22/12/2017 BBC News at Ten

A visit by the Foreign Secretary

to Russia to repair relations ends

in public disagreement

and accusations of lying.

A handshake between Boris Johnson

and his Russian counterpart

is followed by accusations

of Russian cyber attacks.

You should recognise that Russian

attempts to interfere

in our elections and our referendums

- whatever they may have been -

have not been successful.

Today's meeting was intended

to open up channels of communication

between the two countries -

has it worked?

Also tonight,

A man is charged with murder

after a woman is stabbed to death

at the supermarket where she worked.

From EU burgundy to British blue -

UK passports to change

colour after Brexit.

The new migrant crisis

unfolding in Greece -

with thousands of asylum seekers

forced to live in squalor.

My name is Eva Schloss -

would you like to ask me some

questions about my life?

And how a holocaust survivor

is answering the questions yet to be

asked by generations to come.

And coming-up on

Sportsday on BBC News:

It's a festive goal fest

at the Emirates Arsenal

take on Liverpool -

fifth v fourth in

the Permier League.

in the Premier League.

Good evening.

A meeting intended to bring British

relations with Russia out

of the deep freeze has ended

with public accusations of lying.

In the first visit by a Foreign

Secretary to Moscow for five years,

Boris Johnson confronted his Russian

counterpart, Sergei Lavrov,

about Moscow's alleged involvement

in cyber attacks on the West.

Mr Lavrov retorted that

the accusations were fabricated

and criticised the UK for making

what he called a series

of aggressive and insulting public

statements about Russia.

Our diplomatic correspondent

James Robbins reports.

Handshakes can be deceptive.

True, this Foreign

Secretary has broken a

five-year British boycott

of visits to Moscow.

But when Russia's Sergei Lavrov says

he wants a return to

business as usual, Boris Johnson

says that's impossible.

As you rightly say,

Sergei, things are not

easy between us at the moment.

The talks aired

grievances on both and

The talks aired grievances

on both sides and

examined space for

limited cooperation.

By supporting the Iran nuclear deal

together and opposing

the nuclear threat from North Korea.

But deep disagreements remain.

At their joint news

conference, that was stark.

For all the efforts at banter

there was a seriousness when Sergey

For all the efforts at banter

there was a seriousness when Sergei

Lavrov tried to brush off British

allegations of Russia meddling

in foreign elections.

TRANSLATION:

My neighbour

Boris Johnson recently

stated he had no evidence that

Russia meddled in the referendum on

the withdrawal of Britain

from the European Union.

Not successfully, not successfully

I think is the word.

Not successfully is the word that

I think you need to introduce.

TRANSLATION:

You see,

he's scared if he doesn't disagree

with me, his reputation

will be ruined in the media at home.

Sergei, it's your reputation

I'm worried about.

So how did relations with Russia

go from bad to worse?

Russia's use of radioactive poison

to murder Alexander Litvinenko in

the middle of London

started the slide.

Three years ago Russia's

annexation of Crimea and

interference in Ukraine provoked

tough EU sanctions, strongly

backed by Britain.

Then last month, Theresa May

accused Russia of cyber

espionage and meddling in elections.

Britain says it has cyber weaponry

to retaliate if attacks get worse.

It is a sad truth that our

relations, having gone through a

good patch in the 1990s

and the early 2000s, are now going

through a very difficult patch.

There is no question of that at all.

But one of the reasons for coming

here is that there is no point in

simply sitting on the sidelines

and complaining about each other.

We have to engage.

But when Boris Johnson

was asked if he trusted

Russia's Foreign Minister, to avoid

a direct answer he tried to

make light of it.

You know, it's a measure

of my trust that as soon as

I got into this excellent Foreign

Ministry I immediately handed my

coat, my hat, my gloves,

and indeed everything

that was in my pockets,

secret or otherwise, to

Sergei Lavrov.

TRANSLATION:

I can say

there was nothing in the pockets of

Boris's coat.

So, striding across Red Square,

the Foreign Secretary was

no mere tourist.

He was nodding to Russia's

historic greatness, while

pressing for a radical

change of direction.

Coming here to Red Square Boris

Johnson insists that he

loves Russia.

He points to his name,

the fact that he has some

Russian ancestry.

What he doesn't love

is the present Russian government.

So, paying his tribute

at the tomb of Russia's

Unknown Soldier had

a particular symbolism.

Britain and Russia fought together

against Hitler as allies.

Restoring that closeness now

seems a long way off.

James, it was clearly a tense

atmosphere in the room between Boris

Johnson and Sergei Lavrov. What

chance is there that that meeting

will improve relations between the

two countries?

You could certainly

feel the tension. This is a story of

enormous mutual suspicion but it was

an important meeting between two

substantial world powers, many

different in many ways, Russia of

this country of course, the largest

by land area in the world, Britain

by comparison tiny. But with a

substantially larger economy than

the Russian economy. But the thing

that the two countries share,

they're very precious rare commodity

in global power, is that they

together have two of only five veto

power seats on the Security Council

at the United Nations in New York.

They need to get along much better

if they are to contribute to a

constructive dialogue to try and

underpin global security. But Sergey

Lavrov made clear that Russia still

feels undervalued by others. It

still feels it is the victim of a

Western constructed fabrication.

Voice Johnson is entirely dismissive

of that and points out that many

Western countries feel gravely

threatened by Russia, particularly

over electoral meddling. You could

sense that also in the way Boris

Johnson made a point of prodding

Russia in various sensitive points.

He went at the end of his meeting to

lay flowers at the spot where an

opposition leader was assassinated

two years ago just under the Kremlin

wall and also championed LGBT rights

in Russia, pretty unpopular in this

country and told students if they

could only have a free press their

country would be more prosperous.

Open yes but suspicious still.

The fourth election in as many years

in the Spanish region of Catalonia

Has once again confirmed its

divisions.

The party that won the most

votes doesn't support

independence for Catalonia -

but put together the separatist

parties are able to

form a slim majority.

It follows the controversial

referendum in favour

of independence in October.

Here's James Reynolds.

Catalonia's pro-independence voters

enjoy their victory.

Now they want their power back.

Starting with the return

from exile of the deposed

regional President

Carlos Puigdemont.

He now claims a mandate to lead

Catalonia once more.

But if he comes back

to take office he

faces arrest on the charge

of rebellion for having called

October's unlawful

independence referendum.

So, from Brussels this afternoon

Carles Puigdemont had a

message for Spain.

Let's talk.

Catalonia wants to be

in independent state.

This is the wish of

the Catalan people.

But the next step immediately

is to talk with Mariano

Rajoy, with President Mariano Rajoy.

So, we need to find new ways,

a political solution for our crisis

between the Spanish

state and Catalonia.

But that's of no interest

to Spain's leader.

This afternoon Mariano Rajoy

made it clear, Carlos

Puigdemont remains a wanted man,

not a leader in waiting.

TRANSLATION:

Politicians

must submit to the

justice system, just

like anyone else.

It does not bend to politics.

On this issue I would always be

in favour of what the courts say.

This crisis began months ago

when a pro-independence

administration here faced off

against the central

government in Madrid.

There then followed

months of argument,

protest, debate, emergency measures

and then the vote, and now Catalans

find that they are right

back to where they were

when the crisis began.

Nobody has really changed sides.

For now the local government

headquarters here awaits its

permanent occupants.

The man who won this election can't

come to take up his old job.

The law says that all sides

now have until April

to decide what to do next.

James Reynolds, BBC News, Barcelona.

A 44-year-old man has been

charged with murder,

after a woman was stabbed to death

while at work in a supermarket

in Skipton, in North Yorkshire.

30-year-old Jodie Willsher - who's

married with a young daughter -

was attacked in the Aldi store

in front of shoppers

yesterday afternoon.

Judith Moritz reports from Skipton.

Malcolm and Jodie Willsher

were looking forward

to a family Christmas.

Tonight, he is left grieving,

paying tribute to her as a doting

mother and loving wife.

Jodie Willsher was getting

ready for the holidays,

wearing her festive jumper

while serving supermarket shoppers.

Jodie had worked at the Skipton Aldi

since it opened two years ago.

Trolleys were abandoned

as fearful shoppers scattered,

whilst several staff and customers

rushed to help.

There was chaos inside the shop

as people realised what had

happened, and as Jodie lay dying,

the first person to intervene

was a man in his 60s,

who grappled with the attacker

for a long time as he

tried to restrain him.

Despite efforts to save Jodie,

she died on the shop floor.

She liked to be around her friends,

around her family.

It's just such a tragedy,

really, what's happened.

She's such a beautiful girl, I can't

believe it's happened to her.

She's so young.

She had all her life ahead of her.

The supermarket became a crime

scene, forensic staff and police

officers taking evidence away.

Today, the shop has remained closed,

with customers coming instead

to leave tributes for the popular

member of staff.

Whenever I've shopped in Aldi,

she's always been friendly,

pleasant, you know, a lovely girl,

really, and it's just...

What a shock.

An absolute shock, really.

It's just absolutely awful.

With Christmas, and her little girl

being the same age as mine.

Things like this don't happen

in this little town,

and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

The community here is

small and tight knit.

Jodie Willsher worked at its heart,

well-known and well liked.

Tonight, a 44-year-old man has been

charged with her murder.

He'll appear in court

in York in the morning.

Judith Moritz, BBC News, Skipton.

The United Nations Security Council

has voted unanimously to impose

tougher sanctions on North Korea

in response to its recent

ballistic missile tests.

The US-drafted resolution includes

measures to reduce the nation's

petrol imports by up to 90%.

China and Russia, North Korea's

main trading partners,

voted in favour of the resolution.

Two former South American football

officials have been convicted

for taking millions of dollars

in bribes to grant

broadcasting contracts.

The former head of the South

American Football confederation

and former president of Brazil's

football federation are facing

long prison sentences.

British passport covers are to turn

blue once Britain leaves

the European Union in 2019.

The current burgundy

passports will continue

to be issued until then,

but without the EU insignia.

The Home Office says the new blue

passport will be more high-tech

and secure to prevent

fraud and forgery.

Our Home Affairs correspondent

Tom Symonds reports.

The great British passport,

shortly to be available not

in European burgundy.

Because, it turns out,

Brexit means blue.

The government admits

it is largely symbolic,

restoring our national identity.

Outside the Passport Office,

what's the reaction?

It's blue, isn't it,

back to England.

I just think it's a crying shame.

We have this fantastic ability

to travel around the world.

We are looked upon favourably

with our immigration policy

and everything else.

I think now it's a bit

embarrassing, to be honest.

I think the decision was a huge

aspect of, you know,

the country moving forward.

And I think in order to move forward

there needs to be changes,

and if that's going to be

distinguished by a simple

colour, then why not?

Well, what's the difference?

It's a different colour.

That's it.

I just preferred it

when we were in Europe, everything.

Really?

Just everything, yeah.

Of course, the symbolism may be lost

on those too young to have

had the old passport,

which looked nothing

like this anyway.

The last true British

passport was hard backed,

much bigger, and very,

very dark blue.

The European one, which replaced it

way back in 1988, was smaller,

floppy and much easier to put

in a pocket.

The new one, and this

is just a mock-up, will be

of roughly the same design,

but it will keep all of the security

features which make it so hard

to copy, and it will add some.

This is the passport of the future,

and it is in circulation from today.

When the red EU passport

was introduced, 30 years ago,

Britain agreed to a common standard.

It didn't have to accept the colour.

Croatia's passport remains blue.

Even so, the burgundy

one was never loved.

I think it's one of the most

revolting, insignificant,

tiny minded, small pieces of paper

I've ever had the

misfortune to witness.

It's not really a British

passport, is it?

These days, passports are redesigned

regularly to cut fraud,

so the blue ones should

not cost more.

They'll start appearing in 2019.

People who already have a passport

have no need to do

anything at the moment.

Even at that point, if people

still have time left

on their passport we're not asking

them to change at that point.

But obviously people can renew it

at whatever point they want,

should they wish to move

to a new passport.

Brexit is tough.

Changing the passport

colour relatively easy.

But like Brexit, it is dividing

the nation between those who say,

"At last", and those who say

"Why bother"?

Tom Symonds, BBC News

at the Passport Office.

Two Conservative MPs facing

allegations of inappropriate

behaviour have been

cleared of breaching

the party's code of conduct.

An independent panel found

that the former Work

and Pensions Secretary,

Stephen Crabb , who was accused

of sending suggestive text messages

to a young woman he interviewed

for a job, had fallen short

of expected standards.

However, the panel said

he hadn't harassed her.

He has made an unreserved apology.

The panel also threw out claims

that the MP Chris Pincher had made

an unwanted pass at a Tory activist.

It's a growing problem in countries

like the Philippines,

children put to work in front

of webcams, forced to perform sex

shows for paedophiles watching

on the other side of the world.

In 2013 a Dutch organisation tried

to find out how big the problem

was by using the fake online profile

of a ten-year-old Filipina girl.

They called her Sweetie.

More than 1,000 men offered her

money to perform for them.

Now the team behind Sweetie

are launching a new project,

this time targeting individual

predators themselves,

and the software's being offered

to police forces across the world.

From Holland, Angus

Crawford reports.

Online, undercover,

searching chat rooms,

looking for predators.

Sweetie is back.

Always it's about sex.

And always about adults

who want to talk about sex.

Look, he's British, like many

others, and remember

they are talking to what they think

is an 11-year-old girl.

Remember this?

I'm not real.

The computer-generated model...

Back then, Sweetie needed human

operators to type her chats online.

The new version is different.

They're popping up.

Fully automated, she can

now handle hundreds

of conversations at the same time.

So you could be getting

the information on thousands of men?

There is no end.

Sweetie's avatar has been retired

and replaced by two new ones,

sometimes being shown

to predators via webcam.

But we can't show you or they'd

be no use any more.

They invite him into their house,

which is the cybersex den...

So, why is this new campaign?

Here's why.

In the Philippines more and more

children are being forced to sell

sex to foreigners via webcam.

Five people were arrested

and there were more than 600 foreign

customers in the network.

He has turned on his camera...

Sweetie first showed us

the scale of the problem.

Now the team is going on the

offensive against men like this.

He's naked and he thinks

he knows you're just 12.

Exactly.

And he wants you...

To be naked...

To turn on your camera...

Be naked, as well.

I think he will...

Take off his trousers.

Their details could be

passed to the police.

And they'll get a nasty shock.

An automatic message sent

straight to their inbox.

That will have a major

impact on their behaviour.

We know who you are,

we know where you are,

we know what you want.

Stop this.

Sweetie's job was to raise

awareness, not catch criminals.

This man, Australian Scott Hanson,

was one of the few to be prosecuted.

But in many countries this kind

of evidence doesn't count.

Some police forces support

the project, others don't.

But the Sweetie team go on,

scouring chat rooms,

turning the same technology used

to exploit children back against

the predators who seek them out.

Angus Crawford, BBC News.

A new migrant crisis

is unfolding in Greece,

where the authorities are struggling

to cope with thousands of asylum

seekers now being held

on islands close to Turkey.

The deal reached between

the European Union and Turkey

at the height of the migrant crisis

last year reduced the number

of arrivals but hasn't

stopped them completely.

More than 50,000 have arrived

since that deal was signed.

Our Europe correspondent

Damian Grammaticas sent this special

report from the Moria camp

on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Nestled on a Greek hillside,

Europe's dirty secret, Moria camp,

bursting at its seams.

It's so full families are forced

to sleep outside the wire,

all around on the ground,

human excrement.

This is Europe's migration

policy in action.

More than 6000 squeezed into a camp

built for a third that number.

The waiting, stuck in this

place, grinds many down.

At night we went into Moria

to see for ourselves.

What strikes you first

is the rubbish, everywhere,

and tents crammed into every corner

because thousands are still arriving

in Greece from Turkey every month.

My tent.

My baby.

Masuma's family, from Afghanistan,

came two months ago.

15.

15 people.

How many children?

Six children.

How is the situation

in this tent for you?

Very, very difficult.

It's the policy of Greece and the EU

to keep the arrivals

here on the island.

Processing their claims is slow,

so numbers are rising.

Winter is here, and the

conditions are grim.

Sina and his family from Iran

were re-cooking food given to them

for lunch to try to make

it more palatable.

Warm water.

No warm water.

Not shower.

No shower.

Toilet?

Toilet, no toilet.

We shower inside the

tent with cool water.

And Moria's toilets are filthy.

There's no running water,

so people have to use bottled

water to try to flush.

That's why many choose to defecate

in the fields outside.

What you have to keep

reminding yourself here

is that we're in Europe.

This camp has received

funding from the EU.

So this is how Europe is treating

some of those who are coming

here seeking protection.

There's no question that

it's pretty shocking.

And those who can't find space

in the camp are even worse off.

So this is it?

A piece of plastic and a couple

of blankets are all that

Adnan from Syria has.

His 17-year-old wife

is four months pregnant.

Officially, pregnant women

should be a priority,

but the system isn't working.

TRANSLATION:

It's terrible.

I'm always cold.

They gave me a prescription,

vitamins and medicine for my baby,

but I have no money to buy them.

I don't know what to do

and who to ask for help.

So who should help these people?

The EU continues to argue about it.

And as the cost of Europe's

indecisiveness, the desperate

and the destitute, living a sort

of limbo, dumped here

on the edge of Europe.

Damian Grammaticas, BBC

News, Lesbos in Greece.

How do you keep the memories

of the Holocaust alive to answer

the questions of future generations?

Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss,

the step-sister of Anne Frank,

has been taking part

in a ground-breaking interactive

project that will allow people

to ask her hundreds of questions

about her life and will preserve her

testimony long into the future.

Reeta Chakrabarti has

been to meet her.

Three, two, one, go ahead.

Meet Eva Schloss.

She's 88, and survived

the horrors of Auschwitz.

She spent days being filmed

recounting her past,

so that people now and in the future

can question her virtual self

about what happened.

My name is Eva Schloss.

Would you like to ask me some

questions about my life?

Survivors are worrying what will

happen when we are not around

anymore, who is going to continue

telling the story?

Because we think

it is very important.

Now, at the Museum of

Jewish Heritage in New York,

people can directly interview Eva

about what it was like in Auschwitz,

how she survived, and how

it's affected her since.

One of the questions,

what was your most terrible

moment in the camp?

One day, my mother was

selected to be gassed.

And we were separated.

And I thought, you know,

I had lost her.

But through a miracle she was saved.

And about three months

later, we were reunited.

Over five days, Eva answered more

than 1000 questions about her story.

And while she was doing so,

a film-maker recorded the process.

I think what's different about this

experience is it puts the viewer

in a really active role.

So instead of sort of passively

watching a movie or reading a book,

you're sort of forced to think

of your own question,

what you want to ask.

And this is more or less

the only picture I have

with my mother and my father and me.

Because my father usually

took all the pictures.

Eva Schloss lost her father

and her brother in the Holocaust.

Remarkably, she says she has no

hatred or bitterness in her heart.

But she does want people

to listen and to learn.

This is what we have

to teach our young people,

to get involved what goes on.

And to, if they see things

going wrong, to speak out.

Technology is helping to prepare

for the time when the survivors

of this monstrous crime

are no longer alive.

It means Eva Schloss can

continue telling her story

for many decades to come.

Reeta Chakrabarti, BBC News.