19/03/2018 BBC News at Six

The UK and the EU agree the main

principles of a transition deal,

paving the way towards Brexit.

A handshake and relieved

smiles after intensive

talks over the weekend.

The deal we struck today,

on top of that agreed in December,

should give us confidence that

a good deal for

the United Kingdom

and the European Union

is closer than ever before.

TRANSLATION:

A decisive step

remains a decisive step,

but we are not at the end

of the road.

There's still no solution

to the problem of the

Northern Ireland border.

We'll bring you all the details

about what's agreed and what's not.

Also tonight...

Investigators search a new site

in the spy poisoning case

as international chemical weapons

experts arrive in the UK.

The 26-year-old British woman

killed fighting alongside

Kurdish militia in Syria.

Ant McPartlin is arrested

for suspected drink-driving and goes

back into treatment,

his Saturday night

programme is taken offair.

And the couple whose white

wedding lasted a little

longer than they expected

after they were marooned by the mini

beast from the east.

And coming up on Sportsday in BBC

News, we look back on rugby union's

Six Nations, which culminated in

an Irish grand slam when they won at

Twickenham at the weekend.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

The UK and the EU have conditionally

agreed a part of the transition

deal that should smooth

the way towards Brexit.

Both the EU negotiator

Michel Barnier and the Brexit

Secretary David Davis have called

the agreement - for the period

from March next year

to December 2020 -

a decisive step.

These are the pages

of the transition deal -

highlighted in green

is what's been agreed.

In yellow, close to agreement,

in white, the parts

still being negotiated.

Agreed so far...

EU citizens arriving in the UK

before December 2020

will have the same rights as those

here now, as will UK

citizens living in the EU.

The UK will be able

to negotiate trade deals

during the transition period.

But not yet agreed is the issue

of the border with Northern Ireland.

Our Europe editor

Katya Adler has more.

In the quest to resolve relations

after Brexit today was a big moment

between the EU and UK. An historic

handshake to seal a deal, not the

final Brexit deal but the

long-awaited agreement on transition

to ease the UK from leaving the EU

to life on the outside. The EU and

UK's chief Brexit negotiators were

visibly relieved, they had been

under pressure from business.

Businesses need not delay investment

decisions or rush through plans

based on guesses about the future,

instead they now have certainty

about the terms that will apply

after withdrawal.

Certainty, not

quite. An oft repeated phrase at ago

she nations is...

Nothing is agreed

until everything is agreed.

The

transition deal is part of the UK's

complex moved to all withdrawal

agreements from the EU. Areas

highlighted in green indicate where

agreement has been reached but

emissions are daring. Like Ireland,

there is still no solution on how to

avoid a hard border between Northern

Ireland and the republic. The UK

hopes an ambitious trade deal can

solve the problem but just in case,

Ireland and the rest of the EU

insist on a backstop agreement where

Northern Ireland stays in the

customs union and parts of the

single market.

What Ireland has

asked for is we would have an

insurance mechanisms so I and others

can say to people in Northern

Ireland and Ireland, we will not

have border infrastructure again.

What was agreed today? It will be

time limited. The UK will continue

to pay into the budget, maintaining

full access to the single market and

customs union. It will have to

follow all EU rules but will no

longer be a decision maker though it

may voice concerns. The UK can sign

new trade deals but cannot implement

them until after transition. But

Brexit decision-makers were upbeat.

Good news today? As you see,

Springer has sprung with a force

spreading to these often frosty

negotiations. Progress today was

hailed as a big step forward but it

is not all good news for the

government. It is clear there will

not be a final trade deal between

the EU and UK at the end of these

talks, the transition will be used

to hammer out more details and to

get this far, the UK has had to make

concessions. Like fishing. Far from

taking back control as promised by

the government, EU quotas will

continue during

continue during transition, allowing

EU countries to fish in UK waters.

The transition period is expected to

be waved through by EU leaders at a

summit at the end of the week.

In a moment we'll be

getting reaction from our

business editor Simon Jack.

But first, let's go

to our political editor

In a moment we'll be

getting reaction from our

But first, let's go

to our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg in Westminster.

How is this agreement going down

there is it being seen

as a success for the government?

I think you would have heard the

sighs of relief in Westminster in

Brussels. There had to be

compromised to get this far. Some

budging on the EU side but a lot

more from the British Government for

Tory MPs, particularly on fishing.

There has been compromises too far

and certainly some of the things

agreed in the draft deal are

different from what leave voters

were promised in summer 2016. It

will be almost two years before the

government can make significant

changes to immigration policy and we

will play billions of pounds for

almost two years after leaving. But

broadly speaking for the government,

their priority in terms of Brexit

has been to get this transition deal

done. Today, they believe they have

done that. The reason is

straightforward. They were concerned

about the idea of Brexit being a

shock to the system where we leave

next year and were responding to

demands in their party and the

business community that the big

decision the country took was

something that would have to happen

over time and today is a big

building block to making sure that

agreement is in place but a lot of

work still to do and so sighs of

relief in number 10, but maybe not

for long.

Simon this gives business

more certainty, is it enough?

The

sighs of relief Laura is talking

about are echoed in the boardrooms

of businesses in the UK. It is a

welcome development in the Brexit

process, time to have breathing

space to prepare for life outside

the EU but having said that,

businesses like banks and

pharmaceutical companies, car

companies, it does not mean the

issues will be spirited away, what

will happen in Northern Ireland,

about regulation, investment but

businesses talking to their

employees, who employ EU staff, this

will be welcome. Bigger businesses

have spent hundreds of millions on

contingency plans and I do not

expect them to stop. They will want

more detail about the final picture

and what our relationship will be.

For the business community, very

welcome, a time to draw breath, but

not a time to relax.

Simon Jack and

Laura, thank you.

International chemical weapons

experts have arrived in Salisbury

to examine the nerve agent used

to poison the former Russian spy,

Sergei Skripal, and his daughter.

It comes as EU foreign ministers

expressed unqualified solidarity

with Britain.

The focus of the investigation

shifted ten miles north of

Salisbury, to the village

of Durrington.

Here, officers examined and then

removed a car that was used

to pick up Yulia Skripal

from the airport

the day before she and her father,

Sergei, were attacked with

nerve agent.

Nearby, at the military research

complex of Porton Down,

inspectors from the global chemical

weapons watchdog the OPCW were due

to start analysing the nerve agent

that British experts believe came

from Russia,

a process that officials say

could take some weeks.

In Brussels, the Foreign Secretary

was talking to Nato and European

allies, trying to maintain

the diplomatic pressure on Russia -

looking not just for statements

of support, but tangible, joined-up

action.

There are things we can and must

do together, tackling

disinformation from Russia,

and the UK has been

helping to fund that

at

an EU level.

Tackling cyber together.

Sharing intelligence

about what Russia is up to.

And for now, at least,

allies standing shoulder

to shoulder.

All 29 Nato allies stand united.

We stand in solidarity

with the United Kingdom.

And the UK is not alone.

Earlier, EU foreign

ministers gathered to

discuss the attack and issued

a joint statement expressing

unqualified solidarity with the UK,

saying they took its assessment that

Russia was to blame

extremely seriously.

What is absolutely clear

is that solidarity with the

United Kingdom and our extreme

concern about what has happened,

that is really unacceptable.

But in Moscow,

the defiance continued.

As President Putin began his fourth

term of office, his spokesman said

the UK must prove Russia's role

in the poisoning of Mr Skripal or

apologise.

As for Russia's diplomats in London,

well, some of these

officials and their families will be

heading home tomorrow -

23 in all, with a similar number

of British

diplomats leaving Moscow shortly.

Tomorrow, the National Security

Council will meet to decide

Britain's next steps and there

is a live debate within government -

should they retaliate and escalate,

or simply do nothing?

Should they kick more

Russian diplomats out of

the Embassy here or should they find

new ways of penalising Russia?

The question is,

what further diplomatic

price is the Government

prepared to pay?

James Langdale, BBC News.

A British woman who was a volunteer

fighter with an all-female Kurdish

armed unit has been killed in Syria.

It's understood 27-year-old

Anna Campbell, who was from Lewes

in Sussex, died last week

in the town of Afrin along

the northern Syrian border,

where Turkey has been fighting

Kurdish forces since January.

Emma Vardy has been

speaking to her father.

Anna Campbell was a principled

and determined young woman,

according to her family.

She had qualified as a plumber

in the UK but she left

Britain to travel

to Syria last year.

I was alarmed but not surprised,

really, because I know her.

She's always had a desire, a wish,

a tendency to protect

the vulnerable.

If I wanted to participate in the

revolution of women...

Anna Campbell had joined

the all-female Kurdish armed group,

the YPJ.

She saw them as a movement

representing women's

liberation in the Middle East

but Turkey considers them as an

extension of the Kurdistan Workers

Party, which, it says, is a

terrorist organisation.

At first she became involved

in fighting against

so-called Islamic State where IS has

been holding the last of

its territory.

But, in January, the new front

in the conflict opened up.

Turkey began attacking the Kurds

along the northern Syrian border,

around the town of Afrin.

In a statement, the YPJ said they

tried to keep Anna Campbell away

from the front lines

but that she had insisted

on joining the operation.

British police have repeatedly

warned against travelling

to Syria and have advised that

becoming involved with any armed

group could lead to prosecution.

Since 2015, seven British men

have lost their lives

while assisting the Kurds.

Others, who have returned to the UK,

have been arrested.

It is in Afrin that Kurdish

commanders say Anna

Campbell was killed by Turkish

air strikes and friends

informed her family.

I know she would never have

forgiven me if I had

stopped her from going but I feel

like I could have done

more to raise awareness

of what was going on.

Anna Campbell is the first British

woman fighting with the

Kurds to have died.

Her family say she was driven

by a belief in creating

a better world and was

prepared to put her life on

the line.

Emma Vardy, BBC News, in Lewes.

One of the largest inquiries

into the alleged abuse of teenage

British army recruits has collapsed

after a judge halted the first

of three court-martials.

It had been alleged 16 instructors

ill

ill treated 28. The judge said a

three-year investigation by the

Royal Military Police have been

seriously flawed.

The TV presenter, Ant McPartlin,

says he will seek further treatment

after he was arrested

on suspicion of drink-driving.

He was detained yesterday afternoon

following a collision involving

three cars in south west London.

ITV says his Saturday night

programme broadcast with his partner

Declan Donnelly will not be

broadcast this weekend.

Our Entertainment Correspondent

Lizo Mzimba has more.

Moments after the mini he was

driving was involved in a collision

with two cars, Ant McPartlin at the

scene of the crash. When police

arrived he was taken away under

arrest after failing a breath test.

A number were treated for minor

injuries and a child passenger taken

to hospital for a precautionary

checkup. The evening before, Ant

McPartlin have presented ITV's

Saturday Night Takeaway. He returned

to TV last year after going into

rehab visitation to treat addiction

to alcohol and painkillers. This

afternoon, the broadcaster said...

From Britain's Got Talent through to

I'm a celebrity so much of ITV's

deterrent is built on Ant McPartlin

as well as his co-host, Declan

Donnelly foot appear they will be

trying to wreck what one of this

will mean for the long-term future

of one of it's biggest stars. --

trying to work out. Police say

inquiries into the collision are

continuing.

The time is 18:15pm.

Our top story.

Britain and the EU shake

on a Brexit transition deal -

but there's still no agreement

over Northern Ireland.

Still to come..,

A heroes' welcome for

Britain's Paralympians

as they return from their most

successful Winter Games.

Coming up in the sport, as a new

favourite for golf Masters in a

couple of weeks it is Rory McIlroy

after he won the Arnold Palmer

Invitational yesterday, his first

tournament victory since September,

2016.

Doctors have restored the sight

of two patients with the most common

form of blindness in the UK.

More than 600,000 people in the UK

suffer from age related macular

degeneration and doctors hope

the treatment could be widely

available within a few years.

The team at Moorfields Eye Hospital

in London used surgery to insert

stem cells at the back of the eye.

Here's our medical

correspondent Fergus Walsh.

Before his pioneering

stem-cell treatment,

Douglas Waters was completely blind

in his right eye.

Now he can see.

Everyone wanted to go

outside when the...

rain finally stopped.

That's perfect.

So, this is an amazing

improvement, Mr Waters.

I just couldn't believe it.

And each morning, I picked things

out in the bedroom to look

at, out of the garden.

I'd do this.

And it's unbelievable.

I'm really chuffed,

I suppose you could say!

And so is his surgeon.

Two patients with age-related

macular degeneration had

the sight-restoring treatment

at Moorfields Eye

Hospital, in London.

We are able to show

that we could take someone that

could not read at all,

that could not see the book

that they were supposed to be

reading from, and taken them

to reading around 60-80 words

per minute with their

normal reading glasses.

For us, this is a

fantastic breakthrough.

And it could help other

patients with age-related

macular degeneration,

who can lose all

their central vision.

So what causes AMD?

Well, if we open the eye,

the macular is at the back.

It's the part of the retina

responsible for central vision.

Now, if we pull out a section,

here are the light-sensitive cells,

the rods and cones.

AMD is triggered when a crucial

layer of support cells -

seen here in green -

die.

As a result, patients gradually

lose the ability to read

or to recognise faces.

Scientists use stem cells from human

embryos and turn them

into the support cells needed.

They were put onto a tiny patch

like this, which was placed

at the back of Douglas's eye.

You can see it here.

The stem cells repaired his vision.

Regenerative medicine's goal

is to restore a person's health.

I think this is one of the first

indications from regenerative

medicine that that can be achieved.

We can stop people from going blind.

Douglas, who's 86, says

the stem-cell therapy has given him

renewed independence.

Moorfields says it should be no more

expensive than other AMD treatments,

and potentially could help

save the sight of

thousands of patients.

Fergus Walsh, BBC News.

The Government has been told it

needs limit the amount of money

people can spend on fixed

odds betting machines.

They've been described as the 'crack

cocaine of gambling' -

with people being able to bet up

to a hundred pounds a time.

The Gambling Commission

is advising the maximum stake

should be 30 pounds.

Campaigners and opposition MP's had

called for the limit to be no

more than £2.

Danny Savage has more.

They are found in nearly every

high street bookmakers.

Traditional-looking fruit machines

with a very modern twist.

You can gamble up to £100

a spin but now it's been

suggested the maximum bet should be

£30 or as low as £2.

Terry White lost a quarter

of a million on them.

He was addicted to playing the games

on a digital screen.

£5 became 10, became 20.

Next thing I didn't realise how

much I was putting in.

And, strangely, because you're

putting the money in quickly,

it's not like you're dealing in caah

face-to-face over the table

or in a private card game

or somewhere, it's just a number

on a screen and that also makes it

easier for you to lose control.

These three bookmakers

in Sheffield all have the

machines and around them are signs

warning people not to gamble more

than they can afford.

Now nobody coming out of these shops

today wanted to talk to us on camera

but they all believed that limiting

the amount of money you could bet

would not necessarily solve

the issues of so-called

problem gambling.

Have you got an app on your

smartphone, a gambling app?

Justin Larkham lectures

on gambling awareness.

Today he was talking to academics

at the University of Hertfordshire.

He's a former gambling addict

and is concerned that betting shop

punters will just go elsewhere.

Actually it might drive people

to go online betting,

which potentially is more

dangerous and hidden.

So I also think that

a reduction from £100

down to £30 will make a difference.

A maximum bet of £30

is being suggested for non-slot

machines like these ones,

where you can play roulette but,

where's that figure come from?

The evidence we looked at showed

that you need to come down to at

least £30 in order to have

a significant impact upon the harms

and risk of harms that people face.

What was clear though was there

was no individual figure that acted

as a magic bullet, which is why

we're suggesting £30 or less.

Bookmakers say the machines account

for half the revenue taken in their

shops and they say,

if maximum bets are limited,

the odds of finding one of these

on your high street will be slashed.

Danny Savage, BBC News, Sheffield.

Uber has announced it is ending

testing cars with no drivers.

The mini beast from the east brought

snow and biting winds for much

of the UK over the weekend.

Among the worst affected areas

was the south west of England

where hundreds of drivers

were stranded on the A30 last night

with police closing a 60 mile

stretch between Exeter and Bodmin.

Jon Kay has the story of one

couple who got stuck

at the most unfortunate time.

A white wedding.

But Sarah and John Lund had no

idea their honeymoon

would be even whiter.

Fun driving conditions.

After the confetti,

a blizzard of snow, as

they headed through Devon

on the A30 last night.

So, they abandoned their car

on the edge of Dartmoor and began

married life in an

emergency rescue centre.

We did see accidents on both sides

of the road and other cars

driving in a haphazard way.

We went very slowly and we just knew

we needed to keep each other safe.

So, this ended up

being the marital bed -

on the floor of the school classroom

with 80 other rescued motorists.

No, wasn't expecting that at all.

Yeah, lots of potential scenarios go

through your mind before your

wedding night but never

imagine snow in Okehampton.

So, after a night they

will never forget, the

newlyweds checked out

of their unlikely honeymoon suite...

Retrieved the wedding car,

and got their marriage back

on track, heading to their hotel

in Cornwall before

another storm arrived.

With temperatures

falling yet again, and

more severe ice predicted,

motorists here in the south-west of

England are being urged to stay off

the moors overnight and not to drive

at all after dark.

Not that Mr and Mrs Lund planned

to drive anywhere this evening.

They have made it to their hotel

in Cornwall where the

sun has been shining and where

tonight they finally have a room

to themselves.

Jon Kay, BBC News.

Britain's Paralympic team arrived

home today after their most

successful Winter Games.

Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide

Jen Kehoe became Britain's most

decorated winter Paralympians -

with one gold, two silver

and a bronze at this year's

Paralympic Games in South Korea.

Andy Swiss reports.

They left as hopefuls and have

returned as history makers.

returned as history makers. Four

medals including the best base save

till last. Fitzpatrick has less than

5% vision. She followed her guide to

gold for slalom. They told me it is

barely sinking in.

It means

everything to me. I have always had

a dream since I was little to come

away with a medal at the Paralympic

games. 2018 was always that goal

from ever since I first started. I

am immensely proud to have done it.

Hopefully it will inspire others to

go out there and do the same and get

out and try something you never know

where it will lead.

This is a

simulation of what Fitzpatrick sees

when she is skiing. Following her

guide potluck bright orange beard at

up to 70 miles an hour. Her parents

first took her skiing when she was

five.

How things have changed! She

used to follow me down the slope in

a bright orange coat. She used to

shout me to wait for her and I am

having to shout at her to wait for

me.

The pair are already targeting

the next Games. For now they say

they will celebrate with a cup of

tea.

Time for a look at the weather.

When will it be over? It has stopped

snowing and the lying snow will melt

this week will stop we have lost the

bitterly cold wind. Things will

become lighter and then there will

be a change in wind direction which

will bring rain from mid week

onwards. A lot of dry weather at the

moment and a lot of snow lying,

particularly over the hills. The

drifting snow has been the problem

today. Looks much more like spring

in Belfast. Not everywhere covered

with snow. It will turn icy tonight.

We have Cloud loitering in the North

Sea. There may be one or two drizzly

showers, heightening the risk of icy

patches. It will be colder in the

West and north, particularly in

Scotland and Northern Ireland where

we have clear skies and light winds.

The high pressure has pushed away

the snow showers and it has dropped

the wind as well. A lot of the

showers will break up and we will

get some decent sunshine. Further

north some thicker cloud to give

some drizzly showers allowing

sunshine to develop in northern

England. All the while plenty of

sunshine in Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Temperatures higher than

today. Still a chilly wind in the

East of England. It will lose that

on Wednesday when will start to pick

up a milder, Atlantic wind. Much

more cloud on Wednesday. Outbreaks

of rain most of it in western

Scotland over the hills. We could

see Tebbutt is up to 10 Celsius.

Lucky us. -- temperatures up to 10

Celsius.

Lucky us. -- temperatures up to 10

Celsius.

Britain and the EU have agreed a

traditional Brexit transition deal

but there is still no agreement over

Northern Ireland.