it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 9am in queensland, australia, where the devastation caused by cyclone debbie is being assessed. only one fatality has been reported so only one fatality has been reported so far but parts of the state are difficult to access because of blocked roads. the australian army is heading into the hardest—hit areas where tens of thousands of homes are without power. let's hear the latest reaction. it looks like a war zone but the good thing is there's not a great deal of structural damage, there's a few trees down, we've lost a lot of awnings, signs are blown over. the biggest issue is the power lines that are down and covering the roads. all the roads have being cut off around bowen, airlie beach, it's going to be a huge job to clear those so we're asking people to stay indoors and not move until we can get emergency service personnel there. at the moment not very rainy reports of injury but having said that we know a lot of people have lost communication —— not very many. we want to make sure people are safer there. the priority will be to support the recovery, as the day progresses we will get an understanding of the damage from the storm. we have put in place enormous preparation for this storm. it's one of the great advantages of all of the technology you see around us, to be able to anticipate these events. there are well over 1000 emergency personnel and defence personnel who literally rad to go in today. our correspondent hywel griffith spent tuesday in northern queensland, as cyclone debbie swept towards land. earlier he gave us the latest from ayr, that's about 150 kilometres north of where the cyclone made landfall. the plans were really in place days if not weeks before this struck, one thing with a cyclone is you can see it coming. as soon as they saw the impact was severe, especially around the whitsundays, probably the worst affected, then a deployment plan was instilled. naval vessels used and helicopters used for places that can't be reached by road. it means bringing in structural engineers to put that infrastructure back together again. hywel, how long until the situation will return to normal? it's a good question and a question a lot of people here are asking. that depends on where you are. here in ayr, the northern tip of the strike zone, shops coming back to normal, still sandbags out but the fire crews, who were on lockdown yesterday, they have now moved out to wider areas to speak to trick people, check people on farms are ok, and they are on south to open up the roads —— check people. a big problem now is many of the roads are closed due to falling trees or flooding so they have to open up the free weight and get two towns cut—off, places like bowen and airlie beach, places we saw hit hard yesterday —— freeway. —— to towns. we have been given the implication that mercifully this is fatality free in the last ready for hours, there was death on monday as someone tried to leave the area. there's a search on going for two people in a boat so there is still a risk that they are yet to be found, we don't know the situation with them, but otherwise we are being told in terms of the human cost, this has passed as an incident that is fatality free. because of cyclone debbie we had the airports and ports shut down. when will they reopen and resume operations? again, that will be done in the northern parts of queensland, cairns, townsville, but further south, places like mckay, rockhampton, places like airlie beach, that will be difficult for a few days because even if the rain has stopped and the wind has died down, you need to make things structurally ok. that has an impact on tourism. the whitsundays are sold asa on tourism. the whitsundays are sold as a paradise, paradise needs to be cleaned up and tidied up for a fair few days before things return to normal. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. after months of passionate debate, the british prime minister, theresa may, has signed an historic letter formally triggering the uk's departure from the european union. as it's handed over in brussels at lunchtime on wednesday, mr may will urge the country to unite and two years of negotiations with the eu will begin. our correspondent eleanor garnier told me more about the issues involved. there are really two elements if you like to negotiations ahead. on the one hand the withdrawal agreements. the difficult things about eu citizens living here in the uk or uk citizens living here in the uk or uk citizens living here in the uk or uk citizens living across the eu, those reciprocal rights, those are the things that need to be discussed, as well as the brexit bill, how much is it potentially going to cost the uk to leave the eu. so there are the withdrawal arrangements that need to be put in place. on the other hand, what about the trade negotiations, the trade relationship that britain is going to have with the eu after it leaves. that is a separate set of negotiations. there are eu politicians that has that actually britain will not be able to start talking about trade relationships until the withdrawal deal is formally finished. that's why many remainers, people who didn't want to leave the eu here in the uk, said they worried the timetable just not being long enough, that we might not get to finishing the trade deal and the negotiations around our relationships, the economic ties, before the two—year deadline is up. also making news: the scottish parliament has backed plans to call for a second referendum on independence from the uk. yes, 69, no, 59, with no abstentions. the amendment is therefore agreed. the vote was called by the scottish national party after the uk voted for brexit. any new referendum will have to be agreed by the government in westminster, but scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, believes there's now a clear mandate for a second vote. officials in south korea are coming under pressure to explain how they mistakenly said they had found human remains on the wreck of the sewol ferry. the maritime ministry said the bone fragments were in fact from one or more animals. 30a people died when the ship sank in 2014, and nine of the bodies have not yet been recovered. saudi arabia is offering an amnesty to indonesian nationals who have over—stayed in the kingdom. the measures, which come into force on wednesday, will mean indonesians who have remained in saudi arabia illegally will be able to leave without prosecution, as long as they do so within the 90—day period. here's some rare footage of tigers in the wild in thailand. these pictures of a mother and six cubs were captured using hidden cameras. conservationists are thrilled, they say it looks like a new breeding population of the critically—endangerd indo—chinese tiger is under way. donald trump has signed a new executive order, which reverses many of ba rack obama's efforts to limit global warming. the president has in the past called it a hoax and has repeatedly promised to help the struggling us coal industry, as our north america editorjon sopel reports. the coal industry was beginning to look like an endangered species in the us under barack obama but if president trump soon has his way coal will be king again and today he signed a raft of measures reversing the policies of his predecessor. my administration is pushing an end to the war on coal, to have clean coal, really clea n the war on coal, to have clean coal, really clean coal. with today's executive action on taking historic steps to lift the restrictions on american energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job killing regulations. the new measures will undo the clean power plan, rules at aimed at reducing carbon emissions. it will rip roar a moratorium and scrap a limit on greenhouse emissions or construction of new power plants. —— it will withdraw. so obama is talking about all of this with the global warming, it isa all of this with the global warming, it is a hoax. we are going to put our coalminers back to work. this is when is bird, pennsylvania, a town that voted overwhelmingly for donald trump last november —— when is bird. in part down to his pledge to overturn obama pledges on energy. the colliery shut down a year ago, today there is growing confidence their industry might be coming back. as of right now, money is coming right back, they do believe mining is going to pick up and they are going to get theirjobs back. around this area, mining is picking back up. but environmental campaigners are aghast and wonder where it leaves the paris climate change agreement that barack obama committed the us to in 2017. 7396 of americans believe that climate change is real and the government should act and lid on it. so mr trump is in the minority. if mr trump is in the minority. if mr trump does not honour the paris deal, he willjoin a very small club that includes syria, nicaragua and uzbekistan. but the president wants to re m ove uzbekistan. but the president wants to remove regulations that get in the way of these american jobs. in essence, the president wants all meant to be able to drill and minors to be able to dig, but the reason so many pits shut down wasn't due to regulation, but it was become they had become an economic as consumers move to cheaper, cleaner forms of fuel. it is hard to see how the signing ofan fuel. it is hard to see how the signing of an executive order changes that. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. amelia butterly is a reporter for bbc radio 1 newsbeat and joins us now from airlie beach on queensland's coast. bring us up to date with what is happening and what you know this hour. it is obviously windy here, i'm not sure if you can hear that, but the weather is ongoing, we've had a lot of water on the seafront and rain and winds overnight but things are settling down. i'm in a tour operator on the beach. they have had some flooding and further along you can see trees that have gone through buildings and i've heard reports of cars being flooded, stuck in the middle of the road and totally filled with water. we've got some pictures that you have taken of what you have seen in the last few hours, i think we can show our viewers that. talk us through the experiences that you have had in the last 2a hours when the cyclone really hit the area you're in. yes, even the locals i think were surprised at quite how ferocious the storm was. certainly in our hotel we had tiles going off the roof, trees coming down around us and quite a few gu ests coming down around us and quite a few guests had to evacuate their rooms because it's not a hotel built for these kind of cyclones. they had deep flooding in their rooms. on the seafront this morning there were quite a few people walking around and definitely there are scenes quite upsetting for some business owners. one woman was crying because her bar, the roof of her bark, had collapsed and it had fallen in, it was a canvas roof, there was destruction in the interior of the barand destruction in the interior of the bar and that really upset her. the cleanup has started, people are putting branches out of the road and sweeping and i understand the army is on the way to offer some relief. i was going to ask you about that, we heard from the prime minister that the military and various helicopters have been deployed to the state where you are, no signs of them yet? no signs at the moment but people are expecting them any time soon. most people i have spoken to have bottled water but there are issues of supply, our hotel has no water and most people don't have any power so any assistance the army can offer will be welcome. amelia, thanks forjoining us, stay safe. china has formally asked france to take steps to protect chinese citizens, after a chinese man was shot dead by police in paris. the request came after a series of demonstrations in the french capital, following the death of 56 year old liu shaoyo on sunday evening. officials say the father of five had threatened police officers who came to his home with a sharp object, but his relatives say he was simply holding a pair of scissors which he had been using to prepare a meal. mr liu's nephew gave this comment to reporters. translation: because now we feel hatred, yes, we feel hate, and a police officer can't shoot someone like that. and at home, not to mention, with the children there. there you go. it's unfairfor a police officer to shoot someone in their home. that's why we want the truth. we want the truth. we came to light candles and all that. we want the truth. you're watching newsday on the bbc. live from singapore and london. still to come on the programme: deepening concerns for civilians in western mosul. we report on the thousands of people caught in the conflict. the accident that happened he was of the sort that can at worst producer meltdown. in this case the precautions worked but they didn't work quite well enough to reduce fears about the safety features of this place from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today anyone lighting up in offices, his mrs, pubs and restaurants will face a hefty fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he was addressing a trade union conference. a small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 yea rs it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago many christians wished it had never been built. eiffel tower's thatis had never been built. eiffel tower's that is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. i'm babita sharma, in london. our top stories: australian officials are beginning to assess the damage, after cyclone debbie pummelled the northeast coast. at least one person's been killed and tens of thousands of homes without power. there's a warning that more floods and heavy rains are on the way. an american general leading the fight to recapture the iraqi city of mosul from the group calling itself islamic state has admitted that coalition forces were probably involved in the deaths of civilians. general stephen townsend said an investigation was under way, but also suggested that the militants could be to blame. our middle east editorjeremy bowen is with the iraqi army as it advances into mosul from where he sent this report. mosul is being hit by war to take down islamic state. we drove through the streets taken by is in the last few days. the jihadists seized mosul in 2014, posing as the liberators of sunni muslims. instead they imposed a nightmare. and trying to end it was this general, 50 metres from an islamic state sniper. translation: it is a street battle. we advanced in teams from house to house. the enemy is very aggressive, using snipers and car bombs. fighting in a built—up area is the toughestjob a soldier can do. casualties are inevitable. mosul is a big city, which makes it worse. both sides are moving along passages knocked through walls because open ground is dangerous. through homes whose owners left in a hurry. dresses still hung in a cupboard. the command centre was in the living room. translation: the fighting has become room—to—room, not house—to—house. they are surrounded. either they fight or surrender. they are not surrendering. it's close quarter combat. he had two hand grenades ready. could airstrikes help them? they're politically difficult, especially now the americans say their coalition probably killed at least 150 civilians. this fight is every bit as hard and slow and difficult as was predicted. gunfire but these soldiers seem capable, and they are pushing forward. they are determined. gunfire their enemies are around 20 metres away. translation: they are french saudis, mainly french and saudis. when we kill them, we find their identity cards. and now, civilians, when they can, queue for handouts. on this street, they said it was better when jihadist came here to build their caliphate, to start a war to supersede islamic countries. and iraqis absorb more pain. jeremy bowen, bbc news, mosul. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we start with the south china morning post. the paper is reporting that carrie lam's first move as hong kong's new chief executive is to affirm that the new cabinet will be in charge of their own work, rather than looking to beijing for help. the japan times is leading with a story that claims police have opened an investigation following the avalanche in which eight people died at the nasu onsen resort. the paper says efforts will focus now on why the group organised a mountaineering lesson, despite an avalanche advisory warning for the region. the gulf news leads with the region's biggest technology merger and acquisition. it reports amazon has secured a presence in the middle east by acquiring dubai based souq.com. the value of the deal has not been disclosed. now, rico, there's been an unexpected side effect from a sporting event last year? yes, that's right. it's all to do with iceland's historic success at euro 2016. you may remember how the team surprised everyone by knocking england out of the tournament. well, it seems the celebrations may have created a new generation of potential world—beaters. yes, nine months after that victory, hospitals in iceland are reporting a record—breaking number of births in a single weekend. quite how many of the newborns will be named in honour of the icelandic football team remains to be seen. throughout history the clothes we've worn have created powerful perceptions of who we are. and then, as now, fashion has been intertwined with culture. and an exhibition at the national museum of the american indian in new york reveals how native americans today are developing their own contemporary look and changing the way we think about style and identity. jane o'brien reports. from couture the street where, daywear to costume, it is almost impossible to define native fashion. but that's hardly surprising. after all, each tribe is a nation with its own identity and culture and there are hundreds of artists working across the vast american continent. and they are all doing their own thing. what is the artist trying to do here? because these are not clothes i would wear. well, these two dresses are really an expression of the creation story. the connection to the stars. so she has chosen a space age type material. i do believe they are really meant necessarily to be worn, because of the material, we really are more of a statement in an exploration of these ideas. this one by contrast you could wear. it is addressed a bethany yellow tail and it is created in a very contemporary fashion, but it also has this line of fa ke fashion, but it also has this line of fake elk teeth that run over the arms and chest. that's a direct reference to betha ny‘s arms and chest. that's a direct reference to bethany‘s heritage and addresses that historically were warned by the women were covered in these elk teeth dresses. even where these elk teeth dresses. even where the cultural references are obvious, these clothes are anything but traditional. although that was the inspiration for margaret would, who learnt to so as a child. everyone had a traditional garment in the closet that they brought out for ceremonies and social events. then i started saying, those are good lines and wonderful colours. what if i did something that you could wear to work? and where it out to dinner? and not just be work? and where it out to dinner? and notjust be associated with an indian gathering. the result included this garment based on the native blanket dress. the style is now week when frequently worn by native women at graduations and other important events, but what this exhibition demonstrates most profoundly is the independence of native designers. their clothes are no longer the source of inspiration for others, they are themselves changing concepts of style and identity. thanks for watching newsday on the bbc. before we go, we will leave you with this monster truck pictures that we've got here. it is the first ever timea we've got here. it is the first ever time a monster truck has pulled off a front flip without crashing. he goes by the nickname of the mad scientist. hello there. the next few days are looking more unsettled, more cloud and outbreaks of rain across the country. one thing is for sure, things remaining on the mild side. maintaining south or south—westerly winds. mild overnight, a lot of cloud around. most rain across northern and western areas. the odd heavy burst over the higher ground. starting wednesday morning, quite mild in the south. 10—11, as opposed to 6—8 in the north. a rather cloudy and damp start for wednesday. rain continuing to affect north and western parts as we head through the day and in the afternoon. —— many central, southern and eastern areas staying dry altogether. perhaps some brightness around. quite a damp afternoon for much of scotland and northern ireland, and in two northwest england. heavy bursts of rain likely across higher grounds. mist and murk, temperatures in the low teens. quite breezy too. some wet weather into wales. the south—west and to the midlands and the east, quite dry. given the brightness, 16—17, but remaining cloudy for most of us. we import some warm air across central, southern and eastern parts from the near continent, we could be looking at the warmest day of the year so far on thursday afternoon, especially given some brightness in the south—east. 20, 21, maybe up to 22 degrees. but the weather for thursday across northern and western areas will maintain this cloudy, damp theme. the outbreaks of rain at times. quite breezy too, with lighter winds further east. a little bit cooler on friday. still quite warm across the south—east and west. looking at 12—15 degrees. a band of pretty heavy rain spreading north and eastwards because of that weather front. that will clear away into the weekend and it looks like we have a ridge of high pressure building on sunday. before we reach that point, it could be quite showery on saturday. could be quite heavy, maybe some hail and thunder mixed in. some sunshine around too and note temperatures are a bit lower across the board. sunday, dry, with the high pressure exerting itself. high pressure across the north—west corner, also breezy. to sum up the weekend, plenty of showers around on saturday. some sunny spells in between, fine on sunday but the nights will be quite chilly. you're watching bbc news. i'm babita sharma. our top story: australia has triggered a disaster response plan after cyclone debbie pummelled the north—east coast. the storm has caused major damage, torrential rain and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes in queensland. the prime minister has ordered military helicopters and the be sent over to deliver aid. britain's prime minister theresa may has signed an historic letter triggering the uk departure from the eu. it will be delivered to brussels later today setting up two years of intense negotiations with the eu. this story is [email protected], a ref at piece of footage has been captured using hidden track, cameras. it is the indochinese tiger. —— this story is trending at bbc.com, a rare piece of footage. our top story: the