17/12/2017 BBC News at Ten

This is BBC News.

The headlines:

A British woman, Rebecca Dykes,

who worked at the UK embassy

in Beirut has been killed.

Reports suggest she was strangled.

The first victim of a car

crash in Birmingham -

in which six people were killed -

has been named locally

as Imtiaz Mohammed.

Ryanair pilots suspend a planned 24

hour strike as the airlines agrees

to recognise the pilots trade unions

for the first time.

Athlete Mo Farah wins this year's

Sports Personality of the Year -

and says he was surprised

at the result.

The sports awards ceremony also paid

tribute to six-year-old

football fan Bradley Lowery,

who died from cancer

earlier this year -

he was given the Helen

Rollason Award.

Also in the next hour,

Harry meets Barack.

In his new role as a journalist,

the Prince interviews

the former US President

If you start using long

pauses between answers

you're probably going

to get the face.

Let me see the face.

LAUGHTER.

The interview was recorded as part

of the Today programme's guest

editor series to be broadcast

later this year.

Good evening and

welcome to BBC News.

A British embassy worker has

been killed in Beirut.

The body of Rebecca Dykes was found

by the side of a road

in the city yesterday.

Our correspondent Jon Donnison has

been following developments.

Our Middle East correspondent Martin

Patience joins us from Beirut.

What is the latest you can tell us?

Well, this is

What is the latest you can tell us?

Well, this is a piece of news that

has stunned the diplomatic

communities. It is believed that

Rebecca Dykes was attending a going

away party on Friday night in a

popular area of the city. After she

left the bar, it is understood she

was then abducted and her body was

found dumped close to a motorway

sometime on Saturday. Police sources

we have spoken to say that they

believe she was strangled. Her

family have been notified of her

death. As I said before, this has

stunned the British community in

Beirut.

In governmental terms, has

there been any reaction in Beirut or

here at home?

There has, there has

been reaction from Rebecca Dykes'

family. They say they are devastated

by the loss and they are still

coming to terms with what happened,

trying to understand what happened.

The Lebanese police are still

investigating. We understand that a

second autopsy was carried out a

couple of hours ago. In terms of the

British Embassy, the ambassador on

Twitter said that the embassy,

everybody in the embassy was deeply

stunned by what happened. He added

that the British authorities were

working very closely with the

Lebanese authorities that are

carrying out the police

investigation.

Police investigators are trying

to find out what caused a car

crash in an underpass

in Birmingham this morning.

Six people were killed and several

others suffered serious injuries.

Firefighters have

described the scene

as "challenging" and "horrific".

Phil Mackie is in Birmingham

and sent this report.

The immediate aftermath

of the crash.

Debris strewn across four lanes.

Medics were desperately

trying to save lives,

but five people were already dead,

and a sixth was dying.

The rest of the footage

is too graphic to show.

In daylight, the scale

of what happened became clearer.

Three of the people

who died were in this taxi.

Astonishingly, the man and the woman

in the small car crushed between it

and the wall walked away

with minor injuries.

The sound of the crash woke

many of the people who live nearby.

Got out of bed, looked out

the window and just saw

loads of people running

towards where the crash was.

And then the police officers telling

everyone to get back, get back,

so I guess people were trying

to help people.

They pulled two people

out of the taxi.

I didn't realise it was a taxi

until today, but they pulled two

people out of the taxi,

resuscitating them straightaway

for about 25 minutes.

They took one in the ambulance.

I didn't see them take

the second one away,

so I don't know if they didn't make

it, but yes it was havoc.

The crash happened on a section

of the Belgrave Middleway, a busy

road in the heart of Birmingham.

The vehicles collided

at an entrance to an underpass

at the junction of Bristol Road.

Police say the dual carriageway

will probably stay closed

for the rest of the day.

Investigators will be looking

at a number of factors.

The road was gritted,

but eight hours before the accident.

At 1am, temperatures

were close to freezing.

There is no central barrier - did

one of thecars cross carriageways?

Residents say especially

when it is late at night

and the road is quiet,

people will come along

here at excess speeds.

It will take some time to unpick

the scene and just understand

exactly what has happened,

and it would be unfair for me

to speculate at this time.

What I can say is that we are

looking to all sorts of conditions,

the road conditions,

we are aware of the road was gritted

5pm last night but that is just one

factor of many we need to consider.

40 firefighters helped

free survivors.

Five ambulance crews and three

paramedics treated the injured

at what was described

as a complex scene.

It quickly became apparent

there could not be a lot done

to save the lives of some

of those patients unfortunately.

Again, very difficult circumstances,

as you have already alluded to,

very close to Christmas,

so our thoughts are with

the families and friends

of those patients involved.

There were a total of 13 casualties,

including the six who died,

with six vehicles damaged.

Police described the

accident as harrowing.

Investigations into what caused it

are likely to take some time.

Within the last hour the name

of the first of the six victims

has been named locally.

Imtiaz Mohammed was a taxi

driver from the city,

he had six children.

He had just call his wife to say he

was on the way home. He was

described as a hard-working family

man.

He was carrying two passengers

at the time of the crash,

both also lost their lives.

Two police officers have

been seriously injured

after they were hit by a car

on the North Circular

Road in London.

The Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick,

said this evening that such

incidents give a stark reminder

of the dangers of policing.

The two officers were returning

to a marked police vehicle,

parked near Brent Park in Neasden,

when a car collided with them

early this morning.

The man and woman are both

constables in their 30s.

The driver of a white Maserati

was arrested at the scene.

We will be taking a look at how all

of the big stories are covered in

different pages.

In The Papers -

our guests joining me tonight

are the author and journalist

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Ruth Lea,

economic advisor at

Arbuthnot Banking Group.

Sir Mo Farah has won this year's BBC

Sports Personality of the Year.

The motorcyclist Jonathan Rea

was second, and the paralympic

athlete, Jonnie Peacock, was third.

It's the first time

Sir Mo has won the award.

The announcement of his victory

was made in Liverpool's Echo Arena

but the four-time Olympic champion

was in a studio in north London,

with his daughter Rhianna

who presented him with his award.

However, all did not go

entirely according to plan.

Mo I hope you can hear us. Rhianna

has the trophy to present. Please

don't tell me he has gone to bed?

I think that sums up his evening. I

am sure that is Hussein pulling out

the plug.

The most brilliant

non-interview that ever happened.

When the line was finally

re-established to Sir Mo,

this is what he had to say.

It's pretty amazing. It's hard to

think about, over the years, what

I've done. To win this, I didn't

honestly come out tonight thinking,

yeah, maybe top three, see how it

goes, because we've got amazing

superstars in sports. We've got

Anthony Joshua, Lewis, Johnnie

Peacock, all of the boys. It's been

amazing. When you look at it,

comparing yourself with other

athletes, you think I could finish

in the top three. I didn't imagine I

was ever going to win this. Come so

close in 2012, and I guess anything

can happen. You just have to dig

deep and keep working. I just want

to thank everybody who has supported

me. It has been an incredible

journey and it's very exciting. I'm

looking forward to the marathon.

It's very exciting. Gary, my coach

is out there tonight, as you know,

preparing for the London Marathon

and helping me out. It's tough, it's

not as easy as I thought it was

going to be, the marathon training.

It's getting there, it's about

understanding each other and

working. It is hard work. But

anything can happen. You know,

myself, as an athlete, what I have

achieved has been incredible over

the years. For all of the youngsters

out there, the people out there, you

can work hard and you can achieve

your dreams. Anything is possible in

life. If you believe in it, work at

it and keep grafting, grafting,

anything is possible. What an

amazing night. I wish I was there.

Unfortunately, sorry, I can't be

there, guys. The kids haven't been

well. But it's all exciting for us.

I just can't believe I won!

Earlier in the evening

there was an emotional tribute

to Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery.

The six-year-old died earlier this

year of neuroblastoma -

a rare type of cancer.

He became a well known figure among

the sporting community, becoming

a close friend of the England

striker Jermain Defoe.

His parents Gemma and Carl

picked up the posthumous

Helen Rollason award -

given "for outstanding

achievement in the face

of adversity" at the ceremony.

Gemma Lowery spoke to the audience

after she was given the award.

Wow.

I'm slightly overwhelmed but I'm

absolutely honoured to receive this

on behalf of Bradley.

Bradley was only here

for six short years.

But the nation took him

into their hearts.

He raised so much awareness

for childhood cancer,

it was unbelievable.

I'm so proud of him.

To continue that, we've set up

the Bradley Lowery Foundation

because we want to continue the good

work that he's done.

Not only are we going to be

supporting people fundraising,

we're going to be giving grants out.

We've also got the For

Bradley Campaign going,

because we want to build an amazing

house for sick children to go

and be able to enjoy,

have some normality and have

some special memories.

All we've got left now

is them special memories.

But we treasure them every single

day and we want to be able to give

back to the people of the nation.

I would just like to finish

by saying thank you so,

so much for the continued support.

Everyone's been fantastic.

We couldn't do it without you.

Please continue to support.

Together, we can make a difference.

APPLAUSE.

Gemma Lowery, remembering her son,

Bradley. Ryanair pilots have

suspended a one-day strike planned

for just before Christmas. The

Impact union, which represents Irish

-based pilots, has agreed to meet a

line management on Tuesday evening.

117 pilots are involved in the

dispute, making up the majority of

the firm's captains in Ireland,

meaning any walk-out would have

severely affected flights. I'm

joined now by the industrial

relations correspondent for the

Economist. How significant a

decision is this to suspend the

strike?

Well, it is very significant

if you are heading home for

Christmas next year on a Ryanair

flight. A lot of Ryanair customers

will be very cheered by this news.

However, shareholders are not

necessarily as pleased. On Friday,

when Ryanair announced that it was

going to recognise the union, the

airline share price dropped by 5%,

because there is a fear that it will

cause higher costs for the airlines

longer term, if it results in higher

paid pilots over time.

Given the

impact on the company, why have they

decided to recognise the unions?

Well, essentially, there is a

shortage of pilots in Europe. This

is because other airlines are

rapidly growing. Earlier this year,

Ryanair had to announce 20,000

flight cancellations because other

airlines such as Norwegian and

easyJet were stealing some of the

pilot by offering them better pay

and conditions. So, whether or not

Ryanair was going to recognise the

pilots union, it was going to have

to pay more money to keep a lot of

pilots. It has been spending

thousands and thousands of euros in

extra bonuses and pay to keep some

of its pilots. So, whether or not it

recognised the unions, it was going

to have to pay more for pilots. So,

therefore, I think the market did

overreact on Friday. So these costs

were going to be born whether or not

it recognised the pilots unions or

not.

Given the fact that the costs

will presumably have to be passed

on, as you say, born somewhere, are

we as customers and consumers going

to have to get used to a slightly

different idea of the Ryanair

offering?

Well, Ryanair is one of

Europe, if not Europe's most

profitable airlines. It has Europe's

lowest unit costs per passenger. So,

I think Ryanair can pay for these

extra costs out of some of its

profits. Remember, if paying pilots

a little bit better allows the

airline to grow more, that means it

can grow revenues more, grow profits

more in longer term. So, it doesn't

necessarily mean higher fares for

the consumer, particularly in the

shorter term.

Thanks very much for

your time.

Let's look at the headlines. A

British woman, Rebecca Dykes, has

been killed and Beirut, the Foreign

Office says. She worked for the

Department for International develop

on. The first of six victims in this

morning's car crash in Birmingham

has been named locally as taxi

driver Imtiaz Mohammed. Ryanair

pilots have suspended a planned

24-hour strike as the airline agrees

to recognise the pilots trades

unions for the first time.

A big day in the world of sport.

Let's cross to the BBC sports

centre.

Good evening.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said his

players would go down in history

after their unbeaten run in Scotland

ended. There were thrashed 4-0 at

Hearts in the premiership. The last

time Celtic lost a league game was

an incredible 585 days ago.

16-year-old Harry Cochrane gave them

the lead. David Miller got a couple

of goals as well. It brings to an

end the longest unbeaten run in

Scottish history.

They've gone through 69 games.

For this, in 18 months,

to be the first defeat,

of course it is a sore one,

especially when you

are beaten like that.

But they can hold their heads up.

They've been absolutely

amazing in that 18 months.

To set a record, 69 games,

that may never be beaten,

they can be very proud of that.

Now we hit the reset button again.

Manchester United have closed

the gap on top of the table

Manchester City to 11 points

with a 2-1 win over

relegation threatened

West Brom at the Hawthorns.

An unfortunate deflection helped

Jesse Lingard to United's second

before half-time.

Romelu Lukaku's header opened

proceedings.

Gareth Barry scored

West Brom's first goal under

Alan Pardew but it was just

consolation as they stay 19th.

You do your best, you try to win

matches, you try to play the best

possible. You try to do all you can

as a team. You try to give kids a

big chance to become an important

player at Manchester United. At the

end of the season, we will see what

happens, not just in the Premier

League but also in other

competitions.

Liverpool got back to winning ways,

with a comfortable 4-0 win away

at Bournemouth in

the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah, netting his 20th goal

in all competitions this season.

We

need to be really consistent. We

need to be steady and on track. We

need to show all the time while we

are together. Today, we are really

happy, because we have the Christmas

party tonight. It is the first time

I think that we can celebrate

Christmas.

England's cricketers are not going

to be celebrating, it seems.

England's hopes of retaining

the Ashes are fading fast.

They must bat through tomorrow's

final day if they're to avoid defeat

in the third test in Perth

and snatch a draw to

keep the series alive.

Weather could play its part,

rain stopped play towards the end

of the fourth day, at the close

England were 132-4.

Mitchell Marsh didn't add

to his 181 overnight.

Whilst Aussie Captain Steve

Smith was out for 239.

Australia declared on 662

for nine - a lead of 259.

In reply, England lost

Mark Stoneman, Alastair Cook

and Joe Root cheaply.

James Vince made a half century

before he was bowled by a terrific

ball by Mitchell Starc.

Defeat for England would leave them

3-0 down and handing

the Ashes back to Australia.

European Champions Cup holders

Saracens look like they'll now need

to try to reach the quarter-finals

as one of three best pool runners-up

after losing 24-21 to group leaders

Clemont Auvergne in France.

Sarries were keen to avoid

a repeat of the home

thrashing in the reverse fixture

and helped by Ben Spencer's try,

they soon built a 13-0 lead.

But Clermont chipped

away at the advantage

and although they managed no tries

to Sarries' two, Scott Spedding's

late penalty earned a 24-21 victory.

Saracens, did at least pick up

a losing bonus point.

Wasps have kept their

hopes alive with a 21-3

victory over La Rochelle.

Leicester remain bottom

of their pool - they lost

at home to Munster 25-16.

Northampton lost their first

match after the dismissal

of their director of rugby

Jim Mallinder - beaten

32-15 at Ospreys.

World number six Justin Rose won

the Indonesian Masters by eight

shots in Jakarta to seal his third

tournament victory in seven weeks.

The Englishman posted eight birdies

and an eagle in the first 13

holes of his final round,

eventually finishing

on 29 under par.

That is all of the sport for now.

Back to you.

The Prime Minister says events over

the last few days have marked a

watershed in the departure from the

European Union. Theresa May said

that the Government is proving

doubters wrong after the EU agreed

to move onto the next phase of

negotiations. Labour say the Brexit

plans are a mess.

Earlier I spoke to our political

correspondent, Chris Mason,

who began by telling me

about a recent interview

with the EU's chief Brexit

negotiator, Michel Barnier,

in Prospect magazine.

Nothing in here that is a million

miles from what we have

heard from him before.

And quite striking in its language.

We've approached Mr Barnier's offers

to make sure there isn't anything

lost in translation.

The expectation is that he will have

given this interview in French.

Just to bring you this

quote from Prospect.

He says, they, referring to the UK,

have to realise there

won't be any cherry picking.

He's talking here about a future

arrangement and future deal.

We won't mix up the various

scenarios to create a specific one

and accommodate their wishes,

mixing, for instance, the advantages

of the Norwegian model -

Norway is not a member of the EU

but is a member of the single

market and accepts free

movement of people -

with the simple requirements

of the Canadian model.

You'll know that there has

been some discussion.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary,

talked about the idea

of the Canadian model

plus, plus, plus.

Canada has a free trade arrangement

with the EU in goods,

but not in services,

but doesn't have to accept

free movement of people.

He ends this particular

paragraph saying they -

again, referring to the UK -

will have to face the consequences

of their own decision.

In other words, is effectively

saying, look, things cannot stay

the same because you,

the UK, have chosen to leave and

that was your decision, not ours.

When you talk about the idea

of a bespoke solution,

that won't necessarily come easy

in terms of what the EU is willing

to put on the table.

Theresa May has been writing in two

British papers today.

What has she had to say?

What kind of position

is she setting out?

Yes, two articles, one

in the Sunday Telegraph,

one in the Sunday Express.

You often get Prime Ministerial

pieces in the Sunday newspapers.

It's not often they take to two

different newspapers.

The message was broadly

the same but the audience,

I guess, is a bit different.

What was striking about

the Prime Minister's words

is how defiant she was.

Kind of understandably,

up to a point.

There's been a huge number

of headlines in the last few weeks

about that aborted attempt to get

a deal in Brussels.

She went over there,

she had to come back and go over

a few days later.

Then the defeat in the Commons last

week, and all of the accompanying

negative headlines,

from her perspective.

In reality, she can point to,

and she does in these articles,

that she has got to where she set

out to buy Christmas.

The negotiations will move

on to phase two, the future,

after Christmas, despite the bumps

on the road that we've had over

the last couple of weeks.

But what we haven't got yet,

and we might start to get

this week, is a sense

from the British Government,

privately at first, then publicly,

about what they actually want.

What is that end state

that the British Government

is seeking to have?

We know the broad parameters,

we know the Government wants

to leave the single market

and the customs union,

and those economic relationships

that are bound up with our current

membership.

But we don't know any specifics.

Brussels is clamouring

for those specifics.

Plenty of people in

the UK are as well.

The Brexit super cabinet,

if you like, the War Cabinet

of main cabinet ministers involved

in Brexit, meeting tomorrow

morning in Downing Street.

There a full cabinet

meeting on Tuesday.

That will be the first time

that the full Cabinet meeting have

had a proper discussion

about that end state.

That might surprise you.

There is, arguably, a political

savviness from the Prime Minister

to have put it off for as long

as she has.

If you know you're facing

a row about something,

arguably it's pragmatic to postpone

it for as long as possible,

and that's what she's done.

The White House has confirmed that

the CIA helped Russia thwart a bomb

attack on a cathedral in St

Petersburg.

This is the moment security forces

raided a flat allegedly used

as logistical base

to plan the attack.

Seven people were held,

charged with being members

of so-called Islamic State.

The officers also seized explosives,

weapons and propaganda material.

The Government is considering

extending automatic enrolment

into a workplace pension,

to 18 year olds, from 2020.

Currently the starting age is 22,

for anyone earning more

than £10,000.

Workers can opt out,

but the change could affect

around 900,000 people.

Joe Lynam reports.

Ollie and Nate are both 21.

Ollie, on the left, has not yet

started saving for his retirement.

It has not really

crossed my mind yet.

I move jobs quite frequently, tend

not to stay in one place too long.

So pensions have been lower

down the list of things

I have been conscious of.

Nate, though, has been

saving for his retirement

since he was 16.

I grew up with a family on welfare,

so I was quite aware of the effects

being reliant on government

money can have.

And how insecure

it can be sometimes.

If the Work and Pensions Secretary

David Gauke has his way,

young people like Ollie and Nate

could soon be automatically enrolled

for a pension at their employers.

That, I think, will get more people

into the habit of saving.

It will mean younger people will be

saving for those extra years,

so that is significant when it comes

to their retirement.

At the moment, only those aged over

22 are automatically

included in a pension scheme

by their employers,

but the Government wants

that age lowered to 18.

Soon, 8% of our salaries will be

going into a pension pot,

something that employers

are worried about.

I think what the Government needs

to bear in mind however is how much

of the cost of that is going to be

falling on employers in the future,

because already the cost

for employers is on course

to treble by 2019.

Today's announcement means the cost

for employers will be

even higher than that.

To 18, or even 21-year-olds,

retirement must seem

a very long way off,

especially if they don't earn much,

but if this plan proceeds,

it could help prevent younger people

depending on the state

in decades to come.

Joe Lynam, BBC News.

Two senior members of South Africa's

governing ANC have been

chosen as candidates to be

the next party leader.

The process to find a successor

to President Zuma had

been delayed because of

divisions among delegates.

Our correspondent, Milton Nkosi,

in Johannesburg, says it's not

clear when the new leader

will be announced.

I was in the plenary, earlier on,

when the nominations were conducted,

and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa

agreed to stand for

the position of president,

and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

did the same.

The Electoral Commission

has gone away to start

printing the ballot papers,

and voting will start pretty soon,

because the delegates,

I don't know if you can see some

of them mingling behind me, they

have gone to dinner in the meantime.

When they go back, then they will

begin the process of voting.

There are 5000 of them,

plus minus 5000 voting delegates,

and Cyril Ramaphosa,

as far as we know, is inching away

with about 500 nominations,

but that is not to say that those

numbers won't change.

Prince Harry has taken on a new role

as a journalist and interviewed or

Obama. It was recorded at the

Invictus Games in September, as part

of the Today Programme's guest

editor series. He takes over the

show on the 27th of December and

gave the politicians and interview

advice ahead of the discussion.

Do I have to speak faster?

Because I'm a slow speaker.

Not at all.

Should I do a British accent?

If you start using long

pauses between answers

you're probably going

to get the face.

Let me see the face.

LAUGHTER.

I don't want to see that face.

It will be 40 minutes.

It will be a 20 minutes package

for the BBC for after Christmas,

and we hope to use the whole thing

as a podcast afterwards.

Excellent.

OK.

I'm ready.

Do you guys have sound?

Sounding great.

You're excited about this,

I'm nervous about this.

It's fine.

I'll interview you, if you want.

Let's keep it this way,

I'd much prefer that!