06/12/2017 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10...

President Trump breaks with decades

of US foreign policy,

and recognises Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

Mr Trump said he was also delivering

on a campaign promise

to move the US Embassy

from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

He said the change was

a "recognition of reality."

I judge this course of action to be

in the best interests of the United

States of America, and the pursuit

of peace between Israel and the

Palestinians.

But the decision on Jerusalem has

provoked opposition around

the world, as the United Nations

warned it would damage the search

for peace between Israel

and the Palestinians.

We'll have the latest

from Jerusalem and from Washington

on a decision that could have

profound implications

for the Middle East.

Also tonight...

Three, two, one.

The Christmas spirit

in Downing Street.

Counting down to the next stage

of the Brexit talks,

as ministers admit there's no

measure of the impact

on the economy.

Automotive sector?

No, not that I'm aware of.

Is there one on aerospace?

Not that I'm aware of.

One on financial services?

I think the answer's

going to be no to all of them.

No to all of them.

A man appears in court,

accused of plotting to assassinate

the Prime Minister

and bomb Downing Street.

After a 20-year excavation,

one of the oldest skeletons

of humankind's ancestors

is unveiled in South Africa.

Oh, that's it.

And, two consecutive defeats

but England insist they're

still in the Ashes series.

Coming up in Sportsday later

in the hour on BBC News:

It could have been a nervy night

Liverpool but a big win sees

them reach the last 16

of the Champions League.

Good evening.

President Trump has abandoned

decades of US foreign policy

by recognising Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

It is arguably his most

controversial decision

since taking office,

and it's provoked expressions of

concern and anger around the world.

Mr Trump also approved plans

to move the US embassy

from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Pope and the head

of the United Nations

are among world leaders

to voice their opposition.

And the Palestinian president

Mahmoud Abbas warned of "dangerous

consequences" for the entire region.

In a moment, we'll have

the latest from Jerusalem.

But first to Washington and our

North America editor, Jon Sopel.

It is hard to overstate the enormous

historical significance of today's

announcement for the 1948 Harry

Truman became the first US president

to recognise the state of Israel.

Today, nearly 70 years on, Donald

Trump becomes the first US president

to recognise that Jerusalem is its

capital. Indeed he becomes the first

leader anywhere in the world to

recognise Jerusalem as its capital

for it is a city that has long been

fought over, a city that will be one

of the keys to any future peace

agreement. That is why today's

announcement is so controversial.

CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK

Thank you.

The president signing this or that

proclamation has become

a commonplace, but nothing he's put

his name to is as consequential

or historic as this,

a decision that upends US policy

to the Middle East,

the most troubled

region in the world.

Past decisions had failed.

It was time for a new approach.

Today, we finally

acknowledge the obvious,

that Jerusalem is Israel's capital.

This is nothing more or less

than a recognition of reality.

It is also the right thing to do.

It's something that has to be done.

It's a decision that

the Arab world and

cloche at close allies cautioned

against, but the president has gone

ahead, and so he stressed his

commitment to peace, whether via a

two state solution

or any other solution.

We want an agreement that is a great

deal for the Israelis,

and a great deal

for the Palestinians.

We are not taking a position of any

final status issues,

including the specific boundaries

of the Israeli sovereignty in

Jerusalem, or the resolution

of contested borders.

Demonstrations so far have

been relatively low-key,

but US citizens have been warned not

to go to the west bank or the old

city in Jerusalem, the president

well aware of the reaction this

speech might provoke.

So, today, we call for calm,

for moderation, and

for the voices of tolerance to

prevail over the purveyors of hate.

Our children should inherit our

love, not our conflicts.

There has been a fierce

international backlash

to what the president is proposing,

even though Donald Trump insists

it's just accepting

what is present-day reality.

So far, the Arab world,

Nato, the Pope, the UN,

Russia and Turkey have spoken

out against the move.

The White House is on a charm

offensive, but so far,

the only country that has

been charmed is Israel.

And on Jerusalem's

ancient walls, a very

modern projection of

Israeli sentiment tonight.

This is a historic day.

We are profoundly grateful

to the president for his

courageous and just decision

to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel,

and to prepare for the

opening of the US Embassy here.

This decision reflects

the President's

commitment to an ancient but

enduring truth, to fulfilling his

promises and to advancing peace.

Six months ago,

the Palestinian leader

hosted Donald Trump

on his Middle East tour.

That early optimism replaced

by disappointment today.

TRANSLATION:

Jerusalem

is a Palestinian city - Christian,

Muslim, Jewish -

and it is the capital of the state

of Palestine for ever.

Jerusalem, a city 6000 miles and two

continents away from

the US, was the subject

of an unusual campaign pledge

from Donald Trump

to a very narrow constituency,

to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv

to Jerusalem and recognise the

ancient city as Israel's capital,

but in keeping that promise, he

seems to have made his other goal

of advancing Middle East peace

a whole lot more complicated.

Jon Sopel, BBC News, Washington.

The city of Jerusalem

is at the heart of the conflict

between Israel and the Palestinians

because both sides

claim it as their own.

Back in 1948, Israeli independece

came after a war the Arabs lost,

and 750,000 Palestinians

were expelled by Israel or fled.

When the shooting stopped,

Jerusalem was divided

between Israel and Jordan.

The Israelis declared

their side the capital.

The rest of the world said

that Jerusalem's final

status was undecided.

In 1967 after another war,

the Jordanians were forced out

of the east side of Jerusalem,

which includes the walled Old City,

and Jerusalem's most

important holy sites.

In 1993, Israelis and Palestinians

embarked on a peace process

and one of the key issues

was the future of Jerusalem.

Palestinians want a capital

of a future state in

the east of the city.

The peace process broke down

and the current Israeli government

says Jerusalem will not be divided.

Our correspondent,

Yolande Knell, sent this report.

For many Israelis, Mr Trump's formal

recognition of Israeli sovereignty

over Jerusalem corrects

an historic injustice.

This is a city with 3000

years of Jewish history -

their seat of government.

And there has long been

frustration that the US,

Israel's closest ally, just has

consulate offices here, not its

embassy.

Now that is set to change and there

are hopes that other countries

will follow Washington's lead.

I expect the leaders of the free

world to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

We recognise Paris as the capital

of France and Berlin

as the capital of Germany.

We expect our friends to recognise

our own capital as what it is.

About a third of Jerusalemites

are Palestinians.

The old city here has some

of the holiest sites for

Muslims and Christians

as well as Jews.

And Palestinians want occupied

East Jerusalem as the capital of

their future state.

They object to the US announcement.

TRANSLATION: As a Palestinian,

this is a mistake.

Jerusalem is the capital

for the Palestinian state.

That is not negotiable.

TRANSLATION: There will be

troubles over this.

It will not pass smoothly.

There will be opposition

and there will be chaos.

Jerusalem is probably

the most sensitive issue

in the Israel/Palestinian conflict.

This ancient city has great

religious and political significance

and we have seen many times how just

small changes made here can

quickly flare up into unrest.

During the summer there

was deadly violence

when Israel put in new security

measures at Al-Aqsa mosque

compound, after two Israeli

policemen were killed there.

These were later removed

to keep the status quo.

Now Palestinian officials say

Mr Trump is raising tensions again.

This is a declaration of war on

Palestine and the Palestinians and a

manifestation of the lack of

fairness in handling the Palestine

file. A total bias towards Israel.

Tonight, there were large protests

in Gaza, following the US

President's speech.

And there are calls for more

in the coming days.

Yolande Knell, BBC News, Jerusalem.

Our Middle East editor

Jeremy Bowen is here.

Strongly worded criticism

from across the world.

What's your assessment

tonight of the implications

for the Middle East?

Potentially very serious. Mr Trump

says he will work very hard for

peace. By alienating one side so

completely he has made the job much

harder. He says you cannot have

peace without recognising Israeli

rights, the Israeli sovereignty, the

Israeli capital. The Palestinians

have said very clearly they want a

Palestinian capital of Jerusalem or

it is no deal. If he had said, OK, I

want Israel to have their P also the

Palestinians, he could have changed

the conversation greatly. -- their

capital there also. Every time I am

in Jerusalem, I look at the area

around the holy sites. It is sitting

there like a time bomb in the centre

of the Middle East was any thing

that upsets the status quo injury

slim is potentially cause of

violence. I think will be marches in

the next few days but not

necessarily big upsurges in

violence. If it happens, it might be

a couple of months, and triggered by

something else but the atmosphere

has changed. I think the US and the

Israelis could be calculating that

the weak and very divided

Palestinian leadership will say a

few things and basically suck it up.

It is possible and they might also

be calculating that big countries

like Saudi Arabia will protest but

they will be more interested in

getting together with Israel and

states against Iran. The thing about

Jerusalem as it has the capacity to

make people angry all over the

place, particularly in the streets

in the Arab world foot I think

whatever people in the palaces are

saying and hoping, I think this has

the possibility for causing trouble

in not just Jerusalem itself. We saw

King Abdullah of Jordan saying, he

was being quite strong about what Mr

Trump said. I think that is because

he is worried about there could be

trouble on his streets and he is not

the only one.

Thank you.

To read more about the Middle East

and to learn why Jerusalem matters -

then you can go to our

website - bbc.co.uk/news.

You will see the links to our

reports today and our analysis as

well.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary,

has been accused of gross

negligence, after admitting

that the Government has not tried

to calculate the impact of Brexit

on the British economy.

During the day, in a new attempt

to unlock the Brexit talks,

the Prime Minister spoke

to Arlene Foster of the DUP,

who forced the rescheduling

of the talks earlier this week.

Her party rejects Theresa May's

proposals for the future

of Northern Ireland's border.

Our deputy political editor,

John Pienaar, reports.

Three, two, one.

Theresa May needs

some comfort and joy

in the Cabinet in her party

in Ireland, North and South.

If only everyone could

sing from the same

hymn sheet on Brexit.

Her message, "Start trade talks.

We could all get what we want."

We aim to deliver this as part

of our overall trade

deal between the United Kingdom

and the European Union.

Labour is loving

Theresa May's troubles.

Brexit negotiations in a shambles.

This Government is clearly

not fit for the future.

Tory Brexiteers are ramping

up the pressure, too.

They say, no more concessions.

Will she apply a new coat of paint

to her red lines because I fear

on Monday they were beginning

to look a little bit pink?

If we have a problem,

would it help if I came over

to Brussels

with you to sort them out?

The DUP heard Mrs May's pledge

to preserve the union but want more

guarantees Brexit means the same

deal for the whole UK.

Can you give a specific

commitment that nothing

will be done that creates any

barrier - constitutionally,

politically, economically, or

regulatory between Northern Ireland

and the rest of the United Kingdom?

Mrs May was on the phone

to the DUP leader today.

But still no sign of agreement.

In Dublin, a clear threat.

Ireland's leader wants a promise

of free trade and no

hard north/south border.

And he would veto the

start of trade talks

at next week's EU summit to get it.

If it is not possible to move

to phase two next week

because of the problems that have

arisen, then we can pick it up

of course in the New Year.

The Prime Minister spoke to him

on the phone today, too.

Still no sign of another meeting

in Brussels this week.

The President of the European

Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker's

spokesman went so far today

as to say his boss wanted

to prevent Mrs May's

government from collapsing.

So, how clear is Britain's

future after Brexit?

Not at all, according

to the Brexit Secretary today.

David Davis only handed over files

on business and Brexit reluctantly.

MPs accepted he had met the demands

of the Commons but today he

also told them no estimates of

the cost to business had been done.

It would be a game changer

but guesswork was pointless.

Look at the chairman's face.

So, there isn't one, for example,

on the automotive sector?

No.

Not that I am aware of.

Is there one on aerospace?

Not that I am aware of.

No.

On financial services?

I think the answer will

be no to all of them.

No to all of them.

Right.

And now a new cause

for Brexiteer Tories to complain.

The Chancellor says

Britain will not shirk its

divorce bill - deal or no deal.

That's just not

a credible scenario.

It's not the kind of country we are.

Frankly, it would not make us

a credible partner for future

international agreements.

But Theresa May's team said there

will be no deal, including cash,

until Brexit is agreed.

Tonight the goodwill is in short

supply in the Cabinet too.

John Pienaar, BBC

News, in Westminster.

Let's go live to Westminster, and

Johnnies there. John, some attempts

at optimistic statements today from

Government, but really, what do you

read into the state of these Brexit

talks right now?

It like deadlock.

Forced to a standstill by competing

pressures on all sides. We've seen

the Brexiteers telling Mrs May to

give no more concessions. Tonight,

19 Tory MPs worried about Brexit are

saying, ignore the Brexiteers,

saying they are driving her to walk

away with no deal at all. Something

will have to give, or next week's

European summit will again decide

not to start those talks on trade,

and if that happens, we will seek

Brexiteers, Brexit supporting

sections of the media, calling on

Mrs May as never before to walk

away. With all of the uncertainty

that would inevitably bring, and the

penitential for the dampening of

markets and of sterling. We don't

know, there could be more proposals

being brought forward by Mrs May in

the next 24 hours. That is what the

Irish leader is saying tonight, that

he expected that could be a

breakthrough. And then you may see

Mrs May coming through with a

clearer vision Brexit and she has

given so far, and the first real

discussion in the Cabinet. Tonight,

this latest chapter in the story of

Brexit looks like becoming a

cliffhanger.

John, once again, many

thanks.

A man has appeared in court,

accused of plotting to kill

the Prime Minister,

in a bomb and knife

attack on Downing Street.

Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman,

who's 20 and from North London,

is alleged to have planned

to bomb the security gates,

before attacking Number 10.

Our home affairs correspondent

June Kelly reports.

Counterterrorism detectives moved

in on two men last week.

Yesterday, they were

charged, and this morning,

amid high security,

came their first court appearance.

One is accused of planning

to strike at the heart

of the British Government

and assassinate Theresa May.

He's Naa'imur Zakariyah

Rahman, on the left.

In the dock with him

was Mohammed Aqib Imran.

In court came the outline

of the prosecution case.

Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman is 20

years old and told the court

he was Bangladeshi British.

He is accused of planning

to detonate an improvised

explosive device -

in other words, a bomb -

here at the Downing Street gates.

In the chaos that would follow,

it's alleged that, equipped

with a suicide vest,

a pepper spray and a knife,

he wanted to get down the street,

into Number 10 and kill the Prime

Minister.

He was arrested last Tuesday in this

road in West London.

It is claimed that he had two inert

improvised explosive

devices in his possession.

He's also accused of

helping his co-defendant,

Mohammed Aqib Imran,

to prepare terrorist acts.

It's claimed he was planning to

travel abroad to join IS fighters.

Yesterday, the head of MI5

briefed the Cabinet

about the security situation.

Nine Islamist-inspired

plots are said to have

been thwarted this year.

The next hearing in this latest case

will be in two weeks' time.

June Kelly, BBC News.

A man from Lancashire is alleged

to have sent the address

of Prince George's school

to potential attackers.

Husnain Rashid, who's 31,

has appeared before

Westminster Magistrates,

accused of helping others

to commit acts of terrorism.

He was remanded in custody to appear

at the Old Bailey later this month.

The High Court in Birmingham

is considering whether the men

suspected of carrying out

the Birmingham pub bombings

in 1974 should be named

at a new inquest, due

to held next year.

Lawyers for relatives of the victims

said there had never been a 'full

and independent investigation'

into what happened.

Two of the men wrongly

jailed for the attack,

have told the BBC they also want

the perpetrators brought to justice

as our correspondent

Sima Kotecha reports.

These faces are a reminder of what

happened in Birmingham more than 40

years ago.

Two bombs exploded inside to pubs,

killing 21 people.

Today, the families

of those victims are

challenging the system.

They want the inquest

next year to include the

names of the suspects,

something the coroner

has decided against.

This is our one and only

opportunity to get

to the truth, and the perpetrators

must be brought into scope.

Otherwise, there's no point

in having an inquest.

It was Birmingham's

deadliest attack, and

those responsible have

never been prosecuted.

Instead, these men, who became known

as the Birmingham Six,

were wrongly imprisoned

for the crime.

Now, in a rare interview,

two of them are also calling for the

truth.

The families of the people

in Birmingham, they are the ones who

really suffered.

For years and years,

I've always said that there

was a double injustice done here -

by the innocent being convicted

under the circumstances,

and the innocent victims not getting

justice, and their

families, in the sense

that the police weren't

even

looking for anyone else.

The IRA is widely

believed to have been

responsible.

In what's been described

as one of the worst

miscarriages of justice, the men

were jailed for almost 17 years

before their convictions

were quashed.

Justice has been done today,

but it's took 16 years for

this justice to happen.

It's such a serious

crime that they wanted

somebody for it.

And then they got me

into the station

and they certainly knocked me about.

And it was dreadful.

They made me say confessions.

I've had nightmares.

And I woke up at night,

not so long ago, plenty

of times, screaming

and

shouting, thinking they

were still beating me.

The memories of their arrest

still haunt them today,

beaten into making confessions,

mock executions, psychological

torture, just some of the police

methods they say were used on them.

I was dragged into a room

with about five or six of them.

It was dark.

They punched me and kicked me

until I had agreed to tell them

anything they wanted.

So, I was in a position

where I had to try and make up

something that would agree

with what they would accept.

For those who lost their

loved ones, it's been a

long fight for justice.

The coroner has argued

it is not his job to

point the finger of blame.

His views will be heard

at the judicial review

tomorrow.

We're at the site of

one of the bombings.

The Mulberry Bush

pub was just here behind me.

Now, these attacks

rocked the nation.

The Birmingham Six

still haven't got the

answers they've been searching for,

and neither have the victims'

families.

Decades on, it remains unclear

whether they ever will.

Sima Kotecha, BBC News, Birmingham.

After a painstaking excavation

that took two decades,

one of the oldest and most complete

skeletons of humankind's ancestors

has been unveiled in South Africa.

Little Foot, as she's been named,

is more than three million years

old, and was discovered

in the Sterkfontein caves

north-west of Johannesburg.

Our correspondent Andrew Harding has

been to see Little Foot

and the caves where she was found.

They found her skeleton in these

deep caves outside Johannesburg.

She'd been lying here

for almost four million years,

trapped in the rock.

Today, Little Foot finally emerged -

astonishingly intact,

after 20 painstaking

years of excavation.

These bones had a very,

very fragile, flaky

surface, many of them.

And it was like trying

to extract a pie with flaky

pastry out of concrete

without damaging the pie.

We had to do this properly,

we had to do it slowly.

Yes, it took more than 20 years

of my life, but I feel younger

and stronger for it!

So, these are the caves

where Little Foot was found.

The theory goes that she was walking

along the surface, fell

down into the caves,

and was covered

by sediment and rock.

Millions of years later,

scientists in the 1980s and '90s,

in a series of extraordinary

coincidences, stumbled

across her remains and slowly

managed to piece them back together.

Her skeleton shows

she was in her 30s.

She probably lived in the trees,

and crucially, she was more

like us than like an ape.

So, the pictures you see in books

of our ancestors gradually getting

up off of all fours and walking

along in a stooped manner,

that's all nonsense.

They were upright when

they were in the trees,

and they were upright

when they came down to the ground.

And now they're us?

Yes, now they're us.

Unearthed in these caves, then,

a vital addition to our own

complicated family tree.

Andrew Harding, BBC

News, South Africa.

In cricket, England's Test captain,

Joe Root, insists his side

are still in the Ashes

despite starting the series

with consecutive defeats.

Australia wrapped up a 120-run

victory in less than two

hours of the final day,

ending hopes of

an England fightback.

Our sports correspondent Andy Swiss

reports from Adelaide.

They had arrived with such optimism,

England fans hoping to witness one

of cricket's greatest comebacks.

But within minutes,

their hopes lay in

tatters.

Second ball of the day,

Chris Woakes caught behind, and even

worse was to follow.

England's captain and

cornerstone, Joe Root,

gone for 67.

Australia had their key men.

And when Moeen Ali was trapped

for just two, any last lingering

hopes left with him.

The rest was a formality.

In just an hour and three quarters,

England's dreams had been

ruthlessly dispatched.

That's it...

Australia taking a 2-0 lead

while England tried to take the

positives.

We've shown that throughout

the two games, there are

periods where we can

outperform Australia,

just not for five days,

and that's going to be our

challenge, really.

England haven't been able

to match the pace of

Australia's bowlers, or

the durability of their batsmen, and

some believe there is no way back.

We've had a moment here

where we've all been

up a bit, and maybe,

but

when it comes to the tough moments,

they are better than us.

So, no chance?

I don't think so, no.

And so, an all too familiar story.

England have now lost their last

seven Tests in Australia.

One more and their

Ashes hopes will have

turned to dust.

Yes, England now head to Perth for

the third test next week, and they

know that if Australia win that

match, they will win the Ashes. One

other piece of news to be new: Ben

Stokes has been named in England's

one-day squad for their series here

in January. He is waiting to find

out whether he will be charged over

an incident in Bristol in September,

and despite being named in this

squad, as things stand at the

moment, he won't be selected to

play.

Andy, many thanks again.

Five English teams are

through to the last 16

of the Champions League

for the first time.

Liverpool guaranteed

they went through after

beating Spartak Moscow.

This volley from Sadio Mane

was the pick on their goals

in an emphatic 7-0 victory.

Spurs and Manchester City also both

finished top of their groups.

In its first month since opening

in the US, the film Lady Bird has

made history as the best-reviewed

in Hollywood history.

It's a coming of age story written

and directed by award-winning

actress Greta Gerwig.

She's been talking to our

entertainment correspondent

Lizo Mzimba about the prime

importance, especially now,

of having women in roles

of influence in the film industry.

I want to go where culture is, like

New York, or at least Connecticut.

A

coming-of-age tale about a daughter

and mother's difficult relationship.

So far, so familiar. Perhaps not.

Lady Bird is that you're given an?

Because Lady Bird's influence has

been unprecedented.

It is

astonishing.

She's talking about the

fact that no Hollywood film ever has

scored so many positive reviews.

I

don't have anything to say that

Telecom, is just kind of amazing.

They think, this had better be

crazy.

Well, I saw your Thanksgiving

show. My name's Lady Bird.

We should

shake hands.

It centres on a girl

documenting her teenage years. It is

symbolically meaningful off-screen,

too.

It makes me sad every year when

there are actresses who talk about

how there are a limited number of

interesting parts, and parts that

are full, interesting human beings

driving the story, who are the

subject, not the object.

The female

lead story is also leading the way

in perhaps most significant -- the

most significant year for the male

directors. Greta Gerwig know she

could soon become only the fifth

woman ever to be nominated for Best

director at the Oscars. She is

equally excited she might not be

alone.

There's a slew of great

female directors this year, and like

I said...

Director of...

There is

also Patty Jenkins.

Who was behind

wonder woman. It is a time the

conversation. The silence breakers,

who revealed sexual misconduct,

named Time magazine's person of the

year.

Putting women in Power is

important. A diversity of voices.

Because I think it is impossible to

change things as long as everything

stays the same.

A film and its

director aiming to give women a

greater voice both on and off the

screen.