22/08/2017 BBC News at One

President Trump says more US troops will be sent to Afghanistan

The President says he's changed his mind -

and that US troops are needed, to stamp out terrorism.

We must ensure they have every weapon to apply swift,

decisive and overwhelming force. Our troops will fight to win,

We'll have the latest from Washington.

Four men accused of belonging to the terrorist cell that carried

out the Barcelona attacks, appear in court in Spain.

Rescue workers are searching for people trapped in collapsed

buildings, after an earthquake hit the Italian island of Ischia,

A call to build a high-speed rail across the north of England -

former Chancellor George Osborne says the government should spend

And chasing the eclipse - the airline passengers who had

a very special view of the first total eclipse across the US

And coming up in the sport on BBC News...

Wayne Rooney insists his focus is on club not country,

after he scores his 200th Premier League goal in front

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

President Trump has announced that more US troops will be be sent

He said that a rapid exit from the country

would create a vacuum for terrorists to fill.

During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump said he wanted a speedy

withdrawal from a conflict that he described

But last night, he said he'd changed his mind.

Here's our North America Correspondent, Aleem Maqbool.

The man who always said he didn't want to intervene abroad, came to

announce the intervention in Afghanistan he's going

But said it was for the right reasons.

We are a partner and a friend, but we will not dictate to

the Afghan people how to live or how to govern their own complex society.

He announced the lifting of a cap on the number

of US troops in Afghanistan, and that there would be no time

My original instinct was to pull out.

And historically, I like the following my instincts.

But all my life I've heard that decisions are much

different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.

A very different Donald Trump to the one

who said this kind of thing right through the Obama years.

And that's the basis on which he campaigned as a

presidential candidate - that he wouldn't spend

American resources abroad, but here at home.

He says he now realises that pulling out

American troops from Afghanistan could leave a vacuum for militants.

Our primary mission for coming into Afghanistan after 9/11

And I think he is going back to the original purpose, that

the reason we came into Afghanistan was because of what happened on 9/11

and the fact that Afghanistan was being used as sanctuary and safe

The toughest words of his speech were directed

at Afghanistan's neighbour, Pakistan.

We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of

dollars, at the same time they are housing the very terrorists

that we are fighting. But that will have to change.

How the president expects Pakistan to comply, and more

broadly, how he expects the US will, in his words, fight to win in

Afghanistan, wasn't made entirely clear.

The only thing that is certain is that there is still no

end in sight for America's longest war.

Let's go live now to Washington and our correspondent,

What's gone on here - is this a u-turn?

It's certainly a U-turn from the President's rhetoric when he was a

candidate, when he talked about Afghanistan being a waste of money,

by bringing the troops home etc. You heard in his analysis last night the

reason why. Once you get behind the desk in the Oval Office, things look

different. He is now surrounded by XXX Marine Corps generals with

serious Afghan war fighting experience. And the one Man, his

chief strategist, who was against the involvement in Afghanistan,

Steve Bannon, he has been fired. You can see the confluence of events has

come to this moment. It is short on detail. There are key differences

from the Obama era. The metrics are different. No specific number on

troops, no specific number on when and where drawdown happens. And the

one big difference you will see is that he has devolved a lot more

power down to the Pentagon. President Obama Ford a lot of his

wards from the White House. -- fought. I think Donald Trump has

realised that the generals, particularly James matters, are

probably best suited to do that. Thank you, Gary.

Our diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, is here.

Short on detail, but what difference could this make on the ground? The

situation on the ground is pretty dire for the Afghan government. It

barely controls about half of its own territory. It suffered a serious

reversals on the battlefield. The crucial thing is bolstering those

forces pretty much immediately, and then training particularly special

forces who can take the battle to the Taliban. What we are going to

see, since it is essentially the generals' plan Mr Trump has adopted,

is three things. Significant numbers of trainers and mentors going to

Afghanistan. About 3800 US personnel, small numbers of

personnel from other Nato countries. This focus will be on training

special forces, because they are the most capable of the Afghan units

under bearing the the preponderance of the fighting. I think we will

probably see an increased role for US air power, certainly a more

aggressive role. And I think we are likely to see a more aggressive

action by the small number of American combat troops that remain

in Afghanistan on a parallel mission, which is a counter mission

against IS, Al-Qaeda etc. Jonathan Marcus.

Four men accused of belonging to a cell responsible

for the terrorist attacks in and around Barcelona last week,

It comes a day after the suspected final

member of the gang - the 22-year-old driver of the van

which ploughed into pedestrians on Las Ramblas -

Our correspondent, Tom Burridge, is in Barcelona.

What has been happening today? Spain's High Court deals with

terrorism cases of this magnitude. The four men will be given the

opportunity to address the court today. If they do, they could be

cross examined by a state prosecutor.

He was injured on Wednesday. It is thought police are considering

whether that explosion caused the terror cell to change its mind, to

opt for a more rudimentary form of attack, using a van and a car the

following morning, rather than a more sophisticated bomb attack. Also

in court, Mohamed Salah, thought to be the owner of the car used in the

Cambrils attack. And the French Interior Minister has confirmed this

morning that car was spotted speeding with at least four of the

alleged attackers in it, towards the outskirts of Paris the week before

the attacks. Two more men of North African descent, also in court. We

should get more details about whether they have actually spoken

today to address the court, and possibly about their alleged

involvement in last week's attacks. Tom, thank you.

Among the distressing stories that have emerged

from the attacks in Spain, there have been those of kindness

British tourist Harry Athwal has been called a hero,

after he rushed to help a child on Las Ramblas, ignoring advice

We were in the restaurant. We had just eaten. I ordered the bill. I

was waiting for the bill. That is when we saw the van. From where we

were sitting, you could see it. We saw about five seconds of it. What

we saw was tragic. We heard screaming. As we turned and looked,

the van was shooting down Las Ramblas. It was hitting people.

People were flying everywhere. You could hear the thuds. The thing I

remember was the noise. We were 50 yards away. The noise was so clear.

It was horrible. When did you first see the boy you went on to help? In

the middle of Las Ramblas was the body of a child. That automatically

drove me to that child. I knew what I had to do. I just raced to that

child. Many of us might have seen the picture of you crouching down

beside the boy. What was going through your mind? I was afraid for

the boy at that point. When I looked at his

injuries, they were severe. I was actually quite emotional

as well, because I knew straightaway this boy was eight years old,

the same age as my son. Like I said, due to the injuries

I was quite upset. The first thing I tried to do

was check his pulse, Because of the nature of the

injuries, I didn't want to move him. He was a young boy. He was my son's

age. That was somebody's child as well.

At that point it doesn't matter, I wasn't going to move.

The first police officer who came down was screaming at me,

he was speaking Spanish, I was screaming at him saying,

He was gesturing to me, he said get out of the way,

I could see the fear in him and the fear in me.

He was trying to say they could be another car or van coming down.

I said I wasn't going to move because I wasn't going to move this

child. I'm just a common man,

the same as anybody else. These situations are occurring

more and more often. Rescue workers are still trying

to reach survivors, after a magnitude four earthquake

hit the Italian island of Ischia. At least two people have been

killed, and nearly 40 injured, after the tremor brought

down several buildings. The island, off the coast of Naples,

has a population of about 50,000, Minutes after the earthquake, dazed

survivors picked their way through a ruined house. Around them, in a

blizzard of dust, buried cars and rubble strewn streets. Their

neighbours are escaping, too. The emergency services move in.

It was terrible, she said. I was terrified. Ischia was a trap.

Several buildings collapsed. Under the wreckage, rescuers worked

frantically to get to those buried. At this site, rescuers heard the

faint sound of a baby crying. And after some careful digging, a minor

miracle. The seven-month-old was tearful but safe. Work continues at

the house to reach his brothers. Daylight revealed the extent of the

damage. The earthquake struck as people were sitting down for the

evening meal. Some houses were almost untouched. Others may have to

be demolished. TRANSLATION: The house is destroyed.

We can't even get in. What should we do?

TRANSLATION: I was really scared. It is the first time there has been

such a strong quake. At least one of the dead was killed

by falling masonry. It remained a threat as the emergency services

brought in more resources to continue their search and rescue

operation. TRANSLATION: We have helped more

than a thousand people leave Ischia. We have set up a coordination

centre. We are checking hotels to make sure they are safe.

As the work continued, some good news. Both of the baby's brothers

were found alive. His family survived. Others are counting the

cost of a terrifying night. Richard Lister, BBC News.

Divers searching for 10 missing US sailors off Singapore,

have found human remains in their damaged warship,

The remains were in sealed compartments of the USS

John S McCain, which was nearing port yesterday when it collided

The impact tore a hole in its port side, and flooded

The former owner of BHS is to be prosecuted

in connection with the collapse of its pension scheme.

Dominic Chappell's company bought the retail chain for just ?1,

shortly before it went into liquidation with

a huge pensions deficit and the loss of 11,000 jobs.

Mr Chappell is charged with failing to provide documents requested

The former Conservative Chancellor, George Osborne, has called

on the Prime Minister to commit to building a high speed rail line

Mr Osborne, who spearheaded the Northern Powerhouse project

while in government, has called for more money to be

spent on public transport outside the capital.

The government says it's investing billions of pounds

Our correspondent, Dan Whitworth, is at Leeds railway station.

An awful lot of people have signed a petition calling for this sort of

thing. Yes, as you say, George Osborne, not the first time we have

heard from him on this northern Para has initiative, when in government

he helped launch, now he is no longer in government he is chair of

the northern powerhouse partnership and he says if high-speed line from

Hull to Liverpool were built with a priority being put on the

electrification of the section between Manchester and Leeds it

would transform the regional economy. Also he puts the cost at an

estimated ?7 billion, but again the return on that investment according

to Mr Osborne would be well worth it, an extra 7 million people would

be brought inside a 90 minute journey of the North of England,

three times as many businesses. Interesting timing on the former

Chancellor's intervention, as you say, there is a large petition

across the North of England, 70,000 people have signed it, demanding

more money from national government or public transport projects here in

the North of England. Again, crucially, about the timing of the

former Chancellor's intervention, big meeting here tomorrow of

regional mayors and civic leaders and essentially, their frustration

reaching boiling point about what they see as the prioritisation of

funding for big transport projects in London to the detriment of Ulster

in the UK. -- detriment to the rest of the UK. Thank you.

Our political correspondent Iain Watson is in Westminster.

Is the Prime Minister going to come under pressure? Yes, she is, you

know the London Evening Standard, and its editor George Osborne uses

the paper to dispensable -- unwelcome advice to the Prime

Minister and one commentator suggesting he was making more

mischief though he is taking a bit of a swipe at the Prime Minister,

his wife does have substance because he knows she will be said and down

to draft this speech to the Conservative Party conference and he

suggests in that speech, she ought to relaunch her Premiership of

relaunching the northern powerhouse to show conservatives care about all

parts of the country. If she does that he will take credit for getting

extra investment, if she doesn't her shaky position might be shaken up a

little bit further if you suggest she is in serious about rebalancing

the economy. There will be Labour politicians putting pressure on the

Prime Minister tomorrow and if MPs in other areas for example the East

Midlands and the South, South West and Wales, for some real projects

have been cancelled, they create a false as well, the Prime Minister

could come under increasing pressure to loosen the purse strings on extra

investment. Thank you. President Trump says more US troops

will be sent to Afghanistan - And coming up - one step closer

to World Cup glory - England's women prepare

for their rugby semi-final Coming up in sport, antiracism group

kick it and said the FA should conduct a comprehensive and

independent review into claims of believing against the England boss

Mark Samson, previously cleared of any wrongdoing.

For the first time in nearly a century, a total solar eclipse has

swept across the United States, from the Pacific coast

Millions of people watched as the moon passed in front

of the Sun, casting a shadow more than 60 miles wide.

A handful of lucky passengers had a prime view of the spectacle

from a Boeing 737, which chased the shadow at 40,000 feet -

our correspondent James Cook was among them.

The Moon was after the Sun and we were on the tail of both.

From Portland in the north-western state

of Oregon the flight dubbed Solar One struck

By the time we arrived 800 miles from

the shore, our satellite was eating a chunk out of our star.

And as the moment of totality drew close time itself

It's such an incredibly breathtaking experience,

like you cannot even describe it, words do not do it

justice and neither do pictures or video

or anything, it's just like

It was more beautiful than I had ever

anticipated, more beautiful than any picture I have seen, it was diverse

in colour and density and it was just amazing, too short,

Jasmine Shepherd and her brother Joshua were the envy of

their fellow Americans having won a competition to see the eclipse 15

We are really in awe to be the first in

the US to be able to witness this spectacular event.

We are in awe and humbled and grateful, it was just a

great experience and everyone on board is super

to totality was cool, we are very excited.

That was a truly breathtaking moment but that

was over in a flash and the shadow is now racing

towards the United States where

millions more are watching and waiting.

But only those on board could say they were the first to see

this spectacle from a front row seat in the theatre of the heavens.

James Cook, BBC News, above the Pacific

Ford has become the latest car company to offer customers

an incentive to trade in an old vehicle for a new,

The scrappage scheme will run for four months,

and will offer 2,000 pounds off some new models.

Unlike similar schemes by BMW and Mercedes,

which apply only to diesel vehicles, Ford says it will also

Our Transport Correspondent Richard Westcott has the details.

Millions of us still drive older, more polluting cars but what's the

best way to get them off the road? Ford has become the latest and

biggest firm to offer a scrappage scheme, ?2000 to crush your old car

or van as long as you buy a new one. It wouldn't be an incentive to me.

Good for the people who want to do it and have ?2000 if they have an

old car that isn't roadworthy, good for them. But it wouldn't be an

incentive for me at all. Good incentive, give you 2000 towards a

new car and the side-effect edges of environmental benefit, why not?

Cleaner air, it benefits everybody and I get a new car. If you can

afford it. Ford claims it is about protecting the environment, not

boosting sales. Which have been falling for months. Some people will

look at the cynically and say, sales are down, you are only offering this

part four months, only ?2000 scrappage scheme, this is about

selling more cars, isn't it? It really is anything but a cynical

marketing ploy, I can spend my money on much more efficient things to

drive sales, this genuinely is about quality. Ford sells more cars than

any other company in Britain, the Fiesta is the most popular model,

that is why it is significant they have come up with a scrappage

scheme. But it's only going to last four months initially, the company

is talking about perhaps save you thousands dirty cars being scrapped

and taken off the road, there are 19 million in total so could it really

make a difference? The problem with a scrappage scheme that is aimed at

air quality is that it really needs to be targeted at the vehicle

driving around most in the areas where air quality is a problem.

Things like buses and trucks are particularly important, so our

commercial vehicles to. After months of speculation about a possible

government scrappage scheme for dirty vehicles, it's now the

car-makers who are taking the initiative but not yet on a scale

that could really make a difference. Richard Westcott, BBC News.

Exactly three months ago, a suicide bomber blew himself up

at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in the Manchester Arena.

22 people were killed, and more than 50 were injured.

Since then, the NHS has been offering therapy to those who have

One of those who died was 29 year old Martyn Hett.

His mother Figen fee-gun Murray has been talking to Graham Satchell,

His mother Figen Murray has been talking to Graham Satchell,

about why she can never return to life as it was

Suddenly you catch yourself thinking, oh my gosh,

We are in St Annes Square in the centre of Manchester.

It became the focus of remembrance where thousands of

Figan Murray lost her son Martyn Hett in the Manchester attack.

She's been the therapist for more than 20

years, but she has decided she can no longer do her job.

I don't think with what happened to me that I'll

ever be in a position to offer psychological support to anybody

else because I think I'm so damaged through this.

Figan is meeting 18-year-old Caitlin.

On the night of the attack Caitlin was

knocked off her feet by the force of the blast but escaped without

She became withdrawn, started having nightmares

and is now seeing a

It wasn't until a few weeks I would say after when it

That we managed to walk out without a mark on us.

Obviously, with people who have lost their

I have nightmares, violent nightmares.

Obviously about people trying to blow, blow me

She's obviously suffering from survivors guilt, a lot of Martyn's

friends had that as well and with the help of therapy, obviously, it's

helping her to kind of normalise that feeling.

This is the Manchester Resilience Hub, an NHS

organisation coordinating mental-health services specifically

It's about 12 weeks now since the attack.

Is that sort of the time we are talking about when people may need

We view the 12 week period post-incident as a

If you are still exhibiting symptoms at the 12

week point they're probably not going to resolve without some form

The Hub is helping more than 200 people

access psychological support but wants everyone who needs

Figan hasn't had any counselling yet herself but has now

I will definitely access it, I know I

need it because I am like so many other people, damaged to some

Back in St Annes Square the sea of flowers left by

The memories, the pain of what happened

But with the right help, the hope is life will become

Graham Satchell, BBC News, Manchester.

England's women continue the defence of their Rugby World Cup title

tonight, as they face France in the semi-finals.

Head coach Simon Middleton has rotated his squad heavily throughout

the pool stage of the tournament, but he says he's named his strongest

Our Sports Correspondent Katherine Downes reports from Belfast.

Belfast, a city proud of its past but one which chooses

Swap nation for team and England's women have chosen to follow

They're defending world champions, Grand Slam winners but no one knows

England's weaknesses better than today's opponents.

France have won two of the last four Six Nations titles and finished

third at the last World Cup, they are England's

We know that every time we play France it will be one hell

of a game, they are tough opposition, they have a lot

of strength around the whole of the game, they are an all-round

team, we know that, if we are to get the result we want,

we will have to put in a performance that is an improvement from

England, the tournament's only fully professional side enjoyed

straightforward wins so far over Spain, Italy and the USA,

now two matches away from back-to-back world titles

they have named their strongest squad yet.

This is about putting the best 23 out that you feel are right

for the job and if you feel it's the right 23 for the next one

you will put them out again and if you don't we will make

We don't even need to think about the next game until we get

this one out of the way, it will be huge, that's

England play their semifinal here at the home of Ulster Rugby

at quarter to eight this evening, the other semifinal kicks off

at five between the underdogs USA and the four time world champions

The final is expected to be between the Black Ferns and the Red Roses

of England but having played some colourful rugby so far France

will be hoping to keep a good splash of 'bleu' in the mix too.

Hello, some rain on the way for a Belfast and the rugby. We should see

some sunshine arriving across England and Wales, a good day to be

walking the dog in Cornwall. You can see what I mean, grey and misty in

the hills here in the Peak District, very slow, we should see low cloud

lifting, or sunshine coming up but not guaranteed. You can see them on

the map, one or two showers in the West Country, drifting further

northwards, the wettest weather heading towards Belfast, arriving in

Northern Ireland through the afternoon and into the evening. Not

just heavy rain, could be thundery rain as well. A little bit of rain

across northern Scotland, petering out, Trower, brighter, warmer. One

or two showers arriving in northern England, warmer than it was

yesterday, quite humid across England and Wales in particular, and

butchers 25 degrees in some places, especially where we get the

sunshine. One or two showers, many places fine and dry with light

winds, feeling warm. The rain to contend with further north, through

the evening, eventually clearing from Northern Ireland, heavy and

thundery rain working into Scotland, turning wetter in northern England

later. To the south, a lot of cloud around, misty perhaps, left with a

warm night like last night, temperatures no lower than 17. A wet

start for Scotland and northern England, the weather front here with

warm and muggy air, a band of cloud running eastwards, rain clearing,

sunshine from the west, some showers. The last of the warm and

muggy are confined to East Anglia and the south-east, introducing

fresh Ayr on a westerly breeze, temperatures nearing 19-20. Some

sunshine later. Into the fresh air as we head into Thursday, the

weather front out of the way, low pressure sitting here all week and

it's getting a bit closer towards Northern Ireland. Into Thursday,

Friday, wetter weather pushing back into Northern Ireland, quite a few

showers in Scotland, some of them heavy on Thursday into Friday. Fewer

showers further south, generally across the southern half of the UK

there and Friday, should be dry and fine, sunshine at times,

temperatures in the low 20s, with the beginning of the weekend at

least some sunshine and the chance of the few showers. Aaron, thank

you. A reminder of our main

story this lunchtime... President Trump says more US troops

will be sent to Afghanistan - That's all from the BBC News at One

so it's goodbye from me and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.