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tv   BBC News  BBC News  December 2, 2018 12:00pm-12:30pm GMT

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this is bbc news — i'm ben brown — the headlines at 12pm. as pressure mounts over theresa may's brexit deal — labour say they would seek to force a general election if she loses her commons vote. it seems to me that if the prime minister has lost a vote of that significance then there has to be a question of confidence in the government. environment secretary michael gove warns of the risks of leaving the eu without a deal. i hope the people have the chance over the course of the next nine days is to recognise that we should not make the perfect the enemy of the good. we have got to recognise that if we don't vote for this deal the alternatives are no deal or no brexit. at the 620 summit, the united states and china agree to stop additional tariffs and prevent a further escalation of their trade war. teachers must not be expected to act as substitute parents — according to the chief
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inspector of education. also this hour — representatives from almost 200 countries gather in poland for talks on climate change. the talks will focus on how to limit global temperature rises — and try to breath new life into the paris agreement. the big fight ends in a draw — british boxer tyson fury narrowly fails to take the wbc world heavyweight title from the us champion, deontay wilder. and later this hour, click takes a special look at technology for disabled people, including bionic arms and talking internet. that's coming up just after 12:30pm. the shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has said that
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labour will call for a vote of no confidence in the government — if the prime minister loses the vote on the brexit deal. theresa may is under pressure from opposition mps with demands that she publishes in full the legal guidance she's been given on her withdrawal agreement with the eu. the attorney general will update parliament on the legal advice tomorrow. speaking to andrew marr, the environment secretary michael gove warned that if theresa may's deal failed to get through parliament, there was a risk of no brexit at all or another referendum. our political correspondent, jonathan blake told me why mr gove is warning his colleagues not to vote against the brexit deal. the defence of theresa may's brexit dealfrom one of the defence of theresa may's brexit deal from one of the the defence of theresa may's brexit dealfrom one of the most prominent leave campaigners are michael gove and someone whose position in the
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cabinet has looked precarious since the plan was agreed back in chequers in the summerand the plan was agreed back in chequers in the summer and then the deal was subsequently agreed with brussels in the last few weeks. he was known to have significant concerns about it and he has talked about this morning saying that he said a lot of things in private about his concerns with the deal and he reflected long and hard. so effectively saying that he considered resigning perhaps over this brexit deal but he is still there in the cabinet defending the prime minister's deal. he talks about it this morning as not being perfect, not containing 100% of everything he and other leave campaigners and voted would want but then he said they didn't win 100 cent of votes then he said they didn'twin100 cent of votes in the referendum. so sounding pragmatic whilst admitting he had concerns with the deal still. i reflected long and hard about this deal but i have concluded, like lots of people, that while it is imperfect, it is the right thing to do. it is because, andrew,
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i understand and appreciate and feel uncomfortable with parts of this deal but i also understand and appreciate how many of my colleagues feel. one of the things i hope the people will have the chance to do over the course of the next nine days is to recognise that we should not make the perfect the enemy of the good, we have got to recognise that if we don't vote for this deal the alternatives are no deal or no brexit. that is what michael gove has been saying this morning. we have also heard from labour. they are making their preparations for the eventuality that the government lose the vote. labour have said all along that their preferred option of prime minister cannot get the deal through isa minister cannot get the deal through is a general election and we had a clear statement of intent from the shadow brexit secretary keir starmer is said that in the immediate aftermath of the vote, we on tuesday, that labour would sink to bring a motion of no—confidence in
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the government. —— seek to bring. it seems to me that there has to be a question of confidence in the government. it is inevitable we would seek to move that. it depends on what actually happens in nine days and what the response is but if she has lost a vote of this significance after two years of negotiation then it is right that there should be a general election because but for the fixed term parliament act, the conviction was always that if a government loses what is called a confidence vote, something of such significance, then that government has to go. sir keir starmer mentions the parliament act there. there is a two—week period in which the government can come back to the house with a reformed government or a statement of intent and go to another vote. if it wins at it it can carry on,
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if it loses that then parliament is dissolved and there would follow that there would be a general election. also a row this morning over the legal advice that the government have had about the brexit deal. why is this so politically sensitive? a good number of mps, particularly brexiteers, believe that the advice given to the government around a backstop element of the withdrawal agreements, the divorce deal effectively between the eu and britain, that the uk would be tied to a customs union arrangement indefinitely and it will not be able to pull out of that unilaterally. the government has said it will publish a summary of the legal advice given by the attorney general and in fact the attorney general is due to give a statement at parliament tomorrow. that is not enough for those mps that have concerns and labour that have concerns and ——labour calling for the government to publish that advice and if they don't, threatening to start proceedings to call
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the government in contempt of parliament which is a serious charge on something that would set off a series of events which could see certain mps or even member of the government held in contempt of parliament and losing their seats. we are not there yet or necessarily anywhere near it but it is going to make an already difficult and complicated week for theresa may even more so. the united states has announced that it's reached an agreement on trade with china after talks at the g20 summit in argentina. president trump met with chinese leader xi jinping and confirmed he will not carry out threats to raise tariffs on chinese goods from 10% to 25 %. 0ur beijing correspondent, stephen mcdonell reports. the world's two most powerful leaders sat down to talk and international trading companies held their breath, hoping for a breakthrough. the relationship is very special, the relationship that i have with president xi and i think
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it is going to be a primary reason why we will probably end up getting something that will be good for china and good for the united states. translation: it is indeed a great pleasure to have this meeting. it is a manifestation of our personal friendship. only with cooperation between us can we serve the interest of world peace and prosperity. what they came up with was not a suspension in the trade war but a suspension in the escalation of it. for 90 days neither side will impose new tariffs and trade talks will be ramped up. during this period, us tariffs currently set at 10% will not be lifted to 25%. in the meantime, china says it will increase imports of american agricultural products by an unspecified amount, as a way of starting to address the trade imbalance. xijinping also offered his
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american counterpart specific goodwill gestures. he says he is open to reconsidering approving the acquisition of semiconductor company nxp by us giant qualcomm. donald trump had called on china to do more to slow the traffic of powerful opioids into his country, so president xi has pledged he will make fentanyl a controlled substance. meaning its illegal export would attract maximum penalties. both sides now have three months to work out a solution but their differences remain considerable. most analysts don't expect a complete capitulation from beijing. but might china give enough ground on international market access on protecting intellectual property? for washington to judge that it's better to take this than nothing at all. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.
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a major climate change summit gets under way in poland this morning with representatives from nearly 200 countries attending. although talks officially open on monday, such is the sense of urgency in tackling the problem that negotiators have started work a day early. our environment correspondent matt mcgrath is at the conference — i asked him what those attending are hoping to achieve. there is supposed to be 23,000 people gathering here over the next few days. they have started early because the sense of urgency, i guess, from the scientific reports that have come out in the last few months and also because, quite frankly, they are quite far behind on the work they are trying to do here. three years ago in paris the negotiators in this forum signed the paris climate agreement and there was a great sense of delight and triumph around the world that something at least, at last was being done about climate change. but in the three years since the negotiators here have been trying to work out the rules of how do you put that plan into action. which only comes into effect in 2020.
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and they have become bogged down. they have got hundreds of pages of rules, lots of things in dispute. so they are tied up with that and they are trying to make progress here in poland as well as trying to make progress on ambition, which is cutting emissions, which the scientists say there is very little time left to do. and is it in some ways quite unwieldy having so many countries there, so many representatives, all this, frankly, different shades of opinion on the environment and on climate change? it has it has been a very frustrating process for the people in it and for the people reporting on it to be honest. it has been going on for 25 to 30 years and it has made very slow progress. the idea is that it is a common world. we share the environment and everybody‘s voice should be heard. in this process, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. it is all by consent and by unanimous consent. so it makes it very slow and very deliberative and it gets very bogged down. but, as they constantly say, things have changed. things are moving. things have happened. we have lots of renewable energy now
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which we didn't have 15 years ago that can be traced to decisions taken here. so it does have an impact. it is slow and very frustrating for many people in the world. the people involved in it here say, look, it is the only game in town. yeah. it is slow but scientists are warning, or have warned recently, in that key un report that time is starting to run out. yes, that is one of the big pressures here. the fact that the 1.5 report from the ipcc put out a couple of months ago is very much in people's minds. that stark figure of having to have our emissions from the current level by 50% essentially by 2030 if we want to keep temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees a century, that has certainly concentrated minds a great deal. along with that though, of course, is political pressure from the likes of president macron and the secretary general of the united nations who are desperate to see some promise, some progress in the major internationalforum. something that is taking a bit of a bashing in the last couple of years from the likes of president trump. israeli police say they have enough evidence against
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prime minister benjamin netanyahu to charge him with fraud and bribery. it would be the third corruption case against the israeli leader in recent months. it's alleged that mr netanyahu gave favourable treatment to a telecommunication company called bez—ek, in return for more positive coverage of him and his wife sara on a news website. they both deny any wrongdoing. parents should not expect schools to police children's eating and exercise, or toilet train pupils according to england's chief inspector of education. as our correspondentjenny kumah explained to me earlier, amanda spielman will argue that the answer to the obesity crisis lies in the home, and that parents should not "abdicate responsibility". amanda spielman, she has been in the job for about two years and she is proving that she is happy to speak out about issues that she feels are important. and this is really about who is responsible for what you learn and when.
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and she says that you might think that toilet training is obvious who is responsible for that, but there are a number of people involved in a child's life. and in her speech later today to teachers and social care professionals she will raise her concerns about where this responsibility lies. and she will make it clear what schools are actually responsible for. so on the issue of knife crime, she feels that the lines are getting blurred. we can have a look at some of the things she has been saying. she says, while schools can play a role in educating young people about the dangers of knives, they cannot be a panacea for this particular societal ill and it is up to everyone to work together to find a solution. and on the issue of obesity and weight gain, there have been two studies which have shown... ..which have questioned the benefits of school obesity programmes. and she will say that schools can teach children about the importance
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of healthy eating and exercise. they cannot take over the role of health professionals and the answer lies in the home. parents should not abdicate their responsibility. and she also has criticism for parents who send their children to school, the children are starting school in nappies. they can't use the toilet. and on that she says that toilet training is the role of the parents and that this should not be left to schools. and she will say, only in the most extreme cases should parents be excused from this most basic of parenting tasks. now, you get the sense that she feels that at the moment to much of the burden of responsibility for a whole range of issues is falling on schools. the department for education say that they are giving schools the power and investment so that they can keep pupils safe and healthy. the headlines on bbc news: as pressure mounts over
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theresa may's brexit deal — sir keir starmer says labour would seek to force a general election if theresa may loses that commons vote on her brexit deal. at the g20 summit, the united states and china agree to stop additional tariffs and prevent a further escalation of their trade war. schools should not be expected to act as substitute parents and tackle obesity and toilet training — says the head of 0fsted. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. tyson fury is looking for a rematch against deontay wilder after their wbc heavyweight title fight ended in a contentious draw. the british fighter appeared to be ahead on points even though he was knocked down twice in the later rounds. ade adedoyin was at the fight in los angeles. tyson fury will feel like the moral victor because he has been out of the sport for three years and has
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only had two fights since his comeback. the two opponents he has faced were no where near the level of deontay wilder, the wbc champion. and yet tyson fury almost won the fight. the second knock—down was a clubbing right hand but somehow he got up from the canvas and rallied to look like he hurt deontay wilder towards the end of the round. 0pinion is split on this fight. many world champions suggest that fury should have got the decision. a former world champion lennox lewis said that wilder was gifted the decision. one thing people are agreed on is that they would like to see a rematch. both fighters say they are open to the idea. anthonyjoshua had wanted to face deontay wilder next year, he may have to wait a bit longer for that. a terrific contest that
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lived up to expectations. the qualifying draw for euro 2020 hasjust been made. the home nations have avoided each other. england, were among the top seeds and have got czech republic, bulgaria, montenegro, kosovo. there's a really tough group for norhern ireland, in with the netherlands, germany, estonia and , belarus. wales' toughest opponents are croatia. slovakia, hungary and azerbaijan make up group e. tricky one for scotland, belgium, russia, cyprus, kazakhstan and san marino. all these matches will be played between march and november next year. the top two go through to the euro's but remember england and scotland have that insurance policy of a play—off spot should they need it, after winning their nations league groups this year. the first of today's three derbies in the premier league is under way at stamford bridge chelsea taking on west london neighbours fulham. 1—0 after pedro scored in the fourth minute. a win will ensure that chelsea stay in the top four.
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fulham are currently bottom of the table. liverpool host everton later and it's the north london derby at 14:05. tottenham are on a good run at the moment after beating chelsea last weekend and keeping themsleves alive in the champions league by beating inter milan in the week it isa it is a special game. it is tough to play this type of game because it is more than a game. we know what it means for our fans, this more than a game. we know what it means for ourfans, this game, but in the last few years i feel that arsenal or chelsea west ham, any tea m arsenal or chelsea west ham, any team in london, it is a derby and the special game and means a lot for the special game and means a lot for the fans. a very big match for us and our supporters. we will play in oui’ and our supporters. we will play in our stadium and our supporters. we will play in ourstadium and it and our supporters. we will play in our stadium and it is a challenge for us, looking at the table today,
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because they have three points more than us and a good challenge and a good opportunity. we can play with a bit performance. there's also a merseyside derby in the women's superleague today that's the early kick—off and everton took the lead after 6 minutes but liverpool have just equalised. leaders arsenal take their 100% record to second placed manchester city. that one kicks off in ten minutes or so. that one kicks off in ten minutes or so. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. president emmanuel macron of france has arrived back in paris for an emergency meeting with senior ministers, after some of the worst rioting in the french capital for years. more than 100 people were injured in saturday's anti—government protests, including 23 members
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of the security forces. the latest figures from the police say more than 400 people were arrested. cordelia hemming reports. the morning after. time for the clean—up operation. washing away the anti—macron graffiti which now covers much of the front of the arc de triomphe. saturdays running battles between riot police and protesters were of a different order from the trouble that is seen at regular demonstrations in paris. police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons. masked protesters hurled projectiles and set buildings on fire. what began two weeks ago as a peaceful protest by the so called yellow vest movement against rising fuel taxes has now evolved into a far broader show of anti—government anger. at the g20 in argentina the french president condemned the violence.
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translation: what happened in paris has nothing to do with the peaceful expression of legitimate anger. no cause justifies that authorities are attacked. that businesses are plundered, but passers—by orjournalists are threatened. emmanuel macron has now returned to paris following the summit to assess the damage and hold an emergency meeting. the government insists much of the violence may well have been caused by rioters and extremists of both the left and the right. whilst many survey the damage, macron now faces a dilemma in how to respond to a grassroots movement which has no formal leaders. three astronauts will blast off to the international space station on monday, two months
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after the dramatic failure of a soyuz spacecraft sent the previous crew hurtling back to earth in an emergency capsule. russia suspended all manned flights after the accident — the first of its kind in over 30 years and a blow to moscow's pride in its space programme. but the soyuz is still the only way for astronauts to reach the space station — which makes space an increasingly rare example of us—russian co—operation. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. and there is lift—off of the soyuz... this was as routine as it gets in space travel. launch number 137 of the soyuz spacecraft, carrying a russian and an american to the international space station. but moments after blastoff, things went badly wrong. these pictures were released after an investigation by russia's space agency found a problem with the rocket booster system. but it's been hailing the soyuz emergency systems,
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which catapulted the crew back to earth. now a new team are running through their preparations for the launch. this was their final exam, proving they can handle all procedures and any emergency. despite the drama last time, nasa's astronaut says she's ready for her maiden flight. it makes us very focused on what we need to do. i think it's made the whole team refocus on the importance of every detail. we're very confident in this vehicle after the incident. russia's space agency boss was confident, too, at this event marking 20 years of the iss. dmitry rogozin outlined bold ambitions in space as he and nasa stressed warm relations despite the cool political climate. i don't see any problem, mr rogozin told me. there is trust. i spoke to president putin about this, and he's glad it's working. the soyuz is currently the only way up to the international space station.
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a rare example, then, of collaboration between russia and america. both sides say that cosmic collaboration will continue even as relations here on earth become increasingly hostile. russia's proud of its record in space that stems back to the days of cold war competition. the iss united old rivals, but has that project reaches an end and nasa plans a new station to orbit the moon, russia's role remains unclear. the space programme makes russia as a great power, and sends a political challenge to the russian federation. because how will we cooperate in post—iss era? but this soyuz will head for the iss, its crew reassured that the aborted launch was the first in 35 years. this was their chance to try their own soyuz ahead of the countdown to blastoff. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. joining us now is libbyjackson,
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human space flight and microgravity programme manager at the uk space agency. just tell us, three astronauts blast off tomorrow for the space station. how important is it and how significant is that? it's very significant. it is great to see the crew heading that way to take over from the existing crew that is out there so there won't be nobody out there, so the science, which is what there, so the science, which is what the space station is all about, will continue. was it reallyjust a hick up continue. was it reallyjust a hick up what happens with the soyuz before? the soyuz was a very reliable spacecraft lodging for decades and it is the first time we have seen anything like this for a long time. the russians have looked to see what the problem was and have learned from that which show it has
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reliable abort systems. everybody will be heading that way and we would not be marching this if anyone had any concerns. no worries and no fears about tomorrow then? the crew is always the first thing in everybody‘s minds and their safety comes first. if there were any other problems, the soyuz has escaped mechanisms to bring the crew back safely. they are always looking at what might happen and what will happen next and that is a point of the escape systems but the crew should get into orbitjust fine. we have a very interesting british experiments connected with the international space station in the next few days, tell us about that. yes, space x are sending their falcon nine into the space station. 0n falcon nine into the space station. on board are some microscopic worms and they are being led to the
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international space station, being led by university in the uk. they will be looking at these worms and the molecular changes to their muscles in space. that will help the tea m muscles in space. that will help the team understands what happens to muscles here on earth as we age. so 36,000 worms and that will teach us about human muscles. that sounds extraordinary. the one that they are using is known to be a very good model for humans. it shares about 80% of its genomics. it is used by scientists all around the world. there has already been space experiments about understanding how this worm adapts the life in space. the scientists are sending these worms up the scientists are sending these worms up in matchbox sized boxes and they will spend about six days growing in space and scientists will
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look to see what molecular and genetic changes happen and they are using some drugs to see if they can stop this change is happening. that is of course going to help us understand what happens to astronauts in space but will it find is that astronauts's muscles deteriorate in very similar ways as to what happens to all of us when we get older. understanding those changes in space, we understand more about what happens to our own muscle changes on earth. who would have thought that worms can teach you all of that. great to talk to you, libby jackson, human space flight and microgravity programme manager at the uk space agency. good to talk to you. a bright and dry start in eastern england in comparison to yesterday. the cloud is breaking in a few
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places but there is a brisk westerly wind driving in showers in wales, south—west england and on the channel facing the coast we might see gusts of wind is up to a0 miles an hour. by complete contrast we still have glorious guys north and east and after a chilly start. it is a mild afternoon in prospect. at overnight in tuesday we have a weather front bringing wet and windy weather front bringing wet and windy weather to the south—west. by contrast northerly wind continues to dominate across much of scotland, dry but chilly here and milder in the south.

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