this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 7pm... the environment secretary michael gove says theresa may's brexit deal isn't perfect but it is the only choice. we have got to recognise that if we don't vote for this deal, the alternatives are no deal or no brexit. president macron is booed as he visits the scene of the worst riots in paris in years. a warning that the world is at a crossroads at a crucial climate change conference in poland. three astronauts are ready to blast off to the international space station, two months after the unprecendented failure of russia's soyuz spacecraft. and at 7:45pm, the travel show comes to us from tokyo to find out what life is like for disabled people in the city, which is set to host the 2020 paralympics. good evening.

welcome to bbc news. one of the leading brexit supporters within the government — michael gove — has insisted that theresa may can win the crucial commons vote on her eu deal in nine days‘ time. with dozens of conservative mps publicly saying they cannot support the deal, the environment secretary, who helped lead the leave campaign, admitted it wasn't perfect. but he's warned mps that the alternative is "no deal or no brexit". labour has said that if mrs may's plan is defeated, it will table a no—confidence vote to try and force a general election. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. from a global summit theresa may returns to the harsh political realities of westminster, where she has nine days to sell her brexit deal to a deeply sceptical parliament. the area which i have the greatest concern about... ministers accept the agreement

on the table is a compromise, but today it received a punchy sales pitch from a key member of the cabinet. this deal of course is not perfect. but it does provide those of us who campaigned to leave with an opportunity to take back control of the borders and have control of immigration policy. it means we end the huge automatic sum that go the eu every week, and it gives us the capacity in huge sectors of the economy to diverge if we think that is right. one of the leading figures in the leave campaign, michael gove, has stuck by the prime minister, refusing to follow up brexiteers out of the cabinet, and mr gove says tory mps who want to leave the eu have no choice but to vote for the deal. i reflected long and hard about this deal, but i concluded, like lots of people, that while it is imperfect it is the right thing to do. but former allies in the brexit cause have split, and dozens of tory mps who hate the compromise deal remain determined to

defeat it in the commons. it is hugely difficult. this is an important issue, it is a big step to vote against something that your government, your prime minister is advocating, and i don't really believe the sort of the fanciful numbers about one hundred conservative mps voting against it. but there will be at least 40, i think, who have such grave reservations will just have to vote against it. the withdrawal deal contains a mechanism for guaranteeing no checks on the irish border after brexit. it would kick in if a trade deal between the uk and the eu can't be agreed on time. may's critics warn the uk could be stuck in this arrangement indefinitely, and want to see the government's full legal advice. that will be the battle in the house of commons tomorrow, when the attorney general makes a statement to mps. it will be the first skirmish in what will be a compelling and profoundly important few days in parliament, leading up to the big vote on december 11th. theresa may has very little

time to persuade her mps in the commons to back her plan, and the question then, that nobody can answer, is what happens if a deal is rejected? if she loses that vote, the legislation we have passed says she must come back to the house and make a statement about what she is going to do next. technically, she has 21 days to do that but she will probably come back the next day, but it seems to me if the prime minister has lost a vote of that sort of significance, then there has to be a question of confidence in the government. and that could lead to a general election. some tory mps will urge the government to leave the eu with no deal, but pressure will continue to build too, for the whole issue to be put back to voters. that is a choice parliament's clearly struggling to come to terms with and can't agree on, so i think it is the best thing now, given we had a referendum in the first place, let's go back to to the public, they can give their informed consent on the way forward.

last week theresa may plugged her brexit on a tour of country. but it's mps she needs to convince. her future, the country's future will be decided during a critical winter in politics. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the features writer at the independentjames rampton and the broadcaster lynn faulds wood. the french president emmanuel macron has been holding emergency talks, following some of the worst rioting in paris in recent years. three people have died and more than 100 were injured after protests against high fuel taxes and rising prices erupted into widespread violence. the president was booed and heckled by some onlookers today, as he went to see the extent of the damage. from paris, lucy williamson reports. france's scars are visible today, burned into its most exclusive streets. the cost of economic conflict,

long felt outside the city centre, now being scrubbed inch—by—inch from the capital's face. among the targets last night was yasmin‘s car. she's not a government representative, but a single parent, with five children. translation: i understand the protestors but the way they are acting right now, no. we are not dying from hunger, we have social care. it's not perfect, but i also work and raise my kids, i suffer from the tax rises too. last night's violence was unusual for france. those now flocking to this movement include anarchists and political agitators. president macron said rioters will not be tolerated, but it is not always easy to tell who's who. even among the many peaceful protestors are those who say france's institutions aren't working, and rebellion is overdue. the most popular demand at protest

sites round country — macron resign. they are cleaning off the graffiti now, but the discontent sparked by this movement is harder to wipe away. president macron has cast himself as an economic reformer who stands firm against protestors, but when do protestors simply become the french people? jean will be 70 this month but he was at the protest here last night too. translation: if the protest had gone very calmly, macron would have come back from argentina and said "it's all fine, it will die down, i'll stick to my position and i won't change anything." it's sad to say but it's the reality. president macron met his government for an urgent meeting today. a spokesman said a state of emergency could be imposed. he was booed even as he came to thank the firemen on duty for the protests. fresh from the battles of the g20 sumit in argentina, the french president is facing even tougher diplomacy at home.

lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. let's go live to paris where we can speak via webcam to sophie pedder, paris bureau chief at the economist. thank you very much forjoining us, describing in your view what the situation was that emmanuel macron came back to from the g20 in argentina? it seems of writing and the most extreme france has known since the right gets of 2005 where the country did end up imposing a state of emergency. you cannot call it seems of war but certainly urban devastation in some of the smartest parts of paris and the symbolism was important, the famous landmarks and

so important, the famous landmarks and so it was very dramatic what was happening last night. in the aftermath has left a lot of people wondering how this country is going to pick itself up after this, i think it is the worst crisis that emmanuel macron has faced since he became president. has serious is it for his presidency quizzically ——? he was elected to do things that we re he was elected to do things that were not popular and some of them have been difficult and he had a union led protest so he has carved out and away an image of a leader who does not give into the street but i think what is so different about these is that has nothing to do with a typical french protest, there is no union behind this, there is no political organisation, it is a grassroots revolt that spread online and has really tapped into a deep sense of injustice that is out there in france and become very

personalised against emmanuel macron and makes it much more difficult to deal with. you do not have leaders and some of the people who took part in this protest do not want any leaders, they wanted to be the people but it is very difficult for emmanuel macron to do with this and difficult for who do you speak with and some of these spokesmen have been come forward and the legitimacy has also been questioned so did the very new and very different and very volatile and very amorphous situation and movement for emmanuel macron to handle. what is different 01’ macron to handle. what is different or unique about these protests?m is the nature of the movement, very fast and new technologies and a very digital form fast and new technologies and a very digitalform of populism and fast and new technologies and a very digital form of populism and away but it is something that is what is interesting in the way is the established populist leaders in france, pretty strong ones on the far right orfar france, pretty strong ones on the far right or far left and who have

found it impossible despite their effo rts found it impossible despite their efforts to piggyback on this movement. it is interesting because ina way movement. it is interesting because in a way they are all almost too mainstream and parted the establishment themselves and this is a movement that does not want to have politicians sort of cashing in on the protests. it is both new and different and also very very widespread and nonurban, it is across france and in the province is in places where people drive long—distance to work and began as a you protest but it makes it both a nationwide movement and also a very new phenomenon for france and its major. what can emmanuel macron do to get this to settle down, we had people die as a consequence of these demonstrations. i do not want to exaggerate it is very intense in paris but the numbers have been very

small, the actual numbers of people who have died during this but he has two issues, one is the security situation. there was some talk earlier this morning of various options and one of them imposing a state of emergency which france had indeed terror attacks until relatively recently so it would not be unheard of for france but also how to deal with it politically, how has he answered it, does you on one hand one to remain a leader who continues to not given, he continues to do what he thinks is right for france, to create drops and in a way modernising the welfare state and making it more flexible. but at the same time, he has got to give some kind of sign that he is not com pletely kind of sign that he is not completely indifferent to a movement thatis completely indifferent to a movement that is backed according to polls by a majority of the french so it is a very delicate balancing act for him

i think this will be the real test that will determine his presidency. thank you very much. the international fashion brand ted baker has promised an independent investigation into allegations of what's described as "forced hugging" by its chief executive. ray kelvin is pictured here and he usually chooses to be photographed not showing his face. staff have begun an online petition accusing the 62—year—old founder of verbal, physical and sexual harrassment — claims they say are entirely at odds with the company's values. our business correspondent joe miller has more. an anonymous petition was posted online a few days ago and has garnered around 2000 signatures. and it employees at ted baker allege that the compa ny‘s it employees at ted baker allege that the company's bosque who took ted baker from a small store that the company's bosque who took ted bakerfrom a small store in glasgow to a global fashion phenomenon not only engages

employees in unwanted embraces but has asked the millsap to sit on his need or whether he can massage their yea rs. need or whether he can massage their years. he the mike they say he engages in sexual innuendo and the creator of the petition says when they went to the human resources department to complain they were told this is just what ray is like. ted baker has issued a statement and it says this is not in line with the company or the ceo but it has said that hugging has become part of the culture at ted baker even though it is always voluntary and they say that the bosque opting greets people whether they are shareholders or business people or indeed colleagues with a hug. the headlines on bbc news... the environment secretary michael gove says theresa may's brexit deal isn't perfect but it is the only choice. french president emmanuel macron holds an urgent security meeting following a day of riots by thousands of anti—government protesters. and a warning that the world is at a crossroads at a crucial climate change conference in poland.

fears of an all—out trade war between the united states and china have receded, after a meeting between donald trump and the chinese president xijingping at the g20 summit in argentina. the us has suspended plans to increase tariffs on chinese goods from ten to 25 % injanuary — and beijing has agreed to buy more american goods. our north america editorjon sopel‘s report contains some flashing images. president trump arrived back in to washington early this morning, looking tired, but buoyed by what he said was an incredible deal with china. he and president xi met for two—and—a—half hours at the g20. president trump sounded optimistic there could be a breakthrough, in the escalating trade war between these two economic super powers. the relationship is very special, the relationship i have with president xi, and i think that is going to be a very primary reason why we'll probably end up

getting something that will be good for china and good for the united states. the chinese have agreed to buy far more american goods. in return, the us says it won't go ahead with new tariffs on chinese exports that were due to kick in on january 1st. in the meantime, talks between the us and china will get under way immediately, on a range of issues that the american side has flagged as areas of concern. there's a lot of detail still missing from this agreement. when the chinese say they will buy substantially more american goods, what does that mean? the devil is always in the detail in trade talks. nevertheless, global markets will be relieved progress has been made. but this is a ceasefire, not the end of hostilities. jon sopel, bbc news, buenos aires. ‘the threat to humanity from global warming has never been worse', that's that's the warning given to over 200 countries attending

crucial climate change talks at a united nations conference in poland. they're hoping to agree on rules to implement the paris agreement of 2015 — the international treaty designed to tackle global warming. scientists say that, at the moment, the world is on course for warming of three to five degrees celsius by 2100 and that the greenhouse gases we're adding to the atmosphere need to be cut by 45% by 2030. one of the biggest sources of pollution is coal, and poland, the host country for these talks, produces more of it than any other in the eu. our science editor david shukman reports. a mountain of coal lies freshly dug at a mine, one of many here in southern poland, at the centre of arguments over what to do about global warming. ok, so we're on our way down and i'm starting to feeel the air pressure in my ears now. our first sight of

the mining process. this coal is used to make steel, but most is burned to generate electricity. we reach a tangle of cables and pipes, and the rock above us keeps shifting. this is literally the coal face, and despite that spray of water it's amazingly dusty round here, very noisy, a really hostile place to work. and because coal can be so polluting, many countries, including britain, have moved away from it, but here in poland, thousands of people work in the coal mines. coal is a mainstay of the polish economy, so while climate scientists say the world should move away from coal, here it looks set to last for decades. but back at the surface,

one green campaigner offers a different vision of clean solar power. he knows he's outnumbered here. burning coal, burning fossilfuels, using fossil fuels in the energy sector, it is a source of huge co2 emotions and it hurts our climate, it hurts our planet. this region has some of the dirtiest air in europe. something that will focus minds as the climate talks get under way. david shuckman, bbc news in poland. the united nations' climate chief, patricia espinosa, opened the conference with this warning to delegates. the facts that are happening are being, are affecting communities

around the world, casualties, distraction and so many places. suffering, a lot of suffering derives from the consequences of climate change, just make it... make oui’ climate change, just make it... make our work more urgent. well our environment correspondent, matt mcgrath is at the climate conference in katowice, he explained how difficult it is going to be to draw up an international rule book that all countries will agree to. it has been three years not since the paris climate agreement and over those three years negotiators from different countries have been meeting once a year to try and advance rug rats on those rules and they are still not there, there are pages of dispute and it is difficult to see how they will get it done over the next few weeks. many are hopeful that they will do this and many say it is crucial that they do this because the paris deal does not become operational until 2020 and without a series of clear

rules for everybody it will be in some respects a toothless talking shop. it is absolutely critical for the future of deep paris agreement that they get those rules. —— future of the paris agreement. matt mcgrath in katowice. a family of swans has been shot and killed in a suspected air gun attack. the bodies of five cygnets and their parents were discovered wrapped in plastic bags, after they were thrown down the bank of a stream in the kent village of benenden. x—ray images revealed one of the birds was peppered with pellets or shot. the rspca has launched an investigation. amy ockelford, from the rspca, says airgun attacks are common. it is really upsetting and it is just does disgusting that people think it is ok to do something like this. i mean this is effectively a senseless attack on vulnerable animals and it isjust senseless attack on vulnerable animals and it is just not ok. senseless attack on vulnerable animals and it isjust not ok. it is very strange, the whole family to be wiped out like this and they have been shot elsewhere and potentially move to this location and wrapped in

plastic bags is bizarre. u nfortu nately plastic bags is bizarre. unfortunately airgun attacks are something we see a lot of. we had an increase in the number of reports of these incidents and all sorts of animals are targeted because they are out in the open. we are calling for the stricter licensing of these higher arms and the use of them. and we do think there needs to be more regulation for these sorts of guns. amy ockelford, from the rspca. three astronauts will blast off to the international space station tomorrow, 2 months 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 iss, which makes space an increasingly rare example of us—russian co—operation. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. and there is liftoff 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, 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. translation: 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. 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 as 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. an update now on a story we've been following today — and the hunt to find a couple who lost their engagement ring down a grate in new york city, is now over. a short time ago, the new york police department tweeted that it had found the couple and thanked everyone who shared the story. they got engaged in times square on friday but lost the ring down the grate. the nypd says the couple have since returned to their home country — and it's been reported, they are from here in the uk. this cctv footage, posted on the nypd‘s twitter account,

shows the romantic proposal going wrong as the pair, unsucessfully, tried to retrieve the ring. police then recovered it, cleaned it — and say they are making arrangements to get it safely back to them. a positive way to use social media. in a moment we'll have the weather with nick miller... but first, we'll leave you with images from the westonbirt arboretum near gloucestershire, which has been transformed into an illuminated winter wonderland for the 22nd year. here are some of the most striking images from the opening weekend. music. sunday did not offer us a great deal

of sunshine, some wet weather in places but even on a rather great early winters day, there can be some beauty out there as the street from this picture and there is more wet weather to come overnight, outbreaks of rain or showers pushing east across many areas and things are going to quiet down later. more persistent rain from time will be into scotland but then as we go deeper into the night we will see clearer skies developing here in the frost taking hold and icy patches on treated surfaces where it has been wet and how wild it will be in south wales in southern england here, temperatures holding up into double

figures. as we go into tomorrow, maybe a dry start for many but in wales on south west england, this is some showers and some may be heavy 01’ some showers and some may be heavy or possibly thundery, and northern counties of northern england, northern ireland and much of scotla nd northern ireland and much of scotland will be dry and sunny but northern scotland we will see a few showers and it will turn increasingly wintry even to low levels here and this is where the cold est levels here and this is where the coldest air is lurking but double—figure temperatures across a large part of england and wales. into tuesday morning, a weather front will show will bring a few showers and wintry and places with a risk of icy patches. and a widespread frost and a few fog patches as well. a chilly start with a lot of fine weather on tuesday. decent sunshine do, but cloud increasing and these son turning hazy ahead of the next weather system coming in. chilly across the

board on tuesday and the cloud increases. andra tuesday night and into wednesday, this rain take some snow to the hills and some uncertainty about the northern expense, mainly in england and wales affairs. we will keep an eye on that and this is where the chilly air will be but also the best of the sunshine and quite mild again the further south you are. further weather systems coming in for thursday and friday particularly on friday with stronger winds as well. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: