13/11/2017 BBC News at Ten

The Government backs down and offers

MPs a chance to vote on the detail

of the final Brexit deal.

It's a last-minute concession,

ahead of a controversial

Brexit legislation debate,

which returns to

the Commons tomorrow.

Parliament will be given time

to debate, scrutinise and vote

on the final agreement we strike

with the European Union.

This agreement will only hold

if Parliament approves it.

These questions have been

pressing for months.

This last-minute attempt

to climb down brings them

into very sharp focus.

But the Government's warning that

a vote against the deal means the UK

will leave with no agreement leaves

some MPs unimpressed.

Also tonight:

A BBC investigation reveals a deal

to allow so-called IS fighters

to escape the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Where are they now?

It's here that they realised

that they might live

to fight another day.

The deal to get them out

of here is the deal that no-one

wants to talk about.

It's Raqqa's dirty secret.

The force of the earthquake that

struck Iraq and Iran,

killing over 350 people.

The British woman

imprisoned in Iran.

The Foreign Secretary apologises

for mishandling her case

and increasing her distress.

And the ten million tonnes of food

we throw away every year -

that experts say is mostly good

enough to eat.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News:

1958 was the last time Italy failed

to make it to the World Cup.

Can Sweden prevent them

from reaching Russia next year?

Good evening.

In a political climbdown,

the Government has offered MPs

the opportunity to debate the final

Brexit agreement line

by line - and potentially

vote to amend it.

But the Brexit Secretary,

David Davis, couldn't guarantee

the bill will happen before Brexit

day, in March 2019, and warned

that if MPs use the bill

to vote against the deal -

whatever it is - Britain will simply

leave the EU without an agreement.

It appears to have been a move

to appease Tory rebels, ahead

of a key Brexit debate tomorrow.

But it's infuriated many MPs on both

sides of the Commons.

Here's our political

editor, Laura Kuenssberg.

The trappings of power at the Prime

Minister at London's glittering

Guildhall tonight. An evening away

from the Parliamentary grind, trying

to avoid being hit by the Golden

mace. Less surprising were her

reassurances about her Brexit

approach.

There will be ups and downs along

the way. But I believe we should

embrace this period with confidence

and optimism.

The Government is not too cheery

about getting their Brexit

legislation through the Commons.

Secretary David Davis. This

afternoon, at -- a concession, a new

act of Parliament on the final

Brexit deal.

I can confirm that once we reach an

agreement, we will bring forward is

Pacific Pisa primary legislation to

implement that agreement. Parliament

will be given time to debate,

scrutinise and boat on the final

agreement we strike with the

European Union.

This will only hold a Parliament

approves it.

Giving in Sorum Tory

and Labour demands for Parliament to

have a proper decision if and when a

deal is done.

It is a recognition by

the Government that it is about to

lose a series of boats on the

Withdrawal Bill. Mr Speaker, these

questions have been pressing for

months, this last-minute attempt to

climb down brings them into very

sharp focus and we are entitled to

clear answers.

Stop Brexit! In other words, what

took you so long to admit that

Parliament would need a make or

break Brexit moment?

Stop Brexit!

There has been the is resistance to

the laws already going through the

Commons and this was meant to take

some of the wind out of the sails of

the rebels but if there is no deal

and no time, could there be no vote?

If we run out of time, none of these

suggestions that have been put

forward is that the time has to be

extended under Article 50 so that

all parties are able to deal with

it.

If the House of Commons votes

down the new Withdrawal Bill, will

the consequence be that we will

still leave on the 29th of March

2019 but without an agreement?

Yes.

What was that?

The Secretary of

State said, yes.

So does it change that much? There

is still an happiness swirling

around.

I have to say a lot of us

were insulted by this because it

sounded so good and when you dug

into the detail, you realised this

so-called meaningful vote was

completely meaningless.

It matters not so much here, but in

the real world. European business

equipped in Number 10 today to make

it plain to the Prime Minister.

Jobs, millions of families

livelihoods depend on her getting

Brexit right.

Laura, the timing of this

intervention by the Government

is key, but how meaningful is this

suggested new bill and is it enough

to keep the Government out

of difficulty with its own MPs?

I think it is certainly not enough

to keep the Godman out of trouble

with its own MPs. The timing of this

is absolutely crucial. It is no

current system is the Government

caved on this particular issue

today. Tomorrow, the Withdrawal Bill

as it is known gets into its next

stage in the House of Commons and

there will be between now and

Christmas line by line, day by day,

arguments on hundreds of amendments

over how the Government wants to

take us out of the EU as they try to

transpose European law back onto the

British statute book. But the idea

that suddenly emerged by surprise

today of having another Withdrawal

Bill much later in the stage to give

MPs a Finals Day was intended to

calm down all the tempers that were

already fraying over what would

happen in the next few months and

has it allowed those tempers to cool

down? It does not seem that way to

me. I am told by people on both

sides inside the Tory Party that

there was a stormy meeting between

the Chief Whip, in charge of party

discipline, and a dozen key Tory

rebels about this matter this

afternoon. Both sides concede it was

stormy, that is political code for

quite grim and probably with a lot

of shouting involved. Ministers know

that they are going to have to give

ground in the coming months and may

have known for a long time they

would have the net and took and

compromise here and there, but

today's attempt at conceding, which

is not something a competent

government would have done, has

knocked -- has not waved a magic

wand to make this all go away.

Thank you.

When US-backed Syrian fighters took

full control of the city of Raqqa,

it ended three years of rule

there by so-called Islamic State.

But now the BBC has uncovered

details of a secret deal that let

several hundred IS fighters escape.

IS made Raqqa, in northern Syria,

its headquarters in early 2014.

Last month, Raqqa fell,

but this programme has learnt that

in exchange for a deal to save lives

and bring peace to the city,

a convoy carrying several

hundred IS fighters,

their families and weapons

and ammunition were able

to leave the city freely.

The question now is,

where are they now?

Our Middle East correspondent,

Quentin Sommerville,

has this exclusive report.

Even at peace, with the so-called

Islamic State gone, Raqqa

is still deadly dangerous.

Few of its roads have been cleared.

The fighting stopped here a month

ago, but there are still mines

and booby traps everywhere.

Most of the city is a no-go zone.

Hardly anyone has been

allowed to return.

But we made it inside,

searching for a trail

through the debris, looking

for clues to the Islamic

State's escape route.

The city hospital was their last

refuge and it's here

where our journey begins.

The group's final defeat came thanks

not to a battle, but to a bus ride.

The convoy left from here,

the city hospital.

They'd been holed up

inside for months.

On it were IS fighters,

their families and hostages,

but we're told the mood was not

dejected, it was not defeated.

They were defiant.

It was here that they realised

that they might live to fight

another day.

The deal to get them out

of here is the deal that no

one wants to talk about.

It's Raqqa's dirty secret.

So did Kurds, Arabs and the Western

coalition get together and agree

a deal that not only allowed

IS to escape from Raqqa,

but also allowed its fiercest

fighters to roam far and wide

from the confines of this city?

They left a city lonely,

empty and in ruins.

The hunt begins here in Raqqa,

but would take us across

northern Syria and beyond.

The deal started

with a media blackout.

The Islamic State's escape

was not to be televised.

But, thanks to amateur footage...

We see that this was a convoy

and a deal too large to hide.

The world was told only a few dozen

local fighters were being let go.

No foreigners and no weapons.

But the trucks were crammed

full of fighters, some

wearing suicide belts.

All were heavily armed.

After days of searching,

we picked up the trail at a truck

stop on the outskirts of Tabqa.

Here, we discovered the drivers,

all civilians, who drove

IS to freedom.

They had been hired

by the Kurdish-led Syrian

Democratic Forces.

It was the longest

journey of their lines.

Their trucks were rigged

with IS bombs, in case

the deal collapsed.

They had been told they were picking

up only a few hundred civilians,

that it would be a quick job.

They ended up driving day

and night for three days.

Everybody's been saying only

a couple of hundred at the absolute

maximum IS fighters left Raqqa.

You took them out, tell us how

many you transported.

TRANSLATION:

We were 47 trucks

and 13 buses, and IS militants

took their own vehicles, as well.

Our convoy was 6-7 kilometres long.

We took out around 4,000 people,

including women and children.

Tell me about the foreigners

that were on the trucks,

where were they from?

TRANSLATION:

France, Turkey,

Azerbaijan, Pakistan,

Yemen, Saudi, China,

Tunisia, Egypt.

There was a huge

number of foreigners.

This couldn't look like the Islamic

State's escape to victory,

so the SDF insisted there would be

no flags and no banners.

Instead, IS fighters sat boldly

on top of the trucks.

The axle on one lorry broke, it was

so overloaded with IS weaponry.

When they made it to the village

of Shenina, they stopped

at this person's shop.

Pale and hungry, the IS fighters

cleared his shelves.

TRANSLATION:

We were at the shop

here and an SDF vehicle stopped

to say there was a truce agreement

between them and IS.

They wanted us to clear the area.

As soon as we did so,

an IS convoy came passing through.

There were about 4,000 people

leaving Raqqa on that road here.

It took them about 2-3 hours.

It was bumper-to-bumper.

Coalition aircraft flew

above them, but did nothing.

The convoy drove on.

We kept close on its tracks, for

here is where IS hoped to disappear.

They left the main road.

Mahmoud watched as they took a dirt

trail into the desert.

As they passed, they warned

that they would behead

the people who'd betrayed them.

TRANSLATION:

There

were loads of vehicles.

I could not count them all.

It took them about four

hours to pass through.

We have been living in terror

for the past four, five years.

It will take us a while to

rid ourselves of that

psychological fear.

We feel that they may

be coming back for us,

or send sleeper agents.

We're still not sure

that they have gone for good

and will not ever return.

Responding to our investigation,

the coalition now admits that

thousands were allowed

to leave here.

But foreigners did not

escape, it maintains.

Some of those who escaped have

already made it here to Turkey.

Raqqa was their capital,

but it was also a cage.

There, they were trapped.

The deal brought peace to the city,

but it also allowed some of the most

battle-hardened IS fighters

to escape not just Raqqa,

but also Syria, and arrive

here on Europe's doorstep.

The winds have carried news

of the Islamic State's defeat,

but they bring with them a warning

and a threat from a smuggler

and a former IS fighter.

TRANSLATION:

After IS crumbled

in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zur,

the smugglers here noticed a surge

in the numbers of those

who are trying to cross into Turkey.

They are mostly IS fighters and

families from Raqqa and Deir ez-Zur.

They are both

foreigners and Syrians.

TRANSLATION:

There are some French

brothers from our group who left

for France to carry out attacks

in what would be called

a day of reckoning.

The caliphate has gone,

but the Islamic State

is still out there.

Quentin Sommerville,

BBC News, Istanbul.

More than 400 people

have been killed

in a powerful earthquake that's

struck the northern

border of Iran and Iraq.

Another 7,000 were injured

and the casualty figure

is expected to rise on both

sides of the border.

A major rescue operation is

underway, but it is being hampered

by landslides and power cuts.

The epicentre of the quake,

which measured 7.3,

was just under 20 miles

south of Halabja.

One of the worst-hit

areas was Sarpol-e Zahab,

as James Robbins reports.

The moment the Earth

starts shaking violently.

A man runs for his life

from the control room of this dam,

as massive boulders

are hurled around outside.

The dam wall was not breached.

But, elsewhere, devastation.

In Iran, the border town

of Sarpol-e Zahab was hit hardest.

As entire walls collapsed,

many families did manage

to flee their homes,

but others were crushed or buried.

At a local hospital, there were

many stories of narrow escape.

TRANSLATION:

I fell from the balcony down.

The earthquake was very strong.

TRANSLATION:

The earthquake

shattered the window,

which fell on me, and it

wounded my hand and my face.

Rescue has been made more difficult

by the mountainous terrain.

Iranian authorities are pouring

resources in, but landslides

and power cuts are slowing

both rescue efforts and

the task of establishing

the full extent of casualties.

This quake was 7.3 in magnitude

and happened in a known danger zone.

The surface of the Earth is made

up of tectonic plates,

and, in this case, the Arabian plate

has been moving roughly northwards

against the Eurasian plate at a rate

of two centimetres -

just under an inch a year.

Forces build up

and eventually are very suddenly

released with devastating effect.

The destruction in Iran is greater

than in neighbouring Iraq,

where a major rescue

operation is also under way.

BBC correspondent

Rami Ruhayem is there.

This area is one of the hardest hit

in Iraq by Sunday's earthquake.

We are told seven people were inside

this home when it collapsed.

Two of them were killed

and others were injured.

Several other buildings suffered

similar damage to this one,

but, fortunately, they seem to be

the exception rather than the rule,

and most of the other homes

in the region managed to withstand

the impact of the earthquake.

For the survivors,

night-time is the toughest.

In rapidly falling temperatures,

families are huddled around fires.

Even where buildings are intact,

fear of after-shocks

will keep people outdoors.

James Robbins, BBC News.

The Foreign Secretary has admitted

for the first time that he made

a mistake in his handling

of the case

of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe -

the British woman held

in prison in Iran.

Boris Johnson apologised

for the distress and suffering

he had caused her and her family

by wrongly saying that she was

training journalists in Iran,

as opposed to being on holiday.

He also confirmed that he would be

meeting Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's

husband this week.

Our special correspondent, Lucy

Manning, has been speaking to him.

THEY SING

A mother singing with her daughter

just a week before her arrest.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has now

been separated from three-year-old

Gabriella for a year and a half.

With her health deteriorating

in an Iranian prison and the words

of politicians here appearing

to harm her case, her

husband has this message

for the Foreign Secretary.

I want you to solve

this mess in your name.

And I stand by that.

I think it's not a mess that's

entirely the Foreign Secretary's

making, by any means,

but it is a mess that his name has

been attached to and it is getting

deeper and more complicated

because of that.

He will take these requests

to a meeting with the Foreign

Secretary this week.

You're going to go to Iran.

And when you go, I'd

like to go with you.

I'd like to be on that plane,

I'd like to be standing next to you,

for the symbolism that has.

The second thing is that Nazanin be

given diplomatic protection.

That is within the gift

of the Government.

Mr Johnson had been less than clear

in backing the family's account that

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in Iran

visiting relatives

when she was arrested.

When you look at what

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

was doing, you just,

you know, she was simply

teaching people journalism,

as I understand it.

Today, Labour demanded answers

about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case

from the Foreign Secretary,

who had to return from Brussels.

It is not good enough.

If it is a matter of pride

that the Foreign Secretary

is refusing to admit simply

that he has made a mistake, well,

then I feel bound to say to him

that his pride matters not one ounce

compared to Nazanin's freedom.

Mr Johnson was apologetic.

It was my mistake.

I should have been clearer.

I apologise for the distress...

I apologise for the distress

and anguish that has been caused

to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe

and her family.

Ministers are considering

if diplomatic protection can be

given to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe,

which would turn it from a consular

issue into a more serious dispute

between the UK and Iran.

But it's not clear if

this would help her.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's employers

were insistent her job

was an administrative one.

We don't work in Iran.

To start with, the Thomson Reuters'

condition doesn't work there.

And we have no relations with Iran.

But on top of that,

she was really on holiday.

And let me tell you,

she's not spy material at all.

Her family just want her home.

Young Gabriella cried when her visit

to her mum in prison this

weekend was cut short.

Lucy Manning, BBC News.

A man has been has been found guilty

of carrying out an acid attack

at a London nightclub

in which 16 people

were seriously injured.

In CCTV, you can see

25-year-old Arthur Collins

throw the corrosive substance

at the Mangle Club,

in east London, in April.

He was convicted of 14 charges,

including grievous bodily harm.

An inquest has heard

that Welsh Government

minister Carl Sergeant -

who was sacked after allegations

about his conduct - hanged himself.

His body was discovered at his home

in Flintshire last week.

Mr Sergeant was facing

a Labour Party investigation

following claims about his behaviour

by a number of women.

Bob Geldof has returned his honour

granting him freedom of the city

of Dublin in protest at the Myanmar

leader Aung San Suu Kyi

receiving the same award.

She has faced criticism

for the treatment of the Rohingya

minority in her country.

MPs in Westminster have

been debating a budget

for Northern Ireland,

ten months after the power-sharing

government at Stormont collapsed.

Despite talks, the DUP and Sinn Fein

have failed to agree a deal

to restore devolution since then.

Our Ireland correspondent, Chris

Buckler, is at Stormont tonight.

Chris, this is not something

Westminster wanted.

But not having a budget has had an

effect. Yes, public services have

been running out of cash without a

power-sharing executive Westminster

has had to step in and the

announcement tonight the promise of

an extra 15 million for health and

education, money that has come from

the million pound deal the DUP did

to support the Tories at Westminster

but relationships there have not

helped relationships that Stormont

and Sinn Fein and the DUP are deeply

divided. James Brokenshire I was at

pains in the Commons to say it was

not the start of direct rule, where

London would take over the running

of departments in Belfast. He wants

a deal between parties here he said.

Sinn Fein said negotiations are over

for the moment and the DUP have been

taking the instruction of direct

rule in a matter of weeks. We have a

limbo for Northern Ireland

government between devolution and

direct rule and without anyone able

to make decisions. Frankly, that

cannot go one for ever.

Global carbon-dioxide emissions

are projected to rise

for the first time in four years.

Scientists at a United Nations

climate conference in Germany say

the main cause of the growth

is the greater use of coal in China,

as its economy grows.

Researchers say cuts in emissions

are needed to avoid dangerous global

warming later this century,

as our science editor,

David Shukman, explains.

For more than a week now,

the people of Delhi have been

suffering in air that

has become toxic.

Smog created by countless

engines burning fossil

fuels, including coal.

Coal is one of the biggest sources

of pollution worldwide.

Power stations such as this one

in Poland belch out gases

including carbon dioxide,

and despite promises to clean up,

emissions are actually increasing.

For countries in the path

of devastating hurricanes,

like the ones that struck

the Caribbean earlier this year,

this is depressing.

Because global warming may bring

more extreme weather.

And it seems to them that little

is being done to stop it.

This is very worrying for us.

I would hate to say that it

sounds a death knell,

but it translates into that,

given this summer we have had such

an active hurricane season.

We know what Irma and Maria

did to the region.

This new research finds that more

and more carbon dioxide

is being released from power

stations, factories and different

forms of transport.

And this matters because the gas

traps heat in the atmosphere.

This graph shows how emissions

of carbon dioxide have risen over

almost three decades.

In the last few years,

they have been levelling off,

which was seen as a positive sign.

But this year, there has suddenly

been an increase of 2%.

So what is happening and who is to

blame around the world?

In America, emissions of carbon

dioxide have fallen slightly

and that is despite President Trump

wanting to leave

the Paris agreement.

In Europe, they are on course

to be down as well.

But in China they are up,

as the economy picks up

and more coal is burned.

Climate scientists say it is vital

that less coal is used

if we are to have any chance

of heading off the worst

of global warming.

But President Trump is promoting

the coal industry and he wants

America to help other countries

to use it.

There are countries that have said

that coal is going to be

part of our energy mix

for the foreseeable future, many

in Asia and some in Africa as well.

And they have been clear that

because coal is going to be part

of their energy mix in the future,

they want support for

cleaner coal technology.

There is now a battle over a fuel

that many economies rely on.

There are plans to make

coal cleaner, to use it

without releasing carbon dioxide.

But this is not much of a reality

so far and, in the meantime,

there are warnings that emissions

need to fall rapidly,

not rise, as they are now.

Now, it looks pretty revolting.

Just some of the ten million tonnes

of food we throw away each year.

And despite what it looks

like here, experts say much

of it is good enough to eat.

There is waste throughout

the food supply chain,

but it's thought that the biggest

problem lies with consumers -

that's us - and campaigners

are urging families to be much more

careful about what they throw away,

as Jeremy Cooke explains.

OK, it is past its sell-by date.

But this is, or was, food.

What's this?

Sushi.

Grown, produced,

processed, and discarded.

A super-sized serving

of stinking waste.

It's amazing how much food is thrown

out, and it's amazing how long it's

taken the message to get through.

If you don't have to

eat it, don't buy it.

The striking thing here

is the tonnes of food waste

that we all throw away all the time.

This stuff has come from bars

and restaurants and businesses

and there are mountains of it piling

up here every day.

Across the country,

we throw away 10 million

tonnes of food every year.

That's £17 billion worth in the bin.

And we're told 60%

of that is avoidable -

food that could have and should

have been eaten.

There is waste through

the entire supply chain.

From in the field,

in the manufacturing,

in the restaurant, in the retail,

in the supermarket, distribution,

and in the kitchen at home.

Overproduction is a fact

of the modern food industry.

Most of the surplus - good,

nutritious stuff - goes to waste.

But here there's another way.

All of this, if it wasn't

for Fareshare, would end

up going in the bin.

At the Fareshare charity,

they take the surplus and use

it to feed the hungry.

The thing that really drives us nuts

is it is going to waste

while there are people going hungry.

We feed at the moment half

a million people a week,

half a million people a week,

with this food.

We do that to 7000 front-line

charity and community groups.

Which is good news here

at the Melton Learning Hub,

where disadvantaged kids get

good, fresh food.

For our kids it means

they get hot meal.

They definitely get

a hot meal every day.

Lots of different circumstances

the young people come to us

in and it is a brilliant way

of using food that would,

as you say, go to waste.

But Luke and his mates know

that this is the exception.

Most surplus food is

simply thrown away.

This stuff, if it was like left

on the shelf, it would get put

into storage and get put

in landfills and that

and that's not good.

Tackling the issue will mean dumping

less food and doing more

with whatever goes in the bin.

Here it is used to make valuable

fertiliser to generate

gas and electricity.

But most of our discarded food

still goes to the incinerator

or to landfill - perhaps

the definition of waste

in a hungry world.

Jeremy Cooke, BBC News.

The four-time winners

of football's World Cup - Italy -

have been eliminated from the finals

next year in Russia.

The Italians could only draw nil-nil

in the second leg of their match

against Sweden in Milan.

It's the first time Italy

has failed to qualify

for the World Cup finals since 1958.

The new stage adaptation

of the 1970s film Network -

a satire on television news's

obsession with ratings -

has had its world premiere

tonight in London.

Its star, Bryan Cranston,

from the cult television

series Breaking Bad -

has been speaking to our Arts

editor, Will Gompertz,

about his concerns about the impact

of social media on news and

the current climate in Hollywood.

They met at the National Theatre.

A very interesting perspective.

Because I've never sat out

here, looking that way.

OK.

It's quite an impressive

set, though, isn't it?

You were an overnight success,

you could argue, at fifty-ish.

Although they may look the same.

Bryan Cranston became

an international superstar

in the hit TV show Breaking Bad.

Playing Walter White,

a chemistry teacher who becomes

a drug-dealing criminal.

Breaking Bad was a phenomenal

experience for me.

It changed my life completely.

And here he is in another

life-changing role.

I'm as mad as hell and I'm not

going to take it any more!

In the National Theatre's stage

adaptation of the 1970s film

Network, in which his character

loses it on air and becomes

a ratings sensation.

In the '70s it was clearly a satire.

Network in 2017 is no

longer a satire.

It is profound and it is

what we are living in.

This inundation of information

is not necessarily a good thing.

That our children can

access not only horrific

acts of real violence

on their cellphone, but pornography.

Anything and everything

is accessible now.

It's not good for society.

It's starting to feel

like a dark age in Hollywood.

Is there a way back

for the Weinsteins and

Spaceys of this world?

If they were to show us

that they put the work

in and are truly sorry,

and making amends, and not

defending their actions,

but asking for forgiveness,

then maybe down the road

there is room for that.

Character transformation is becoming

a theme of Bryan Cranston's

late career as a star

of stage and screen.

From crystal-meth-cooking teachers

to mad-as-hell newscasters.

Will Gompertz, BBC News.

Newsnight is coming up on BBC Two.

Here's Evan Davis.

On August 30th this year,

a massacre occurred in a village

called Tula Toli, in Mynamar.

Our team has been piecing together

what happened that day.

The testimony they've acquired

makes a disturbing film,