22/02/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten - no agreement

in the UN Security Council

on establishing a humanitarian

ceasefire in Syria.

For a fifth consecutive day

in the rebel enclave

of Eastern Ghouta, the intense

bombardment by Syrian government

forces has continued,

as the UN warns of a massacre.

A number of hospitals and medical

centres have been hit,

making it almost impossible to treat

the many wounded.

TRANSLATION:

What we're seeing

everyday has caused us to collapse,

both humanely and psychologically.

We don't have anything

more to offer.

We're being bled out.

We'll have the latest

on the diplomatic efforts

to establish a ceasefire so that aid

supplies can be delivered.

Also tonight.

An away day at Chequers for

Theresa May and senior ministers -

as they try to agree a collective

position on Britain's future

relationship with the EU.

As American students

demand tougher gun laws,

the powerful gun lobby backs

the president's idea for some

teachers to be armed.

To stop a bad guy with a gun,

it takes a good guy with a gun.

CHANTING:

No ifs, no buts,

no USS pension cuts.

Thousands of university lecturers

have started strike action over

planned changes to their pensions.

And Tracey Emin talks to us

about art, equality, and her legacy.

Later in the hour, we'll have

Sportsday on the BBC News channel,

with all the latest reports,

results, interviews and features

from the BBC Sports Centre.

Good evening.

The United Nations has warned

of a massacre in the rebel

enclave of Eastern Ghouta

on the outskirts of Damascus.

Syrian government forces have been

pounding the suburb for a fifth

consecutive day amid reports that

more than 350 people have been

killed since Sunday night,

including 150 children.

Russia has said there is no

agreement in the UN Security Council

on establishing a humanitarian

ceasefire in the region.

This report by our Middle East

editor Jeremy Bowen contains some

distressing images.

More air strikes, more bombs

and more casualties.

It is not letting up.

Across eastern Ghouta,

rescue workers sprint into broken

and burning buildings before

the dust of their

destruction settles.

This was another attack

a few miles away.

A temporary ceasefire

is under negotiation,

brokered by Russia,

Egypt and Turkey.

Even if it happens, the horror

of these days will stay

with the survivors for a lifetime.

Two sisters, Alaa, aged

eight and Noor, eleven,

were in their home when it was hit.

Warplanes bombed our building.

Now...Ghouta.

Look at home.

This was sent to us by their mother.

Please help us.

Please save our children

here in East Ghouta.

Where is the humanity?

I ask you in the name

of motherhood, please help us.

Getting on for 400,000 people,

terrified by the sight

and sound of aircraft,

are thought to be in eastern Ghouta,

which is the size of Manchester.

The Syrian regime insists it's

targeting terrorists.

but it's clear many children

are among the wounded and the dead.

Improvised hospitals have been set

up in cellars and basements

during the years of war.

Now, though, the medics

are at full stretch.

Dr Amani Ballour wanted to send

a message to the people of Britain.

TRANSLATION:

We never wanted the war

and we don't want to live under it.

For the sake of our children who've

been blown to pieces,

for the sake of our children

who died of hunger, what we're

seeing every day has

caused us to collapse,

both humanely and psychologically.

We don't have anything more

to offer, we're being bled out.

Dr Amani was treating 12-year-old

Mohammed, who was dying.

His mother had been cooking

breakfast for her family when three

air strikes came in.

TRANSLATION:

I am here,

waiting for my son to die.

At least he'll be free of pain.

I pray to God to end his suffering.

But where are the Arabs,

where are the Muslims?

Do we have to appeal to Israel?

When my boy dies, he will go

to heaven, where at least

he'll be able to eat.

I'd like to die with him

so I can look after him.

Syrians have cried so many tears

in the seven years of war.

The killing is

escalating, not ending.

And once again, the world

is watching from a safe distance.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News.

Live to the UN in New York

and our correspondent, Nick Bryant.

Bring us up-to-date on the

diplomatic efforts Saturday.

Well,

the Russians are using their

military power to help the Assad

regime in eastern Ghouta, and here

at the United Nations Security

Council in New York they are using

their veto power to help the Assad

regime. Today, all it took was the

mere threat of a veto to block a

draft resolution which would have

called for a 30 day ceasefire, which

would have allowed humanitarian

convoys into places like eastern

Ghouta ran for medical evacuations

to take place. The Russians are

proposing amendments, but these

negotiations have been going on for

two weeks. The Russians have already

been granted Major concessions and

the Western powers are saying this

is yet another delaying tactic by

Moscow to grab more time for the

Assad regime to continue its

military offensive and to kill more

people. Britain and America today,

again, as they have for many years,

bemoaned Russian obstruction but

what they've never been prepared to

do is back at those words with

meaningful action in Syria to

counteract Russia's influence, so

they get to call the shots there and

increasingly here. I do think there

will be another attempt to pass a

ceasefire resolution tomorrow, and

the French ambassador but its

darkest night. He said a failure to

get that through would be a

devastating loss of credibility for

the Security Council and could sound

the death knell of the United

Nations itself.

Nick Bryant, many

thanks for the latest from New York.

Theresa May and 11 of her senior

ministers are at Chequers tonight -

the Prime Minister's country home -

to try to unite behind a single

government strategy on Brexit.

They've spend several hours

there today, ahead of the next phase

of the Brexit negotiations

with the EU.

From Chequers, our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg reports.

BIRDSONG

What could break the

calm of the country?

Birdsong twittering

across the Home Counties Valley?

Spring's plucky early buds

bravely making their way?

The zooming arrival of the Cabinet's

cars - that's what.

Darting into Chequers,

hoping perhaps the rural peace might

provide inspiration.

For more than a year,

this group have been attempting

to hammer out a compromise.

But for decades, arguably,

the Tory party has been trying

and not always succeeding.

So, can they find one today?

They were at it for eight hours.

The Prime Minister,

surrounded by her close

colleagues and advisers -

some who were pitted against each

other during the referendum.

Next week she wants to tell

the rest of the world

more of her Brexit plan.

But the inner cabinet has struggled

to agree how closely we should stick

to the EU after Brexit.

Some compromise perhaps today,

but not a dramatic breakthrough.

If you look at what happened back

before the December European summit

there was a lot of speculation

that the Cabinet would

not reach agreement.

We all agreed a position

that the Prime Minster took

to Brussels, and got

a successful outcome.

And all of us in the Cabinet

are determined to get the best

possible deal for every part

of the United Kingdom.

Every modern Tory Prime Minister

who has had the run of this country

pile has had to deal

with splits over Europe.

Yet Government insiders suggest

it was only Boris Johnson

that was likely to dig in furiously.

One minister told me

the Brexiteers would be reminded

firmly of the consequences

of failing to agree.

But there are nerves and suspicion

on both sides in the Tory

party and their outside

rivals are sceptical.

It won't last and what our problem

is, is that in trying to deal

with the Government and be

responsible as an opposition,

work with them as necessary,

we never know from day to day

who is in charge and

what the policy is.

But Theresa May's Brexit plans have

always emerged gradually,

rather than sudden changes.

And next she must

persuade the EU, too.

Any negotiation is compromise.

The choice for the Prime Minister

is who will take and who must give.

Just in the last few minutes,

ministers have been speeding out of

the gates here at Chequers, after

talking for eight hours. About all

of this. Now, you might wonder why

they have to talk still for such a

long time when they've been talking

about it for more than a year. The

answer to that is that in the

Cabinet, as through the Tory party,

there's a of opinion about how

closely we should stick to the EU

after Brexit, or how much we should

make a dramatic break. There has

been some optimism at the top levels

of government in recent days that a

compromise here today, the sort, was

looking more, not less likely. But

Theresa May will still have to get

whatever has been agreed through the

whole Cabinet on Tuesday, through

her party, where some elements don't

want her to give up anything at all,

and then, of course, through 27

other European countries. This was

an important date and she will hope

she's made a step forward, but a

step, not a leap, not abound, to

what happens next.

Laura Kuenssberg with the latest

light at Chequers.

The latest official figures

on immigration appear to confirm

that the vote to leave the EU has

had an impact.

More EU citizens left Britain

in the year to last September

than at any time for a decade.

But overall nearly 250,000 more

people from the EU and the rest

of the world arrived

here than went abroad.

Our home affairs correspondent

Daniel Sandford is here

to look at the figures.

Yes, Huw, ever since the Brexit

referendum businesses

and politicians have been tracking

the number of EU citizens

coming to and from the UK

with great interest.

And in today's release

of immigration figures we have

reached a bit of a milestone.

In the year to last September,

an estimated 130,000 EU nationals

have left and no longer live

in the UK.

That is the highest number for ten

years, the highest in fact

since the financial crash.

However, in that same time -

despite Brexit - around 220,000 EU

citizens moved here.

Which means that still, overall,

90,000 more EU citizens moved

to the UK than left in the year

to September - though that is

the lowest figure since 2012.

What about migration

from outside the EU?

Well, in the same period,

205,000 more non-EU foreign

nationals arrived to live

here than left.

Making their contribution

to the growing population more

than twice that of the EU citizens.

And wrapping all the figures up

together, along with the tens

of thousands of UK citizens

who leave Britain each year,

overall 244,000 more people arrived

in the UK in the year

to September than left.

So today's immigration figures

continue to show what appears to be

a Brexit effect on the EU

population of Britain.

But the government's manifesto

commitment to get net immigration

down below 100,000 a year

is still out of reach.

Huw.

Daniel Sandford, our home affairs

correspondent, many thanks.

America's all-powerful gun lobby,

the National Rifle Association,

has backed the president's call

to provide teachers with guns -

after they've been trained

to carry concealed weapons.

The head of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre,

also accused politicians

of exploiting the school shooting

in Florida, in which 17 were killed,

to try to impose tighter gun

restrictions, as our North America

editor Jon Sopel reports.

Will the Florida school

shooting come to be seen

as a landmark moment,

when impotence gave way to rage,

and rage led to action?

Never again!

The vociferous students who have

taken to the streets

are bringing change.

But not always in

the way they wanted.

The President, making clear

that he thinks the way to make

schools more secure is to train

and arm more teachers.

Tweeting today, "If a potential

sicko shooter knows that a school

has a large number of very

weapon-talented teachers and others

who will be instantly shooting,

the sicko will never

attack at school.

Cowards won't go there.

Problem solved."

He first floated the idea

at an emotional White House meeting

last night, with victims' families.

One of those in attendance

was a pupil at the Parklands

school, Sam Zeif.

How is it that easy to buy

this type of weapon?

Afterwards, he was dismissive

about the President's plan.

Arming teachers is just

not what we need.

You know?

This is a problem because guns

were brought into our school.

Why would it make sense to bring

more guns into school?

And the President has held another

White House meeting today

to discuss the issue,

promising action that will win

the support of many of the students.

I think we are making a lot

of progress, and I can tell

you it is a tremendous feeling

that we want to get something done.

He wants increased background

checks on those seeking

to purchase weapons

and to ban bump stocks -

this is the device that

turns a semiautomatic

rifle into a machine gun.

And he backs raising the minimum age

for buying a rifle to 21.

To those arguing for comprehensive

gun control measures,

what Donald Trump is proposing might

seem like teeny-weeny baby steps.

But any measure will have to get

Congressional approval,

and doing that is never achieved

without a fight.

And no-one fights for gun rights

like the National Rifle Association.

Today, in a rare public appearance,

the leader of the NRA spoke

out, and he was in no

mood for compromise.

Lean in, listen to me now,

and never forget these words.

To stop a bad guy with a gun,

it takes a good guy with a gun.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much.

In other words, what America needs

is more guns, not fewer.

The President is being pulled in one

direction by the NRA,

another by the students.

If past form is a guide,

there will only be one winner -

and it won't be the students.

Jon Sopel, BBC News, Washington.

Justin Forsyth, a prominent figure

in the world of international aid,

has resigned as deputy executive

director of Unicef.

Mr Forsyth, who was appointed two

years ago, used to work

for Save the Children,

during which time he was accused

of inappropriate behaviour

towards female staff.

My colleague Manveen Rana,

who uncovered the story

earlier this week, is here.

How did we get to this resignation?

When the investigation came out, we

revealed that three several women

have complained about Justin Forsyth

while he was running Save the

Children UK. The allegations

involved streams of inappropriate

text messages, e-mails, all of which

the women said had made them feel

Biglia uncomfortable. They were the

most junior members of staff, he was

the CEO. But in a statement today,

Justin Forsyth said he wasn't

resigning because of the mistakes he

had made at Save the Children. He

said he had apologised unreservedly

at the time and he apologised again

to the three women involved. He said

he was resigning because he didn't

want to cause any more damage to

Unicef, Save the Children and the

charity sector as a whole. Questions

are being asked about how much

Unicef knew about these allegations

before they appointed Mr Forsyth to

one of the most senior roles in the

organisation. They say nothing. They

have been conversations in the last

few days with the children and Mr

Forsyth. They have been told the

allegations were hidden from them

because they had been in formal

complaint and had gone three

confidential process of mediation.

Manveen Rana, thank you.

Haiti has suspended Oxfam's

operations in the country for two

months while it investigates

allegations of sexual misconduct

by some of the charity's staff.

Seven Oxfam workers in Haiti

were dismissed or resigned in 2011,

while working in the country

following the earthquake.

Haiti's government said the charity

had made a "serious error"

in failing to inform them

at the time.

Thousands of university lecturers

have started strike action over

planned changes to their pensions,

which they say could leave them

thousands of pounds a year

worse off in retirement.

Students' studies could be

disrupted for up to a month

if all the planned strikes go ahead.

Our education correspondent

Elaine Dunkley reports from Leeds.

At Leeds University,

lecturers out on the picket line.

Thousands of lectures have been

cancelled on campuses across the UK,

the message - "Give us

the pensions we paid into,

or there will be mass disruption".

We're expecting things

to grind to a halt, really.

Forms won't be signed,

classes won't be taught,

research deadlines won't be met.

We're likely to lose

about £10,000 a year.

Now, vice chancellors are earning

about £250,000 to £280,000 a year,

so I have questions about why

the money shouldn't be coming out

of their salaries and not

out of our pensions.

The universities say

a £6 billion deficit in the scheme

means it's unsustainable,

and could only be maintained

by making cuts to jobs and research.

Universities say they have

offered a good deal,

but lecturers are not convinced.

Currently, we have what is called

a defined benefit scheme,

which means we put money

in and we will definitely

get a certain amount

back when we retire.

The defined contribution scheme

which is being offered means that

what we end up with in the pot

will depend on the vagaries

of the market and other things,

and it means we can't be

certain of what we'll have.

Left unresolved, more lectures could

be cancelled and exams affected.

You pay over £9,000 in fees.

Do you feel short-changed

by all of this?

The students support their

lecturers, but are also worried

These students support their

lecturers, but are also worried

about their future.

More than 80,000 students have

signed petitions

calling for fees to be reimbursed.

When we signed up to university,

it was specified in the curriculum

that we would have a certain number

of hours of contact time

with our lecturers.

Anything short of that is

essentially a breach of contract.

We worked out that it works out

at about £1,150 worth

of lost contact time.

But we fully support our lecturers

in going on strike.

This dispute is being fought

on university campuses

across the UK, which included

marches in Cardiff...

Belfast, and Glasgow.

How it's resolved will have

a significant impact

on the retirement of thousands

of lecturers, and the future

of millions of students.

Elaine Dunkley, BBC News.

In Venezuela, hundreds

if not thousands of people

with transplanted kidneys

are at risk of losing the organs

due to the country's chronic

shortage of medicines.

The Venezuelan Federation

of Pharmacies says 85%

of the medicines they need

are not available.

The UN has warned that people

are dying of treatable illnesses.

Venezuela, which has the largest oil

reserves in the world,

is nonetheless in the grip

of an economic crisis.

In the second of two exclusive

reports from inside the country,

Vladimir Hernandez reports

from the capital Caracas.

Her fate is out of her hands.

For more than a decade, Judith has

had a transplanted kidney,

but due to the severe shortage

of medicines, for four months

she's been unable to get the drugs

to keep the kidney going.

Her doctor says he has about 700

more patients in hospital,

also facing the imminent loss

of a transplanted kidney.

For Venezuelans, the hunt

for medicines is desperate.

Most drugs are out of stock,

and even when you find them,

there's another problem.

This person was looking for several

types of medicines here,

but she could only find this one.

These are two boxes

she needs per month,

but it costed her 12 million

bolivars, which means about a third

of what she makes in a whole year.

I've met other people around this

pharmacy and they are saying there's

no chance they could afford

something like this.

Critics say this is an example

of the failure of the so-called

socialist revolution,

but the Venezuelan president says

US-led sanctions prevent him

from importing medicines.

Things are worse away

from big cities.

This is Apure in the south,

near the Amazon forest,

and one of the poorest states

in the country.

Here, I gained very rare access

to a public hospital,

a place where the government does

not allow the media in.

This baby is seven months

old and malnourished.

The scabs on his head and body

were caused by an illness

related to malnutrition.

His mother cannot afford his

medicines once she leaves hospital.

Children like these are having

to get, for instance,

antibiotics for a price

which could be ten times

the monthly minimum wage.

And the people who live in poor

communities like these

are unable, absolutely unable

to buy these medicines.

Little Oriana has

an uncertain future.

She needs surgery to

treat her lung failure.

But her family can't

afford the antibiotics

to get her ready for it.

A simple drug, out of the hands

of many Venezuelans.

For Oriana, as for many

Venezuelans, lack of medicine

is an almost certain death.

Vladimir Hernandez,

BBC News, Caracas.

Let's have a brief look

at some of the day's

other other news stories.

Two brothers, aged six and two,

have died after a suspected

hit-and-run crash in Coventry.

A black Ford Focus was found

abandoned a short time

after the crash, and a man

and a woman have been arrested.

Britain's biggest energy supplier

Centrica, which owns British Gas,

says it's cutting 4,000 jobs over

the next two years.

The company saw a sharp fall

in profits last year.

It says political interference

in the energy market

was partly to blame.

A letter reportedly addressed

to Prince Harry and his fiancee

Meghan Markle is being treated

by police as a racist hate crime.

Scotland Yard say it was delivered

along with a package

containing a substance,

which they tested and found

not to be harmful.

The big tech companies,

such as Google, Amazon and Facebook,

could face much higher tax bills

in the UK if ministers go ahead

with some new policy options.

They've told the BBC that they're

considering proposals to tax

those companies on their sales

revenue, rather than their profits.

But the Government has been warned

against taking action that isn't

co-ordinated globally,

as our economics editor

Kamal Ahmed explains.

They are some of the biggest

companies in the world,

and many of them count their profits

in the billions of pounds,

if not their tax bills.

That could be about to change,

as the Government signals it

will launch a new attempt at raising

more tax from these

global tech giants.

The minister driving

the move told me

that these successful companies,

used by millions of people,

would pay higher bills.

We recognise that there

are businesses generating

substantial value within the UK,

who we don't believe are currently

paying a fair rate of tax.

But that is quite different

from saying they're not

paying the taxation

that they should be paying.

And fair tax means,

in your mind, higher tax?

It will in the case of a number

of those businesses, absolutely.

The companies make clear

that they play by the rules,

but the fact is that the Treasury

wants to change them.

Let's take Google as one example.

It has sales or revenues

in the UK of over £1 billion.

It makes profits in the UK

of £149 million, and pays tax

on those profits of £38 million.

But if it paid tax on its sales,

a much larger number,

its tax bill would rise.

The Government has certainly opened

the door to new taxes for those

big global technology companies,

but this is not just

a debate raging in Britain.

Here in France, the Government wants

to increase taxes on those

global digital giants.

There's a similar

argument in Germany.

It's a race, but it's

a race with risks.

If every country follows

their own path on taxes,

might there be the start

of a tax war?

And the organisation charged

with stopping that

is based right here in Paris.

The OECD is concerned

about Britain's

and other countries' proposals.

A tax on turnover

is not a great idea.

It may be the last resort,

a political measure or stopgap

measure, but it's not a great idea.

Apple's HQ in America,

and here's the point.

Most of these companies

are American, and that is where

they pay the bulk of their taxes.

This would be a fundamental change.

They're certainly willing

to pay their fair share

or their responsible share of tax.

The risk of the UK behaving

or acting in a unilateral fashion

would be that there could be

the risk of double taxation

for some of these companies,

and then I think you would see

a lot of money spent on lobbying

to protest against that.

It has been a tortuous battle.

What does fair tax look like?

This is the latest Government

attempt

to answer that

controversial question.

Kamal Ahmed, BBC News.

The artist Tracey Emin,

famous for her autobiographical

installations, including

an embroidered tent naming previous

lovers, and her own unmade bed,

is being honoured by MTV's

Staying Alive Foundation

for her long-standing support

of HIV and Aids charities.

The former Turner Prize nominee has

been discussing art,

gender equality and her legacy

with our arts editor Will Gompertz.

Your subject is you.

You, your life, your experiences.

Has that over the years become

something which you feel

is an endless seam which you can

mine, or something that you think,

"God, it's become a bit of a cage,

I want to get out of it

and explore something else"?

Well, if I was to think like that,

I'd be dead, wouldn't I?

I don't know, would you?

Yeah, or I'd just stop making art.

I don't have to make art.

No one made me make art,

but I do have a physical

compulsion to do it.

It's within me.

I've done nothing else all my life.

Looking at the subjects you've

explored about yourself,

there's the rapes and the abortion

and the sexual abuse.

Do you feel, looking at what's

going on now and all the Me Too

and Time's Up and Harvey Weinstein

and all the rest of it,

do you feel that you were incredibly

prescient and that in fact,

you were trying to say something

but no one was listening

to you 20 or 30 years ago?

Yeah, but no one was listening

to anyone, was they?

So I wasn't the only woman that

wasn't being listened to.

It takes women en masse to be

able to say something.

But this was something

you were speaking out

about and getting criticised for.

Yeah, I was, a lot.

Yeah.

But I was also being criticised

for being vivacious,

precocious, quite sexual.

But at the same time,

I was saying "I'm allowed to be

like this and I'm also allowed

to say it's not on to rape someone,

it's not on to abuse someone.

Listen to what women are saying".

But no one did.

But now what is good is that

lots of people are listening.

What's changed?

I think, being the most

optimistic I possibly can,

I think a lot of men have changed.

There's a younger generation of men

out there that would find it, like,

unbelievable to be abusive

or sexually prevalent

towards a woman, especially someone

in their place of employment.

They'd find it horrific.

If you could pick one work,

and you've made thousands,

if you could pick one work,

which is the most important work

you feel you've created for you?

Well, I might not have said

this a few years ago,

but I think I've got to go

with the bed.

Really?

Yeah.

Because?

Because it's so me.

It's like a three-dimensional

version of my paintings.

Tracey Emin talking to our arts

editor, Will Gompertz.

Newsnight is coming up on BBC Two.

Here's Emily Maitlis.

Tonight, one of the most powerful

men in the charity sector, Unicef's

Justin Forsyth, has quit. We will

here from a colleague who said