Hello. Britains Prime Minister has agreed to demands from parliament for more time to scrutinise his brexit deal, but only if mps agree to an early general election, in december. Effectively, it means borisjohnson has conceded for the first time that he cant keep his promise to take britain out of the European Union by the end of october. But its not clear if even this move will work out for him. He needs a two thirds majority in parliament to call an election and the Opposition Labour Party are not certain to support it. Heres our political editor, laura kuenssberg. Is there any clear way out of the storm . Downing street wants a route to a general election. After weeks of negotiation with brussels, number 10 did strike a deal but mps rejected the Prime Ministers plan to force it through at top speed, so now he wants to force them to go to the country. The way to get brexit done is, i think, to be reasonable with parliament and say, if they genuinely want more time to study this excellent deal, they can have it but they have to agree to a general election on december 12th. Its time, frankly, that the opposition summoned up the nerve to submit themselves to the judgment of our collective boss, which is the people of the uk. Youre essentially trying to blackmail parliament with the threat of an election in order to ram through your bill. No, come on, weve had three and a half years. Not looking at this bill. Well, most of this bill is, of course, very familiar to parliamentarians. What makes you think that the opposition will give you your way this time . I mean, they could just keep you hostage. They could. But i think it would be absolutely morally incredible if they were to do so. After all, this is a party, the labour party under jeremy corbyn, has called repeatedly, endlessly for a general election. If mps do not agree to your demand for an election, what will you do . To be absolutely clear with you, we would campaign day after day after day for the people of this country to be released from subjection to a parliament that has outlived its usefulness, that has fulfilled its function, that is refusing to get brexit done. Reporter is everyone in the cabinet backing an election, ms truss . Even some of his cabinet, though, are not convinced this is a good idea. We should make sure we try to get everybody on board. And its simply not in the governments control. Reporter Prime Minister, are we heading for a general election . The Prime Minister needs two thirds of mps to back him to get his election. Theres so many of us and theres. Labour might be already holding rallies, ready for a fight. Crowds of their members might want an election but plenty of mps do not. The leadership wont say yes or no until the eu answers the governments request for a delay. Take no deal off the table and we absolutely support the election. Ive been calling for an election ever since the last one because this country needs one in order to deal with all the social injustice issues. But no deal must be taken off the table. But the smaller parties are tempted if brussels agrees a delay. The liberal democrats are going to keep fighting to remain in the European Union, and were not going to get involved in Boris Johnsons tantrums. Borisjohnson is playing games, and we should make sure that we dont dance to his tune. The opposition parties need to show leadership and make sure that we determine when and how an election is going to be called. Boris johnson, though, may find himself trapped in downing street. This is the third time number 10 has tried to call an election. Lucky for who, this time . Live now to maryland and to fran burwell, distinguished fellow at the atlantic council. Fran, i know your work focuses on the European Union and relations between the eu and the United States. You the United States. Have quite a lot of politics going you have quite a lot of politics going on over there already. Does brexit register over there at all . To some degree. Obviously theres a coterie of brexit watches. I think theres a lot of concern in the business community, although many of the big american businesses in the uk have already made contingency plans. They just uk have already made contingency plans. Theyjust continue to update those plans. I do think the deal that the Prime Minister has come back with now mollify is the democrats who were concerned about the fate of the good friday agreement. I think theres some attention being paid to it, but i do think we have our own little political crisis going on over here as well. Forgive me, didnt mean to interrupted you, on that particular point congressional leaders have said, havent they, there were no hopes of a trade deal if they felt it interfered with the good friday agreement. Do you think that threat has gone away . Better hopes of a trade deal post exit . Yes, if this deal goes through, if the Prime Ministers deal goes through, which i think theres a question about that, particularly now hes got the idea of a general election as well, which i think really complicates the examination of the Withdrawal Agreement bill. But i do think that the trade negotiation between the us and. The us and the uk, assuming that the uk leaves, which is step number one, and goes into a transition period when it will be negotiating with the eu as well for a future trade agreement and for figuring out finally what the arrangements will be for all of the uk as faras arrangements will be for all of the uk as far as the Customs Union goes, those are things the americans need to know before they can start negotiating with the british for our own bilateral Free Trade Agreement. And that Free Trade Agreement will not be easy. We will, we, the americans, will push the british for tough terms. The president will say nice things about how it will be an awesome trade agreement, and there will be a lot of good atmospherics, if you will, between the president and the Prime Minister. But when it comes to actually negotiating such an agreement, there will be a lot of desire to have greater access to british agricultural markets, not to have gmo s being a strict factor in trade agreements, for example, and a range of other things along those lines. Fan, im sure we will talk again when rings perhaps become clearer stop it thank you very much indeed. Perhaps thank you lets get some of the days other news. The us Vice President has accused the National Basketball association, and sports firm nike, of bowing to chinese pressure and muzzling criticism of beijing. Mike pence also attacked chinas diplomatic and trade policies, adding that it had violated the rights of people in hong kong. But he insisted the United States wants to avoid confrontation. More trade talks are due on friday. The United Nations is sending a team of human rights specialists to the chilean capital, santiago, to monitor the street protests and security clampdown thats claimed 18 lives. The un human rights chief and former president of chile, michelle bachelet, says she has watched the violence since it started last friday. President Sebastian Pinera has suggested public order and security is improving. The family of harry dunn is beginning legal action against the British Foreign office over its handling of his case. The teenager died after his motorbike collided with a car driven by an american woman, anne sacoulas, who returned to the us afterwards, claiming immunity from prosecution. The family is also referring the Northamptonshire Police force, which is investigating the crash, to the independent office for police conduct. A british man who fought against the Islamic State group has become the first person in the uk to be convicted of a terrorism offence following a retrial. Aidan james, whos 28, was found guilty of being in a camp where terrorist training was being carried out by a Kurdish Group, the pkk. June kelly reports. Aidan james set off for syria in 2017. While hundreds of uk foreign fighters headed to the middle east to join so called Islamic State forces, he was one of a much smaller band of britons on the other side. He attended Training Camps run by two Kurdish Groups opposed to is. Prosecutors said terrorist training was being carried out at both camps, and just by being there, aidanjames was breaking uk law. He eventuallyjoined the front line with the Kurdish Group the ypg, an ally of the west. The kurdish people. This man, who uses the pseudonym macer gifford, was one of the other britons involved in the fight against is, and he met aidanjames. I think aidan was caught up in something much bigger than himself, really. He was motivated by compassion, he wanted to put himself between the Islamic State, which was butchering the yazidi people, and the rest of syria. Last time aidanjames stood trial, the jury couldnt reach a verdict. In the first trial, the judge, mrjustice eadis, instructed the jury to clear aidanjames of the main terrorism charge he was facing. And before the trial, thejudge questioned why he was being prosecuted when there hadnt been prosecutions in other similar cases. Today, aidanjames wept as the jury convicted him of one charge. In a note, they said they were sympathetic to his motives. He will be sentenced next month. June kelley, bbc news, at the old bailey. Its thought dozens of young elephants taken from their families in zimbabwe have been flown to china, bought for zoos and animal parks. Animal welfare groups condemn this secretive trade, Animal Welfare groups condemn this secretive trade, saying the young elephants, herd animals, were separated from their mothers a year ago and will be traumatised. Officials in zimbabwes wildlife parks defend the move, saying the money raised will save other animals from a devastating drought. Our Southern Africa correspondent, andrew harding, sent this report. Secret footage of several dozen young zimbabwean elephants in a crowded enclosure, waiting to be shipped to china for the rest of their lives. Theyve been in captivity for a year already, separated from theirfamilies. The zimbabwean Authorities Say selling them is the right thing to do. There are simply too many elephants in the country. The money theyll earn from china will help to save other animals now at risk from a terrible drought. In the last two months alone, at least 55 elephants have died of starvation and thirst. Theres no food, theres no water. And this situation is worst in many years, and its happening. That is why we have been saying to the international community, yes, these are our problems. Allow us to trade. Earlier today, it is believed this cargo plane flew perhaps 30 of the elephants out of zimbabwe. But the process was highly secretive, prompting fears of corruption and provoking outrage from Animal Welfare groups. Well, sadly, they are in for even more of a miserable life than what theyve already had, after being ripped away from theirfamilies and their mothers and, you know, theyre going to be living in a hellhole, in captivity. This is the kind of park where the elephants may end up. More than 100 have already been sold to china. But next month, new International Rules will make this sort of trade much harder. Zimbabwe insists selling a handful of animals serves a greater good. But campaigners say thats not the point, that elephants live in close family groups, and their young should not be stolen from them. Andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come going up in the world. A new way to look at the manhattan skyline, outside, at 1,000ft. A historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. The former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer, and, as he sat down, obedient enough. Dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblicalfamine, now, in the 20th century. The depressing conclusion in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. Weve had controversies in the past with great britain. But as good friends, we have always found a good and lasting solution. Concorde bows out in style. After almost three decades in service, an aircraft that enthralled its many admirers for so long, taxis home one last time. This is bbc news. The latest headlines britains Prime Minister, borisjohnson, calls on parliament to back an early general election in december to give it more time to debate his brexit deal. British police say the 39 people found dead in the back of a lorry in england were chinese nationals. Police are saying the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry ed thomas reports. Under police escort, and by private ambulance at night, the first of the 39 chinese nationals have been removed from the lorry trailer at the port of tilbury docks. Police said the priority was preserving their respect and dignity. An unwanted reminder too of what happened nearly 20 years ago in dover. Here, 58 chinese immigrants suffocated in a lorry. It took months for all those who died to be identified. Sam doesnt want to remember. He moved to grays from china a0 years ago. When i heard the news this morning, all the 39 people of chinese isay, why, how . It has happened again. He lives and works close to where the bodies were found this week. It said 39 people died, struggling in the freezing cold in the container, in the dark, and no one helped. There is now a Major International investigation. The belgian Authorities Say the container arrived into the port of zeebrugge at about 2 30pm on tuesday afternoon. It left there later that afternoon, heading across the channel, arriving at purfleet in essex just after midnight, and at 1 05am yesterday morning, the trailer was collected by a lorry. Around half an hour later, ambulance staff discovered the bodies of 39 adults inside the container. Vic makes the same journey to the port of purfleet. These are the checks he does every day. And obviously, if anything was in there, you would see it straight away. Ive seen peoplejumping out of trailers, jumping out of containers, running around. What are the feelings amongst drivers . Well, everyones terrified that theyre going to find someone in their vehicles or worse. In 2016, the National Crime agency warned that smuggling gangs were moving from major hubs like dover to smaller ports like purfleet. Indeed, theyll only be caught if they get out of the trailers. This man worked at purfleet at the time of the nca report. He didnt want to show his face. But it happened daily. And what was the largest number of people . The largest one i saw was a group of vietnamese. There was about 30, 32 of them, crammed into a little 10 by 12 room. You just became used to it, as horrible as it sounds. Some of them had broken legs, one that was trying to run away from security onsite, not big security, about four people, with crutches, trying to run away, some holding children. And the security at purfleet . Theres nowhere near enough. Tonight, police are still questioning the lorry driver on suspicion of murder. He has been named in Northern Ireland as 25 year old mo robinson. Police say it will take until the weekend to remove all the bodies, and to begin to find the answers they need. Ed thomas, bbc news, purfleet. Im joined now from bangkok by rebecca miller. She is an expert on Human Trafficking and the smuggling of migrants in asia with the United Nations office of drugs and crime. Her thank you very much for your time. First of all, clearly this is a tragedy from many angles. What do you think they were looking at here . Does it look to you like people being trafficked against their will, 01 being trafficked against their will, or is it more like these victims paid smugglers to get them into the uk . Look, this is certainly a horrific event, and unfortunately we do hear cases where migrants are losing their lives. And u nfortu nately, losing their lives. And unfortunately, Human Trafficking and migrants smuggling are two of the Worlds Largest criminal industries. Because the facts of the case are still being established, it is quite difficult to know at this stage whether this is a case of Human Trafficking or whether it is a case of migrant smuggling. They are two distinct crimes, but they do have a number of overlapping elements. Looking at. Or at least, number of overlapping elements. Looking at. Orat least, lets treat it as people smuggling more broadly. How organised are the networks that do that from asia to europe . There is talk here in the uk of snakeheads europe . There is talk here in the uk of sna keheads gangs, europe . There is talk here in the uk of snakeheads gangs, of triads running the operations. Yes, as we know, migrant smuggling is the facilitating of the regular movement of people irregular movement of people across borders. And principally that is for financial or some of otherform principally that is for financial or some of other form of benefit. A number of countries in Southeast Asia are source countries, and this includes china and vietnam, which we re includes china and vietnam, which were mentioned in the previous report. There are well established networks that are based with facilitators that originate in Southeast Asia, all the way through to their ultimate destinations in europe, the uk is clearly popular. And well established routes that smugglers do use. You look at a tragedy like this and you think they ought to be more that governments and Police Forces can do to cou ntera ct and Police Forces can do to counteract it, to prevent it happening. Is there more . Absolutely. I mean, this is an enormous challenge that we face as un odc to address both Human Trafficking and migrant smuggling, and for governments as well, and theres a number of initiatives that are taking place where governments are taking place where governments are working collaboratively. It is, specifically when we are talking about migrant smuggling across a cross border issues a cross border collaboration is a Critical Response to address this issue. Is there anything in this incident that would confirm to you that these people we re confirm to you that these people were most likely chinese . It is difficult to say. Again, references we re difficult to say. Again, references were made to chinese migrants, two vietnamese migrants. We know there have been many instances in the past, and well established networks that facilitate the irregular movement of these migrants. They are there are strong they are spread communities in the uk, which would bea communities in the uk, which would be a pull factor diaspora communities. As well as a strong employment opportunities. So there area employment opportunities. So there are a range of indicators that would suggest that these are chinese or potentially vietnamese migrants. But again, the facts of the case are still being established. It is difficult to know. Understood. Rebecca miller at the un office of drugs and crime, thank you very much. On friday, the climb to the top of uluru, the sacred red rock in Central Australia, will close. Indigenous people have long asked tourists not to scale the ancient sandstone monolith because of its spiritual significance. Many tourists have just ignored those requests, and the closure has met with considerable opposition. Our correspondent phil mercer is at uluru. This last day of climbing has finally, for hundreds of visitors, got under way. We were there just after dawn, large crowds waiting for their last opportunity to scale uluru. Its 348 metres high, taller than the eiffel tower. But it was very, very windy here in Central Australia earlier today. Its still quite breezy now, but the authorities have deemed it safe enough for that last consignment of visitors to scale uluru. And as you say, at the end of today, therell be celebrations among Indigenous People, because they have always asked visitors not to climb uluru. At the end of today, the climb will be banned. And tell us more, phil, on this. For Indigenous People, uluru is a living, breathing thing. It is, its like a cathedral, a temple, a synagogue, a mosque. The Indigenous People of australia revere the land. The land to them is a living, breathing mass. Its full of secrets and wisdom. Indigenous people revere the rock you can see behind me. Its about 15 km away. And, for Indigenous People, they believe that uluru tells the story of creation. All the caves, the lines, the ridges, the rock itself, the surface of the rock, it all tells a story of creation. Immensely spiritual for indigenous men, women and children, as well, and thats why its so culturally significant today. In a few hours time, visitors will be forbidden from climbing to the top of uluru, and over the weekend there will be dancing and singing and other celebrations in indigenous communities to mark what they consider obviously to be a momentous day. New york is famous for many things, but probably its biggest calling card is its skyline, a jungle of skyscrapers glass, concrete and steel. A new addition is the hudson yards development. Like other tall buildings, it will have an Observation Deck. But this one is a little bit different, as the bbcs tim allman explains. It isa it is a city with no shortage of spectacular views, but even by the standards of manhattan, this is something special. Welcome to edge. Nearly 350 metres, or more than 1000 feet, above street level. Said to be the highest outdoor Observation Deck in the western hemisphere. One imagines the spectators over there may be a little jealous. It amazes me that from one spot i can see the statue of liberty, all the way around to central park, and every icon that you have always read about, that you know about, that you wa nt to about, that you know about, that you want to see. And from here, you can see it all in one spot. If you are afraid of heights, you might want to look away now. There is a glass bottomed floor where you can see the city streets below, cantilevered glass panels so people can lean out and stare straight down. This must have taken some care and precision to build. The first pieces were angled up more towards the sky, and then as all the last pieces came in, it kind of levels itself out. An engineering wise, it is amazing. I give the engineers credit for being able to think of how you can actually build this, that is just sticking out over the city, this high up in the air. Edge is due to open to the public in march, the ultimate vertical city, from a whole new perspective. Ican i can feel my knees going already. Just before we go, taking a look at some other really amazing pictures, this is the american gymnast simone biles bringing a touch of acrobatic magic ahead of game two of the Major League Baseball world series. The four time olympic gold medallist performed that backflip before throwing the ceremonial first pitch in texas. The size differential there is pretty tremendous. She did all of that in jeans. Much there is pretty tremendous. She did all of that injeans. Much more anytime for you on the bbc website. Thank you for watching. Hello. Theres a battle between cold and mild air taking place across the uk at the moment to see which wins out for the weekend. Spoiler it is the cold air that wins. Its already in place across northern parts of the uk. On the dividing line between the two, before the cold air wins and heads south, some of us are about to get a lot of heavy rain through friday into at least early saturday, from the moors of South West England into wales, and northern england, from this waving weather front. Finally, as it does clear, by the end of saturday from south east england, thats when the cold air travels further south. Now, as i mentioned, its already in place across the northern half of the uk. A touch of frost for you to start the day in scotland, Northern Ireland and northern england. It is a mild start the further south you are. A few showers in scotland, wintry on hills. Here comes the rain from the south west and wales into the midlands, especially the west midlands, the eastern side of Northern Ireland and southern scotland. The uk top and tailed by strengthening winds, with coastal gales as well. So it is turning much wetterfor some of us, and we still have those big temperature contrasts across the uk, but quite a lot of hill fog down towards the south west of the uk in the mild air. Lets focus in on the rain, though, and these totals youre seeing here are some of the higher totals we may see in the Higher Ground in the moors of South West England, the welsh hills and pennines. Lower levels wont see as much as this, but with that much rain falling for some, the potential for some flooding and perhaps some travel disruption. There are some met Office Yellow warnings in force, details at the website. So again, the possibility of seeing some disruption, especially to travel as we go into the start of the weekend. And this is how we start saturday. Away from the area of rain overnight into saturday, some clearer skies elsewhere in Northern Ireland and scotland, still a few showers, and of course maybe a touch of frost too. The rain does eventually move south on saturday, away from the wettest parts of england and wales, to give a wet afternoon towards east anglia and south east england. Elsewhere, brighter skies developing for many, with a few showers around, and the cold air pushing further southwards, still there in the far south east by the end of the afternoon. Through saturday night and into sunday, get rid of this front, get rid of the rain. The blue is in charge. The cold air has won the battle. Its not going to be bitterly cold, and as you can see from this, on sunday, a lot of land showing up. That means its clear. A bit of patchy cloud, but quite a bit of sunshine coming through on sunday. Still a few showers dotted about, more especially into scotland. Its still quite breezy out there. So yes, temperatures are coming down. But by sunday, for many, its drier and sunnier. This is bbc news. The headlines the british Prime Minister, borisjohnson, has challenged the house of commons to approve a snap election in december. He suggested the british people should be given the opportunity to end the paralysis over brexit. In return, hes agreed to demands from parliament for more time to scrutinise his eu withdrawal bill. British Police Believe the 39 people found dead in the back of lorry on wednesday were chinese nationals. The Chinese Embassy in london says it is in close contact with the police to seek clarification and confirmation. Officers have been given more time to question the driver. Thousands of australians are hoping to climb one of their countrys best known landmarks, uluru, for the last time. A permanent ban on scaling it finally takes effect on saturday, Indigenous People have long asked for that because of ulurus spiritual significance. High winds have so far prevented many climbers setting off. Now on bbc news, panorama. On panorama tonight scandal in the city. I think this has just undermined the whole trust in the whole system. We investigate the man who gambled billions and lost. At the very least, he should be drummed out of financial services. He has no right to be managing other peoples money. The industry knew Neil Woodford was in trouble, but no one told investors. What do you think about the way youve been protected . Well, i havent been protected at all, have i . We also reveal how another money man was doing secret deals on the side. Its very serious