at the white house to his political life. The Monica Lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton in his place in history as only the second president to be impeached. This is newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon in singapore. Im Babita Sharma in london. Our top stories President Trump is distancing himself from the controversial republican candidate roy moore after his loss in the alabama election. South koreas president , moonjae in, will hold talks with chinese leader xi jinping in beijing, hoping to mend a fractious relationship between the two countries. And it is an invitation she cant refuse christmas with queen elizabeth. Yes, prince harrys fiancee, meghan markle, has been invited to the British Royal gathering a real stamp of approval. More on that story at bbc. Com. Lets take a look at what is making the headlines for thursday. The front page of the New York Times reports on how militants from the so called Islamic State made their weapons, including how rebels in iraq took the manufacture of improved arms to new levels, creating improvised chemical rockets. The Straits Times has some sobering news forjob seekers in singapore, despite an economic recovery. The paper reports apparently a small but growing group of people are being left in the lurch, some struggling to find work even after being unemployed for 25 weeks. And, according to the china daily, sea urchins are back on the menu, after a population boom that is threatening marine ecosystems. The article says they have flourished as a direct result of Climate Change so much so that they have been stripping the seabeds of precious seaweed. Now, rico, what stories are sparking discussions online . Well, babita, a leading us dictionary has named its word of the year. And it is this one feminism. Why . It follows a huge surge in online searches for the term. Merriam webster has worked out that news events in the usa played a part in a 70 rise in online searches for the word. In particular, there was a spike after the womens marches across the us after donald trump was sworn in injanuary. It has been a bad evening for the british prime minister, theresa may. She suffered a significant defeat in parliament over her brexit plans. Rebel mps from within her own conservative party put forward an amendment that means the government will have to put the final brexit deal through full parliamentary scrutiny. We will be looking at what this means for the Brexit Process and for mrs may in a moment. But first, this is how the result was announced and it was close. The ayes to the right 309. The noes to the left 305. Earlier, our Political Correspondent alex forsyth explained that those voting against the government wanted a legal, written guarantee they would get a vote on the final brexit deal. Today, opposition parties and some conservative mps, thats of course the party of government, voted against the government and against the theresa may, to say yes, we do want a legal guarantee that we will get a vote. Despite the fact the government had promised them they would, they havent agreed to write it down in law, and thats what mps wanted. So today, theresa may was defeated by opposition parties and some of her own conservative mps. Assess for us, alex, how much of a blow this is for theresa may at this stage . Its a blow for her authority, because it shows she cant get everything she wants to through the houses of Parliament Without being challenged, and sometimes by mps on her own side. And this comes just before she goes to brussels tomorrow to meet other eu leaders, so its unwelcome timing. The government did all it could today to stop this happening but its worth saying this was a very narrow vote, there were just four votes in it, and there were 11 conservatives that voted against the government, so the numbers arent huge, but what it really highlights is because there was a general election injune in the uk, theresa may lost her majority in parliament, and that means she has to rely on every vote, which shows just how tight the parliamentary maths is, how she is beholden to mps on her own side, and other parties, which of course makes her position in these negotiations with brussels very difficult. And tonight, weve seen it play out, the impact that can have. What of those negotiations she is about to head into . Does that mean she is going to have to rethink the Brexit Strategy . Is it not that much of an issue now, just keeping people at home happy . The government said before this vote tonight the reason they didnt wa nt this put down in law that mps would get a say in the deal was because that could mean there wasnt a smooth process for these talks, because of course, the talks were on a fairly tight timeframe. So ministers argued, by saying well come back, well give you a vote at a certain point, that will mess up the process of things in brussels. Well do it, but we dont want to commit to exactly when that will be. Now, parliament has expressed its welcome that there will be some kind of legally binding vote. What will happen is the government will have to go away and work out exactly when and how that will take place. That detail is yet to be finalised. But i think, in terms of the overall negotiation, what it shows is how theresa may is having to juggle the demands from mps on the domestic front, as well as 27 other European Union leaders. It shows how much of a squeeze shes really in. The Philippines Parliament has approved president dutertes request for a one year extension of martial law on the Southern Island mindanao. Duterte says his goal is to totally eradicate Islamic State inspired terror groups by the end of next year. It is the second time senators and congressmen have extended the emergency measures, after an Islamic Group captured the city of marawi in may. Our manila reporter Howard Johnson explained why. The defence secretary was there on behalf of the president , to put forward the case for the government. And he said they wanted an extension of martial law, because the rebellion, as he called it, on mindanao for these terrorist groups hasnt been fully contained. Thats what he said. He said there is concern the group or members of abu sayyaf might pop up in another town or city in mindanao, and cause trouble there. Also theres the spectre of the npa, the new peoples army, the communist armed group. Back in november, peace talks fell through with president duterte, and he declared they are a terrorist group. So there are fears there might be trouble from the npa, so the government wants martial law for another year, to contain these issues. This martial law extension got a lot of support in congress, but it wasnt unanimous. What were some of the concerns of the opposition regarding extending it until the end of 2018 . Yeah, the vote was 240 in favour, 27 against. The opposition senators and congressmen, their issues really were that this could really be a throwback to martial law in the 1970s, under ferdinand marcos. Of course, we must remember, back then there were Something Like 70,000 cases of human rights abuses, tortures, killings, abductions a nasty period for the philippines. So theres concern that if you can start to have martial law in the south of the country, it could spread nationwide, and opposition senator frank said this could be a precedent that this good cause, as he said, a prelude to nationwide martial law. Celebrity abuse on social media has become sadly normal. We have been speaking to one popstar about good question maybe i should start looking for that. I think ive been putting that off for too long, so yeah, lets go then. Ok, so what you do is, number one, you have to cut your hair so that it covers half of your face, ok . Why does this guy sound like a girl . Shh youre going to blow my cover. Quiet, quiet. No one can know im a young man in a girl group, ok . Ive been going through thousands of these comments. Its very hard to read. As humans, were so cruel to each other. We want to keep judging each other on our looks. I think thats what a lot of people misunderstand, me being a tomboy, or me being androgynous, is not a concept. Thats me. Im trying did you check under your shirt . I mean, i know, thats the first place you would not expect to check, right . No, theyre definitely not there. Damn it iwasjust, like, i need to Say Something about it. I was trying to conform with what society wanted me to do. And, as i was doing that i felt more uncomfortable, i felt more hopeless. Its tiring, like, youre chasing somebodys approval. I found this, is this a boob . Keep looking. A lot of the comments were saying, like, oh, im flat chested too. Its always great to know that im not the only person out there, and that people deal with that too. And itsjust, like, hey, im not alone. If i can do anything to make someone not feel alone, im going to do it. So impressed by amber liu bare, putting k pop on the map for all the right reasons. Kpop became popular because of psy and others, and now it is popular in korea, in china, in singapore and i am sure even in the uk. And i love the way amber liu is turning it on its head in terms of dealing with people who criticise her, and her looks, and being in the public eye and saying i am who i am, which is something to be championed. Totally agree with you. From k pop, we have to say goodbye. You have been watching newsday. Stay with us. Still to come what is net neutrality, and why should we care . We will be looking at how internet regulation in the us could be about to change. We will leave you with pictures of the baby penguin who has made his first appearance. Thank you for joining us. See you soon. Well, after a very brief mild spell, those temperatures are coming down again for the next few days, and into the start of the weekend. And for thursday, its low pressure which dominates the scene. Tightly packed isoba rs across the country meaning fairly windy, and theyll be blowing in lots of showers, particularly to Western Areas of the country. And these showers will be of a wintry mix during the overnight period, and first thing on thursday. Some snow to the Higher Ground of scotland, northern ireland, northern england, wales, maybe the south west of england and some wet sleetiness down to lower levels for a time, too. So first thing on thursday we are again looking at an ice risk, particularly from the midlands, north wales northwards, so watch out for these. There could even be some lying snow around on some of the higher routes, for example the pennines and across scotland. We start thursday on quite an unsettled note. It could be windy, especially in the west, gales on exposure, showers here and wintry over high ground and wintry showers in parts of wales, the north west england and ice to watch out for too. Largely dry to start in eastern and south eastern parts, early sunshine around but quite chilly. The same east of the pennines and eastern scotland but further west, loads of showers and again some heavy and even sleetiness down to lower levels as well. And then, through the day, very little change. It stays blustery, i think the winds slowly easing down during the day, it will continue to be strong in the north and the south west with gales here. Plenty of showers with wintryness again over Higher Ground and central and eastern parts of the country should be drier with some sunshine but notice the temperatures down on wednesdays values, in single figures for all. Its going to feel cold if you add on the wind. As we head on into friday, we open the floodgates again to the arctic as this area of low pressure moves across in towards scandinavia. So it does mean a cold and frosty start in places on friday, and also the risk of ice. But generally speaking, friday is looking like a quieter day, more in the way of sunshine around, lighter winds for many. Still fairly breezy around the coasts, where well see wintry showers at times. Now, that cold air is with us obviously through friday and into the start of the weekend, but then for the second half of the weekend, we see this plume of mild air making inroads slowly. A cold start on saturday, watch out for ice. Sunshine around through the morning, that slowly fades as more cloud piles in from the west, maybe a few showers and a cold day. On sunday, more cloud generally, sunshine will be very few and far between, and there will be a few showers, but that milder air slowly making inroads. Im Babita Sharma with bbc news. Our top story President Trump has distanced himself from roy moore after a historic defeat in alabama. The victory for Democrat Doug Jones could complicate the president s legislative plans. Roy Moores Campaign was rocked by allegations of Sexual Misconduct which he denied. Just hours after the us secretary of state offered to begin talks with north korea the white house appears to have contradicted him. An official has said no discussions can be held with pyongyang until it improves its behaviour. And the word feminism has been trending online. A leading us dictionary has named it as word of the year. Following a huge surge in online hits for the term news events in the us led to a 70 rise in searches for the word. In particular, there was a spike after the womens marches across the states