:00:08. > :00:09.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:10. > :00:14.This is an historic moment from which there can
:00:15. > :00:19.Britain is leaving the European Union.
:00:20. > :00:22.Formal notice came in the form of this letter - and now, two years
:00:23. > :00:31.It will be a different relationship, but I think it can have the same
:00:32. > :00:39.benefits in terms of that free access to trade.
:00:40. > :00:45.Our goal is clear. To minimise the cost for the EU citizens, businesses
:00:46. > :00:48.and member states. We'll bring you reaction
:00:49. > :01:02.from Westminster, Brussels, We will be live in Washington. The
:01:03. > :01:06.chairs of a US Senate investigating Russian interference in the US
:01:07. > :01:09.election will speak to the President's son-in-law.
:01:10. > :01:28.And don't forget you can get in touch using the #BBCOS.
:01:29. > :01:36.The UK has been a member of the European Union for 44 years. These
:01:37. > :01:41.worthy moments that it started to leave. This is the UK's
:01:42. > :01:46.representative to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, arriving in Brussels this
:01:47. > :01:49.morning. In the briefcase that he is holding is a letter from Theresa May
:01:50. > :01:58.requesting the formal process of Brexit to begin. You can see the
:01:59. > :02:02.letter being handed over to Donald Tusk, the president of the European
:02:03. > :02:08.Council. He tweeted he had taken receipt to it. He also tweeted not
:02:09. > :02:12.long afterward, we already miss you. He also addressed the press at the
:02:13. > :02:22.European Council. So here it is. Six pages. The
:02:23. > :02:31.notification from Prime Minister Theresa May triggering Article 50.
:02:32. > :02:37.And formal starting of the negotiations of the United Kingdom's
:02:38. > :02:41.withdrawal from the European Union. There is no reason to pretend that
:02:42. > :02:50.this is a happy day. Neither in Brussels nor in London. After all,
:02:51. > :02:55.most Europeans, including must have the British voters, wish that we
:02:56. > :03:03.would stay together, not drift apart.
:03:04. > :03:06.Thank you and goodbye. This is an image that those of you watching on
:03:07. > :03:10.the BBC News Channel in the UK may have seen on the front of your
:03:11. > :03:12.newspapers today. Theresa May signing the letter in London
:03:13. > :03:18.yesterday before it was taken to Brussels. Here is the beginning of
:03:19. > :03:21.it. Before today we weren't sure what form this letter would take.
:03:22. > :03:31.Some people thought it may be a single line. It runs to several
:03:32. > :03:44.pages. The Prime Minister makes a on several issues clear. -- approach on
:03:45. > :03:48.several issues. She goes on to say that the UK leaves without an
:03:49. > :03:54.agreement, and that is not the best option. Our corporation in the fight
:03:55. > :03:59.against crime and terrorism would be weakened, and we must work hard to
:04:00. > :04:02.avoid that outcome. The Prime Minister also sat down with the
:04:03. > :04:05.BBC's Andrew Neil. What we will be working for is a
:04:06. > :04:13.Contra -- comprehensive free-trade agreement. We would like to see
:04:14. > :04:17.free-trade, tariff free across borders, so we can continue that
:04:18. > :04:22.trade. It will be a different relationship. It will be a different
:04:23. > :04:25.relationship because it will be a relationship based on membership of
:04:26. > :04:29.the single market and based on accepting all the other that voters
:04:30. > :04:34.rejected. What it will be is saying that we want that new partnership
:04:35. > :04:37.with the EU. We still want to work with you and cooperate with you. And
:04:38. > :04:44.actually, getting a trade agreement just about the UK. It's not just
:04:45. > :04:47.about our businesses. It is about businesses in other countries being
:04:48. > :04:52.able to trade with us. I think it is in the interest of both sides to
:04:53. > :04:57.agree a really good deal. Philip Webster, the former political
:04:58. > :05:01.editor of the Times, says the threat of security cooperation is a gamble.
:05:02. > :05:06.It could backfire because surely you can't bargain in this territory.
:05:07. > :05:13.European leaders have made it clear trade talks will only come after the
:05:14. > :05:16.Brexit deal is worked out. TRANSLATION: We know there are tied
:05:17. > :05:21.commitments between Britain and the European Union, and of course
:05:22. > :05:25.Germany, as a result of 44 years of membership. In the negotiations it
:05:26. > :05:30.must first be clarified how we go about dismantling these commitments.
:05:31. > :05:35.And also about how we deal with the many rights and duties tied up with
:05:36. > :05:39.membership until now. It is only if we sort that out that we next, and I
:05:40. > :05:44.hope soon, talk about our future relationship.
:05:45. > :05:49.Let's bring in Christian Fraser of the BBC, who has been covering this
:05:50. > :05:53.story all day. We weren't sure how much detail we would get but we got
:05:54. > :05:59.a lot of detail in that letter informing us about how Theresa May
:06:00. > :06:03.would approach Brexit? We did, yeah. It was longer than we anticipated.
:06:04. > :06:08.What we got from it, and a lot of people have commented about this,
:06:09. > :06:11.was a warmer, more conciliatory tone then we heard from the Prime
:06:12. > :06:16.Minister last year when she was talking to her own party at the
:06:17. > :06:23.Conservative Party conference, and in the Lancaster House speech. There
:06:24. > :06:28.was a lot of talk about working together, the give and take there
:06:29. > :06:32.would have to be. There was a spirit of compromise. Spare a thought for
:06:33. > :06:35.the Prime Minister. The handing over of the letter remarkably simple but
:06:36. > :06:42.from here in it is devilishly difficult. Not only is she fighting
:06:43. > :06:49.on a level in the European Union she is fighting to keep the Scottish
:06:50. > :06:53.Nationalists at bay here in the UK. Some in Northern Ireland want a
:06:54. > :06:57.referendum. And she is also fighting to keep her own party onside because
:06:58. > :07:02.there is that Eurosceptic wing who will not be in the same spirit of
:07:03. > :07:05.compromise that she is. Explain the pressure she is feeling from the
:07:06. > :07:11.Eurosceptic wing. What does it want that she may not be able to give it
:07:12. > :07:19.due notably the divorce settlement figure being bandied around and
:07:20. > :07:25.about 50, 60 billion euros. You have also pulled out another part, that
:07:26. > :07:29.for the Europeans they want to talk about the divorce settlement first
:07:30. > :07:33.and to get that sorted so the UK stands behind its commitments. The
:07:34. > :07:38.UK wants to talk in parallel with those divorce talks about the future
:07:39. > :07:43.relationship. You can see it from the British point of view. What they
:07:44. > :07:46.will say is, there is no deal until everything is agreed. The Europeans
:07:47. > :07:50.will say, unless you agree to this figure we put on the table, we will
:07:51. > :07:54.not talk about the future shape. There are all sorts of tricky issues
:07:55. > :07:58.that they have to overcome before they even get into the meat of the
:07:59. > :08:04.detail, which will of course take much longer than 18 months to two
:08:05. > :08:06.years, you would anticipate. We are going to pick up on the
:08:07. > :08:29.point? Is making enough few moments. There is much to be done before it
:08:30. > :08:32.the UK leaves the EU. Michel Barnier is the EU chief negotiator. Here he
:08:33. > :08:42.is telling us his Brexit team is ready. We also know the European
:08:43. > :08:49.Commission has already published a timeline, that if things -- mapping
:08:50. > :08:55.out how the two years will go, leading to the point of Brexit.
:08:56. > :09:01.Let's do a BBC reality check on whether that two-year schedule looks
:09:02. > :09:06.realistic. Chris Morris is in Malta, where an EU gathering has been
:09:07. > :09:09.taking place. I asked him to Castan high on how fixed all of these
:09:10. > :09:16.moments in the next two years are. In many ways, not at all fixed.
:09:17. > :09:19.Given that it is such a short period, you might think negotiations
:09:20. > :09:25.would be starting tomorrow, after nine months of waiting since the
:09:26. > :09:28.referendum took place. We are in an EU process, which means it will be
:09:29. > :09:33.several weeks it is not a couple of months before negotiations begin.
:09:34. > :09:35.First of all, we have to get the other 27 countries producing a
:09:36. > :09:42.mandate for the European Commission to negotiate with the UK. They will
:09:43. > :09:46.be meeting at a summit a month from today, on April 29, to agree that
:09:47. > :09:49.mandate. That mandate has to be turned into a formal directive,
:09:50. > :09:54.which means the negotiations may start in late May, I suspect
:09:55. > :09:58.probably early June. The time is going to be very short, which is why
:09:59. > :10:03.people are trying to pass a lead into bite sized chunks. One of the
:10:04. > :10:06.problems is going to be as soon as they start negotiating, they will
:10:07. > :10:11.have a dispute over what they are negotiating about and when. We heard
:10:12. > :10:20.the quote from Theresa May who wants to negotiate the divorce deal and
:10:21. > :10:22.future trade in parallel. The European Commission wants to sort
:10:23. > :10:31.out the principles first. There will be some big personalities coming to
:10:32. > :10:36.beer. -- there. One of the biggest is Jean-Claude Juncker. Has he been
:10:37. > :10:41.talking in Malta? Yes, we had a quick word with him as he came into
:10:42. > :10:44.a forum about an hour ago. He said, this is an historic day but in terms
:10:45. > :10:49.of sadness that one of our members is leaving us. He said he himself
:10:50. > :10:58.was extremely sad but was trying not to say too much about the process.
:10:59. > :11:02.Not until the draft guidelines on negotiations, ride. I don't think he
:11:03. > :11:07.wants to complicate things. As we saw with Donald Trump -- Donald
:11:08. > :11:13.Tusk, he looked genuinely upset. This is not a cause for celebration.
:11:14. > :11:16.But it is something on which the EU leaders will try to come together
:11:17. > :11:21.and provide a united front to the United Kingdom. One of the things we
:11:22. > :11:25.will see players in the next few months is the EU saying every day,
:11:26. > :11:29.we are as united as ever, and the United Kingdom trying to chip away
:11:30. > :11:32.at potential differences between member states and institutions. I'm
:11:33. > :11:36.not sure much success they will have. Now the UK has formally
:11:37. > :11:40.started the process of living, the other 27 are already looking at life
:11:41. > :11:45.beyond the UK, how we move on after that.
:11:46. > :11:49.The BBC reality tech team will be working overtime on Brexit. You can
:11:50. > :11:56.find them on BBC television and online. In a couple of minutes on
:11:57. > :12:02.the programme, we will look at reaction from top EU officials, and
:12:03. > :12:14.also two major member states, France and Germany.
:12:15. > :12:19.The accident that happened here is of the sort that can cause a
:12:20. > :12:39.meltdown. The Republic of Ireland has become
:12:40. > :12:45.the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. From
:12:46. > :12:48.today, anybody lighting up in pubs and restaurants will face a hefty
:12:49. > :12:51.fine. The president was on his way out of
:12:52. > :12:55.the Washington Hilton Hotel where he was addressing a conference. The
:12:56. > :12:57.small crowd outside included his assailant.
:12:58. > :13:03.It has become a symbol of Paris. 100 years ago many resumes wished it had
:13:04. > :13:05.never been built. The Eiffel Tower's birthday is being marked by the
:13:06. > :13:15.re-enactment of the first ascent. This is Outside Source live
:13:16. > :13:18.from the BBC newsroom. Our lead story: Britain has
:13:19. > :13:20.formally notified the EU Theresa May called it an historic
:13:21. > :13:24.moment from which there Some of the main stories from BBC
:13:25. > :13:34.world service. The South African anti-apartheid
:13:35. > :13:36.activist, Ahmed Kathrada, President Zuma did not attend
:13:37. > :13:41.the funeral at the family's request. Bob Dylan will accept his
:13:42. > :13:45.Nobel Prize for Literature He was awarded the honour
:13:46. > :13:50.in October, but didn't show up We're told he intends
:13:51. > :13:54.to record a lecture. If that doesn't happen before June,
:13:55. > :14:14.he'll forfeit the $900,000 that You find this in the most red list.
:14:15. > :14:21.A missing Indonesian man has been found dead inside the body of a
:14:22. > :14:26.python. London is a financial hub from any American banks. We look at
:14:27. > :14:31.their thinking as they look at Brexit and what it might mean. Here
:14:32. > :14:38.is a report. The UK is about 3000 miles that way.
:14:39. > :14:43.Some of America's biggest banks are less than a mile over that way. How
:14:44. > :14:46.is the decision to trickle -- Trigger Article 50, something
:14:47. > :14:53.happening over there, have an impact on the big banks your? This is not
:14:54. > :14:59.an existential issue. It is a really big hassle. Banks don't like
:15:00. > :15:02.hassles. Banks are not saying much, but some like Goldman Sachs behind
:15:03. > :15:07.me had indicated that jobs will be leaving London. The numbers of
:15:08. > :15:11.people that are going to leave London will be in the tens of
:15:12. > :15:15.thousands. That is in a city with millions and millions of people,
:15:16. > :15:21.many already employed in finance. There is a lot of noise being driven
:15:22. > :15:27.by the banking sector and by the sector's lobbying groups, trying to
:15:28. > :15:30.bend rules to their advantage. OK, so that takes care of the
:15:31. > :15:37.short-term. What about the long-term? Brexit itself doesn't
:15:38. > :15:42.necessarily trigger a mass exodus of employees out of London. But it will
:15:43. > :15:48.force banks to look at the cost of doing business and the light over
:15:49. > :15:54.the time. The big question is, in a post-Brexit Europe, will London
:15:55. > :15:57.remain a global financial centre? That will ultimately determine
:15:58. > :16:01.whether or not the American banks stay put.
:16:02. > :16:06.We're going to talk to some era live in a moment about a different story.
:16:07. > :16:10.Toshiba has filed for bankruptcy protection from its US -based
:16:11. > :16:15.nuclear subsidiary, Weston house, because of escalating costs of
:16:16. > :16:20.nuclear pants -- plans it is building in the US. This is what
:16:21. > :16:24.happened to Toshiba's shares in Tokyo when these problems were
:16:25. > :16:30.announced. You can see at diving in December and it has continued since.
:16:31. > :16:35.A fall of more than 60%. Some era joins me live from New York. Some
:16:36. > :16:40.people may be surprised to hear Toshiba are making nuclear plants in
:16:41. > :16:44.America? Yeah, absolutely. This was a purchase made by Toshiba. In
:16:45. > :16:49.retrospect the executives are probably thinking wasn't the best
:16:50. > :16:55.idea. There are two issues. First, the on Toshiba. Second, what this
:16:56. > :17:02.means for the nuclear industry globally. With regards to Toshiba,
:17:03. > :17:04.this has been a big drag on the financial bottom line, and now there
:17:05. > :17:10.are even questions about how much financial responsibility Toshiba
:17:11. > :17:16.will have for Westinghouse and will they even have enough money to cover
:17:17. > :17:20.the costs? That will take a while to sort out. Right now the company is
:17:21. > :17:26.in chapter 11, in bankruptcy proceedings. Now comes the time for
:17:27. > :17:34.the negotiations, trying to figure out which creditors to pay and when.
:17:35. > :17:38.When you talk about the global industry of nuclear energy, it seems
:17:39. > :17:45.to be waning overall in favour of things like solar power and wind
:17:46. > :17:50.power, and the fact we saw that energy prices have just fallen so
:17:51. > :17:56.much, the importance of getting into nuclear has really gone down quite a
:17:57. > :18:00.bit in the last few years. That is the story in the context of the
:18:01. > :18:03.nuclear industry. From Toshiba's point of view, help me understand
:18:04. > :18:07.how these problems in America tie in with the electronics business which
:18:08. > :18:14.are so many of us have dealings with? It's a subsidiary company. You
:18:15. > :18:18.have Toshiba, the main company, and lots of companies on different
:18:19. > :18:23.branches elsewhere. Westinghouse is in fact one of them. Because it is
:18:24. > :18:27.one of their subsidiary companies, they are on the hook for some of it.
:18:28. > :18:32.That's really where you are going to see a lot of negotiations happening
:18:33. > :18:35.between Toshiba executives, Westinghouse executives and other
:18:36. > :18:40.companies in the United States, just how all of that breaks down. In
:18:41. > :18:44.fact, there are some people who are worrying whether or not Toshiba has
:18:45. > :18:48.enough money in the Bank to be able to cover all of these costs
:18:49. > :18:52.associated with Westinghouse. Thank you. You have covered the two
:18:53. > :18:58.stories. We will give you a rest at this point! Next, we're about to
:18:59. > :19:03.talk about Samsun. Its latest smartphone range is coming out. This
:19:04. > :19:08.was its predecessor. Remember this? It didn't do very well. It was
:19:09. > :19:15.pulled and ditched after a battery fault caused some devices to catch
:19:16. > :19:22.fire. The BBC has seen one of the new ones.
:19:23. > :19:27.I had a hands-on with it earlier. I can tell you that it's not a
:19:28. > :19:30.different from the other high-end smartphones out there. There are
:19:31. > :19:34.interesting features. It has taken all of the furniture out of the
:19:35. > :19:38.front of the phone, so literally most of the front of it now is the
:19:39. > :19:41.screen. There is a hidden home button. They have got rid of the
:19:42. > :19:45.branding and the stuff that goes around the top, and they have curved
:19:46. > :19:52.the edges. When you watch a video, all you feel like -- you feel like
:19:53. > :19:55.you are the big screen. There are other cosmetic changes. One of the
:19:56. > :20:01.things that Samsung is really excited about is its new digital
:20:02. > :20:09.assistants, which it is calling Bixby. What it does that is slightly
:20:10. > :20:12.different from Syria is it uses the camera as a pair of eyes. You can
:20:13. > :20:17.activate it with your voice and pointed at something in the room. I
:20:18. > :20:22.tried a bottle of wine. You pointed out the bottle and say, tell me more
:20:23. > :20:27.about this. Up comes all of this information about the wine, and much
:20:28. > :20:31.it costs, the best vintage era etc. That is a neat gadget but whether it
:20:32. > :20:37.is enough to your people away from using Google assistant that remains
:20:38. > :20:40.to be seen. I think Samsung would like to say that is their big new
:20:41. > :20:50.innovation. You haven't got it with you? Unfortunately, not. I haven't
:20:51. > :20:54.then allowed to bring it here! Samsung has been cautious about the
:20:55. > :20:57.batteries, as you can imagine. They did have a disaster with the notice
:20:58. > :21:02.seven. They say they went back to the start, they have all kinds of
:21:03. > :21:06.new regulations to make it safer. They are not taking any chances. If
:21:07. > :21:12.anything, I wonder how much the battery is going to hamper the
:21:13. > :21:15.device. These little things can do so much. They wouldn't tell me what
:21:16. > :21:24.the battery life is. They are certainly playing it safe.
:21:25. > :21:32.We talk about Donald Trump everyday. We don't talk about his wife very
:21:33. > :21:32.much. Melania Trump - she's not
:21:33. > :21:34.sought out the spotlight since becoming First Lady,
:21:35. > :21:37.but we've seen her today She presented the awards
:21:38. > :21:45.at an event honouring It is therefore our duty to continue
:21:46. > :21:52.shine the light on each miraculous victory achieved by women. All
:21:53. > :21:55.capable of trying, truly leading the change to fight for those that
:21:56. > :21:56.cannot fight for themselves. Barbara Plett-Usher
:21:57. > :21:58.was at the awards ceremony, and told me about how Melania Trump
:21:59. > :22:13.has stayed out of the spotlight. She is off the charts low profile.
:22:14. > :22:18.Euro must say she has no profile. She is not living in Washington. She
:22:19. > :22:22.is still in New York until her son completed school term. Even though
:22:23. > :22:25.there are reports that the paparazzi has given because she doesn't appear
:22:26. > :22:31.in public. On those occasions when to you has had official functions,
:22:32. > :22:35.her face is so inscrutable and she has such a practised smile at people
:22:36. > :22:43.can't figure out who she is, what's she thinking. There are people who
:22:44. > :22:47.think she is trapped in a miserable marriage. People who know her say
:22:48. > :22:51.that's nonsense. See is naturally restrained. She is trying to get her
:22:52. > :22:57.bearings in this unexpected new role. Where do you face -- place as
:22:58. > :23:00.first Lady? Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama or publicly engaged.
:23:01. > :23:08.She is not like the more traditional version like Nancy Reagan or Jackie
:23:09. > :23:12.Kennedy. She has just hired a communications director. She will be
:23:13. > :23:15.moving to Washington in a month. Perhaps that will change. At the
:23:16. > :23:23.moment we don't know much about her. This was a rare public appearance.
:23:24. > :23:27.Now a science story that concerns this man. He was paralysed from the
:23:28. > :23:32.neck down after crashing his bike into a truck 80 years ago. Now he
:23:33. > :23:39.can control his arm and hand through electrical sensors in his brain. His
:23:40. > :23:44.sensors connected to electrodes on his lower arm and upper arm. These
:23:45. > :23:48.pictures have been shared by him and the university he has been working
:23:49. > :23:52.with. It gives you an idea of the technology. He went through four
:23:53. > :23:55.months of virtual reality training to learn which brain signals
:23:56. > :24:03.instruct which movements. This technology was pioneered by the Case
:24:04. > :24:12.Western University in high our. -- Ohio. This can circumvent the
:24:13. > :24:17.injury. These pictures have been so -- shared by the university, as has
:24:18. > :24:22.this clip. I learned about this research
:24:23. > :24:28.through one of the doctors at the VA. My father said, you really want
:24:29. > :24:32.to do this? I said, yes. Somebody has to do research. If nobody does
:24:33. > :24:36.research, things don't get done. Now we can tell the world it's possible
:24:37. > :24:43.to reconnect the brain and make the arm move again. I'm still wild every
:24:44. > :24:49.time I do something amazing. I ate a pretzel. I drank water. One day they
:24:50. > :24:53.had some mashed potatoes. Lo and behold, I was able to eat the mashed
:24:54. > :24:57.potatoes really well. I'm always wanting them to do more. Seeing the
:24:58. > :25:04.possibility is one of the biggest goals. Yes, I'm in here but it's not
:25:05. > :25:15.like my life stopped when I got injured. It will help out a lot more
:25:16. > :25:19.people for years to come. Case Western reserve University
:25:20. > :25:22.showing those pictures. Speaking of websites, the big story today is the
:25:23. > :25:28.formal process of the UK leaving the European Union, which has begun with
:25:29. > :25:32.a letter signed by Theresa May delivered to Donald Tusk, president
:25:33. > :25:36.of the European Council. I imagine you have many questions about this
:25:37. > :25:41.process. You are welcome to send them my way. I will do my best to
:25:42. > :25:45.answer them. If you want to in your own time, there are extensive
:25:46. > :25:54.articles on the BBC News website and the BBC News app explaining every
:25:55. > :25:59.aspect of the Brexit process. I will be back in a couple of minutes.