31/01/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10...

The Prime Minister says

she is not a quitter,

as she's forced to defend attacks

on her leadership.

On a trade visit to China,

Theresa May admitted

that the Government does need to do

more to get its message across.

I think there are many people

in the United Kingdom who want

ensure that they and their families

can achieve British dream,

of ensuring that each generation has

a better future than the past.

As the Prime Minister announces

a series of new trade

agreements with China,

we'll be asking if she can

overcome her difficulties at home.

Also tonight...

This woman gave birth in jail before

her trial collapsed. Police and

prosecutors are criticised over a

late disclosure of evidence.

The BBC's former China editor

Carrie Gracie tells MPs she's very

angry at the way the BBC has treated

some of the women it employs.

Is this an act of terrorism?

We have a special report

on the 16-year-old Palestinian

girl on trial next week

in an Israeli military court.

And the rare super blue blood moon

that has been wowing

people around the world.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News:

As that clock ticks on transfer

deadline day, the Premier League

witnessed its fastest goal this

season, as Tottenham took an early

lead against Manchester United.

Good evening.

Theresa May has defended her

leadership at the start

of a three-day trade visit to China.

She insisted to reporters

that she "wasn't a quitter",

following days of criticism

from within her own party.

Speaking in Beijing,

the Prime Minister forecast a golden

era in trade relations

between the two countries,

but admitted that her government had

to do more to advance

its domestic agenda.

Our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg is travelling

with the Prime Minister.

Even the most carefully planned

entrance can go a touch awry.

A bit of pushing and shoving,

not the political kind this time.

Asia's red-carpets, though,

hardly provide a rest.

Theresa May's here to do business,

but the Tories are trading

in her future at home.

She, envious perhaps of that kind

of discipline, is trying,

well, as she might say,

to get on with the job.

Although I may be visiting

in winter, I have had

the warmest of welcomes,

for which I am very grateful.

But to get things done,

leaders have to be able to lead.

The Prime Minister says

she will fight on but concedes

something has to shift.

Prime Minister, on the journey

here you acknowledged that

you and your government have to do

more to be convincing.

What is it that you plan to do

differently and will you stand

up to your critics?

I think that there are many people

in the United Kingdom who want to

ensure that they and their families

can achieve the British dream,

of ensuring that each generation has

a better future than the past.

And, yes, we do need to do more,

and we do need to ensure

that we are talking

about what we have already achieved.

But her Chinese counterpart

provided cheer...

Dangling the prospect of a future

trade deal after Brexit,

with the start of formal

conversations to scope it out.

She is not a natural fan

of Chinese opera, perhaps,

or the diplomatic schmooze -

there were some

tricky moments today.

Conversations turned to human

rights, North Korea and the brute

force of China's steel industry.

But these are very excited students

could be joined by many others.

Deals for universities,

exchange programmes

and others were announced.

Have a nice stay in China.

Thank you, thank you,

well done to you.

Nice to see you!

Thank you, hello.

And this group used their high-tech

skills to make a model of number

ten, helpfully pointing out it had

an emergency button, if ever

there was a need for a swift escape.

There is an emergency button,

put there, call the police.

Right, very good.

The Prime Minister made very

deliberate stops here,

though, one to the banks

of the Yangtze River,

to share her party's new-found focus

on all things green.

And she hopes by the end of the week

to have guaranteed British beef's

on its way back to China's table

after 20 years, and there will have

been handshakes on at least

£9 billion of deals.

China and Britain not best friends,

perhaps, but serious colleagues.

This place reeks of power -

a commodity Theresa May has

been grappling to hold

onto in recent days.

It's clear the Prime Minister

is in no mood to quit,

but she does seem to acknowledge

she has to up her game

at home, and abroad,

to be sure of staying on.

The historic bling,

the flags, the ceremony...

Delicately choreographed,

but easily dismantled.

The Prime Minister travels

with the trappings of office,

but she's vulnerable -

not accompanied by reliable

long-term support from her own side.

Laura is in Beijing tonight.

An important trade mission

for the Prime Minister,

how much are questions

about her leadership

Overshadowing it all?

There is

certainly no escape from it at all.

They say it is lonely at the top,

maybe there's nothing as lonely as a

foreign leader thousands of miles

from home whilst all sorts of

shenanigans going on in their party,

not just while they are out of sight

but also while they are asleep in a

completely different time zone and

somehow very cut off from what is

going on. Theresa May has made it

clear she wants people to know she

gets set, she understands that

things haven't been perfect but more

than anything else, I think she

wants to try and show she is

cracking on. Number ten believe and

believe very much they have had good

progress so far in those important

talks on trade this week. They are

pushing on to see President Li

today, one of the most important

politicians of the world and have

made it clear on this trip that

Theresa May is in the mood to push

back at some of the European Union's

latest proposals on that transition

period, believing what they are

asking for, in terms of residency

rights after we leave the EU, is

basically not on. There is no sense

Theresa May is somehow trying to

retreat, on the contrary, she is

trying to pull the levers, get on

with things, show on this trip that

every minute she is busy and it is

packed full of events. But the

difficulty in all of that is she can

look busy, she can look like she's

doing everything, but there is a

danger she looks like she's going

through the motions and somehow she

doesn't really understand the extent

of the despair some parts of her

party feel while she is thousands of

miles away. On this trip she is

trying to carve out Britain's place

in the world but there is no

question her immediate priority is

still carving out and preserving her

own place in the party.

Our

political editor Laura Kuenssberg in

Beijing, thank you.

The police and the Crown Prosecution

Service have been heavily criticised

for the second time in a week

after the collapse of a trial.

This one concerned

people trafficking.

One of the women accused

of being involved had been locked up

in custody for more than a year

and had even given birth in prison.

The trial collapsed when thousands

of mobile phone messages,

that were disclosed late,

cast doubt on the case.

It comes after a number of rape

cases were also abandoned

because of disclosure issues.

Clive Coleman reports.

I was scared, I was in shock...

Cristina Bosoanca's story shows

the devastating effect that failure

to disclose evidence can have.

After 13 tough months

in prison, she can

finally relax with

the son she bore there.

They were bullying me.

It was difficult when I saw them

going to the visits of...

The prosecution case

was based on the

evidence of a female

complainant who claimed

Cristina Bosoanca trafficked

her into the country

to work as a prostitute.

She also alleged she was raped

by a client and became

pregnant as a result.

Christina's lawyers

repeatedly told the police

that there were phoned messages

which undermined the woman's story.

At the beginning,

I asked for the phone, I

asked for the pictures, CCTV,

I asked for everything.

But they were like, they don't care.

It was only on the second day

of the trial that 65,000

phone messages were disclosed

to Cristina's team.

They fundamentally

undermined the claimant's

account and medical evidence also

proved the woman was pregnant before

coming to the UK.

The case collapsed on Friday,

the judge demanding

police and prosecutors come

to court today to explain.

In court, the judge

said there had been a

wholesale failure of disclosure,

and serious and repeated

errors by both the police

and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Under oath,

a senior crown it apologised

and said a full review

was taking place and a report would

been sent to the Director of Public

Prosecutions.

This is not an isolated

case and whatever the

findings are in this case,

they are symptomatic of a problem

that has been developing

over the last 6-8 years.

The Government brought in a series

of cuts which have resulted

in underfunding and

under resourcing for

the Metropolitan Police,

the CPS,

and the criminal justice

system as a whole.

What do you think of British

justice, having been through the

process that you've been through?

I really don't know.

I don't want to say something rude.

If they think someone

needs to be punished for

something, they need to be sure.

Cristina's experience shows

disclosure failures go beyond recent

highly publicised rape cases,

there are likely to be more

examples, each one affecting the

lives of those charged, and their

families.

Clive Coleman, BBC News.

Nearly £1 billion has

been wiped off the value

of the out-sourcing company,

Capita, which provides

services to both the public

and private sectors,

after it issued a profits warning

for the coming year.

The company, which employs 50,000

people in the UK, has also

announced a drastic overhaul

of the business.

Our Business Editor

Simon Jack is here.

Simon, are we looking

at another Carillion here?

Some things feel eerily similar,

don't they? For example, big profit

warning, crash in the share price,

nearly 50% today, 80% over the last

year. Big public outsourcing

contracts that it has, then it looks

and feels the same. But there are

major differences. It doesn't have

those very risky construction

contracts which can go wrong and

today some of the measures that the

company took, while painful for

shareholders, is precisely what

Carillion should have done two or

three years ago. They have cut the

dividend while they still have

plenty of money in the bank, £1

billion, they are raising £700

million in new equity capital, which

means you don't have to pay it back

and they are going to go through all

those contracts won by one. So very

painful, looks a bit scary but a

very different animal, I would say,

to Carillion. One thing I would say

it is given the fact that government

got the continuing to award

contracts to Carillion after a

profit warning, will they be able to

get public-sector contracts just as

easily? I think those conversations

will be a lot more tricky post

Carillion than they were before but

I would say a different beast for

now.

Jack, thank you.

The journalist Carrie Gracie,

who resigned as the BBC's China

Editor in protest at unequal pay,

has accused the corporation

of having an illegal pay culture.

Appearing before the Commons culture

committee this afternoon,

she said the BBC's response

to her grievance that she was paid

less than her male counterparts

had been "an insult".

The Director General,

Lord Hall, who also appeared,

said it was "wrong"

that she had been underpaid.

Our media editor

Amol Rajan reports.

A united front.

Several of the most high-profile

female presenters on BBC News

were in Westminster today

to support their colleague,

Carrie Gracie.

REPORTER:

Do the BBC need to do more

on equal pay for women?

That's why we're here

to support Carrie.

Thank you.

I was appointed China editor...

She resigned her post as China

editor in protest at unequal pay.

In blistering testimony to a select

committee of MPs, she accused

the BBC of institutionalised

discrimination when it had

paid her less than other

international editors.

We knew there was inequality.

We didn't know the details,

because the BBC is extremely

secretive on pay, but we knew

we were underpaid.

I was determined at this

point, where I knew

I would give the China job

every last ounce of my skill

and stamina, I knew I would do that

job at least as well as any man.

The corporation's dealing

with her grievance was, she said,

insultingly shambolic.

And she added that she'd

be declining nearly

£100,000 in back pay.

I have said I don't want that money.

That's not what it's about for me.

I feel my salary's a good

salary, it's public money.

That's not what it was about.

They are still not

giving me a quality.

-- equality.

And in a concerted attack

against BBC management,

she said that for years it had

created a fortress to keep

out ordinary staff.

I was so distraught

by what had happened.

Anyway...

Then I thought, "No,

I have to fight."

Gracie's grilling went

on for two and a half hours.

When said management

emerged in the afternoon,

the director-general apologised

for the situation.

I'm sorry it went to a grievance

and I said up front at the beginning

I'd very much like to resolve

the case of Carrie Gracie with her.

And I'm sorry this has taken

so long, and I'm sorry we're

in this position, yes.

He went on to explain for the first

time in public why the BBC believe

there is a hierarchy

of roles among correspondents.

The idea that every single editor -

home and abroad, I would imagine -

should be paid exactly the same,

I don't agree with.

It should not be a matter

of gender, completely agree,

outrageous if it was but,

you know, you have balances

between different editors

and we need to be very up front

about what that, as it

were, pecking order is.

There are two parallel

conversations happening today.

Carrie Gracie spoke powerfully

about the wider implications

of her own case and also

the accumulated

failures of the past.

But the BBC management wanted

to focus on the future.

They want to shift this

story from the injustices

faced by Carrie Gracie,

to their new framework

for greater transparency.

The trouble is, many staff

here have other ideas.

The BBC has a clear plan

and is largely ahead of the industry

on gender inequality.

Though Carrie Gracie's case remains

far from resolved, or unique.

Amol Rajan, BBC News.

President Trump has used his first

State of the Union address to call

on Republicans and Democrats to work

together to rebuild American

industries and to fix

the country's immigration system.

He said he'd advanced his mission

to "make America great again"

with record tax cuts,

a booming stock market

and a fall in unemployment.

But Democrats say he has left

the nation fractured.

Our North America editor,

Jon Sopel, reports.

APPLAUSE

The pugilist president last night

wearing a different guise.

Forget the street fighter,

Donald Trump had come to Congress

as father of the nation -

there to bind wounds,

a message of unity,

wanting to help everyone.

This in fact is our

new American moment.

There has never been a better time

to start living the American dream.

So to every citizen watching at home

tonight, no matter where you've been

or where you've come from,

this is your time.

If you work hard, if you

believe in yourself,

if you believe in America,

then you can dream anything.

You can be anything and together

we can achieve absolutely anything.

APPLAUSE

Republicans loved it.

He did a victory lap

on the growth of the economy.

He called for measures to rebuild

America's infrastructure.

And in Washington's highly

polarised politics, he called

for a new spirit of co-operation.

I want our youth to grow up,

to achieve great things.

I want our poor to have

their chance to rise.

So tonight I am extending

an open hand to work

with members of both parties,

Democrats and Republicans,

to protect our citizens

of every background,

colour, religion and creed.

But though he appealed

for the parties to work

together on immigration,

there was little of substance that

would win over Democrats,

who sat stony-faced through much

of the speech.

Hundreds of miles north,

in Massachusetts, a young ambitious

Congressman was giving

the Democratic Party's response.

Joseph Kennedy III, grandson

of Bobby, great nephew

of President John F Kennedy.

Bullies may land a punch,

they may leave a mark,

but they have never,

not once - in the history

of our United States -

managed to match the strength

and spirit of a people united

in defence of their future.

Joe Kennedy is seeking to broaden

the Democratic Party's appeal,

to bring in more young

people and minorities.

Donald Trump is trying to widen

the base of his support.

What both Republicans and Democrats

are engaged in is a battle

for November's midterm elections,

which could fundamentally alter

the trajectory of this presidency.

Jon Sopel, BBC News, Washington.

Is a slap an act of terrorism?

Next week, a 16-year-old Palestinian

girl will go on trial in an Israeli

military court for a range

of security offences

after she was filmed

slapping an Israeli soldier.

The video of the Palestinian

teenager, Ahed Tamimi,

which was filmed by her mother,

went viral and they

were both arrested.

Our Middle East editor,

Jeremy Bowen, reports

from their home village Nebi Saleh,

on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Any peace in Nebi Saleh on a cold

winter day is an illusion.

It's a small Palestinian

village on the West Bank,

a sharp thorn in the side

of its occupier, Israel.

The people here refuse to give

in to Israel's overwhelming power.

For some Israelis, that

makes them terrorists.

An Israeli soldier shot

Mohammed Tamimi, 15 years old,

in the face with a rubber

coated metal bullet.

Surgeons took the bullet out

of Mohammed's brain,

along with part of his skull.

The Tamimi family lead

the protests in the village,

many of them have been imprisoned

by Israel for security offences.

Mohammed was jailed

for three months last year.

He was rushed to hospital

after he was shot during

a demonstration in Nebi Saleh,

on the 15th December.

The village was protesting

against President Trump's decision

to recognise Jerusalem

as Israel's capital.

Ahed Tamimi, his cousin,

a seasoned activist at 16 years old,

told two Israeli soldiers to get

off her family's property,

she'd just heard, wrongly,

that Mohammed had died.

After one soldier swatted her

away, she slapped him.

Once the video had gone viral,

Ahed with arrested with her mother

Nariman, who did the filming.

They're charged with security

offences and face jail.

Ahed's father, Bassem Tamimi,

an activist who's also

served time in prison,

has been taking to her to

demonstrations since she was small.

Lots of people would say that

if you slap a soldier,

in any country, you'll

get into trouble.

So it's no surprise that

the Israelis have put her on trial.

She can't accept a hard man

to come to her field.

This is the occupier law,

and we are resisting.

That's our duty and responsibility.

We can't give our enemy a rose

when he come to kill us.

So this is where it

happened, in the driveway

of the Tamimi's house.

The incident says a lot

about the conflict.

The imbalance of force,

the way it's invaded the lives

of yet another generation

and the bleakness of a future

with no prospect of peace.

Very close to Nebi Saleh

is a Jewish settlement,

illegal under international law.

Last summer, a Palestinian

from another village killed three

members of a family there.

This area is always tense

and the army's main job

is to guard the settlers.

Like all West Bank Palestinians,

Ahed Tamimi is being tried

in a military court,

which usually convicts.

More than 300 Palestinians,

under 18, are serving time

as security prisoners.

Some Israelis are horrified

by the imprisonment of children,

but most feel that she should be

punished and perhaps her family too.

If I was there, she would finish

in the hospital, for sure.

Nobody could stop me.

I would kick, kick her face.

Believe me.

She's a 16-year-old girl.

No, I don't look at it

like this because today,

as a 16-year-old girl,

she punched a soldier,

tomorrow she will stick

a knife in his throat.

They say they're taking part

in peaceful protest.

You see me smiling.

If this is peaceful protest,

I don't want to imagine

what is not a peaceful protest.

A slap isn't terrorism.

No, a slap is terrorism.

Believe me.

A slap is terrorism.

No peace process exists any more

and reviving one looks

less and less likely.

The future of the next generation

is going to be difficult.

Incidents like this show the level

of tension and anger that's

just below the surface.

Palestinian lives are dominated

by the occupation, but keeping

a people under military rule for 50

years has also had

a profound effect on Israel.

Without change for the better,

the risk is that the West Bank will

slide into more serious violence.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Nebi Saleh.

A long-running public inquiry

in Northern Ireland has found

that the deaths of four children

at a Belfast hospital

were avoidable.

The inquiry investigated the deaths

of five children between 1996

and 2003 and took 14

years to complete.

The chairman made damning

criticisms of hospital staff,

managers and officials,

saying families had been

deliberately misled.

The International Development

Minister, Lord Bates, stunned

colleagues in the House of Lords

this afternoon by resigning

because he was late to the chamber

to answer questions.

I'm thoroughly ashamed for not being

in my place and will be offering my

resignation to the Prime Minister.

Tonight Downing Street

announced they had

rejected his resignation saying

it was "unnecessary".

Lord Bates will now

continue in his role.

will see a loss of valuable British

influence in the fight against crime

The head of Europol fears the UK's

departure from the European Union

will see a loss of valuable British

influence in the fight against crime

and international terrorism.

The Government says it is optimistic

that an ambitious new security

treaty can be agreed.

With 14 months to go until Brexit,

our home editor, Mark Easton,

takes a closer look at the potential

impact Brexit could

have on security.

His report contains

some flashing images.

After the Manchester Arena bombing

last year, hundreds of messages

were sent to Europol HQ

in The Hague.

Britain's liaison team

there contacted counterparts

across Europe, trawling EU

databases, tracking

possible accomplices.

As a trusted Europol

member, the information

was available immediately.

For almost nine years,

Europol has been headed by a Brit,

but he leaves in a few weeks,

warning that a post-Brexit Europol

will be less concerned about UK

security priorities.

There will be a loss

of British influence,

and I think it's a shame for the UK.

I think it's actually a shame

for our European partners as well.

We'll find other ways

perhaps of influencing,

even more informal ways,

but they will be less

direct, less pronounced

and probably less successful

than they are now of course.

So, we need to fetch

his fingerprints...

Officers at the UK's

National Crime Agency are accessing

Europol databases every day and fear

moving from 'member status'

to what's called 'operational

status' will make it harder to keep

British citizens safe.

Thank you, bye.

At the minute, we've got a really

good relationship with EU partners,

everyone works on the same

platforms, everyone

works to the same rules.

Any lessening of the relationship

which would affect operational

impact and responsiveness

and our ability to protect

the public would be the concern.

Operation Captura has tracked down

dozens of British criminal fugitives

on the continent and brought

them to justice.

It's relied on access to EU

quick time information

and the European arrest warrant.

The Government says such

operations should be no less

effective after Brexit.

We can make this simple by simply

saying, let's go straight

to a security treaty that allows us

to preserve these capabilities

because we value them,

because they work, and a large part

of why they work is because of

the British contribution.

In leaving the EU, Britain

will give up its place

in the Europol boardroom,

where representatives

from EU states discuss how

to protect their citizens

from the growing threats

of cross-border crime

and international terrorism.

We don't just lose our

seat here at Europol,

deciding on the priorities

of this organisation.

The Union flag will be removed

from boardroom tables at a whole

range of EU bodies which decide

on the data rules and the protocols

which must be met to be involved

in intelligence sharing.

UK law enforcement officers are able

to exchange information...

The Government, however,

is optimistic that it's

in everyone's interest to agree

a deal that preserves

the status quo.

I don't necessarily accept that

assumption that we will not be able

to influence the rules.

We influence the rules

at the moment.

We're going into this negotiation

saying what we've got works,

part of why it works

is because of the British influence

and our contribution.

The shared threat from terrorism

and cross-border crime means

it is likely a key player

like the UK will be able

to negotiate some sort of special

deal with the EU after Brexit.

But it will be hard for British law

enforcement officials

to maintain their agility

and their influence.

Mark Easton, BBC News.

Football now, and the January

transfer window closes in England

in just over half an hour.

Spending has been record breaking.

The most expensive signing so far

today is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,

who is moving from Borussia Dortmund

to Arsenal for £56 million.

The club described him

as "one of the world's most

highly-rated strikers."

If it's not too cloudy

where you are, you may have been

lucky to catch a glimpse of a rare

lunar event tonight.

It's called the Super

Blue Blood moon.

This is a live shot of it in

the skies over central London now.

The sight has dazzled

skywatchers around the world.

It's when there's a second full moon

in the same month and when it's

closest to the Earth in orbit,

making it look much

brighter and bigger.

They've coincided with a lunar

eclipse, which has given it

a reddish glow in some parts

of the world.

Hull won its bid to be 2017 UK City

of Culture with a promise to show

"a city coming out of the shadows."

A year later, many areas of the city

have indeed been regenerated.

Hull has been supported by an army

of volunteers and it's managed

to attract top talent

from across the UK.

Among them, the award-winning

playwright James Graham,

who studied in the city.

His latest work, The Culture,

has opened in Hull.

He's been talking about that

and Hull's cultural legacy

with our arts editor,

Will Gompertz.

Hull is reflecting on its year

in the limelight, which saw

the Turner Prize come

to its refurbished art gallery,

new public spaces created

and music on the streets.

A lot of people visited,

including Banksy.

And James Graham, one

of the country's leading

playwrights, who has written

A Farce, that looks back on Hull's

year as City of Culture

and its organisers' obsession

with monitoring and evaluation.

What a pleasure it is to meet

someone so senior in the civil

service, who embraces systems

thinking and statistical

analysis when it comes

to the quantifiable impact of art.

It's kind of my thing.

What do you think the legacy

of the City of Culture

in Hull's going to be?

The main legacy will be

the audience, developing an audience

and breaking down some of those

psychological barriers that says

culture is a different thing.

This is outrageous.

It's a joke!

The Hull sense of humour,

it has to be funny.

Culture, that's what my data says.

It's about breaking down this idea

that it has to be elitist and Hull

is the perfect place for that,

because it's always had a strong

working-class tradition of writers.

Art is everywhere, that's what we're

told in our training.

Well, there's never been anything

on Summergangs Road - ever!

People are a bit worried that it's

been so extraordinary,

it's beaten all expectations,

and the complacency that might

come from that might

mean that day by day,

week by week, we don't keep

going, we don't keep

fighting for audiences.

Ooh, here's me volunteering

at the Turner Prize.

Ooh, here's me with another robot...

The play lovingly satirises the full

blooded enthusiasm of Hull's Day-Glo

dressed army of volunteer guides,

some of whom were in the audience.

So you were a volunteer?

I was.

How did you find the play?

I found it very funny.

And quite affecting towards the end,

because we put a lot into it

and we loved doing it and we think

we have helped make Hull better.

The one thing right the end,

especially for me, was the fact

that they were talking about how bad

people think Hull was before.

Nobody wanted to go to Hull,

and everything has changed.

And that, to me,

was the essence of it.

So there you have it,

an assessment of Hull's year as City

of Culture in a sentence.

Or, alternatively, you could read

the mountains of data

produced by the monitoring

and evaluation team.

Will Gompertz, BBC News, Hull.

Newsnight's about to begin over

on BBC Two in a few moments.