14/09/2013 BBC Weekend News

After three days of talks a plan is agreed to remove and destroy Syria's

chemical weapons. The US and Russia tell Damascus to allow UN inspectors

access - with warnings of consequences if they don't.

The surgeon whose wife and children were killed in a house fire in

Leicester speaks of his grief as police arrest five. I deeply miss my

beautiful wife and three beautiful children.

And in the cricket - Joss Buttler secures England victory against

Australia. Good evening. The United States and

Russia have agreed a plan to remove and destroy Syria's chemical weapons

by the middle of next year. To avoid military intervention, Syria must

submit a comprehensive list of its banned weapons within a week and

allow unfettered access to inspectors. President Obama said if

diplomacy failed, America remained prepared to act. Our diplomatic

editor James Robbins reports. The Russians clearly feel this is

their moment, Russia's Foreign Minister upstaged the Americans by

chatting to journalists ahead of a joint news conference to announce

agreement. America's Secretary of State was kept waiting until they

finally set out together what they call extraordinary procedures for

the destruction of the of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Made

necessary, in their words, by the prior use of these weapons in Syria

and the volatility of the civil war. The world will now expect the Assad

regime to live up to its public commitments and as I said at the

outset of these negotiations, there can be no games, no room for

avoidance, or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime.

But Russia's Foreign Minister stressed the deal doesn't include

any automatic use of force if Syria fails to comply.

TRANSLATION: In the event these requirements are not implemented or

the event anyone uses chemical weapons the Security Council will

take measures under Article VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

Of course, this does not mean that every violation that is reported to

Of course, this does not mean that the Security Council will be taken

at face value. We will investigate every case. Immediately this does

feel like a major breakthrough, both Ministers have made very clear

actions will be more important than words and the road ahead remains

difficult and hard. The US-Russia agreement allows President Assad

seven days to declare a complete list of Syria's entire chemical

weapons stockpile. International inspectors are to be on the ground

in Syria by November. All stockpiles are to be removed or destroyed by

mid-2014. And there will be a new UN

resolution to enforce all of this. Although the two sides differ about

what that could mean in practise. With American missiles at the ready,

President Obama is still reserving his right to use force. But the new

reality is that American-led military strikes are now only a

remote possibility. Many of the weapons inspectors who collected

evidence after last month's attacks will return to Syria with some form

of protection force. But will any of this relieve the suffering of

Syria's people? The Americans and Russians hope it will. Now they want

to attempt something even more difficult - by trying to open peace

talks with all parties in the civil war next month.

Our correspondent David Willis is in Washington. How strong is the threat

now of a military strike? Well, little mention of the threat of

military action in this agreement. No doubt at the insistence of the

Russians. President Obama remains deeply sceptical of the ability and

willingness of the Assad regime to give up its chemical weapons

stockpile, particularly within this rather ambitious timetable. It also

makes the point that it has got to this place by using the threat of

military action to force the regime to the negotiating table, if you

like. So, the White House tonight welcoming this agreement, but also

making the point that it reserves the right to take unilateral

military action if necessary and that would unravel this agreement

quickly indeed because Russia continues to insist that it was the

rebels and not the Government that used chemical weapons in Syria. As

John Kerry himself said, a long, hard road lies ahead. Thank you.

Police in Leicester have arrested five people in connection with the

deaths of a woman and her three children in a house fire in

Leicester. It comes as the husband and father - Dr Muhammad Taufiq Al

Sattar - spoke for the first time of his grief, saying how much he missed

his family. From Leicester, Jo Black sent this report.

Surrounded by friends, Dr Taufiq had been working away from home. I

deeply miss my beautiful wife and three beautiful children. What has

happened has happened, and nothing can be reversed. But I hope justice

prevail. What was once a family home is now a murder scene. Shehnila, her

19-year-old daughter and two sons all died. This evening the police

have confirmed that five people have been arrested in connection with the

fire. Three women and two men are now in custody.

Half a mile away another murder scene. Hours before the blaze a man

in his 20s was attacked here. He died later in hospital. He's been

named locally as Antoin Akpom as a local football coach. Police are

thought to be investigating the possibility that the family who died

in the fire were mistakenly targeted in a revenge attack.

I understand there's a lot of speculation, quite rightly, quite to

be expected over what's happened and who's been involved. It is fair to

say there is an ongoing line of inquiry to establish exactly whether

or not the incidents are linked and if so, how. Today at MrAkpom's club

a minute's silence. He was happy, he was always on a positive vibe. And

ambitious and loving and he had this laugh. He lit up the room and I know

that sounds cliched, but it's true. Three people have been arrested on

suspicion of the murder. Tonight, MrBelieve the answers could lie in

the community. From 2015 there will be a 5p charge

on plastic bags in supermarkets and large stores for shoppers in

England. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced the change at

the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow. Charges are already imposed

in Wales and Northern Ireland and will be introduced in Scotland next

year. Here's our deputy political editor James Landale.

Nick Clegg came to a nature reserve today outside Glasgow on the first

day of his party conference. His focus, not the economy or the cost

of living, but plastic bags. On average, each of us use 200 every

year and he said that had to stop. This is absolutely not about seeking

to somehow raise costs for shoppers. Quite the reverse. It's to encourage

all of us to use those plastic bags yes less and to reuse reusable

plastic bags more. Although there is a charge in Wales and Northern

Ireland, and soon to be one here in Scotland, an astonishing 8 billion

are still used across the UK each year. So, from 2015 there will be a

5p charge for bags in England, in supermarkets, and large stores with

more than 250 staff with the Government encouraging but not

forcing shops to give any cash raised to green charities. With the

cost of living rising, shd the Government be adding to shopping

bills? They should be free if you are buying a produce or goods from a

shop. I live in France where we have to pay for plastic carrier bags and

it works and there is less rubbish. People wouldn't buy things and

expect to pay for the packaging. The Lib Dems are not just trying to

burnish their green credentials, they're also trying to show they can

make a difference in Government. They say they had to work hard to

get the Tories to support a charge because of fear it is could hit

business. Nick Clegg doesn't want to spend the week attacking the Tories.

He wants to highlight the success of the coalition. But not everyone's

got the message. David Cameron, call me soft, but am I the only Liberal

Democrat who just wants him to be a bit better? If he wants to be a

statesman, a bit of consistency would be absolutely brilliant. So a

bit of policy and a bit of politics on this first day of conference.

bit of policy and a bit of politics Plenty more to come.

James joins us from Glasgow now. What are the main aims for the Lib

Dems this week, what do they want to achieve? Well, it's straightforward,

they want to get across to voters what they think they've achieved in

Government. They think they've a good story to tell about the

coalition. It's just that the problem is people they think don't

know enough about it. We are going to hear them try to claim credit for

the growing economic recovery tonight, at a rally they were

emphasising how many private sector jobs had been created. They were

going to tell us what they think they've persuaded the Conservatives

to do, but also what they've persuaded the Conservatives not to

do. But there are one or two storm clouds on the horizon. Two surveys

out tonight that suggest that Liberal Democrat councillors and

members pretty much overwhelmingly would rather have a coalition with

Labour after the next general election. There are also signs... I

apologise, we lost James there from Glasgow.

A leading tax adviser to the British Government has resigned after being

secretly filmed giving tips at a conference on how to pay less tax

and in his words, "keep money out of the Chancellor's grubby mits". An

investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme and Private Eye filmed

David Heaton before he joined the Government as an advisor on how to

clamp down on aggressive tax avoidance. Richard Bilton reports.

The conference was called 101 tips for personal tax and David Heaton

was one of the star speakers. He delivered a series of tax ideas and

spelled out the advantages of one. As part of his speech he advised on

how to use the rules on maternity pay to cut tax bills, he called it

his bump plan. The scheme he recommended would

effectively reduce the tax on a bonus from about 42%, to around 8.

5%. When we described the scheme to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs

they told tips would be an abuse and -- they told us it would be an

abuse. The problem is Mr Heaton has been working for them. Two months

after that conference he joined a panel advising HMRC and the courts

on what is acceptable tax avoidance. The chairwoman of the parliamentary

on what is acceptable tax avoidance. spending watchdog says it shows

flaws in the system. I am shocked by what you have told me. This is an

absolutely classic example of where Government passes a law with a

particular intent and the tax advisers then abuse that. I told the

tax Minister about MrHeaton's comments. The advisory panel there

is to identify the aggressive artificial behaviour, we wouldn't

expect them to be coming forward with proposals that were very

aggressive and artificial. MrHeaton says he doesn't sell abusive schemes

and he hasn't done anything wrong. But his resignation was announced

last night and welcomed by the Treasury.

You can see the full Panorama programme on Monday.

Now a look at all the sport. Today we had the first Premier

League matches since the transfer window closed. Plenty of new

signings. There were wins for Newcastle, Everton and Manchester

United and Spurs. Scottish Champions Celtic beat

bottom side Hearts 3-1 at Tynecastle. Anthony Stokes was man

of the match, scoring one goal and setting up the others, including

this one for Teemu Pukki on his debut for the club. Inverness still

lead the Scottish Premiership after their win. Every away team won

today. The world's most expensive player

Gareth Bale has scored on his debut for Real Madrid. Despite only

joining up with his new team three days ago after his £85 million

tranfer from Tottenham, he was given a start against Villareal and scored

in the first half. They are still playing there. It's now 2-2 and Bale

has been substituted. England's cricketer's have levelled

the one-day series against Australia. It all went down to the

final over in Cardiff. Patrick Gearey reports.

Having lost the only game to finish England ran in with a point to

prove. Finch was trapped second ball. Three of his colleagues

followed inside 15 overs. England were closing in. George Bailey's

answer was to go over the top of them. For a time the sky was the

answer was to go over the top of limit for Australia. But Bailey's 87

stood apart. Five Aussie wickets fell for 18 runs. Where had that

momentum gone? MacKay found it in the ball. The first delivery of his

second over he got Kevin Pietersen. Later Jonathan Trott was tempted.

Then a hat trick. England's recovery from 8-3 was less spectacular but

more significant. Carberry made a first international 50. Still it

went to the last over. Butler batted away the tension. Victory for

England in the sunshine. The cricketer summer is not over yet.

Great Britain has two new World Champions tonight. In Canoeing and

Triathlon Non Stanford won the Women's Grand Final in Hyde Park

this morning. Despite having a 15-second penalty, the 23-year-old

from Wales still won by a distance to become World Triathlon Champion.

David Florence, who won Olympic silver last Summer in the two-man

canoe, has won gold at the World Championships in Prague by himself.

It's two wins in two days for Andy Murray as Great Britain lead Croatia

2-1 in their Davis Cup play-off. Murray played in the doubles today

with Colin Fleming and they came through in four sets. If Murray wins

his singles rubber tomorrow, Great Britain will return to the elite

World Group for the first time in five years.

That's all the sport. You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC news channel. But that's all from me. Bye.