:00:00. > :00:12.Or if he does anything with respect to Guam, or any place else
:00:13. > :00:17.that's an American territory, or an American ally,
:00:18. > :00:22.he will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast.
:00:23. > :00:24.The North Korean nuclear crisis keeps roiling away,
:00:25. > :00:31.Is all of this making the actual use of nuclear weapons -
:00:32. > :00:36.for so long unthinkable - a real possibility?
:00:37. > :00:38.We speak to the man who advised Obama
:00:39. > :00:47.Acid attacks in the UK have more than doubled in three years.
:00:48. > :00:49.We've seen it on the streets, thieves on mopeds
:00:50. > :00:59.throwing acid at people, now it's happening in people's homes.
:01:00. > :01:08.He pulled the bottle out, squeezed acid on my face,
:01:09. > :01:24.This man was attacked with acid two and a half years ago.
:01:25. > :01:26.And, the green innovation staving off desertification
:01:27. > :01:31.I campaign for human rights in my homeland.
:01:32. > :01:34.In a generation there has been a catastrophic change
:01:35. > :01:47.Korea and its surrounding region are in a state of high
:01:48. > :01:54.President Trump this morning tweeted that US military options
:01:55. > :02:03.North Korea maintains that it intends soon to fire four missiles
:02:04. > :02:07.in the direction of Guam, with its American base.
:02:08. > :02:08.But we're also hearing moderating voices.
:02:09. > :02:11.James Mattis, the US defence secretary, has stressed that the US
:02:12. > :02:13.is dealing with the North Korean threat by diplomatic means.
:02:14. > :02:17.And it emerged today that talks are actively taking place
:02:18. > :02:24.between President Trump's Korea envoy and a senior North Korean
:02:25. > :02:30.official at the United Nations in New York.
:02:31. > :02:43.But there are bigger issues here that won't go away.
:02:44. > :02:46.At the end of a week of high bluster, I've been looking
:02:47. > :02:49.into the question of whether the use of nuclear weapons is genuinely
:02:50. > :03:09.There's a real chance of military action between nuclear armed
:03:10. > :03:15.It also comes at a time when many experts feel nuclear war
:03:16. > :03:23.During the Cold War, it would have been the soviet union
:03:24. > :03:25.and the United States, both with thousands of nuclear
:03:26. > :03:28.warheads and God forbid if they'd gone to war,
:03:29. > :03:44.the whole planet could have been destroyed.
:03:45. > :03:47.Now, if you had, and we must desperately try to prevent one,
:03:48. > :03:50.if you had the use of nuclear weapons, either North Korea, India,
:03:51. > :03:52.Pakistan or the Middle East, disastrous for these regions,
:03:53. > :03:54.but compared to the Cold War, the risks at the time
:03:55. > :03:57.of the Cuban missile crisis, it wouldn't threaten the very
:03:58. > :04:00.What Korea reminds us of is proliferation and the more
:04:01. > :04:02.widespread these weapons are, the greater the scope
:04:03. > :04:08.Pakistan and Israel are each believed to have more nuclear
:04:09. > :04:15.India has them too and Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Libya
:04:16. > :04:17.are all believed to have had nuclear weapons programmes,
:04:18. > :04:37.The next threat is what experts call lowering the nuclear threshold.
:04:38. > :04:39.That means to some, their use is becoming more thinkable,
:04:40. > :04:44.in circumstances short of global nuclear war.
:04:45. > :04:47.Recent Russian exercises reportedly involved a small scale
:04:48. > :04:51.use of nuclear weapons against European countries.
:04:52. > :04:59.In the US, meanwhile, Donald Trump hinted on campaign,
:05:00. > :05:06.that they might be used against the Islamic State group.
:05:07. > :05:08.Were a conventional conflict to happen again, where North Korea
:05:09. > :05:11.could probably inflict a lot of damage, it certainly
:05:12. > :05:13.wouldn't be able to prevail in a straightforward,
:05:14. > :05:24.Which is where nuclear weapons come in for North Korea in part,
:05:25. > :05:27.because those weapons give North Korea what we would call
:05:28. > :05:32.Even if wiser heads prevail, what is the scope for
:05:33. > :05:42.Several senior Cold War statesman campaign on this issue,
:05:43. > :05:43.highlighting concerns about computer glitches or cyber attacks
:05:44. > :06:02.And if all that isn't worrying enough, there's the question
:06:03. > :06:05.of whether some countries might have cut conventional forces to such
:06:06. > :06:08.a degree, that they have few other options.
:06:09. > :06:12.Some countries that pursue nuclear weapons, pursue them
:06:13. > :06:22.because they are conventionally inferior to their adversaries.
:06:23. > :06:25.So nuclear weapons in a conflict scenario might come into play much
:06:26. > :06:27.earlier because their incentives to keep the conflict conventional,
:06:28. > :06:32.A stable nuclear balance, like the Cold War or the India,
:06:33. > :06:34.Pakistan situation is underpinned by large conventional forces.
:06:35. > :06:40.That's the anti-imperialist case for proliferation,
:06:41. > :06:44.if you like, that buttressed by other forces and
:06:45. > :06:45.rational leadership, it can stabilise regions.
:06:46. > :06:49.In the case of India and Pakistan, what has happened,
:06:50. > :06:51.and it is disturbing and uncomfortable to acknowledge
:06:52. > :06:58.They had a real wars three or four times before they both
:06:59. > :07:03.And since then that has acted as a discipline, as a constraint.
:07:04. > :07:08.That's perhaps the biggest military unknown in this present crisis.
:07:09. > :07:12.The US could mount strikes no doubt, but Kim Jong-un has a wide variety
:07:13. > :07:14.of retaliatory options, from massive conventional
:07:15. > :07:17.attacks to chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
:07:18. > :07:23.No wonder key allies from South Korea to Australia are worried.
:07:24. > :07:30.He was the White House Coordinator for Arms Control under
:07:31. > :07:36.President Obama and he's now at Harvard's Kennedy
:07:37. > :07:50.We will look at some of those big issues on the on thinkable in a
:07:51. > :07:53.moment, but let's start off with North Korea, the issue of the
:07:54. > :08:00.moment. You have been dealing with this on and off for decades. Where
:08:01. > :08:04.do you rank this situation right now, how serious? I continue to
:08:05. > :08:08.think the risk of actual war is low because nobody would benefit from
:08:09. > :08:13.it. For North Korea, it would be fatal and for the US and its allies,
:08:14. > :08:20.it would be costly. But we are seeing posturing and I hope it is a
:08:21. > :08:29.prelude to eventually resuming negotiations. A lot will depend on
:08:30. > :08:33.Kim Jong-un's calculations. He is demonstrating long-range missile
:08:34. > :08:37.capability, but the cost has been more serious economic sanctions,
:08:38. > :08:41.which the Chinese have been as serious to support. At some point
:08:42. > :08:44.when Kim Jong-un decides he can come back to the bargaining table with a
:08:45. > :08:54.strong position and look to see what he can get in return in return for
:08:55. > :08:59.accepting a freeze on his nuclear return. We are not there yet, Kim
:09:00. > :09:04.Jong-un of thing he cannot be intimidated by the Security Council.
:09:05. > :09:14.So I think we will see another round of missile tests but I think they
:09:15. > :09:18.will be short range tests. It would be extremely provocative? It would,
:09:19. > :09:23.but at the same time with the Trump administration, they are trying to
:09:24. > :09:28.manoeuvre towards a resumption of diplomacy. Rex Tillerson has said if
:09:29. > :09:32.Kim Jong-un would just pours his testing programme, the US is
:09:33. > :09:35.prepared to open talks. We know there are low-level talks going on
:09:36. > :09:43.between the State Department and North Koreans and New York. You were
:09:44. > :09:47.part of the conversation in the Obama White House. Iran was a big
:09:48. > :09:51.priority, there were many other things going on, to what extent do
:09:52. > :09:58.you think it is fair to say the North Korean was pushed onto the
:09:59. > :10:01.back burner under Obama? The Obama administration took several runs at
:10:02. > :10:06.an effort to negotiate with North Korea and they all ended unhappily.
:10:07. > :10:15.The first run ended after the sinking of a South Korean vessel and
:10:16. > :10:20.the second ended after a league date agreement in February 2012, where
:10:21. > :10:26.the US provided humanitarian assistance and the North Koreans
:10:27. > :10:30.agreed to suspend testing and freeze their nuclear programme but then Kim
:10:31. > :10:34.Jong-un violated the agreement three weeks after it was done. So the
:10:35. > :10:43.conclusion was there was no valley in talking to North Korea until more
:10:44. > :10:46.luggage was built up. The testing continued and unchecked? You have
:10:47. > :10:52.seen two processes happening at the same time. 1-0 has accelerated his
:10:53. > :10:58.testing programme and the sanctions have begun to build up. You
:10:59. > :11:02.mentioned the likelihood of reverting to the diplomatic to
:11:03. > :11:06.approach, you quoted Rex Tillerson, but how do we read the statements
:11:07. > :11:11.from President Trump? The others all seemed to be behaving like the
:11:12. > :11:16.Washington figures, like yourself that we are used to, but this is
:11:17. > :11:22.different, is it dangerous in itself? In substance, Trump is not
:11:23. > :11:26.saying anything different that President is always say in that
:11:27. > :11:33.America will defend itself and its allies. But Trump is doing it which
:11:34. > :11:37.has a locker room quality to it. My concern is, I would hate to see the
:11:38. > :11:45.president of the United States putting himself in a place where
:11:46. > :11:48.he's being equated with Kim Jong-un. It is important Trump does not go
:11:49. > :11:54.too far in terms of making our allies nervous. There is some value
:11:55. > :12:00.in making the Chinese nervous, to get diplomacy started, but if you go
:12:01. > :12:03.to bar with that rhetoric... You have spent a lifetime working on
:12:04. > :12:08.proliferation, so is it just delaying the inevitable that other
:12:09. > :12:17.countries will get the bomb and then one of them will use it? South
:12:18. > :12:21.Africa has given up nuclear weapons programmes, South Korea, Taiwan.
:12:22. > :12:26.Other efforts fail, Pakistan, India, North Korea. You never know, when
:12:27. > :12:31.you start, whether it will succeed or fail. You have to play out your
:12:32. > :12:37.hand and then at the end of the day, you will know. Thank very much.
:12:38. > :12:39.Acid attacks are on the rise across the UK.
:12:40. > :12:42.There were more than 400 in the six months up
:12:43. > :12:46.and the numbers have more than doubled in England since 2014,
:12:47. > :12:53.Most reported attacks have taken place in public places,
:12:54. > :12:55.but Newsnight has spoken exclusively to one family who were victims
:12:56. > :13:00.Elaine Dunkley reports, and her film contains images some
:13:01. > :13:05.Where does it hurt, mate, are you all right?
:13:06. > :13:08.We're here to try and get water into your eyes.
:13:09. > :13:10.Mate, keep your eyes open, keep your eyes open.
:13:11. > :13:14.The use of chemicals as a weapon is growing in the UK.
:13:15. > :13:16.Victims left physically and mentally scarred by
:13:17. > :13:22.I was thinking, I'm not going to see anything after that.
:13:23. > :13:24.A common household product widely available and used in the
:13:25. > :13:31.Back in April, 20 people were left injured and two
:13:32. > :13:34.blinded following an acid attack in this nightclub.
:13:35. > :13:39.Thieves on scooters throwing acid and people to steal
:13:40. > :13:46.And now it's happening in people's homes.
:13:47. > :13:50.Zahadine Barba was attacked in his living room three weeks ago.
:13:51. > :14:08.Showed the phone to him and he said yes, I'm
:14:09. > :14:13.And grabbed a bottle out from his bag and he just pressed on that
:14:14. > :14:17.Twice on my face, and acid comes on my face and I'm
:14:18. > :14:22.totally blind, and I know that he attacked me with acid.
:14:23. > :14:27.Fortunately Zahadine was able to wash off the acid.
:14:28. > :14:30.He has no visible scars and has regained his sight but
:14:31. > :14:35.his family has been left traumatised.
:14:36. > :14:38.I went to the kitchen and then I saw my dad over there,
:14:39. > :14:45.And you know, like putting the water on his face, and
:14:46. > :14:49.then I ran off to the garden because I really didn't want to see that
:14:50. > :15:00.I never had anything like this before happened
:15:01. > :15:05.And how are you now, how are things now for you?
:15:06. > :15:15.Recent attacks have brought into focus the urgency in helping
:15:16. > :15:19.someone who has been a victim of this sort of crime.
:15:20. > :15:21.And although it is still very rare, the Royal
:15:22. > :15:24.College of Emergency Medicine is calling for more training of
:15:25. > :15:41.This is Newham University Hospital and it's in East London.
:15:42. > :15:44.This area has the highest number of acid attakcs in the UK.
:15:45. > :15:46.In the past five years there have been 400 cases and that
:15:47. > :15:50.We are seeing a case about every day or
:15:51. > :15:53.two, especially in this area, it seems to be a lot more frequent.
:15:54. > :15:56.And some members of the public, what should they do if they see someone
:15:57. > :15:58.with eyes burning, skin burning, what do you do.
:15:59. > :16:01.It's important to stay safe as a bystander, make sure you
:16:02. > :16:04.Other than that if you can help the person
:16:05. > :16:08.by rinsing the acid off them and tap water is good for that but you need
:16:09. > :16:12.I would recommend using 30, 40 or 50 litres of water to
:16:13. > :16:14.get rid of the acid from someone's face.
:16:15. > :16:17.This is extremely important, you can make a difference to whether
:16:18. > :16:20.someone can walk away from an acid attack with just a superficial burn
:16:21. > :16:24.or be blinded for the rest of their lives.
:16:25. > :16:37.The problem is reflected across the UK.
:16:38. > :16:44.Attacks carried out in the six months up to
:16:45. > :16:49.Since 2011 there have been nearly 2000 attacks in the
:16:50. > :16:52.There are petitions online to restrict the sale of industrial
:16:53. > :16:55.It is cheap, easy to obtain and disguise.
:16:56. > :16:59.It is a challenge for those trying to take it out of the
:17:00. > :17:02.I think it's far too easy for people to get hold of
:17:03. > :17:05.it, whether in a domestic setting or retail setting.
:17:06. > :17:07.But one thing that is important to say is that it is
:17:08. > :17:11.One of the things we are doing now is, we are
:17:12. > :17:14.looking to do pre-emptive testing to identify where people carry that
:17:15. > :17:16.acid, we are also working closely to send
:17:17. > :17:17.strong messaging around the
:17:18. > :17:20.If you choose to carry acid you can be
:17:21. > :17:23.liable for a four-year imprisonment sentence for carrying it is an
:17:24. > :17:26.If you use and the courts can sentence you to life
:17:27. > :17:30.So the penalties are very severe and it's important that
:17:31. > :17:33.anybody that goes out with acid, whether carrying it or whether they
:17:34. > :17:36.use it, that they understand that because we will be coming after you.
:17:37. > :17:38.Victims want tough words to become a reality.
:17:39. > :17:40.For those who have been left scarred, their injuries
:17:41. > :17:56.I'm now joined from Truro by Andreas Christopheros.
:17:57. > :17:59.He suffered serious burns when a beaker of sulphuric acid
:18:00. > :18:03.It happened on his own doorstep two and a half years ago.
:18:04. > :18:07.His attacker, who mistook Andreas for his intended victim,
:18:08. > :18:08.was jailed for life, but that sentence has
:18:09. > :18:24.Andreas, we are grateful to you for coming in to talk about this. It
:18:25. > :18:30.cannot be easy. When you see how much coverage has been attracted by
:18:31. > :18:35.this issue of late, do you think the rest of us have been too slow to
:18:36. > :18:43.wake up to the seriousness of this? I think it has become very shocking,
:18:44. > :18:49.shocking matter for the country. It is hard to see what the solution
:18:50. > :18:56.should have been but I believe that the real solution at this time is
:18:57. > :19:08.tougher sentencing. And with my attacker having his sentence made
:19:09. > :19:17.lighter, it seems completely wrong. You have been through so much, and
:19:18. > :19:25.trying to get your life back on track, do you feel that anyone who
:19:26. > :19:29.says that this is not as serious as I've broken attack is wrong? I would
:19:30. > :19:34.have preferred to have been shot or stabbed. On the first might might
:19:35. > :19:38.doctor sat down my wife and my mother back and said, we do not
:19:39. > :19:42.think he will make it through the night. The difference was that if I
:19:43. > :19:47.was shot or stabbed the wounds would heal, the scarring caused by
:19:48. > :19:51.sulphuric acid which was what I was attacked with, I will never heal. I
:19:52. > :19:56.will have these scars for the rest of my life. I'll will forever have a
:19:57. > :20:04.loss of sight. There is no miracle cure for me. I'm sure you have heard
:20:05. > :20:09.in recent months, all sorts of ideas have been put around like stopping
:20:10. > :20:13.people under 18 buying corrosive liquids, saying you have to do it
:20:14. > :20:20.with a credit card, changing sentencing guidelines, which of
:20:21. > :20:36.these ideas make the most sense to you? You can buy sulphuric acid in
:20:37. > :20:41.such an easy manner. Someone wanting to get their hands on it, they will.
:20:42. > :20:46.And ultimately I think the real deterrent for anyone thinking about
:20:47. > :20:52.committing an acid attack or an attack of any corrosive substance
:20:53. > :20:55.should be the sentencing. You recently met with your MP, who is
:20:56. > :21:01.also a Home Office minister. Do you get the feeling that the government
:21:02. > :21:10.is giving this type of crime the attention it merits? It is nice to
:21:11. > :21:14.hear this week the suggestion that any person who does commit an acid
:21:15. > :21:20.attack will receive a life sentence. I think the indicators are there. I
:21:21. > :21:24.feel everyone is on the same page now. It's only in the last week or
:21:25. > :21:29.so that I can say I've felt like that. But anyone who commits an acid
:21:30. > :21:35.attack should face life. It is a life sentence for me. They should
:21:36. > :21:39.face life, minimum term of 25 years. I will have my injuries until the
:21:40. > :21:43.grave so why should they walk the streets? Thank you for putting bad
:21:44. > :21:48.beauty us. Thank you, Andreas. Well, we've been dealing with some
:21:49. > :21:50.tough issues tonight, but bear with us, this last story
:21:51. > :21:53.has a more hopeful note. Climate change poses huge challenges
:21:54. > :21:55.and, it's projected, will cause hundreds of millions
:21:56. > :21:58.to become refugees. Desertification in sub-Saharan
:21:59. > :22:14.Africa plays a big part in that. And that in turn feeds into Europe's
:22:15. > :22:16.unfolding migrant crisis. Inna Modja is a Malian singer
:22:17. > :22:19.and activist who has been to Senegal for Newsnight to witness
:22:20. > :22:21.a pan-African initiative, It aims to improve livelihoods
:22:22. > :22:28.in the Sahel region, reverse desertification,
:22:29. > :22:30.and break the cycle of exodus. Stretching across the width
:22:31. > :22:39.of Africa, the southern reaches of the Sahara desert are known
:22:40. > :22:43.as the Sahel. It's a zone between sand
:22:44. > :22:47.and productive land, which has been severely degraded
:22:48. > :22:50.in recent years by climate change But here in northern Senegal,
:22:51. > :22:57.the Sahel is starting to come back to life again,
:22:58. > :23:02.thanks to a little-known pan-African initiative called
:23:03. > :23:06.the Great Green Wall. Launched in 2007, it hopes
:23:07. > :23:10.to provide a new way of thinking I'm Inna Modja, a musician
:23:11. > :23:18.and activist from Mali. I perform my music around the world
:23:19. > :23:22.and campaign for human rights The Great Green Wall was initially
:23:23. > :24:05.conceived as an ambitious plan to plant a natural 8,000 kilometres
:24:06. > :24:11.wall of trees and plants stretching from Senegal to Djibouti,
:24:12. > :24:13.but that hasn't happened and the grand idea of a continuous
:24:14. > :24:18.wall of trees has gradually faded. Critics argued that a wall promoted
:24:19. > :24:22.the idea of a barrier against the desert, when in fact
:24:23. > :24:28.it's a much greater region So, the wall has evolved
:24:29. > :24:34.into a vision to green the areas surrounding the Sahara with a mosaic
:24:35. > :24:37.of trees and small developments, This has been a shared
:24:38. > :25:16.political vision of African Notably Thomas Sankara,
:25:17. > :25:19.Burkina Faso's revolutionary Now 20 countries across the region
:25:20. > :25:30.have come together to $8 billion have been
:25:31. > :25:35.given or pledged so far, mostly coming from international
:25:36. > :25:38.partners, such as the World Bank with some funding from beneficiary
:25:39. > :25:43.countries and the African union. People here live on the very front
:25:44. > :25:46.line of climate change, But in their day-to-day lives,
:25:47. > :26:01.they feel the effects of climate change, they feel
:26:02. > :26:03.the effects of desertification. This project really aims to redress
:26:04. > :26:05.this by creating food security And it's not just about food,
:26:06. > :26:10.every day we see the wider impact The Mediterranean migrant crisis,
:26:11. > :26:15.the Boko Haram massacres in the Chad region and terrorist
:26:16. > :26:19.attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso. At their root, all of this can be
:26:20. > :26:22.traced to a cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity
:26:23. > :26:24.that is fuelled by a decline In a generation, there's been
:26:25. > :26:44.a catastrophic change The Great Green Wall aims to provide
:26:45. > :27:25.new opportunities for communities, not just to survive,
:27:26. > :27:54.but to thrive here once more. Places like this in Senegal are
:27:55. > :28:01.known as the villages with no men. There's a gaping hole
:28:02. > :28:06.in the local demographic. The young men have left
:28:07. > :28:08.to seek jobs elsewhere, It's driving the young away
:28:09. > :28:15.from their communities to seek I can see that you have
:28:16. > :28:26.henna on your fingers, This lady has not heard
:28:27. > :28:30.from her son for years. He was the major breadwinner
:28:31. > :28:34.for the family before he left. How does that affect
:28:35. > :29:09.you economically? It only takes a walk
:29:10. > :29:14.through the dusty street here to see whose relatives have made it
:29:15. > :29:22.to Europe and whose haven't. The homes of successful migrants
:29:23. > :29:24.are large properties made The others are wood
:29:25. > :29:36.and straw with thatched This is the pull factor that drives
:29:37. > :29:40.many towards the perilous boat In west Africa up to 80% of
:29:41. > :29:58.the population live in rural areas. Youth unemployment is a huge problem
:29:59. > :30:01.across the Sahel and a massive By 2030, the project aims to restore
:30:02. > :30:32.100 million hectares of land, sequester 250 million tonnes
:30:33. > :30:34.of carbon and generate more Although it's not clear exactly how
:30:35. > :30:45.these numbers will be achieved. It's definitely small beginnings,
:30:46. > :30:47.with the hope of building The Great Green Wall is a powerful
:30:48. > :31:00.symbol to focus global attention It remains to be seen how successful
:31:01. > :31:20.it will be in breaking Fascinating, that is all from us
:31:21. > :31:27.tonight, we are back on Monday, have a great weekend.
:31:28. > :31:33.Good evening after disappointing weather this week the weekend is
:31:34. > :31:34.shaping up nicely, not altogether dry