02/12/2015 World News Today

British MPs are debating whether to authorise joining the US, France and

others in air strikes against the so-called Islamic State in Syria.

Making the case for bombing, Prime Minister David Cameron said

Britain needs to tackle an urgent threat to its national security.

And this is the scene live inside the House of Commons where

the debate is set to continue for up to another six hours.

Russia claims these images show tankers carrying oil from IS

territory to Turkey and accuses the Turkish President of involvement.

The heaviest monsoon rains in over a century hit Chennai

More than 180 people have died so far.

After the birth of their daughter, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg

and his wife donate nearly all their shares to charity.

British MPs are now eight hours into a debate on whether to approve

UK airstrikes against so-called Islamic State targets in Syria.

The House of Commons is expected to vote

The debate was opened by the Prime Minister , who warned that Britain

couldn't afford to sit back and wait for an attack here in the UK.

But David Cameron faced persistent criticism from opposition MPs after

he described those against air strikes as terrorist sympathisers.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, warned against

an ill-thought-out rush to war and said the government's plans could

We'll get an in-depth report from the BBC's political editor,

Our correspondent, Rob Watson, is at Westminster for us.

David Cameron confident that he will win this boat. He is confident and

he said he would not even be holding if he wasn't sure because that would

just give a propaganda victory to so-called Islamic State. What the

Prime Minister thinks has really changed, the tone of political

position in the UK, where the attacks in Paris. So David Cameron

feels that the mood had changed here and of course that he has made the

case that Britain needs to be part of the action along with its allies,

particularly France. The argument has been going on all day. What

timescale are we looking out for the boat and action? Am I allowed to

look quickly at my watch? I would say probably in about three hours

for the vote, it will conclude a long day. As for action, I don't

think there is any doubt that the government will be sitting around

afterwards. In the days and hours after the vote, you would expect to

see British planes flying from their base in Cyprus and engaging in

action in Syria. British planes already involved in action in Iraq.

What difference does David Cameron so this would make? To be bettered

the Prime Minister, he has been incredibly careful ever since he

thought he could make the case again for trying to persuade the British

Parliament to extend action to Syria to be modest. He is not saying this

will be a game changer or decisive or move Syria swiftly towards a

political solution. He is just making the case that on balance,

it's probably better in his view to take the fight Islamic State in

their heartland rather than try to fight them here and that although

British air strikes would be decisive, they will degrade Islamic

State and keep them on the defensive. What point would be most

controversial and keep them on the defensive. What point would be most

controversial moderate fighters that could be lied with a coalition?

There is the big picture disagreement in the smaller more

logistical picture. The big picture disagreement is represented by

Jeremy Corbyn. He says in general, Western military interventions in

that part of the world have not been a great success. But there have been

other more specific disagreements with MPs saying, what exactly is the

overall plan? How does this lead to a political solution? If we were to

degrade Islamic State will ship them from their bases, who would be the

ground forces to take over. David Cameron had mentioned this figure of

70,000 fighters on the ground. A lot of MPs are sceptical. But it's

important to stress on balance, most MPs take the view that something

should be done. Does that mean they fully support it? Not at all. That

reservation even applies to the government and that is why the

action will be cared because people think on balance something needs to

be done. It is the biggest decision a

Prime Minister makes. This morning David Cameron left

for the Commons to make his case, confident he has the support in

Parliament for UK military action. The RAF is already dropping bombs

on IS targets in Iraq and the Government says that must

now be extended across the border, joining countries including

the United States and France As MPs poured into Parliament,

a big question was how many Labour The party is deeply divided

on the issue. Opening the debate

in a packed Commons Chamber, David Cameron said there was no simple

answer, but the choice was clear. This threat is very real

and the question is this - do we work with our allies to degrade

and destroy this threat and do we go after these terrorists in their

heartlands from where they are Or do we sit back and wait

for them to attack us? The Prime Minister's attempt to

brand those who planned to vote against the government as terrorist

sympathisers demeans the office of Prime Minister and undermined the

seriousness of the deliberations were having today. If you want to

apologise that the remarks, I would be happy to give way for him to do

so. If the government does winter might's vote, these planes made very

soon be heading to the Syrian region.

Well, our chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, is in

the Syrian capital, Damascus and she told me how the prospect of British

warplanes flying above Syrian skies is being received there.

The morning newspapers didn't even mention the British vote

in Parliament and still hasn't been on the evening news.

And that is partly a measure of just how many players are now

involved on one side or another in this tangled conflict and partly

a measure of just how hard life is here for Syrians, and they are just

But everyone I ask a question to about possible British

action against the so-called Islamic State welcomed it.

But in this capital, which is largely under government control,

they also had a warning, saying that unless the campaign was coordinated

with President Assad and the Syrian army, it simply wouldn't work.

Now, that is what Russia is doing but that is what the West and Arab

states backing the Syrian opposition refuse to do,

blaming President Assad's forces for the ferocious bombardment which

So there's a real heavy sense here among people that they just think

the war is going to drag on and, of course, life will continue just

The Syrian opposition says defeating IS won't solve

Monzer Akbik, a member of the Syrian National

Coalition, has been speaking to the BBC's Hardtalk programme.

He told Zeinab Badawi that tackling IS has to go

You cannot a decisive end, you cannot completely eradicate Isis and

have a sustainable campaign that would lead to a complete success

unless the danger from the regime and its allies is succeeded or

ended. They are both important. The confrontation should continue but

you cannot reach a final result with Isis unless you get the most

important, the biggest front, with the regime that has to be some kind

of ceasefire or political solution. Something has to happen there in

order for the people to make a sustainable and successful campaign

against Isis. You can watch the full interview. I will be on Thursday

this week. The rift between Russia and Turkey

has widened with Moscow accusing the Turkish President's family

of involvment in the smuggling of oil from areas controlled

by the so-called Islamic State The allegation has been vehemently

rejected by President Erdogan. Russian defence officials produced

satellite images which they said showed tankers carrying oil

from IS-held territory into Turkey. Turkey is the main consumer of the

oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq. According to

information we have received, the senior political leaders of the

country are involved in this criminal business.

Mr Erdogan has dismissed the claim, promising to resign

No one has the right to slander Turkey by accusing it of buying oil.

Turkey has not lost its values. In a moment, we'll hear from

Emre Temel of BBC's Turkish service but first, this assessment

from Famil Ismailov of BBC Russian. They gave us some numbers. They said

8500 tankers involved in transporting 200,000 barrels of oil

to turkey at least and crossing through the Turkish border and as

Russian military say, that brings $2 billion to be Islamic State. They

didn't show any evidence per se but showed pictures of big cars,

tankers, on the border. They showed convoys of tankers moving along the

roads but who do they belong to? What do we know it's happening on

the ground? Nobody 's nose. He said the information they have got does

not have to be proven or approved. He said this information will help

to fight terrorism. Emre Temel from the

BBC's Turkish Service says none of the evidence produced

by the Russians linked President Obviously, Turkey increased controls

over the last few months and is under intense pressure from Western

allies to do more against the fight... Against Isis. The US

actually wants to escalate the tension and is putting that

aspiration on Turkey and Russia to do the same. President Obama talked

to the presidents of Turkey and Russia at the climate summit and

asked them both to refocus their efforts on combating terrorism. But

Russians are very angry. Mr Putin rejected to meet him and is still

waiting for an apology. No apology. The Turkish President is very clear

on this issue. He refuses to apologise by saying Moscow should

apologise instead. Returning now to our main story -

the ongoing debate in the British Parliament on whether MPs

should approve UK airstrikes against so-called Islamic State

targets in Syria. If the RAF air strikes go ahead,

possibly within hours of tonight's vote, they will involve

jets taking off from the RAF's base The BBC's defence correspondent,

Jonathan Beale, is there. How important is that base for

operations in the region? The UK doesn't have an aircraft carrier so

this is essentially the airbase from which to launch those as strikes

first of all in Iraq but maybe, if there is a Yes vote in Parliament,

they were then turned their attention to Syria as well and we do

expect those combat missions over Syria to start very soon if there is

a Yes vote indeed probably to light. Remember that politicians

back in the UK will want to show that the RAF is making a difference

and are doing something. The Americans who are leading this

coalition, there are very few countries taking part in air

strikes, we want to show that Britain has joined in that fight so

I think there will be pressured to do something pretty soon that you

have to remember about scale. This is a modest contribution from the

UK. Eight Tornado jets based here. Another eight jets, two tornadoes

and two typhoons if there is that Yes vote. They will patrol not just

Syria but Iraq as well, carrying on the mission there. They have got

twice as much to patrol essentially. It won't be a huge difference in

military terms. The French contribution is greater and the US

contribution is significantly greater but of course the coalition

wants the help of Britain and Britain has niche capabilities. They

have a missile which they say causes, low collateral damage and it

will minimise civilian casualties. Very few journalists have had any

access to Islamic State territory. He's a German journalist and former

MP who spent ten days with IS last He's been telling Ros Atkins why

he's against airstrikes in Syria. We have been bombarding the Taliban

for 14 years and we have been unsuccessful. Bebop barbers were

completely unsuccessful and counter-productive. When we started

to bombard the Taliban, we had 100 terrorists and now we have 100,000.

Our bombardments were a terror breeding programme. We are actually

increasing terrorism by bombarding Isis because we are also killing

civilians. And for every child we will kill all we are killing, we

will have 1000 new terrorists. You have witnessed Islamic State

close-up. What would you do to undermine this group? We should

force Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to stop the delivery of

weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups in Syria, groups affiliated

to Al-Qaeda. We should help our Turkish partners to close the border

between Turkey and Islamic State. Every day, 200 new fighters join

Islamic State. I have also crosses borders. It's very easy and we

should stop it. The third point is, Isis is cooperating with groups in

Syria and Iraq which are excluded from the political process in the

country. We should do everything we can to get them the opportunity to

get back on the political process, to play a role in the country. We

need a national reconsideration in Syria and Iraq. Isis does not feel

that bombs... It fears not getting weapons and ammunition from Saudi

Arabia, they fear the borders are closing, and they feared peace in

Syria and peace in Iraq, and that is what we should do. Reports from

Afghanistan say they Taliban leader has been wounded in a firefight in

Pakistan and that is said to have followed a disagreement at a meeting

of commanders. A source close to the Taliban to the BBC firing broke out

spontaneously and the he was seriously hurt but in the past

couple of hours, et al Obama spokesman dismissed reports of any

injury to its leader. To India now where the

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has ordered a massive relief effort

in the southern city of Chennai, which is experiencing severe

flooding after the heaviest monsoon Flights and trains have been

suspended and hundreds The army has been deployed to rescue

thousands of stranded people More rain is forecast

in coming days. The Hindu newspaper, which is

produced from Chennai, has been unable to publish for one of the few

occasions in its 137-year history. Amit Baruah, the managing editor

of the newspaper's national editions, explained what's happening

there at the moment. This has been a really serious

crisis. If you put it together with what happened some time ago and in

Mumbai some years ago, increasingly what we are seeing is on account of

many changes in drainage patterns, wetlands being destroyed, flood

plains destroyed. Essentially the absence of water to go anywhere,

drainage issues. We are seeing a major crisis in the major cities of

India, a lot due to an planned construction and bad planning. We

are seeing the results of all of that. When you have this heavy rain,

I often visit Chennai to my headquarters, and even a month ago,

when there was a little bit of rain, I found that the streets were

totally waterlogged, drainage was poor, and today we have a situation

that schools and colleges have closed, public transport is very

difficult or minimal. We have a serious situation.

The head of world athletics, Lord Coe, has accepted there have

been failures in tackling blood doping in the sport.

The President of the IAAF was giving evidence to

Russia was banned from international events after an independent

World Anti-Doping Agency report alleged state-sponsored doping.

And during the hearing, Lord Coe was asked whether the doping

The chair of the independent commission has made it clear that

this is not simply about Russia or athletics. People forget that this

is not about athletics. But I will await with interest the second

report because it may show... May throw more light on other areas that

we need to be concerned about. And sang sushi has met the President and

influential rid of the Army. Both men have pledged to smooth the

trans-Buddha would would once have been unthinkable. The last time she

won an election, the Burmese army refused to set aside. This time, it

feels different. Her meeting with the President focused almost

entirely on putting systems in place to ensure a smooth transfer of

power. Thorny issues like the clause in the Constitution that stops are

becoming President were apparently not even discussed. She never

mentioned this issue. Did they discuss the would-be President then?

No. There will be decided by the next Parliament. Is the army ready

to give up its political power here? That's a $1 million question! I

cannot answer that. In search of the answer, she went for a second

meeting of the day. This time with the country's top shoulder. This is

now the key relationship. To change the constitution, she needs to win

the army's trust and reassure them that their brutal past will not be

revisited. For now, the army seems willing to let her operate within

the limits that they themselves have set. This feels like another hurdle

cleared. She may not be able to be the next President but it looks

likely that she will be allowed to form the next government. It is that

point in April next year that she will face a really big decision,

does she accept the boundaries of this army political system or dish

you push for true democracy in the knowledge that it will almost

certainly lead to confrontation? The founder of Facebook, Mark

Zuckerberg, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have announced they're giving

away nearly ?30 billion or 99% of their Facebook shares to mark

the birth of their first child. The couple say they want to make

the world a better place for Like many a young couple,

Mark and Priscilla took to Facebook to celebrate the birth of their

daughter, but they had other news. In a video recorded just weeks

before the arrival of Max, the Having this child has made us think

about all of the things that should be improved in the world

for her whole generation. We need to make sure that there are

investments and programmes that ensure that the

future isn't going to be like today, In a letter to their daughter,

the couple now say that over their lifetimes they'll donate 99% of

their Facebook shares, to promote good causes, from better health

and education, to greater equality. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

join other billionaires in giving Bill and Melinda Gates have

so far donated over ?21 billion. The businessman Warren Buffett

has given ?15 billion. And the investor George Soros has

donated ?7 billion Bill and Melinda Gates have been

praised for their contribution to eradicating diseases

in developing countries, but sometimes donors can find it hard to

direct cash where it's needed. It is all too easy to spend money

that's aimed to do good on things that don't have an impact,

and what I'd encourage them to do is to focus on causes that are really

big problems, that are neglected by other funders,

so you can really make progress. Right from when he founded Facebook

as a 20-year-old student, Mark Zuckerberg has said his mission

is to change the way the world Luckily for him, and for

the causes he and his wife support, Let's take you inside the British

House of Commons. The debate is still going on. It is approaching

the eight and a half hour mark now. We think they will vote on whether

Britain should launch air strikes in three or four hours' time.

Hello there, some of us were lucky enough to see some sunshine today.

Still have the differences in temperature, though.

We've got colder air tucking into the north-west of the UK,

still mild further south, and the dividing line continues to

After moving southwards today, it's going to start to move northwards

again overnight and into tomorrow, taking the rain across Wales, away