this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2pm: theresa may is set to head to brussels for talks with top eu officials ahead of sunday's crucial summit to formally sign off the brexit deal. the dup is expected to re—affirm her opposition to the eu withdrawal deal at her party's annual conference. the brawler portrays a beautiful and pathetic place for the united kingdom. french police use water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters gathering in central paris who are demanding a cut in the price of fuel. aus a us government report warns that unchecked climate change will cost the country hundreds of williams of dollars and damage human health and quality of life. poorly put the

kettle on! —— polly. the royal institution hopes to find people with recordings of their christmas lectures from the 60s and 70s which were found to be missing —— including some by sir david attenborough. and coming up at 2:30pm, witness goes back to the first world war to find out about the life of the soldier, poet and writer, robert graves. theresa may is heading to brussels for last—minute talks ahead of tomorrow's summit, where eu leaders are due to sign two key brexit documents. she'll meet the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, to finalise the withdrawal agreement, as well as a political declaration on future relations. this morning the chancellor,

phillip hammond, defended the deal mrs may has negotiated, insisting it was the best way to reunite a divided country and protect the economy. but northern ireland's democratic unionist party — has demanded that the prime minister abandons the deal. our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, reports from belfast, where the dup conference is taking place. her report contains some flashing images. it's the most closely—watched conference in the party's history. northern ireland's dup, whose support the government depends on in parliament, are poised to vote down the draft brexit deal. the published withdrawal agreement portrays a pitiful and pathetic place for the united kingdom. hundreds of pages, devoted to a backstop, which would bind the united kingdom into taking the rules of the european union, with no right to leave

and no end date. their objections remain with the so—called backstop, the plan to avoid a hard irish border. and today, the dup's deputy leader had this message. so, prime minister, the message from this conference, from every section of this party is: bin the backstop. applause top tories have been in town trying to allay dup fears. last night, the chancellor, philip hammond, told delegates, at a private dinner, that the backstop may never have to be used. but if it is, say the dup, northern ireland would remain fixed to eu rules, even after the rest of the uk goes its own way. many northern ireland businesses are backing the deal, putting business at odds with the dup, who say it undermines the integrity of the uk.

well, i think that's an argument that no—one in the business community in northern ireland accepts, it's very seldom in northern ireland you see unanimity about anything. but when you find every single business organisation is telling you something different, i think the dup should take cognizance of that. the dup will continue defending their position here, remaining dug in against that draft deal. and they're about to be cheered on by another big brexiteer, when boris johnson takes to the stage this afternoon. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. the former foreign secretary, boris johnson is due to address the conference in the next half hour. speaking ahead of that mrjohnson called on the government and the eu to get rid of the irish backstop. the best thing we can do isjump the backstop and get both sides to ee, backstop and get both sides to agree, which they both do agree,

that there is no need through our border in northern ireland. the commission doesn't want it, or the technical experts say that there is no need to have it, and then take that discussion out of the withdrawal agreement and put it for the negotiations that are going to ta ke the negotiations that are going to take place over the next couple of yea rs, take place over the next couple of years, which is where it belongs, and that is the way forward. separately, you agree to do a big free—trade agreement and both sides need to do that, and i think what we should also do, to encourage progress towards that free—trade agreement, we need the uk government to say now, that £39 billion, we are not handing it over until the talks at the end of 2020, when we will have done that free—trade agreement. what we also need to make sure that we get ready, as a country, for no deal. i don't think it's going to happen, i think we will get a very

good deal, but it is very important that we show that we are negotiating with confidence and conviction and we have a new secretary of state of powers a cross we have a new secretary of state of powers across whitehall to make things happen, to get this country ready, if we have to go out on wto terms, which i don't think would be nearly as bad as some people suppose. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is at the conference in belfast for us. arlene foster due to address the conference later this afternoon. and all eyes and ears will be on what she has to say. never before has there been so much national attention on the democrat —— dup national conference. arlene foster will take to the podium in the conference hall just after three o'clock. first of what she's going to do is restate her party's bottom line zon brexit. they are opposed to the backstop, the fallback arrangements in the brexit deal

because they think in essence it will leave northern ireland tied more closely to the eu than the rest of the united kingdom and they have said that one of their major red lines has always been that the whole of the uk should leave the eu together. remember the dup have a lwa ys together. remember the dup have always been passionate brexiteers, but the rise of ukip they were the most eurosceptic party in the uk so they are all for brexit, but they say not that this particular deal, they want the prime minister to go back to the negotiating table and get a better one, so you can expect that to be a major theme in arlene foster's speech. i think she will be looking at the situation closer to home at stormont, weather has not been at stormont, weather has not been at stormont, weather has not been at stormont, weather has not been a devolved government for almost, in fact there goes arlene foster on the way into the conference hall. she's going in along with many other party members to get the best seats in the house, for borisjohnson‘s speech, he will just before her, at around half past two. arlene foster's other main message besides brexit will be the

situation in stormont power—sharing having collapsed almost two years ago after the correlation between the dup and the irish republican party sinn fein collapsed so i think arlene foster will be addressing that, we stayed in her party's and mitigating devolution back up and running, and setting up the issues she feels need to be dealt with an orderfor that to she feels need to be dealt with an order for that to happen. we should not forget that there is support in northern ireland for this deal. that's right. a coalition of business organisations such as the cbi, the institute of directors, the federation of small businesses, and the mainfarming federation of small businesses, and the main farming union, the ulster farming union, will come out in favour of theresa may's deal. they went to a reception in downing street this week in which theresa may thank those of them who had been supporting, but that hasn't made a difference particularly to the dup position, they still oppose the backstop, they are worried about it for economic reasons, they say that it will cost some companies in

northern ireland, and they worry about it or constitutional reasons, anything that drives a wedge between northern ireland and the rest of the dookay and creates an internal barrier, a trade barrierfor example, a regulatory barrierfor the movement of goods, will be a bad thing for the union, will damage the union, and the fear is that the underlying it will mean northern ireland drifting closer to the irish republic and the eu and away from the united kingdom, so these are major principles for unionists, high sta kes for major principles for unionists, high stakes for unionists, and i think there is all very much be at the heart of arlene foster's speech in just over one hour's time. live to brussels — and our correspondent gavin lee. just update us on the latest coming from spain and their objections to this deal. we appear to have a summit under way tomorrow after the 11th hour impasse between spain and the eu and the uk with pedro sanchez, up until this morning

deeply unhappy that spain wasn't being given a as it wanted to, that any future decision over gibraltar, which it disputes as a british 0verseas territory, will have to go through them and bilaterally with the uk. the uk eu public representative has sent a letter to the eu council, putting the position hoping to placate the spanish worries, saying that there was a particular article, article 184 of the withdrawal agreement, the divorce agreement, set to be endorsed by the leaders tomorrow and it talks about the eu and the uk hoping to speed up relations towards a better trade deal after the uk leaves. spain says that it tacitly suggested that uk business was gibraltar and they want some extra wording put into the text. the problem was germany and others said the text was signed and cannot be opened up again, so sir tim barrow

in this letter has said this does not affect this article, the integrity of the territorial scope outside the uk, so we're talking about gibraltar, and in short they are saying that we can still discuss this gibraltar issue bilaterally with spain in future and that appears to be vacating the spanish prime minister because donald tusk, the president of the european council, has said that the summit will take place and jean—claude juncker, the head of the european commission in the past couple of minutes has said that after dialogue and negotiation with spain's by minister pedro sanchez, news appears to be that the summit is set to take place now. we have moved quite a bit in halfan place now. we have moved quite a bit in half an hour, and theresa may, it will be a big relief as she is set to arrive in the next couple of hours, to speak the eu officials and set the scene and work out the choreography tomorrow, an affair that will not be about champagne corks popping but both sides say it will be sombre, reflecting the fact that britain and the prime minister

theresa may wants to steer the ship away from the eu, after 45 years. we have some breaking news. the english director nic roeg has died. his films include the man who fell to earth which starred david bowie. nick kiam looks back at his life. the mic roeg masterpiece, don't look now, starring julie christie. it was sumptuous and eerie, as in all his films, the images hooked you, hypnotise you and unsettle you. he was a cameraman before becoming a

director. here he is on the set of fahrenheit 451, starring julie christie and from the french derek rae —— director francsois truffaud. —— the french director francsois truffaud. this adaptation of canada's smartest truffaud. this adaptation of ca nada's smartest person truffaud. this adaptation of canada's smartest person far from the madding crowd also won awards. his first film as director was performance starring mick jagger as a rock and james fox is a gangster. it included graphic scenes of violence, sex and drug—taking. we wa nt

we want to drink. i cannot make it any simpler. water. he followed it with walkabout, about two why children lost in the civilian desert. it start his own son, luke. water! pin you can watch them all at the same time. the man who fell to earth featured another rock star, david billy, in a sprawling and sometimes hallucinogenic work of science fiction. i really like you. —— david billy. science fiction. i really like you. -- david billy. bad timing a psychological thriller featured flashbacks, and start art garfunkel

and teresa russell. nic roeg later married her. his version of the witches by roald dahl brokers were renewed generation of children. he made films which were unpredictable and made producers and distributors uncomfortable. he could be driven. 0n uncomfortable. he could be driven. on one film the crew threaten to walk out when he filmed for 24 hours nonstop. but no other british director could match nic roeg's visual imagination or his skill at wrong footing, they will bring and delighting audiences. —— bewildering and delighting. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may is set to head to brussels for talks today with top eu officials ahead of sunday's

crucial summit to formally sign off the brexit deal. french police use a water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters gathering in central paris demanding a cut in the price of fuel. the film director nic roeg, whose credits include the man who fell to earth, and don't look now has died, at the age of 90. police in paris have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters demonstrating for a second weekend against a planned rise in fuel tax. these are live pictures from the sean chu lycee. —— from the champs—elysees. over the past year, the price of diesel has risen by around 23%. lisa hampele reports. a sea of yellow.

the protesters in their trademark hi—vis jackets on the champs—elysees. the authorities mean business too, using water cannon and tear gas against the thousands of protesters, trying to prevent them moving down to the palais de la concorde and the presidential palace, which has been cordoned off. 0rganisers bill this as act two in their rolling campaign. they are angry about an increase in diesel tax, justified by the government as an anti—pollution levy. but the campaign has grown into a broad opposition against president emmanuel macron. this metal worker says, "we feel like we've been working for years now and it'sjust extortion, while members of the government live like princes". "it's not even possible to live any more after paying taxes", says this woman. "i'm disgusted, i'm telling you, if i saw him, i wouldn't be able to shake his hand and i'd tell him

exactly what i think." some here have been ripping up the street and trying to build barricades. but as protesters let off fireworks, the authorities have the power to move them on. close to 300,000 people protested across france last week. it's estimated that by the end of today, 30,000 will have taken to the streets here in paris. lisa hampele, bbc news. police are questioning a man after an officer was stabbed outside a train station in east london. police said the male officer was attacked with a knife outside ilford station last night. the officer's injuries are not thought to be life—threatening. a us government report has warned that climate change will cost america hundreds of billions of dollars and damage human health — if no action is taken. president trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the reality of climate change. our correspondent,

james cook, has more. this, say many scientists, is what climate change looks like. in recent years, california has seen bigger, deadlier and more destructive wildfires than ever before. during a cold snap in washington this week, president trump tweeted, "whatever happened to global warming?" now, his own government experts have answered the question. it is here, they say. its effects are serious, and without dramatic change, they will be catastrophic. already, says the report, more frequent and intense storms like hurricane harvey, which ravaged houston and texas, are destroying property and may damage critical infrastructure such as bridges, power plants and oil refineries. crop yields and labour productivity will decline. there will be a rise in the spread of tropical disease. the poorest americans will be hardest hit. one of the things that's quite striking about the report, for example, is that we could see a future where the south—eastern

parts of the united states experience forest fire seasons that look like what happens in the west right now. the real harm is not the conflagration, but whether people know how to respond. we've been through the seasons again and again, and it's something people in the south—east haven't experienced before. it could potentially have even greater impact. the scientists say substantial and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions are essential, and they do report some progress. but president trump has taken a sharply different approach to his predecessor barack 0bama, championing coal, oil and gas and rolling back environmental regulations. without major, urgent action, says the report, the impacts of climate change will soon cascade into every corner of american life. hundreds of environmental activists have taken part in a demonstration at parliament

square in westminster. as part of the event organised by the group extinction rebellion — protesters were urged to wear funeral clothing and bring wreaths, to symbolise what campaigners see as a threat to the planet's future. demonstrations are also taking place at the scottish parliament in edinburgh, as well as in manchester, north wales and sheffield. the destruction of the amazon rainforest in brazil has reached its highest level in a decade, driven by illegal logging and the planting of crops. satellite images show that 3,000 square miles of forest was cleared in the year tojuly — up nearly 14% on the previous year. environmentalists say deforestation is one of the main causes of global warming. the national crime agency has issued a warning to organised gangs which it says are behind a recent spike in illegal attempts to cross the english channel.

this morning, the french authorities picked up five migrants from a small boatjust off the coast southwest of calais. on friday, eight iranians were brought ashore after their dinghy was spotted off the coast of kent. it brings the total number of suspected migrants to have reached the uk this month to 101. these men were found in a dinghy by a border force patrol boat in the channel yesterday. the eight men, who say they are iranian, were taken into custody and interviewed by immigration officers. the day before, 14 people were found in two dinghies in the channel. french authorities found another 11 suspected migrants on the same day. there has been a huge rise in the number of people trying to cross the channel in small boats. in the past month, 101 suspected migrants have been found, including nine people found on rocks at folkestone. three boats with 24 suspected migrants, including a toddler, were picked up off ramsgate.

and seven men were rescued from a dinghy after making a distress call. we need to see the home office and french authorities work together to put a stop to this trafficking network. nearly 100 refugees have been coming across the channel in recent weeks. it's only a matter of time before there's a tragedy, and that's why the home office in particular needs to get a grip and have a plan. the national crime agency says organised crime groups are using these small craft to traffic people, but they're working with the french authorities to stop them. this week, two men were jailed for eight years for smuggling people across the channel. this is one of the inflatable boats they used. most people smuggling takes place at ports, but increased security there, and the calm weather, may be making more people risk their lives by trying to cross the channel in small, unsuitable craft. i'm joined now by chris hobbs,

a former metropolitan police borders 0fficer. thank you for coming in. first question, we heard that 101 migrants this month had managed to cross the channel. is that figure really that alarming? the public are always being giving this impression that it is much higher. it is the route that they are using that is causing concern and the fact that it is a dangerous route, as well, something that the network or networks have decided to exploit. and you have to wonder why, do they perceive an inherent weakness on our side of the channel or maybe it is a school of thought, that the french, perhaps the brexit negotiations finalise, perhaps standing back a little and not doing all they could to intercept these small boats that are crossing the channel with some success ? crossing the channel with some su ccess ? as crossing the channel with some success? as far as the networks are concerned, at the moment they are

being successful and once they are within our three mile limit, as it were, then of course they have done it because if they are iranian as they claimed then it is very unlikely that they will be returned. so, for the networks, it is a very public success which will help them recruit more clients, for want of a better term. you mentioned the question of whether there is a wea kness question of whether there is a weakness on our site. is there? we have five customs cutters, two of which are operational, the home 0ffice have just bought three of eight inshore vessels, compared to the french who have got 40 quite large boats covering a small event of coastline, you have to say probably we are not sufficiently covered. there's been much criticism by the immigration is a spectre of the fact that we're not particularly well protected along our coastline, in our ports and we are very vulnerable and after brexit, who knows whether we will become more vulnerable, despite the fact that more people are saying that we will

have stronger borders? if you said that to a border force offers you would probably collapse with laughter. then be get to what can be done to address and stop those numbers. but being caught doesn't appear to be numbers. but being caught doesn't appearto bea numbers. but being caught doesn't appear to be a deterrent, for those people smugglers. what would be a deterrent? you have to look at the humanitarian situation. the deterrent would be to lock them up and put them in detention centres. we haven't got room in detention centres, and of course there will be cries that this is being very inhumane to those people who had a very difficult journey, inhumane to those people who had a very difficultjourney, and may be genuinely trying to escape persecution. so it is really hard to say, unless we are prepared to punish the migrants, then that isn't really much of a deterrent, the real deterrent would be locking up those smuggling networks, the people behind the organisation, but there has been some success recently from the national crime agency and the

french police, but generally speaking, the networks have had pretty much their own way, which is not the situation be like to see. and that route to calais, is there any and that route to calais, is there a ny effort and that route to calais, is there any effort to stop them reaching that route, across land, so that they get to the port of calais? they have got free reign once they are inside the schengen area, and they will come through maybe turkey, romania, bulgaria, but once they are inside the schengen area, it is no borders, probably few checks, and the problem with calais, that now is relatively secure. it is still people being smuggled through there but now the smugglers are looking elsewhere for weak spots along the coast, and they are finding them. thank you very much, chris hobbs. hundreds of people have attended the funeral of the well—known syrian radio host and activist, raed fares, who was killed by gunmen in the rebel—held province of idlib.

raed fares founded an independent radio station broadcasting from opposition—held areas. despite several assassination attempts, he refused to leave idlib and continued to defy both the government and militants. when fresh radio was ordered to remove its female presenters, software was used to disguise their voices. tributes to fares have been paid across the world. a new nasal swab test for flu — which can give a diagnosis injust 20 minutes — has helped to significantly reduce bed—blocking and unnecessary admissions in hospitals. it was used in trials at two hospital trusts in norwich and south london, and avoids the need to put patients in isolation. 0ther flu tests can take several days to return results. the search is on for missing footage of sir david attenborough, first aired on the bbc almost 50 years ago. staff at the royal institution

are asking the public to look in their attics for any recordings of their christmas science lectures — including those by sir david — after realising 31 broadcasts are missing from their collection. 0ur correspondent david sillito reports. we will have a little protein dance. carl sagan, in1977, doing the protein dance. very good. can you get a different note on it? christopher zeeman and the science of music. heart rate 126 — you must be calming down, robert. how do you feel now, compared to before? great. these lectures have been a christmas tradition since 1825, and were first broadcast on the bbc in 1936. but not all of them have survived in the archive. some of david attenborough's lectures from 1973 have gone missing. there are also gaps in ‘66, ‘67, ‘69, ‘70 and ‘71.

the royal institution wants to put all of these televised lectures online, and is asking the public if they have copies of the missing programmes hidden in a loft or stored in a garage. they were television's first ever science programme, and they're hoping that some of their technologically inclined viewers might be able to help them complete the full collection. recognise this sound ? yes, that is undeniably ‘the lion king', but not as we know it. the trailer for the re—telling of the classic disney film has been released and it's already had