BBC news with Julie Candler. The Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has said that victory for his forces in the battle for Aleppo would be a huge step towards ending the war in Syria. He was speaking as his troops appear poise to crush what remains of the rebel enclave there. Western countries have called for an immediate ceasefire. An airstrike on an Iraqi town held by Islamic state militants is reported to have accidently killed dozens of civilians. Medical sources in al-Qaim said 63 people had died, around half of them women and children. Both the US led coalition and Iraqi air force carry out attacks on IS targets. The Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has handed in his resignation as he said he would do if he lost last Sunday’s referendum on constitutional changes. But President Sergio Mattarella has asked him to remain as a caretaker prime minister while consultations take place with the main political parties on a new government. British MPs have voted to back the government’s plan to begin talks by the end of March to leave the European Union. The opposition Labor Party putted forward a motion calling on the government to set out its departure plan before it triggers article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty to begin the formal exit process. The government accepted the motion, but in return asked MPs to respect the result of the referendum and support its Brexit timetable. The chairman of Pakistan International Airline has said that all 48 people who were onboard a passenger plane when it crashed have been killed. The aircraft came down to the north of its destination Islamabad after fly from the town of Chitral. Thousands of people including many US service personnel have attended a ceremony in Hawaii to commemorate the 75thanniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After speeches, wreaths are presented to honor Hawaii and those who lost their lives. BBC news.