President of Brazil reading the runes on the tumbling markets is not another recession on the horizon Why does dark matter matter black cats and blue sticks at the ready as Paisley prepares a spellbinding Halloween festival the 1st to B.B.C. News the education secretary John Sweeney is calling on teachers to accept the latest pay offer as thousands prepare to March through Glasgow the demonstration has been organized by the country's biggest teaching union the E.I.A.S. Which earlier this month called a members to reject the offer teaching staff want to 10 percent increase the headline deal is worth 3 percent Mr Swinney and says it's a very generous proposition on the main teaching grades and teachers will receive between fine and 11 percent in one year it's a very strong will for the strongest of any of the offers in one year it's been meeting any public sector group within Scotland so I would encourage the teaching profession to the government values very significantly to consider seriously the offer the government is putting forward and to ensure that we take this offer forward to it supports college education so Philip Green says he will make a formal complaint to the House of Lords after he was named as a prominent figure facing allegations of sexual and racial harassment from staff the businessman said it was rageous that the Labor peer Lord Hain had used parliamentary privilege to identify him in defiance of a court of appeal a junction issued against the Daily Telegraph So for that strongly denies any unlawful sexual or racist behavior. The chancellor is expected to announce $1500000000.00 pounds of funding to help high street retailers under the plans half a 1000000 small businesses in England and Wales will temporarily pay less tax business rates in Scotland or devolved but this Monday's budget may include money from the Scottish government the British retail consulting him says the proposals don't go far enough Craig Bowman from the Federation of Small Businesses says the devil will be in the detail the 1st thing we're looking for is to make sure that it's all businesses on the high street so taking retail not just emitting it to shops looking at cafes pubs service sector out of the people on the high street just to make sure that everyone in the High Street will benefit and I think that's actually a pretty weighty intervention into business right President Trump has renewed his criticism of the US media accusing it of sowing disharmony and exploiting the arrest of a registered Republican sees Asyut he has been charged with 5 offenses after pipe bombs were posted to a number of the president's critics Devlin Barrett is a national security reporter with The Washington Post he says Mr already has a criminal record he has a criminal record that interesting Lee includes and 2000 to making a bomb threat by phone to a local power company but he's also got a number of other rash We also know as social media posts and friends of his We've spoken to is a very very fervent supporter of President Trump. A summit is getting underway in Turkey to try to find a political solution to this Syrian civil war Russia Germany and France are taking part and he is canny with similar support thanks very much Gordon rugby 1st in Edinburgh head coach fractured Cockrel says they've taken one step forward but then half a step back over the last week with a win over 2 on followed by last night's surprising defeat to Zambia in the pro 14 Cockrel says it was an unacceptable performance is frustrated because he hadn't revealed a $133.00 half time lead yet claps after the break and our 5th and the pro 14 Conference be at $515.00 this evening it's the turn of Glasgow Warriors way to Munster by that time or no of course have managed to extend their winning run to 5 games that RB Parks say their home to Hamilton Accies in one of only 2 Scottish Premiership matches this afternoon Johnston versus in Madden as the other one still feel cards in the Championship League One and League to 2 sports are and will keep you up to the year and within the last hour of AMERICAN 20 pheno has taken the lead it goes W G C event in Shanghai he's barred to 16 and 17 tickler 12 under one short ahead of England's Justin Rose as their 3rd drones draw to a close Scotland Russell knocks way back on 11 or over a little more sports at 930. Am his trees are with the travel jingle Bartell you mentioned I know I don't want to have to just run into the ether I thought it was a way for the refund gates are closed on the A 939 call bridge to Toman toll road likewise that in 1000 but left lane she now the good news is the M 8 is open again between junctions for a heartless and 5 hardtail it has been closed for a couple of hours because of an ongoing police incident that was airless always open again traffic is on the move but eastbound edit a bunch. I am at 5 hardtail not quite back to 6 new highs but not fatal fit she used to in both directions on the BE 7066 that's the way to correct it show. Sure that was a diversion but it's still fairly busy and that in the area trains between Glasgow and Carlisle face disruption cancellations today because of industrial action and they stopped in some ferry ceilings today too because of the weather that's P.C. Region Scotland travel Thanks trees the weather yellow weather warnings are in force for snow and ice there in place to 11 o'clock this morning it will be a cold day with a mix of showers and bright sunny spells temperatures highs between $4.00 and $8.00 degrees Celsius much lower than it has been recently this evening shows will gradually fade across most parts of the country leaving many areas drawing cold overnight winds gradually easing minimum term just minus $1.00 to $4.00 degrees Celsius that's B.B.C. Radio Scotland news and Craig in the gallery would like us to point out that it's a very very beautiful day beautiful light out there it looks like summer he says but it feels like winter I thought at least I think I think it's going to get warmer again next week well it's so good and that will make you happy it will a cheerful well. Now as we're seeing in the news a major international conference takes place today in the Turkish city of Istanbul an as yet another attempt is made to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria president out of out of Turkey will host the Russian president Vladimir Putin the German chancellor Angela Merkel and the French president Michel Well let's get more from Syrians furred who is in Istanbul this morning good morning to you sirrah why this particular group of people and why now. Well I think the grouping itself is what's interesting about this summit because of course we've seen different groupings from involving Russia and Turkey Iran as well but what's different about this summit is the leaders of France and Germany volved And I think that pointing to several things is partly I think a desire to broaden its its attempts to move forward the peace process in Syria. Russia and I think from Russia's perspective it's also about what happens next in Syria Russia's been talking quite a long time now about the need to normalize the situation there as it puts it to move beyond the conflict to the post conflict peace process and of course the reconstruction of Syria and I think it knows that key and that will be your up so I think there's a little bit of negotiation going on here Russia doesn't want to be funding the reconstruction of Syria it just doesn't have the funds for that but it knows that if Europe is. To help out then there needs to be a lot of political negotiation taking place I think it's beginning to look towards that process but of course as well there is the very key current situation in to discuss which is the province that rebel stronghold in Syria where Turkey and Russia of course just a month or so ago managed to secure a cease fire to begin implementing a demilitarized zone and I think this is a chance for all sides now to compare notes to look at that situation and to see whether the. Demilitarized zone in the cease fire can be consolidated going forward because presumably their concern is the response to all of this by Bashar al Assad's regime but as you say this was agreed in September they've had joint patrols How's it been holding so far largely do you think. Well certainly listening to President Putin who is obviously key in terms of the Syrian position in this he is very positive when he talks about what's happened over the past month he's very warm when he talks about Turkey's efforts to implement that cease fire and he says yes there are there are violations Yes it's not perfect yet some groups still haven't withdrawn from that demilitarized zone but suddenly from the Russian perspective it is a very positive step forward and you know if we think back to 6 weeks or so ago everyone was it was extremely worried about an impending humanitarian disaster and it led expecting a government forces assault on the province and for potentially up to 3000000 people to be in severe crisis and a huge possible flight from there of refugees again so that has been averted at least for now so I think you know it's important for all sides to look at how that can hold and how it can be implemented more deeply and better going forward but I think for Russia I think it's it's a kind of a way of showing to the international community that it does still have strings to pull with Syria with President Assad and it can still be instrumental to see what happens next in any political process for Syria and so it's interesting to see that Turkey is looking to Europe for solutions as world can you remind us of the deal that was done with Europe over Syrian refugees coming into Turkey the money that was being paid dispersal was supposed to work and how that has actually worked out in practice. Well the numbers are enormous if we just look at about 3 and a half 1000000 Syrian refugees here in Turkey and I think that that although there has been a huge amount of of European money given to Turkey basically to keep those refugees here in Turkey rather than progressing on into Europe I think you know there is considerable pressure here in Turkey on President and so on for the process of those refugees returning to Syria to begin and I think that's not just here in Turkey I think that's elsewhere in Europe students get there's about half a 1000000. Refugees in Germany as well so Chancellor Merkel's position here is key and I think you know Russia has been trying to say that it is a key ally of President Assad can help to facilitate that return of course needs to be a deal done with the Syrian government to make sure that people are safe going back and of course beyond that they need to be a huge amount of reconstruction done so there's some way to go back to that but I think you know it's interesting that the conversations are even beginning to turn to that there is political pressure for the return to begin Russia is beginning to say it can help make that happen but you know I do think it's still a pretty long way off bearing in mind one key part of the political solution for Syria which is the new constitution the committee that was supposed to meet to begin discussing that constitution hasn't even been formed in fact just in the last day or 2 that process has another deadlock with the Syrian government saying it won't agree be candidates which were supposed to come from a U.N. Process even that very 1st building block in the political process has not yet been laid Syrians food and stumble thank you very much indeed for that thank you so what are the prospects for a satisfactory end to the conflict in Syria I'm joined by Tim Ripley who is a defense analyst and the author of Operation Aleppo Putin's war in Syria Good morning to him Good morning to you 1st of all what's your understanding of the current situation in. This cease fire that was agreed this seems to be holding pretty well yes we have had quite credible reports that the militia groups a point that the heavy weapons in this demilitarized zone has been a sort of activated so the agreement seems to be. Moving forward but that in itself is a sort of a temporary saying it's not a solution to what's what's the final status of it with. That region the ceasefire was time limited was it. I mean they give it 3 months and then possibly a renewal but but the aftermath bear in mind that this does this ceasefire between the the Turks and the Russians with both armies politically pleasing this this demilitarized zone. Wasn't was never in this it is part of a political deal it was only a tactical solution to avoid that big battle that we heard about Ilya Yes because we should remind people it's not it's not just the Russians and the Syrian army which is in that area and it lives on the other side of the lines the Turkish army has observation posts and actually a lot of troops doesn't it correct I mean this is the province it is one of the most is the fulcrum of the war now is a place where the sort of 800000 rebel fighters who've been displaced from other parts of Syria have gone you got a little population in the local militias and you have in a whole spectrum of opposition groups from the sort of the student protesters from 2011 down to some of the most hardcore Jihad is on the planet so you have a it's a toxic brew there's also inherently unstable and as well as Aussie fighting the Syrian government forces these groups really fight each other with quite considerable venom so it is a very very unstable place if you were looking at the situation lead from the point of view of President Assad presumably one of his concerns would be and we have been stressing this is temporary but is should it become anything more than temporary it starts to look like Partition correct Well we have now you mentioned as being the last sort of. Policy outside government control there's also a very large swathe of territory in northern Syria border caucus run by the what's called the Syrian democratic forces which is really the Kurdish Y P G militia who are control about 25 percent of Syria I mean it is very desert regions there's not very many people live there and it's obviously a place where the Allies defeated Islamic State in Russia so this is a very warm very to region and it is also very unstable but these 2 regions are also the final jigsaws in in any source Aleutian because you have of course Islam which in a gets lots of. New concern from the west but the refugees and humanitarian crisis but the Kurdish zone is the thing that's president and one is really worried about he wants and made statements saying that he is happy for the Syrians and the Kurds to come to an agreement for this Kurdish zone to come under part of Syria as a final solution to prevent it emerging as a independent Kurdish entity that may be a beacon for Kurds in Turkey to to rise up in against the Ankara so. And the final piece of that jigsaw of course is that this is this Kurdish zone has 2000 American troops in it who are as we speak hunting down the last of ISIS but these 2000 American troops are supporting the Kurdish Y P G against ISIS but also. Present a little and sees them as supporting his enemies so you see the complexity of this we've got what seem to be 2 parallel processes going on there's about a U.N. Involvement as a summit today but there's also the what's called the a stun a process which involves Iran and Turkey and Russia. Do you see any of these diplomatic initiatives coming to any final settlement Well the 3rd one is that imminently President Putin is going to go to Washington so you've got those 3 legs of this process and. The President Putin Trump visit to Washington is perhaps the one that will solve the Kurdish issue because of course he has a pact that President Trump has influence over the Kurds So you see have these things all interlinked rather than being that the thing that will you know solve the problem so you have to see that this summit today as as part of a at the 1st debt to. Those parallel activities coming together which And maybe the president from President Putin event is the thing that will swing the deal OK We'll leave it there term Ripley thank you very much indeed for joining us this morning heated issue of equal pay was very evident on the streets of Glasgow throughout the week more than $8000.00 women from care assistance to caterers staged a 48 hour strike over pay and grading system introduced by Glasgow City Council in 2006 The council says it hopes to negotiate a settlement by December but as our local government and education correspondent Jamie McCarver explains in this week's reporter's notebook the strike was as much about political differences as it was about equal pay. Journalists and politicians aren't with a dry sense of humor a few weeks ago all contact asked me if I was looking forward to my new job or new job I said Well he declined you're about to become the industrial relations correspondent I'm tearing He reckoned that with national pay dispute possible involving teachers and council workers I was going to be a busy buying what my contact hadn't reckoned was that I'd be covering a studious industrial dispute much sooner a local dispute in Glasgow which has made headlines across the U.K. On Tuesday and Wednesday $8000.00 council workers mostly women went on strike it's over the long running row Wolverine equal pay and goes back to the way jobs were graded 12 years ago that led to a situation where papers lowered in some jobs mostly done by women like cleaning and catering but it wasn't some jobs deemed to be of equal value which earned mostly done by men like rubbish collecting and grave digging in the past we have done a number of stories about these claims being settled in Glasgow and at other councils yet this one still ended up as a serious strength. The trade union movement is very proud of its history it was no surprise to hear comparisons with equality disputes in the old days the likes of the Dagenham get all those in the 1960 S. Fighting a much more direct form of discrimination in their day women could be paid less than men doing exactly the same job and this practice of course has long been outlawed and another powerful comparison was made to most of the strength lose this week were women some made comparisons to the famous rent strikes in Glasgow during the 1st World War so much for the history what about the present day some in the S.N.P. Are perplexed about the strength of this dispute as I said goes back 12 years last year the S.N.P. Took control of Glasgow City Council the council leader has always insisted she has huge sympathy for the women and wants the issue solved the Council is working towards reaching a deal in December a date agreed with the unions why then are the union striking know the battle has been one argued the council a deal is really cause we understand why the women are frustrated but please be patient and wait just of that ALL longer some suspected party political motivation on the part of the unions if not the women themselves the charge forcefully didn't mind but the unions the unions for their part said the council was talking the talk but not walking the walk they say they were frustrated talks and meetings were getting nowhere and feared the December date wasn't going to be meant. But there is no doubt solving this is year is going to be difficult that is a question of just what compensation individuals will be due and that is the question of the cost of accounts or the council says it doesn't recognize claims it will cost $500000000.00 pounds to settle it's also adamant that settling want leads to a sale of significant assets like the treasures in the city's galleries and museums nor will it lead directly to our own of cuts in local services realistically paying for the settlement will prob