good morning and welcome to the programme. it is eight a.m. in singapore, one a.m. in london and two a.m. in brussels where a hand—delivered letter from the british ambassador has made history. theresa may has formally announced the intention of britain to leave the intention of britain to leave the eu, a process that will end quarter decades of membership. both sides now have it nine years of complex and difficult negotiations to work out what life will be like after the divorce. some moments make us. this is one. the minute in westminster, belfast, edinburgh and cardiff that the united kingdom formally changed course. the article 50 process is now underway and in accordance with the wishes of the british people, the united kingdom is leaving the european union. this is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. probably our last ambassador inside the european union handing over the letter at 12:25pm. the document that says we are on oui’ way out. theresa may's signature on our departure. herjob now, to make it work. the prime minister wrote of her hope that we put citizens first, that we strike an early agreement about the rights. but no grain guarantees. the prime minister wants a free—trade deal with the eu of greater and decision than any before. i hope seen by naive as some to protect businesses from rules and barriers. there was no overt threat to walk away at a serious warning— a to reach an agreement would mean that there would be a weakening in the agreement to fight crime and terrorism. a message that the eu needs as. she also wants to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the eu, to work out how we leave at the same time as working out the future. there is no reason to pretend that this is a happy day. neither in brussels law in london. ina rare neither in brussels law in london. in a rare interview inside number ten the prime minister does promised that despite all of the challenges oui’ that despite all of the challenges our relationship with the rest of the continent will be just as good. what we are both looking for is a comprehensive trade agreement that gives the ability to trade freely into the european single market and for them to trade with us. it would bea for them to trade with us. it would be a different relationship and i think it could have the same benefits in terms of free access to trade. an assertion that will take a lot to prove. one her counterparts struggle to believe. number ten‘s time for preparation is finished. now it is time to try to persuade. the british community is looking on with interest. —— the business community. i spoke with a former us trade negotiator and asked him what the process brexit means for international trade. it will really depend on what the terms that the uk manages to secure oui’. depend on what the terms that the uk manages to secure our. if, as the prime minister hopes, the uk is able to maintain access to a single market and passport rights, not much will change. but if those terms should change, that will dramatically impact and affect the attractiveness of the uk for asian trading partners. especially for the likes of japan, they have a major footprint in the uk, particularly in banking and in autos. of course. and many of those investments were contingent upon expectations that britain will serve as a beachhead for the rest of the european market. should those rights disappear for banks, should cars made in britain now be subject to tariffs and stringent rules of origin, the attractiveness of the uk is going to disappear. and how about for the chinese. how much of an impact will post brexit be an trade? for the chinese, we are only at the early to stages of seeing outbound investment into the uk. unlike the japanese there is not as large a volume of fixed investment quite yet. the terms of how brexit will work itself out will affect where the chimneys choose to invest there out —— affect where the chinese choose to invest. uk us trade and investment links, how is that? everyone in washington is also eagerly waiting to see how this will shake out. there are political reasons on both sides to try and get a deal done and, obviously, a dealjust with the uk rather than with europe as a whole may prove easier but there are still some major hurdles to be had on both sides with regards to regulation, banking and the like. so it will be a number of years before that deal could come to fruition. that was a former us trade negotiator. but a look at some of the other news of the day. a top us army general says that nearly 300 members of the iraqi military have died since the battle to recapture western mosul began last month. the general also announced a formal investigation will begin into whether a coalition airstrike may have killed over 200 civilians in the city. and so now we have moved to the investigation phase. it will be a more formalised approach, to really look into the details of this as much as we can to establish what happened, establish what the facts are, identify accountability and, certainly, identify the lessons learned. also making use today, reports from serious say that engineers have managed to carry out some work on a dam on the euphrates river. us backed local fighters say the gates we re backed local fighters say the gates were successfully opened, easing water pressure and fears of flooding. a conversation group says the price of ivory in china has fallen by nearly two thirds in the last three years. it says the economic slowdown of china and an anticorruption economic slowdown of china and an anticorru ption drive has economic slowdown of china and an anticorruption drive has led to a sharp reduction in ivory carvings which are given as gifts. # baby we should take it slow. what a performance there from john legend. it is surprised fans and rail passengers with a gig in central london. he tweeted that he was about to get off the eurostar from paris. 20 minutes later, the post had drawn a big crowd who heard an eight minute performance. supporters of the ousted south korean president are gathering outside the district court in the capital of seoul ahead of a hearing inafew capital of seoul ahead of a hearing in a few hours time that will determine whether to approve an arrest warrant for corruption allegations. this is the scene live outside her residence where it is ten minutes past nine in the morning. we will expect to see ms park who will be attending the court hearing. a short time ago i spoke to oui’ hearing. a short time ago i spoke to our correspondent who was outside the court room. there is massive security here. ostensibly she arrives as a private citizen but it does not feel that. she arrives almost as if she were still the president. so many police here. she will stay in custody until an decision on that decision could be tomorrow. she may well spend at least one night behind bars and then the decision could well be that she remains behind bars. remember, the central characters in this alleged scandal are already in prison, from the head of samsung to her best friend. it will be quite surprising if the woman in the middle of all these allegations does not also be imprisoned. that is for that court here behind me to determine. she made herfirst court here behind me to determine. she made her first court appearance a week ago and we were talking at the time. hundreds upon hundreds of people gathered out to see her then. do we expect a similar turnout today? i think we are. we are now getting the hard cores, if you like, in this political divide. her supporters say that it is a political prosecution, that she has been pushed from office for political reasons and whatever crime she has committed, she committing any, it does not merit her sacking from the presidential palace. the opposition say that there is a corruption at the very top of south korean life and she embodies it at the moment. it is a very deep divide within the society. elections in two months time, expected to be a vote to the left but the division will remain. the us senate intelligence committee has pledged to get to the bottom of russia's interference in the 2016 election as it prepares to begin public hearings today. the committee will question 20 people including the son—in—law of president donald trump. laura has the latest from washington. there are two separate investigations going on in the two political change chambers in congress. one is already occurring in the house but this is the upper chamber, the big boys, so to speak, and both of them are cracked and republicans, very importantly, stood side—by—side in the pest conference as they announced that they had called 20 witnesses. those were witnesses who will include the son—in—law of president trump, jared kushner, as will as his former campaign manager. they have alleged to have met with the russian ambassador during the later half of 2016 during the campaign be questioned about that. this is all relating and trying to find alleged ties between the kremlin and donald trump's campaign. it runs in tandem with the fbi's current investigation that this is a political investigation and, certainly, when it comes to politics, the parallel investigation down in the house seems to be falling apart. the open hearings are no longer being held and there are accusations between democrats and republicans and, in fa ct, democrats and republicans and, in fact, house democrats have even called for the chairman of a committee to stand down after he met with an intelligence aid in the white house, talking about whether 01’ white house, talking about whether or not donald trump had been wiretapped or underwired surveillance. there are counterclaims going on within the lower house but up in the senate this enquiry and the hearings will start injust this enquiry and the hearings will start in just 24—hour‘s time. you are watching you say on the bbc. still to come on the programme, as britain certain and the eu begin the process of separation, what will be the impact on immigration and freedom of movement? the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations 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, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: britain starts the process of severing its ties with the european union, as theresa may formally triggers brexit and says "there's no turning back." let's stay with our top story, brexit, which has, of course, created uncertainty not, just for business, but for eu citizens living in the uk, britons living in the eu, and people applying for residency permits. i spoke to dominic volek, a managing partner of henley & partners here in singapore, a resident and citizenship advisory firm. i asked him what all this means for immigration and freedom of movement. the biggest impact will be for british citizens. currently, as a british citizens. currently, as a british citizens. currently, as a british citizen and therefore a european citizen, they have the right to travel through the european union. after brexit, this will certainly be an uncertain status for the next two years, and britain, therefore, as a british citizen, they lose that right to travel through 27 other states. as a european citizen or a citizen of the eu, they may lose access to one state, being britain. this makes the whole process complicated. yet. it will affect the visa free travel between the european union and britain. they continued to negotiate their own short—term visa policy. it is really the settlement rights that has been the attraction of eu citizenship, uk citizenship, and particularly for asian families, who we are told are looking at that as attractiveness. it is that freedom that eu citizenship provides these individuals. speaking to rico hizon. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the new york times leads with a special report on the ongoing ferocious battle to retake mosul from the so—called islamic state. it features this picture of a man calling out to relatives after his father was killed in a blast. it says iraqi civilians have been "simply running whenever they can." saudi arabia's arab news is leading with geneva peace talks aimed at ending the war in syria. it quotes the chief negotiator for the syrian opposition saying that there will be no real or viable solution without us backing. finally, the japan times reports on a proposal that urges the government to be prepared to strike north korea in event of attack. the ruling liberal democratic party panel recommends that japan has its own long—range cruise missiles capable of targeting the north. we wa nt we want to show you the front page but we could not. it's exactly a year since myanmar‘s first democratically elected government in more than half a century was sworn into office. its leader, aung san suu kyi, said a priority was to end decades of conflict between the military and more than a dozen insurgent ethnic rebel armies. but it's proved difficult. our myanmar correspondent, jonah fisher, reports from northern shan state. the last year in myanmar has seen everything and nothing change. this is the shan village. these people are from the tang ethnic minority. and in early 2016, the army marched in. the soldiers accused the villages of supporting the rebel army. the tla. that is the skies. they are now in control of the law. —— these guys. just like 15 other rebel groups across myanmar, they say they are fighting for the rights of ethnic minorities after years of abuse at the hands of the burmese army. that is the same army that aung san suu kyi, a former human rights icon, now shares power with. she has made a peace deal to end the long ethnic wars, her priority. she has avoided criticising the generals to try to keep them on side. it has not worked so far. the leaders tell us not worked so far. the leaders tell us they have not been invited to the talks and believe aung san suu kyi is now too close to the military. shortly afterwards, word comes through that the burmese army is advancing, so we leave in a hurry. for all of the talk, there is now more fighting across myanmar fan there was under the previous government. having made little progress with peace, aung san suu kyi's first year report card is not much better elsewhere. this is rakhine state where her attempts to deny and downplayed the abuse of the rohingya minority has left many abroad wondering what she stands for. —— downplay. abroad wondering what she stands for. -- downplay. there were very little contents in that package. this is a human rights activist was released after 11 years as a political prisoner. he tells me, just as many others have in private, that aung san suu kyi is fallen short across the board as a leader. asa short across the board as a leader. as a winner of a noble peace prize, there are certain standards you are expected to live up to. like moral courage and the qualities of leadership and compassion and, umm, that has been totally lacking. aung san suu kyi's supporters say working with the army is in near impossible job and say she needs more time. but after one year in office, aung san suu kyi has little to show for it, apart from survival and damage to her once unrivalled reputation. jonah fisher, bbc news, myanmar. in a rare honour for a football player, the portuguese striker cristiano ronaldo has had the airport on his home island of madeira named after him. however, it was his odd—looking statue that attracted attention in the unveiling ceremony as sarah corker explains. cristiano ronaldo is a local hero in madeira. the islands most famous son, a rags to riches success. so what better way to outline his achievement than naming the airport after him and unveiling a new statue? but this probably was not quite the like as he was expecting. —— likeness. unfazed by the bulging eyes of the past behind him, he thanked the regional government for this tribute. but social media has not been quite so kind. the statue has already got its own spoof twitter page. football fans say it looks like former republic of ireland catch on niall quinn van ronaldo. and this is another quote. one fan said this. singing. and another statue, again in barnado's hometown, has also been the subject of ridicule. —— ronaldo's. around the world there are caricatures and figurines and it took only 15 days to make this bust. the artist says he has not spoken to cristiano ronaldo yet, but looks forward to getting his opinion. let us hope that the star sees the funny side. sarah corker, bbc news. so, the start of the brexit process has been triggered. let's have a look at some of the defining moments of the past nine months, from the day the voters of britain took the momentous decision to leave the european union. the people have spoken and the a nswer the people have spoken and the answer is we are the people have spoken and the answer is we are out. the people have spoken and the answer is we are out. this is britain. we are great britain. that is what we do. i don't really know where we stand. i'm very worried. the british people have made a very clear decision to take a different path, and as such, i think the country requires fresh leadership to ta ke country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction. it is a victory for ordinary people, decent people. this does not mean that the united kingdom will be in any way less united, nor indeed, does it mean it will be any less european. the option of a second referendum must be on the table. her majesty the queen has asked me to form a new government, and i accepted. brexit means brexit. and we are going to make a success of it. au revoir. no prime minister, no government, can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged. parliament alone is sovereign. the ayes to the right, 198. the british people spoke. the ayes have it. the british people have been led to expect a future that seems unreal and overly optimistic. this is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. britain is leaving the european union. we are going to make oui’ european union. we are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. i'm sad. i am deeply sad. there is no reason to pretend this is a happy day. thank you and goodbye. no reason to pretend this is a happy day. thank you and goodbyelj no reason to pretend this is a happy day. thank you and goodbye. i choose to believe in britain and that our best days lie ahead. mixed weather fortunes for today's weather picture. some will have the best weather so far. western areas will have rain today. rain coming from the south and west. across eastern areas of england, the air has been coming up from the near continent, and that will bring temperatures into the low 20s in the warmest spots. as i said, the warmest day of the year so far. a mild start to the day with temperatures staying in double figures, 11 to 12 degrees as we start off. always the risk of pulses of rain affecting northern ireland. scotland is looking wet. cumbria as well. further pulses of rain across these western areas through the day on and off through the rest of the day. for the east, over a cloudy start and after that, things will brighten up the sunshine coming in. for scotland, south—western areas the warmest. dumfrees and galloway. not too much rain towards the coastline. brighter spells. northern ireland, rain. some drier spells from time to time. western england and wales seeing some rain. further east, warm sunshine. sunshine will be hazy. we could see temperatures pushing up to 22 degrees in the warmest spots. now, during the evening and overnight, there will be some more wet weather coming across western areas of the uk. the rain will turn persistent and heavy. murky conditions in the hills as well with mist and fog. but it wil be another mild night. temperatures 11—12 for many of us. friday's weather picture. low pressure is in charge. a band of rain moving north and east. then the weather will try to improve as we head through the afternoon. northern ireland brightening up. sunshine in england and wales. some areas of scotland as well. it will turn quite windy for northern scotland later on. warm in the far north. in the sunshine, temperatures pushing well into the teens. pretty mild for the time of year. the weekend, and unsettled start to things on saturday. a mixture of bright spells and passing showers. temperatures, between 12 and 16 degrees celsius. the wind will be light. showers will stay with you if you are hit by one. showers will be killed off. we will look for a decent day on sunday. sunday, on the waterside. cooling off in the afternoon. perhaps one or two passing showers for the north and west of the uk. temperatures reaching a high of 17 towards the south—east. and that's your weather. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story. the british prime minister theresa may has formally begun the process of leaving the european union. she described it as a historic moment from which there could be no turning back. but there are signs that negotiations with european leaders will be tough. the ousted south korean president, park geun—hye, is due in court for a hearing that'll decide whether to approve an arrest warrant against her over corruption allegations. the price of ivory has fallen sharply in china. the conservation group, save the elephants, says an economic slowdown and an anti—corruption drive has lead to a reduction in ivory carvings often given as gifts to officials. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. aykroyd has converged on