:00:00. > :00:08.We are with the BBC journalist as he visits his shattered home
:00:09. > :00:22.city for the first time since IS swept in.
:00:23. > :00:26.But the fight with IS continues in Western Mosul, where hundreds
:00:27. > :00:28.of thousands of civilians are caught between the murderous terrorists
:00:29. > :00:41.I will ask an Iraqi brigadier if many more civilian casualties in
:00:42. > :00:52.Mosul are inevitable. The talks which are about to start
:00:53. > :00:54.will be difficult, complex and sometimes even confrontational.
:00:55. > :00:57.On the day that Donald Tusk laid out the EU's negotiating guidelines,
:00:58. > :01:02.we look at the the road ahead for Brexit.
:01:03. > :01:05.And will we all by cyborgs any century soon?
:01:06. > :01:21.The answer is yes, if the tranhumanists have their way.
:01:22. > :01:26.IS - or Daesh's - tentacles have spread across the globe,
:01:27. > :01:29.but tonight we focus our attention on where it all began.
:01:30. > :01:33.Iraq's second city, Mosul, has, for the past three years,
:01:34. > :01:36.been under the vicious heel of IS, who visited unimaginable horror
:01:37. > :01:43.It was in Mosul where the IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi,
:01:44. > :01:45.declared an Islamic Caliphate, but now the Iraqi army,
:01:46. > :01:50.aided by coalition forces, have liberated much of the city
:01:51. > :01:53.and backed IS fighters into neighbourhoods
:01:54. > :01:55.in West Mosul's Old City, along with around
:01:56. > :02:06.There is little doubt IS will eventually be routed in Mosul,
:02:07. > :02:09.but the human cost of the liberation is high, with accusations that
:02:10. > :02:12.coalition strikes involving UK and US jets called in by the Iraqis
:02:13. > :02:18.In a moment we have a film from inside Mosul.
:02:19. > :02:24.But first, this primer from John Sweeney.
:02:25. > :02:30.To defeat this man, al-Baghdadi, are the Iraqi army and the Americans
:02:31. > :02:33.- and British backing them - killing too many innocent
:02:34. > :02:39.Last summer, Isis was in full control of Mosul.
:02:40. > :02:43.In October, the Iraqi army, mostly Shia, launched its offensive,
:02:44. > :02:48.trying to win back the country's second city, mostly Sunni.
:02:49. > :02:50.This battle is being fought along the fault line
:02:51. > :02:58.East Mosul fell relatively swiftly but Isis fighters,
:02:59. > :03:01.who have nowhere to go, were reportedly using human shields
:03:02. > :03:03.and have been shooting civilians in the back
:03:04. > :03:16.But West Mosul is believed to be home to 300,000 people.
:03:17. > :03:18.You cannot bomb or shell a packed city centre
:03:19. > :03:25.In the last six weeks, 700 civilians have been killed
:03:26. > :03:28.and the Pentagon says that within the last week it has dropped
:03:29. > :03:37.The Americans and the British are confident the rules
:03:38. > :03:39.of engagement have not been changed, but as casualties mount,
:03:40. > :03:47.is the human cost of this liberation becoming too high?
:03:48. > :03:51.BBC journalist Basheer Al Zaidi grew up in East Mosul -
:03:52. > :03:54.the part of the city that has been liberated from IS control.
:03:55. > :03:57.He returned recently to meet his old friends and see how
:03:58. > :04:07.This is his film from his shattered home city.
:04:08. > :04:13.It's been over ten years since my last visit.
:04:14. > :04:19.I grew up on these streets with my 11 brothers and sisters.
:04:20. > :04:24.It's a weird feeling, to come back here, after all these years.
:04:25. > :04:34.My hometown is now effectively split into two.
:04:35. > :04:37.I'm in the East, which was recaptured a few months ago,
:04:38. > :04:43.but just across the river, in the West, fighting continues.
:04:44. > :04:45.It's quite different, quite difficult, to be honest.
:04:46. > :05:04.Most of the buildings in the centre of the city are damaged.
:05:05. > :05:07.It's clear that anybody who still lives here doesn't feel
:05:08. > :05:17.This is me, on the left, with my oldest friend, Karim.
:05:18. > :05:21.Growing up, we were inseparable, but staying in touch whilst he lived
:05:22. > :05:54.I am here to pay him a surprise visit.
:05:55. > :05:58.For the first time, I meet his kids, and it soon becomes clear his family
:05:59. > :06:30.My best friend tells me he initially welcomed the idea
:06:31. > :07:25.It's a real shock, but his support was short lived.
:07:26. > :07:32.Karim's attitude towards IS is echoed across the city.
:07:33. > :07:41.There was deep anger aimed at the government before IS arrived.
:07:42. > :07:45.Protesters came out on the streets, and the army and the police force
:07:46. > :07:50.were accused of widespread corruption, sectarianism and abuse.
:07:51. > :08:02.The Sunni city had come to hate the practices
:08:03. > :08:14.By the time IS entered Mosul the anger had reached its peak.
:08:15. > :08:16.Today, the big challenge is to restore security without
:08:17. > :08:24.We have joined these agents from the Iraqi National Security Service.
:08:25. > :08:31.They are about to raid addresses all across Mosul.
:08:32. > :08:34.Their aim is to move out IS sleeper cells that have launched
:08:35. > :09:03.Three suspects are rounded up at this address,
:09:04. > :09:22.It seems in this area everyone is treated with suspicion.
:09:23. > :09:27.Today, the agents arrested six men, but in total they've detained over
:09:28. > :09:36.It's difficult for me to see the people of Mosul become used
:09:37. > :09:46.Today the army is all too aware of its past reputation.
:09:47. > :09:50.I am taking a tour of the city with a Field Marshal.
:09:51. > :09:55.He says the operation in Mosul has already restored
:09:56. > :10:31.A lot is riding on this new-found goodwill towards the army
:10:32. > :10:39.and police, but I wonder how long it will last.
:10:40. > :10:43.Many people across the city are too scared to talk openly
:10:44. > :10:59.One family who want to speak out are friends from my time at university.
:11:00. > :12:10.Omar and his mother have invited me for breakfast.
:12:11. > :12:13.Omar might be concerned about the future, but there is one
:12:14. > :12:22.We are on our way to pick up his two daughters from school.
:12:23. > :12:26.Like so many parents, he refused to allow IS to educate his children.
:12:27. > :12:29.So this is the girls' first week back at school,
:12:30. > :12:35.and they are pretty excited about it.
:12:36. > :12:37.This is overwhelming, this is really overwhelming,
:12:38. > :12:46.It's a special moment for their kids because normal life is maybe
:12:47. > :12:48.back again for them, kind of a quietness.
:12:49. > :12:53.It is something new for them, a new start.
:12:54. > :12:58.My friends Omar and Karim might be certain about what's ahead,
:12:59. > :13:01.but seeing these young girls back in school, I know there is at least
:13:02. > :13:14.And you can see a longer version of that film on Our World on the BBC
:13:15. > :13:21.News Channel at 9.30pm tomorrow night or Sunday.
:13:22. > :13:23.Now, one of the biggest problems for Iraqi commanders calling
:13:24. > :13:25.in coalition air strikes in Western Mosul -
:13:26. > :13:28.where the fighting is still raging - is described as "the most
:13:29. > :13:30.significant urban combat to take place since World War II"
:13:31. > :13:33.is that IS fighters are threaded in among hundreds of
:13:34. > :13:36.Last week, one strike is thought to have destroyed a building,
:13:37. > :13:42.The US military has launched an inquiry into what happened.
:13:43. > :13:44.Earlier this evening I spoke to Brigadier Tahseen Ibrahim
:13:45. > :13:54.in Baghdad, spokesman for the Iraqi military.
:13:55. > :14:10.The crisis in Mosul right now it is severe, Isis, they use civilians in
:14:11. > :14:17.the front of the fighters, the problem is, those fighters and
:14:18. > :14:19.terrorists do not care about any human material, they used to
:14:20. > :14:26.civilians in front of them, sometimes they put those civilians
:14:27. > :14:34.inside the houses and put one or two snipers on the roof as they start
:14:35. > :14:40.shooting our troops and we saw them, we have drones watching everything,
:14:41. > :14:47.they also saw them. There was a particular incident last week where
:14:48. > :14:53.there was a series of coalition air strikes in a particular
:14:54. > :14:55.neighbourhood and it is estimated that in that air strike,
:14:56. > :15:01.coincidental but that air strike, more than 100 people died. What is
:15:02. > :15:09.your response? There is a formal investigation. The coalition forces
:15:10. > :15:15.said that we were responsible for that and we hit that target, they
:15:16. > :15:19.did hit that target according to our request, the coalition forces took
:15:20. > :15:26.the request from the Iraqi troops and after that, they shot any
:15:27. > :15:34.target. The problem is, when the coalition forces set out in front,
:15:35. > :15:38.they said, we hit that neighbourhood and there is a target for Isis in
:15:39. > :15:46.that neighbourhood and we hit that but they never said, we hit that
:15:47. > :15:53.house, they said we hit or killed those civilians because they said we
:15:54. > :15:58.hate maybe one or two houses around that, they started to open a big
:15:59. > :16:06.investigation from their side. Also, the MoD and the Prime Minister and
:16:07. > :16:09.also my ministry, immediately opened a big investigation to give the
:16:10. > :16:16.result about that. Our responsibility is to take care of
:16:17. > :16:22.the civilians, everything is maybe during three days, and we clear that
:16:23. > :16:25.in front of the media. This neighbourhood was very tight with
:16:26. > :16:31.narrow streets, we know that civilians are there in their houses.
:16:32. > :16:36.It is perfectly possible that the air strike hit civilians?
:16:37. > :16:43.If you see and checked that neighbourhood, you would see how it
:16:44. > :16:49.is destroyed, the houses. You would think one or two bombs destroyed
:16:50. > :16:53.maybe ten or 15 houses. Amnesty International says the Iraqi army
:16:54. > :17:00.are telling people not to leave their houses in western Mosul. Is
:17:01. > :17:07.that true? All the houses on the right side, it's old and small.
:17:08. > :17:16.There are more people in those houses. For that, any air strike or
:17:17. > :17:23.any missiles or sometimes any car bombs, they take more damage, that
:17:24. > :17:28.neighbourhood. For that we also changed our rules of engagement for
:17:29. > :17:34.the humanitarian. Are your local commanders on the ground, they call
:17:35. > :17:39.in a coalition air strike becomes very quickly. Is it possible your
:17:40. > :17:46.commanders don't always know how many civilians are in the houses
:17:47. > :17:49.around about? That depends about our information, the intelligence of our
:17:50. > :17:58.information. We never shoot any houses. Without any information
:17:59. > :18:05.coming from our guys. Some guys they work between the Isis fighters.
:18:06. > :18:10.They're mainly Sunni population is concerned about the level of care
:18:11. > :18:16.that an army led by Shia is going to give them. It's important for the
:18:17. > :18:24.kind of piece that the city has, the way you win Mosul. Isis defeat. We
:18:25. > :18:28.don't need any inside Mosul. The people who live in Mosul, they were
:18:29. > :18:33.responsible, it's their responsibility to take care about
:18:34. > :18:42.their cities. No militia, no Shia inside the city of Mosul. They take
:18:43. > :18:48.care of city of Mosul police, Iraqi police, Iraqi army and, by the way,
:18:49. > :18:52.Iraqi army when deliberate Mosul, will leave outside Mosul. Brigadier
:18:53. > :18:54.Tahseen Ibrahim, thank you for joining us.
:18:55. > :18:57.It feels as if we have come through the opening thundering
:18:58. > :18:59.salvos of Brexit and we are now, really and truly,
:19:00. > :19:03.But what does the route to that exit actually look like?
:19:04. > :19:06.Today Donald Tusk issued guidelines at the EU summit in Malta,
:19:07. > :19:09.and there was an early change in the mood music, indications that
:19:10. > :19:11.after all, if sufficient progress is made towards the divorce,
:19:12. > :19:29.Both sides have started laying out their stalls.
:19:30. > :19:31.Today, Donald Tusk, the EU Council President,
:19:32. > :19:36.set out the EU 27's draft guidance on what happens now.
:19:37. > :19:39.The talks which are about to start will be difficult, complex
:19:40. > :19:53.The EU 27 does not and will not pursue a punitive approach.
:19:54. > :19:58.Brexit in itself is already punitive enough.
:19:59. > :20:01.The most significant part of Donald Tusk's statement today
:20:02. > :20:06.was about sequencing of the forthcoming talks.
:20:07. > :20:09.Specifically, he said we'd have to make significant headway
:20:10. > :20:11.on our divorce arrangements from the EU, before we are allowed
:20:12. > :20:14.to start talking about our future trading relationship with it.
:20:15. > :20:17.And that really matters, because the order in which we talk
:20:18. > :20:25.about these things is likely to change the outcome.
:20:26. > :20:28.This means, first of all, we could get an arrangements
:20:29. > :20:31.on rights for EU citizens in the UK, for example, very fast.
:20:32. > :20:35.They're also be principles around what will happen to EU 27 companies
:20:36. > :20:38.dealing with the UK, and the fate of the Irish border.
:20:39. > :20:45.It also means discussion of any exit bills will move up the ticket.
:20:46. > :20:50.An eminent Brussels think tank thinks the bill could be as low
:20:51. > :20:56.as low as ?27 billion, or as much as ?65 billion.
:20:57. > :20:59.As soon as the UK leaves, let's say it's the 1st of April 2019,
:21:00. > :21:01.legally the UK is not bound to pay anything.
:21:02. > :21:05.Up until then it is legally bound, and I am expecting the UK
:21:06. > :21:08.is going to honour this, but there have been things that have
:21:09. > :21:10.been preagreed upon, and the UK has agreed upon,
:21:11. > :21:12.for a number of bills that will come after that.
:21:13. > :21:16.The question is, how far can these bills extend?
:21:17. > :21:20.So payment is a political question about our willingness to pay
:21:21. > :21:24.Brussels for goodwill from the member states.
:21:25. > :21:29.The sequencing means it will be an early hurdle for us to clear.
:21:30. > :21:32.Sequencing, though, also affects the balance of power.
:21:33. > :21:35.The sequencing decision matters because if Britain could just do
:21:36. > :21:37.it all in its own way, it would put all the issues
:21:38. > :21:41.on the table and start linking them and doing deals across Europe,
:21:42. > :21:44.which match specific interests with different
:21:45. > :21:48.European states interests', and try and minimise
:21:49. > :21:52.But Britain hasn't got the luxury of doing that.
:21:53. > :21:54.It's launched the Article 50 process, the European Union
:21:55. > :21:57.now gets to determine, as it did this morning,
:21:58. > :22:03.that it wants real progress on the divorce agreement first.
:22:04. > :22:05.It's important to stress that the negotiation will quickly turn
:22:06. > :22:07.to very big questions, like what kind of country
:22:08. > :22:14.We'll probably end up keeping some EU regulation at the very least.
:22:15. > :22:16.The thing to remember is in the modern and trading world,
:22:17. > :22:19.rules and regulations matter far more than tariffs.
:22:20. > :22:22.So at the moment, we have the same rules and regulations as every
:22:23. > :22:27.to checkout the border, we can just assume that our
:22:28. > :22:39.However, after we leave, we're going to have a choice to make.
:22:40. > :22:40.Do we continue to converge with European standards
:22:41. > :22:43.now I'm going forwards, as to facilitate trade between both
:22:44. > :22:46.us and the EU, or do we diverged, in the knowledge that divergences
:22:47. > :22:48.will lead to more checks at ports, increase compliance issues
:22:49. > :22:53.There are some very thorny issues that, until now, have received
:22:54. > :22:57.Like the specification that we need to agree with Spain on Gibraltar.
:22:58. > :23:02.A really major problem, though, is time.
:23:03. > :23:05.I think in two years Britain can expect to have a clear
:23:06. > :23:09.It's probably going to have to be generous in that agreement,
:23:10. > :23:14.in order to have willing European partners putting in place transition
:23:15. > :23:18.arrangements, and talking about a subsequent trade deal.
:23:19. > :23:21.I think the final arrangement, it took Switzerland 14 years
:23:22. > :23:23.to do its arrangements with the European Union.
:23:24. > :23:31.There is strong political pressure to pay nothing
:23:32. > :23:34.and accept few EU rules, so trust no one who says they can
:23:35. > :23:43.Now, people have been trying to battle the human condition for
:23:44. > :23:49.thousands of years. Since 1200BC when legend has it
:23:50. > :23:52.that the Sumarian King, Gilgamesh, travelled to the edge of the world
:23:53. > :23:54.in search of immortality. It's the stuff of literature,
:23:55. > :23:57.sci fi movies, and scientific research but might it
:23:58. > :23:58.become a reality? Could we really use technology
:23:59. > :24:02.to control the future The use of technology to prolong
:24:03. > :24:06.and enhance life has a name. It's called Transhumanism and I'll
:24:07. > :24:09.be talking to the human author of a book on the "transhumanism
:24:10. > :24:15.movement" in a moment. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him,
:24:16. > :24:17.we have the technology. We have the capability to make
:24:18. > :24:27.the world's first bionic man. Writers and cinematographers have
:24:28. > :24:29.been obsessed with creating life, transcending death, and now,
:24:30. > :24:31.more than ever, merging In his book, Mark O'Connell
:24:32. > :24:41.examines transhumanism. He examines a future where we no
:24:42. > :24:43.longer agree to live under the fear of ageing,
:24:44. > :24:50.infirmity and death. Where technological
:24:51. > :24:52.enhancements augment our powers Where we don't accept
:24:53. > :24:57.the limitations of evolution, and choose our bodily form
:24:58. > :25:00.and function, and where we are no longer limited to the confines
:25:01. > :25:04.of our carbon-based biology. What was once the stuff
:25:05. > :25:07.of sci-fi and legend, is becoming more believable
:25:08. > :25:12.with every technological advance. In times of three parent babies,
:25:13. > :25:17.bionic arms and facial transplants, is it really sensible to rule out
:25:18. > :25:21.a future where our minds are uploaded to a cloud
:25:22. > :25:26.and we finally conquered death? Mark O'Connell has travelled widely
:25:27. > :25:30.to meet aspiring transhumanists for his new book on the subject
:25:31. > :25:42.and he joins me now. It has been an eternal obsession,
:25:43. > :25:50.why is that? It goes back to, as you say, at least as far as Gilgamesh. I
:25:51. > :25:54.think transhumanism comes from the same place as many religions, this
:25:55. > :25:58.dissatisfaction we are in these fleshy human body and we die. We
:25:59. > :26:03.say, why is that? It's difficult to accept the fact we die. We've always
:26:04. > :26:07.been uncomfortable with it, understandably. Do you think in the
:26:08. > :26:12.next century or two it will be enough to be humans or will humans
:26:13. > :26:15.be second-class citizens? This is one of the ideas of the
:26:16. > :26:20.transhumanist movement, the idea we have to merge with technology or
:26:21. > :26:26.become obsolete. I think part of this thinking of the movement comes
:26:27. > :26:29.from, I think, and over identification with machines. This
:26:30. > :26:33.sort of idea that we are already machines and we have to become more
:26:34. > :26:39.sophisticated machines. Now it's been taken one stage further,
:26:40. > :26:42.because in a way fiction and sci-fi lead to a lot of scientific
:26:43. > :26:50.research. There are now organisations trying to cheat
:26:51. > :26:53.mortality, were you surprised to the extent of that? Yes, I knew this
:26:54. > :26:58.stuff was there and then I investigated it. I kept seeing Peter
:26:59. > :27:06.Teal again and again, he's involved in a lot of this stuff. And this
:27:07. > :27:10.announcement during the week. What kind of experimentation did you come
:27:11. > :27:16.across? I spent some time with a guy called Randall:. His entire life's
:27:17. > :27:20.work has been trying to figure out how to upload minds to machines.
:27:21. > :27:26.We're talking about sort of mapping the neurons, mapping the brain to
:27:27. > :27:30.such a degree of detail and granularity that it can be
:27:31. > :27:35.transferred to another substrate. The idea is this body, although this
:27:36. > :27:38.is how we live under what we live in right now, our minds can
:27:39. > :27:41.theoretically at least be transferred to a different substrate
:27:42. > :27:50.and we could live as robots or disembodied beings. Calling our
:27:51. > :27:55.minds down from the clouds. That sounds like what you are writing
:27:56. > :27:59.about in your book, this idea that we can... How would our brains
:28:00. > :28:04.continue to develop and grow? They would just be uploaded every so
:28:05. > :28:09.often? The idea is we would merge with artificial intelligence. Reach
:28:10. > :28:15.another evolutionary leap by merging with super intelligent AI. The other
:28:16. > :28:22.one I thought, another one that is quite advanced is bio hacking. I
:28:23. > :28:27.didn't realise to the extent people did their own bio hacking. This is
:28:28. > :28:32.an element of the transhumanist movement, practical transhumanists.
:28:33. > :28:35.They're doing this stuff already. Designing technologies for
:28:36. > :28:43.implanting under the skin. I spent a while Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with
:28:44. > :28:48.some guys who called some self cyborgs and build large implants and
:28:49. > :28:54.put them in themselves. These implants that go in... They can
:28:55. > :28:59.trigger an extreme movement or do something? The capabilities right
:29:00. > :29:06.now are fairly primitive, in that they would allow them to do things
:29:07. > :29:10.like cents magnetic North or open a door of a laboratory. It's stuff you
:29:11. > :29:14.could quite easily do with technology, that you wouldn't have
:29:15. > :29:20.to have surgery for, but it's a gesture towards the post-human
:29:21. > :29:24.future, the cyborg future. At the moment it's a rich man's game and
:29:25. > :29:26.you wonder if it does develop, if there are progressions that do mean
:29:27. > :29:31.that people can live in different ways and live longer, then it's
:29:32. > :29:35.going to be a societal imbalance in favour of the people who can afford
:29:36. > :29:40.to do it. This is one of the major dimensions of my book. I see
:29:41. > :29:44.transhumanism as a very extreme intensification of tendencies that
:29:45. > :29:48.are already there in terms of capitalism, like wealth and
:29:49. > :29:52.equality. If you look at the research into life extension
:29:53. > :29:56.technologies come at the people who are going to benefit from it are
:29:57. > :30:01.clearly the super-rich. So you're looking at some pretty radical
:30:02. > :30:06.socioeconomic implications. You are also looking at the idea we won't
:30:07. > :30:09.die when we are meant to die. There are people that think they could
:30:10. > :30:13.live for thousands of years. We will have an overpopulation of the
:30:14. > :30:19.planet, more than the moment. Not if we are all uploaded to the cloud. We
:30:20. > :30:23.won't all be physically present. In the future, is it something you'd be
:30:24. > :30:26.interested in, uploaded to the cloud? Not right now, maybe at 85!
:30:27. > :30:29.Thank you very much indeed. That is about all we have time for
:30:30. > :30:32.this evening. But before we go, commercial space
:30:33. > :30:35.companies have long wanted to make space travel cheap enough for anyone
:30:36. > :30:38.with a few tens of millions of dollars hanging around,
:30:39. > :30:41.and that's pretty difficult if you have to build a whole
:30:42. > :30:43.new rocket every time SpaceX have just made a big
:30:44. > :30:47.step forward to that. Here's the first ever
:30:48. > :30:49.relaunch and landing Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
:30:50. > :32:13.four, three two, one... Hello. Improvements on the way for
:32:14. > :32:17.Sunday but starting the weekend with sunshine and April showers. Perhaps