21/12/2017 Beyond 100 Days

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Beyond One Hundred Days.

Polls have closed in Catalonia where

people are voting again on the issue

of independence from Spain.

70% of the region's electorate

turned out to vote after Madrid

dissolved the previous government.

The campaign has been bitter

as Catalans wonder if this

will decide the independence

question once and for all.

TRANSLATION:

Turnout has been high.

The big question is now, can either

side form a coalition with a ha yort

in the regional parliament in

Lots of good economic news

for President Trump as he heads

to Florida for Christmas,

but his new tax plan already prompts

international concern.

And the translator

arrested in Ukraine,

accused of spying for Russia,

but not before he had incredible

access to world leaders.

Also on the programme:

This vote will be remembered.

More than a 100 countries defy US

warnings and vote against America's

decision to recognise Jerusalem

as Israel's capital.

We're gonna rise up!

Time to take a shot!

We're gonna rise up!

Time to take a shot!

From penniless immigrant

to founding father.

The hip-hop musical Hamilton

makes its debut in London,

the first showing outside

of New York.

Get in touch with us

using the hashtag

Beyond-One-Hundred-Days.

Hello and welcome,

I'm Katty Kay in Washington

and Christian Fraser is in London.

The people of Catalonia have been

voting again today -

two months after a failed attempt

to break away from

the rest of Spain.

The polls closed just

a few minutes ago.

Today's election was called

after the Spanish government sacked

the former regional Government

and imposed direct rule.

Today the anti-independence

newspaper El Pais

called on voters to "end the chaos

and staunch the wounds,"

But will it put an end

to the divisions in Spain's

most prosperous region?

From there, our correspondent

James Reynolds reports.

After months of crisis,

the people of Catalonia,

all of them, got to vote.

No one, it seems,

wanted to miss out.

In October's disputed independence

referendum this polling station

was a scene of chaos,

the Spanish police used force

to confiscate ballot boxes.

By contrast, this election

is organised and orderly, everyone

is getting the chance to vote.

For some, this is

a chance to get even.

Spanish police violence

in October has turned Marta

into a pro-independence voter.

TRANSLATION:

I want them to listen

to us out there in the world.

For them to listen to us

in Spain, in Europe.

For them to know that the Catalan

people and Catalan sentiment exists

and that we've been forgotten.

We've been treated like nobodies.

In Barcelona's old city,

families queued to vote.

These three sisters split

two to one in favour

of pro-independence parties.

"We haven't tried to convince one

another", Amena admitted.

Retired maintenance man Jordi wants

Catalonia to become a republic.

Raquel said that she was voting

for freedom from Spain.

Marta says she wants deposed

pro-independence leader

Carles Puigdemont to return.

But in working-class districts,

many voters take the opposite view.

TRANSLATION:

If they want

independence, they should look

for an island and go there,

there is Spain.

for an island and go

there, this is Spain.

Catalonia is Spain.

TRANSLATION:

I want to see

a government that is

anti-independence because I believe

that if the others win our

economy will get worse.

This election may reveal

Catalonia's divisions,

but it won't bring them to an end.

James Reynolds, BBC News, Barcelona.

Let's speak to the BBC's

Tim Willcox who will bring

us the results this

evening from Barcelona.

90% went for independence, but less

than the electorate came out to

vote. So I imagine the gain game

today is turnout?

Maybe 75%-80%.

That first referendum those people

who wanted to stay united with Spain

said - we are not making part it's

an illegal referendum going along

with the line that Madrid took of

course which led to that process of

direct rule and the elections today.

Bear in mind also this is the most

extraordinary election. I mean,

unprecedented modern European

history. The two leaders of the

opposition, the former President

Carles Puigdemont is in self

of-imposed ex-compile he has been

campaigning by a hologram. And

another is in prison in Madrid. He

has been trying to mastermind from

events from his prison cell. The key

question in the next four few hours

will be - which side, which block,

can form a working coalition to get

a majority in the 135 seats Catalan

parliament. They need 68 to do that.

If the independence groups get that,

that can only be seen as a defeat

for the Prime Minister who tried to

get the pro-Spanish voter on the

streets. If the independents win

they say it's a referendum on the

fist referendum on October 1st. This

is just agrees what was in that

first referendum.

Campaigning by

hologram, it's the future.

We will be speaking to two Catalans

with very different views,

who voted today, later

in the programme.

Stay with us for that.

You can't see

say politics isn't wild around the

world at the moment.

President Trump flies

to Mar a Lago tomorrow,

leaving Washington in an upbeat mood

after passing a tax reform bill that

Republicans have wanted for years

and an economy that is humming.

And yet there's a paradox to this

unorthodox Presidency.

After almost a year in office,

Mr Trump is the most unpopular

president in history and democrats

are picking up electoral

victories around the country.

In the case of Mr Trump,

political fortunes aren't

tracking economic successes

as they usually do.

Maybe that explains

the peculiar scene yesterday,

after the tax bill was passed,

when senior members

of the Republican Party lined up

to heap praise on the boss.

Something this big,

something this generational,

something this profound could not

have been done without exquisite

presidential leadership.

Mr President, thank you forgetting

us over the finish line.

Well, let me just say Mr President,

you made the case for the tax bill,

but this has been a year

of extraordinary accomplishment

for the Trump administration.

Thank you for your boundless faith

in the American people and thank

you for keeping your promise to see

this Congress deliver the largest

tax cut in American history before

Christmas of this year.

Let's get the thoughts

of Ron Christie, our political

analyst, who served

as an advisor to George W Bush.

He joins us now from San Francisco.

Ron, we want to get to the tax cuts

in a second and what the impact will

be around the country. That scene we

saw at the White House, you served

in the Bush administration. I'm

trying to imagine President Bush's

face it lawmakers had lined up and

given that praise on camera?

Merry

Christmas to you. George W Bush

would never have done what we saw

yesterday in the south lawn of the

White House. President Bush was a

low-key guy. He liked to sign

legislation once it was presented to

him from the House and the Senate

and get on with. It he was not that

sort of person. Donald Trump

obviously is the art of the deal,

the showman, if you will. I think

that's more of what we have seen

from Mr Trump and, frankly, what I

would have expected.

It's something

that lawmakers have realised that

actually in a way, if you want to do

business with this President,

perhaps it's not just lawmakers,

other leaders around the world are

figuring how to get their best

interests from President Trump?

No

question about that. I think that

members of Congress, business

leaders, world leaders, recognise if

you want to stay in the President's

good favour it's all about the

showmanship. It's all about,

frankly, what we put on the screen

and they recognise if I want to be

good with this President, I had

better be good on television.

Christmas in San Francisco. Ron, you

are killing me. A lot has been said

about this tax cut it's only for the

rich. I can homework. I think you

will like this. Here is a list of

big American companies who are

paying it forward to their workers.

AT&T will give $1,000 bonuses

to more than 200,000 employees

and invest $1 billion

in capital expenditure.

Wells Fargo is increasing

its minimum wage to $15 an hour.

On top of another $400 million

for non profit organisations.

Boeing will commit

$300 million to charity

and invest in "workplaces

of the future".

Comcast are giving $1,000 bonuses

to more than 100,000 employees

as well as $50 billion over the next

five years to improve

broadband capacity.

That is the Christmas present the

President is talking about.

Merry

Christmas it will be 65 degrees here

in San Francisco. I will think about

you later on. The the United States

had the highest corporation tax rate

in the world. With this piece of

legislation the corporate tax rate

is reduced to 21%. These CEOs of the

companies you mentioned, nice home

homework, by the way, the companies

you mentioned they recognise it

really incent vices us to give a

little bit to our employees at the

end of the year to get them to work

harder next year. Perhaps to get

more profits, to do more

productivity and get better results

for the company. It's a smart move.

Frankly, this tax bill, while it

will benefit 80% of the American

taxpayers, there will be losers in

this as well. If you live in

California, if you live in

Pennsylvania, New York, high tax

states you will lose in this bill.

The CEOs you identified in that

lovely homework assignment

recognised let's give holiday cheer

now.

The Democrats say it's a win,

win. We will use it and ride it all

the way to the mid-terms.

A mistake

on their part, I believe. GDP growth

here in the United States of 3%. It

never happened in the eight years of

the Obama administration. If the

economy goes well in the next year

and the stock market continues,

citizens will say the tax bill isn't

a bad thing. My retirement is doing

well and I have more money in my

pocket. If the Democrats want to

play this and use it as a weapon

against the Republicans you better

be care of you wish for.

OK. Ron,

it's nearly the end of the year.

It's been an incredible year in

terms of news. I was just wondering,

as you look back over the last 11

months. It's been a pleasure having

you on the programme, what sticks

out to you the most?

Well, it's been

a great year for us. What really

sticks out to me, 1789 the United

States had a peaceful transfer of

power from one President to another.

Given the uproar and the

disappointment of so many in the

United States with the elevation of

Donald Trump to be President we did

it in a peaceful and respectful way.

You can disagree with his politics,

but I think that's what really makes

the United States so unique in how

we hand off the baton from one

leader to another every four years

or every eight years. That has been

the story for me. The second one,

Christian I know you will be with on

this one, the second is the

Presidential use of the Twitter and

how that impacted so many people

help has 44.4 million followers

around the world. How many people

are look at his every tweet and

reacting to it? Not only here in the

United States, but around the world?

Where would I be without his tweets.

They wake me up every morning!

Have

a great break.

Merry Christmas.

And

to you.

We will see you guys 2nd

January.

Thank you for being with us

this year. I looked at the polls

since you mentioned them in the

introduction. When you compare them

at the end of the first year with

other Presidents, for all the

success of the last few weeks he's

right at the bottom of the list. 38.

5% there. This is one of the tables

that is doing the rounds on social

media. You compare him to the other

presidents over the

media. You compare him to the other

presidents over the first year.

Those are disastrous figures?

Yes.

He is ten points behind Reagan and

Truman the two next least popular

presidents at this point in their

presidency. That is a big gap. It's

almost like you have America,

Christian, running on two different

tracks. The economic track, which we

tracks. The economic track, which we

talked about with Ron It's going

along well. The tax cuts, the stock

market booming you have wages

picking up in the country,

unemployment is low. Yet, you have

the political track where he is in

trouble, clearly according to the

opinion polls. Democrats feel they

have the wind in their sails going

into the mid-term elections. How

long can the tracks carry on going

on different speeds? There will be a

collision or will the President defy

history as he has done up until now?

We will find that out next year.

Fascinating year.

An interpreter, who visited

Ten Downing Street in July, has been

arrested in Ukraine on suspicion

of spying for Russia.

The man - in the middle here

with the glasses -

is Stanislav Yezhov.

He was arrested yesterday

on charges of treason.

Here he is again during

a meeting in 2016 with

the former Vice President Joe Biden

and Ukraine's newly

elected Prime Minister.

Earlier today, during her visit

to Poland, Theresa May was asked

whether she was aware.

I'm aware of the reports in relation

to the Ukrainian individual who

attended Downing Street

earlier in the summer.

The action that's been taken

is a matter for the Ukrainian

authorities.

Let's speak to our Ukraine

correspondent, Jonah Fisher.

Highly embarrassing for the

Ukrainians. He is feeding them

directly what is being discussed?

He's been sitting in on all the key

meetings with which the Ukrainian

Prime Minister has been holding for

the last several years when he has

travelled internationally. We have

been able to look through some of

the past photos. In the official

photos you can see in the corner of

the screen or in the background

somewhere the additional staff who

are taking around. He keeps popping

up in different photographs. You

mentioned Joe Biden when he was with

the Ukrainian Prime Minister when he

went to London this July. Several

other pictures of lesser-known world

leaders. He would have sat in on

sensitive discussions. If we take at

face value what the Ukrainians are

saying he was feeding the

information he gained back to

Russia. The Russians were being kept

briefed on those interesting and

sensitive conversations.

Thank you

very much. I love this story.

Imagine what happens to keep the

spies out. Checking the lightbulbs,

make sure there is no listening

devices. There he is in plain sight.

Like Johnny English, he went to

Russia on a holiday in 2016 and came

back with loads of expensive kit and

no-one noticed and feeding back ever

since.

He had a Russian wife. You

would think there would be red

flags. We like it because it's like

old fashioned espionage. Who knows

what serious secrets he was passing

on.

I bet they are going through all

the records to see what was

discussed. Anyway...

During the election campaign,

Donald Trump said he wanted to stop

sending aid to "countries

that hate us."

Now he seems close to putting

that idea into practice.

Today, the UN General Assembly voted

in favour of a resolution calling

on America to abandon its plan

to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

128 countries voted

against Mr Trump's new policy,

only nine countries

voted with America.

35 abstained.

Here's the UN Ambassador,

Nikki Haley, just before the vote.

The United States will remember this

day in which it was singled out

for attack in the General Assembly

for the very act of exercising our

right as a sovereign nation.

We will remember it when we're

called upon to once again make

the world's largest contribution

to the United Nations,

and we will remember it when so many

countries come calling on us,

as they so often do,

to pay even more and to use our

influence for their benefit.

Before the vote, the

Palestinian Foreign Minister

Riyad al-Maliki, urged member states

to reject "blackmail

and intimidation."

TRANSLATION:

We meet today,

not because of any animosity

towards the United States

of America, but because of its

decision which constitutes

an aggression on the genuine

and natural right of the Palestinian

people to the city of

Al Quds Al-Sharif and the Arab

nation and all the Muslims

and Christians of the world.

Let's get more from our

correspondent, Nada Tawfik,

who is at the United Nations

in New York.

We had the Turkish President Erdogan

saying that he hopes America

rescinds the decision in the light

of this vote to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel. That's not

going to happen, is it?

No,

absolutely not. What is interesting,

when you speak to US officials, they

are actually trying to push it was a

success for the United States.

They said the threat has worked.

They point to the 35 countries who

abstained, far more than anticipated

and the 21 countries who didn't even

show up. Among them Ukraine. Who

recently signed an arms deal with

the United States. So they are

looking at it saying - look at past

resolutions critical of Israel and

look at this vote. You can see that

the threats we issued in the last

few days, all the way up from

President Trump, have had an impact

at the United Nations. Certainly, if

you look at Ambassador Haley's

remarks she redoubled on those

remarks saying that now they would,

as we heard there, look at UN

funding. So the United States is

certainly not backing down you have

to remember this was aimed at the

domestic audience in the United

States. The Trump administration

wanted to make very clear that while

there would be another vote

criticising Israel at the UN, which

they think is bias against

Jerusalem, that the Trump

administration would do everything

they could to support and stand up

for Israel here.

OK. Thank you very

much for that update. Two

interesting abstentions, Canada and

Mexico who are deeply involved in

these negotiations at the moment.

You can see it's a non-binding

resolution why they might not take

the risk. Canada was going to vote

in favour and decided after Haley

spoke and abstained.

World leaders

figuring out how to deal with the

Trump administration through the

course of the year. We have talked

about the confusion many of American

allies have on how to deal with this

unusual presidency. Why pick a fight

with the Trump administration over a

non-binding resolution when you have

a bigger problem, the future

of-and-a-half it. Canada is

surprising. You might have expected

them to vote against the US given

their policies around the world and

their policies in the Middle East,

they abstained.

Judging by the

reaction of the Republican voters, a

lot of people will be pleased about

that. Foreign aid in Britain is a

contentious issue. Plenty of Trump

supporters who like this?

Yes. It's

routinely an issue on which if you

poll the American public they think

it's higher than it actually is of

the annual government. Let's get

more news from around the world.

Police in Melbourne say

there is no evidence to suggest

that there is a terror link

to an incident in which a man drove

a car into a crowd of people.

19 people were injured

in what a police spokesman said

was a deliberate act.

He said the driver was an Australian

of Afghan descent with a history of

drug use and mental health problems.

Pope Francis has denounced a cancer

of cliques and bureaucrats operating

within the Holy See in Rome.

He says traitors within the Vatican

administration have stood

in the way of his reforms.

It is as hard said the Pope

as cleaning Egypt's Sphinx

"with a toothbrush."

Since the conclave, Francis has

sought to clean up the the Curia

to bring it closer to its members

and to guide it out of the scandals

that marked the pontificate

of his predecessor, Benedict.

It's been a multi-award winning hit

on Broadway here in the US.

Now the hip-hop musical

about one of America's most

unlikely Founding Fathers opens

tonight in London's West End.

Hamilton is the story of a poor

immigrant from the Caribbean,

who arrived in New York on the eve

of the American Revolution,

and went on to become the country's

first Treasury Secretary.

Our arts editor, Will Gompertz met

the musical's creator,

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

# Put a pencil to his temple,

connected it to his brain...#

Here is Hamilton's creator,

Lin-Manuel Miranda,

at the White House poetry slam

in 2009, performing

what would become

the opening number of his musical

about America's founding fathers.

Six years later it opened

in New York and became

an instant classic.

# What's your name, man?

# Alexander Hamilton

# His name is Alexander Hamilton

And now it's in London,

as is for a few days

the man behind the show,

who's been compared to...

Well... Are you the 21st-century

Shakespeare?

Not even close!

No, Shakespeare wrote a

mind altering amount of dramas

and comedies and sonnets,

worked with other playwrights.

I've written two musicals,

so let's everybody chill out.

# I'm past patiently waiting!

# I'm passionately

smashin' every expectation

I recognised in the story

of Hamilton the story of so many

immigrants who are coming

to the United States today.

And so I used the music that

I love to tell this story.

A lot has been made

of a multiracial cast.

This is a story of America then

told by America now.

We're going to use every tool

at our disposal to eliminate

the distance between a modern

audience and something that happened

200 somewhat years ago.

The casting is part of that,

and casting it to look

like the way our country

looks eliminates distance.

When George Washington is a young

man of colour and he's

running for his life,

suddenly you're not filled

with images of Washington standing

like this, crossing the Delaware,

he's not invincible any more.

It's suddenly these are real people.

How nervous were you about bringing

this show to the UK?

I was not nervous at all.

What I was very excited

for was the reaction to King George

III in the shadow

of Buckingham Palace.

I mean we're really right up

the street, so the only change

we made in that direction is we have

tarted up his outfit quite a bit.

George III might have lost America,

but he steals this show every night.

Maybe the family in the big house

he bought around the corner

will make a Royal

appointment to see it.

Will Gompertz, BBC News.

You have seen it.

I have. I

interviewed him a couple of times in

New York and I got tickets to see.

It I hear tickets in the UK are

selling for £6,000.

Sold-out in

two-days.

It may be a tad yong your

Christmas... Sell your house,

mortgage the kids. Get rid of your

wife. Spend whatever it takes, see

Hamilton. Every single minute of

that show is fantastic. There isn't

a line that is out of place, the

choreography is fantastic. Then come

to me when you're homeless.

OK. My

bank balance says I've already

mortgaged the kids. Christmas!

This is Beyond 100

Days from the BBC.

Coming up for viewers on the BBC

News Channel and BBC World News,

we've more on that incredible

election in Virginia

where the recount which flipped

the result by a single vote.

Now there's another twist.

And we go back to Barcelona,

to speak to Catalans,

those for and against independence

as votes from today's regional

elections are counted.

That's still to come.

Hello. There we have very quiet

weather in the run-up to Christmas.

For a lot of meem who have a lot of

travelling to do, that's probably

good news. The best of the sunshine

today was across Scotland. This is

where it will be coldest and clear

for a while overnight. Many areas

have been stuck under grey and

gloomy skies and not much sunshine

around at all. But it's mild. We've

got mild air across the UK at the

moment because of the position of

the jetstream. It's in this sort of

position. It's steering to the north

of the UK and keeping that colder

air away for the time being. With

the mild air we see a lot of cloud a

we saw from our weather watcher

pictures. The cloud will be

thickening up as well to give rain

and drizzle. Gloomy out there across

Northern Ireland. The cloud will

lower on to the hills. Damp, drizzly

weather heading into England and

Wales with a lot of fog over the

hills. Clearer skies in Scotland.

Chiefly north of the central belt.

Maybe a touch of frost here and one

or two fog patches. For most of the

UK a mild night, nine or ten

degrees. Ingly and gloomy start for

most on Friday. The rain and drizzle

will edge away into the near

continent, it should become dryer

and brighter. On the whole, cloudy

skies. With the wind picking up in

western Scotland the cloud will be

blown in here. The best chance of

sunshine for north-east Scotland.

Under the cloud temperatures 10, 12

degrees. On Saturday, closer to

Christmas, the winds will pick up

across northern areas. A mild west

to south-westerly wind and train for

the north-west of Scott land and

Northern Isles. The weather front

that is still there across the north

will hang around into the

second-half of the weekend. --

Scotland. This is Christmas Eve it

will be wet across western Scotland.

Patchy rain elsewhere in Scotland

and Northern Ireland. Drizzle over

the hills of western parts of

England and Wales. Breezy day for

England and Wales very mild, 11

degrees. Will it be a white

Christmas? Over the tops of the

mountains you could see snow as the

wet weather is still around.

Otherwise, it is windy actually

especially around the Irish Sea

coasts. Strong sorely winds across

the UK that of course means it will

be mild. Temperatures 10 to 12

Celsius.

This is Beyond 100 Days,

with me Katty Kay in Washington -

Christian Fraser's in London.

Our top stories -

The people of Catalonia have been

voting in an election contested

by supporters and opponents

of independence from Spain.

More than 100 countries defy US

warnings and vote against America's

decision to recognise Jerusalem

as Israel's capital.

Coming up in the next half hour -

Is it a horse or a zebra?

Artificial intelligence may be

changing the way we see the world

and not always for the better.

A vote in Virginia has

turned out to be a tie.

So what happens next?

Stay with us for the answer.

Let us know your thoughts

by using #BeyondOneHundredDays.

With seven parties fighting it out

and opinion polls suggesting the top

two are pretty much neck and neck

there may not be any thing

like a crystal clear result this

evening in Catalonia.

But what should we be

looking out for?

And will it satisfy the voters?

We can talk now to two

Catalans who voted today.

Luis Trias de Bes wants

Catalonia to remain part

of Spain and Marina Casals -

who we spoke to back in October -

is in favour of independence.

They're both in Barcelona.

Welcome to the programme. Marina,

this has been a very bitter two

months in Catalonia. The turnout was

high today, 75% it looks like. Do

you think that is good news for the

independent side?

I think it is good

news that a lot of people went to

vote and express their opinion.

That's all we wanted, really. We

wanted the referendum so people

could voice what they want. We were

voting for the party we wanted, but

I think we were voting for or

against independence.

You think this

high turnout means that some people

who were in favour of unity with

Spain last time round, who worked as

fired up as the independent side, do

you think more Catalans in favour of

unity will turn out today?

These

figures are really good for

democracy, but I believe not for

independent tests. The figures are

higher in non-separatist zones.

Seeing as the non-separatist regions

have higher populations, it could be

not good news for them.

It has been

hugely divisive since November. Do

you have family members who voted

differently to you?

I have to admit

that I don't have family who voted

for independence, but I have

friends. But it's OK. We discuss

sometimes tougher, sometimes more

calmly, but in the climate, the

feeling far so good. Nothing bad

will change the two sides normally.

Marina, carless breeder Montt is

effectively an exile in Brussels.

Two of his government officials are

being held in prison. Are you happy

with the way he has behaved after

declaring independence?

I think he

has done everything he's been able

to do, given the circumstances. I

think him being in prison right now,

which would be the result of him

having gone to Belgium would have

been any better. I think from there,

he has been able to keep doing what

he was planning to do, as a

politician, as president, even

though he didn't have parliament or

anything. He's been able to put the

word out there, and I think what he

has managed to do with this move to

Belgium, he wouldn't be of much use

if he was in prison anyhow.

Is there

any way in which the Spanish

government has handled the last few

months, the referendum and then

dissolving the government and then

declaring direct role in Catalonia,

is there anything that has made you

cautious towards the Spanish

government or changed your mind

about independence?

Not really. I

believe that the Spanish government

did what they could have done, a

good job within the law. Because of

that, the Spanish government

couldn't do anything else but to

drive it to the courts and to the

laws, and leave them to do what they

have to do. When a politician or

whoever commits a crime, the things

they have to go through, which is

the law.

Marina, what has changed

since November, since Madrid in post

direct rule on Catalonia? What has

changed materially on the ground?

It

would be difficult to know

everything that has changed. There's

been some examples, such as some

pieces of art that were in a museum,

that were taken... It had been in

court for a long time, but now,

given the circumstances, it was easy

to have it done. I know some

departments of the government here

in Catalonia have been closed down

and some people have been fired. So

there's quite a bit that has been

going on. A lot as well in the

society. People are cautious, people

are concerned about the freedom of

speech. There has been the yellow

colour forbidden, because it

represents those of us who believe

that prisoners shouldn't be there

any more. The media has been given a

lot of pressure. You can't use a

certain words or expressions, so

there's censorship. There's been a

lot of repression that I don't think

was necessary.

Very good to get your

thoughts. Thank you for being with

us. Just one line of news from

Catalonia. The polls have just

closed there. They are saying the

turnout was 84%, which would be a

record high, if that is right. You

wonder how many Catalans have

changed their minds over the last

few months, or in this highly

partisan world we live in,

Christian, whether anyone is ever

open to changing their minds.

The British mother Nazanin

Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be freed

from an Iranian jail

"within a couple of weeks",

according to her lawyer.

The charity worker's husband

Richard Ratcliffe says her case has

now been moved from "closed"

to "eligible for early release".

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been

held in Iran since April

2016 accused of spying -

her family say she was

on holiday with her daughter.

She has served a third

of her five-year sentence.

Thousands of fans have turned out

in the South Korean capital, Seoul,

for the funeral of one

of the country's biggest pop stars.

Kim Jong-hyun - from

the boy band Shinee -

took his own life at the age of 27.

In a note made public

after his death,

he said that the life of fame

was never meant for him.

The driver of a school bus in France

that was hit by a train

on a level crossing,

killing six children,

has been charged with manslaughter.

The woman, who was injured

during the collision a week ago,

appeared before magistrates

in the city of Perpignan.

When a photographer and artist,

both of African descent,

met for the first time,

they immediately bonded over their

shared passion for photography.

And yet, the women felt that some

of their favourite female

photographers lacked

a proper platform.

So they collaborated to produce

the first of a new annual

publication called "Mfon:

Women Photographers

of the African Diaspora".

It's the first photography anthology

dedicated to female photographers

of African descent in over

30 years.

When you have the book in your hand,

and you realise that every picture

in this book was created by a woman

of African descent, that's really

powerful.

I find it's a photo

journal that represents women

photographers throughout the African

diaspora of different ages,

different genres, different

ethnicities.

There's so many

different identities, which is what

this book celebrates.

For women,

there's a bit of underrepresentation

in the industry across the genres,

photojournalism, fine arts, so we

are presenting women who are

creating brilliant work.

The fact

that women now, and people of

colour, are creating images in their

own way, telling their own stories,

telling their own troops, is a very

powerful response to those years of

the systemic creation of these

images that were negative.

One of

the things we will definitely do is

make sure that this book is not just

for other photographers, or people

who are interested in photographers,

but for the young people, because

some of these images which are

negative are still being thrown at

them through the media. Racism, how

that was perpetrated through

imagery. We are doing the opposite.

Using the same tool to fight what

was created in the first place

through it. Look at the world from a

different perspective and be open to

that. This is a historical document

that will add to the big canon of

art. It's important. These are women

of African descent who have views,

who are intelligent, who have

something very important to say.

This is Beyond 100 Days.

Still to come -

As technology gets smarter -

how will we be able to tell

where reality begins and ends?

The car park in Leicester

where the body of King Richard III

was unearthed five years

ago has been designated

as a site of national

archaeological importance.

Richard was buried in a medieval

friary on the site in 1485.

His body wasn't

discovered until 2012.

Nick Higham has this report.

2012, and archaeologists

from Leicester University mark out

a council car park in the centre

of the city, just where

someone's spray-painted

the letter R on the tarmac.

Then they start digging

on the site of what was once

the medieval Greyfriars,

looking for the grave of England's

most notorious king.

Astonishingly, they find it,

and the skeleton, complete

with crooked spine and fatal

injuries to the back

of the skull, buried in haste

after the Battle of Bosworth.

Richard III became the villainous

central character of one

Shakespeare's plays,

the man who supposedly

murdered his young nephews,

one of them the rightful heir

to the throne.

Two years ago, the dead king's body

was reburied in a new tomb

in Leicester Cathedral.

Now, the car park, or at least

the archaeological remains hidden

beneath it, has been made

a scheduled ancient monument.

It adds a level of protection

for the buried archaeological

remains of the Franciscan friary

and the priory.

It's not something that sets it

in stone, but it is a way of working

with the local authority,

with owners, to help manage it

in a way that preserves

the archaeological remains over

the coming years -

really, to preserve it

for future generations.

The protection doesn't extend

to the modern road surfaces

or modern buildings,

like the Richard III Visitor Centre,

but it does include the ground

beneath, much of which has never

been built on.

That means archaeologists think

the medieval friary's remains

have stayed undisturbed

since it was demolished

almost 500 years ago.

Nick Higham, BBC News.

We turn now to Artificial

Intelligence, and before Katty

jumps in with a joke,

I'll say that's what

we aim for every day.

Any form of intelligence, really.

But in this case we're talking

about getting computers to perform

tasks that would normally require

the brain power of us mere humans.

Yes, as technology gets smarter,

experts are able to blur

the line to such an extent,

that this technology fools not

only us mere humans,

but even the computers themselves.

Remember when the Internet was

buzzing recently over this video of

a horse that seemed to transform

into a zebra? Well, it didn't. That

was an example of machine learning,

or computers rewriting reality all

on their own, or fake news, putting

it another way. All this video of

President Obama, also a fabrication.

Researchers used AI technology to

create a sort of 21st-century

version of lip syncing, whereby you

can put any words into a person's

mouth. And that can be dangerous.

Nearly two thirds of Americans get

their news from social media, and

according to one study, in the

coming years, more of that will be

false than actually true. What

happens when our most beloved public

figures are manipulated?

It has been

a roller-coaster year in terms of

working with Katty Kay. We have had

ups and downs, and ups and downs

again.

Nothing and no one can be

trusted.

Katty Kay, you are a devil!

I didn't know you were going to do

that.

I could have done much worse,

Christian.

I will thank my lucky

stars!

Joining us from Connecticut

is the American technology writer

and TV science presenter,

David Pogue.

This is terrifying, because they

could do away with us, and just have

us on the screen with our mouths

moving. Are they on the verge of

creating incredible video and audio

that we wouldn't be able to tell the

difference?

It is reproduced in

Hollywood with fairly great

frequency these days. It is

expensive and time-consuming to do

it, but that is going to fall

quickly. We do need to be on the

alert for fabricated news events

that never happened.

What are the

security concerns for that?

The way

we are going to get out of being

completely bamboozled is, things

like are there other sources? There

are companies who are particularly

concerned with advertisers. Of

course, money is going to solve this

problem. Advertisers don't want

their ads appearing on fake news

bulletins. There are companies who

are developing systems who can

identify fake news and tell it apart

from real news. It's something of an

arms race right now. The bad guys

will come up with an AI without

smarts, for example.

So the question

of making people saying things that

they are not actually saying, and a

video of President Obama is the most

famous example of that, but

manipulating video has been going on

for decades. How is the technology

in this quantified the difference?

Suppose I were to use Hollywood

tools to make a video of President

Trump saying, I shot my puppy this

morning. Obviously, this would be a

news event. The clip would go all

around the world. The question is,

are there other sources? Whether

other cameras on him? Are there

other angles? At the moment, we

would be able to detect fake. We

won't. On the other hand, is this

the end of civilisation? Especially

in photographs. Photo shopping of

photographs has been a rout for a

number of years, but life goes on.

We can trust the BBC, for example,

not to have created a doctored

photograph, in the same way we will

have other sources we trust to only

have authenticated videos.

But

normally, for example, if you have a

grudge get a co-worker, like

Christian clearly has. Tomorrow, I

wouldn't be able to spot a fake.

Absolutely. This isn't something you

could do now, but it's coming up

soon. The larger problem is that you

will be a celebrity very soon,

because artificially intelligent

robots can do your jobs. -- you will

not be a celebrity very soon.

We

work in busy newsrooms, so I see a

problem here. Who is this? Is he

real or artificial?

Apologies.

We

work in busy newsrooms and we can

check the videos that come in and

see whether they are from today or

not, but I can't imagine a scenario

where our producers are going to be

able to differentiate this sort of

stuff. So it will be easy to put

more fake news out there. And it

will. There is a secondary problem

even greater than fake news, and

that is real news.

That we as news

consumers begin to distrust all of

it. We are so aware that a peace may

not be authentic, that pretty soon

we get dulled to the whole thing and

we start choosing what to believe.

That is the real danger, that we

distrust everything.

Thank you very

much for joining us. Our ticker tape

was running there. 79% of

respondents in a BBC poll we just

ran say that fake news is a concern.

You're watching Beyond 100 Days...

Yesterday we told you about this -

The Virginia House of Delegates race

that was so close it appeared to be

decided by just one vote.

The race is critical

to the balance of power

between Republicans and Democrats.

Except - one voter's choice

of candidate was wrongly recorded

and now the race is tied.

11,608 votes versus 11,608 votes.

What happens next is down to luck.

Both names get put into two film

canisters and are then drawn

from a bowl or a hat or a box.

The first name drawn wins.

But if the loser of the draw

is unhappy with the result,

he or she can seek

a second recount.

And Shelly Simonds -

the Democrat currently tied

for the seat joins us now

from Virginia.

Thank you for joining us. I saw you

yesterday. You were on a real high.

This has been a roller-coaster of a

recount. How are you doing today?

I'm trying to stay strong. At the

end of the day, it's not about me

personally, it is about the voters

in the district. For instance, I

have health insurance, and a lot of

the voters in my district don't. I

want to get elected and get up in

the statehouse so I can fight for my

constituents.

There is a real

balance of power issue. Democrats

have not held power at this level

for 17 years. Yesterday it looked

like you were going to tip it to a

tie. What happens if the name that

is pulled out of the hat is not

yours?

This is all happening very

quickly, and honestly I am working

with my legal team on what our

options are, what our next steps

are, what options in terms of

recounts we are going to pursue. I

just want to make sure that every

vote is counted fairly, and we are

very disturbed by the points

decision yesterday. They did a

recount fairly, according to

well-established rules, on Tuesday,

and I won by one vote. Then the next

day, going to court was just

supposed to be a formality, but my

opponent pulled a fast one, and

brought a vote to be challenged that

had not then identified the day

before. Everybody had agreed on the

Tuesday that I had one.

I think we

can see that the ballot paper. We

can see what the accounting officer

had to decipher. You can see

Shelley's name, just above the

incumbent. Clearly, that person had

put a mark next to your name, and

then what, did they try to cross it

out and put a mark next to David's

name?

We think it is a classic case

of an over vote, that there are so

many ballots that you don't count

it. In fact, the Republican and the

Democrat councillor agreed it was an

over vote during the recount. Those

officials had calibrated it. They

had been looking at dozens of votes

all day long. I believe it was an

over vote and it should not have

gone in front of those judges. We

did not have the same opportunity to

bring a vote before the judges. We

had one we could have disputed as

well fool 's white thank you for

joining us from the July. We will

carry on watching your race there,

because it is fascinating bed down

in Virginia. We may be in a

situation in a district in the state

of the United States of America

where they are about to effectively

decide democracy on a coin toss.

Isn't that amazing?

We are back on

the 2nd of January for our viewers.

You will not see us next week. So I

just want to wrap up where we are.

We started off as a hundred days,

then we were 100 days plus, and now

we are Beyond 100 Days. It is a sort

of marker. The fact we have had to

carry on is a mark of how

fascinating the stories are. What do

you take away from the year?

This

has been a year of incredible

turbulence on both sides of the

Atlantic. Donald Trump came to

office. We thought maybe it would

normalise and he would be an

Orthodox president. He hasn't. He

has been unorthodox. We have had the

fallout from Brexit, the French

elections, the Catalan independence

elections. If we take away anything

from 2017, it's that we are living

in a time of turmoil, and nothing

indicates that 2018 is going to be

any less busy or unpredictable.

We

have the far right in Germany and

also in Austria, so populism gone

away in some countries, but maybe

just on pause. We will be back on

January the 2nd. From me, have a

very Merry Christmas.