27/11/2017 BBC News at One

A Royal engagement is announced!

Prince Harry is to marry American

actress Meghan Markel.

Here at Kensington Palace...

We are waiting for a photocall with

happy couple a little later this

afternoon.

In a statement Buckingham Palace

said the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh

were 'delighted' at the news.

They've been together for just over

a year after meeting in London

in the summer of 2016.

Congratulations, sir, what do you

think? We are thrilled, thank you

very much, but both of them, I hope

they will be very happy indeed is

all I can say.

And the Prince of Wales isn't

the only one happy...

Celebrations get underway -

as the UK prepares for

a Royal wedding in the Spring.

Already congratulations are pouring

in from around the world

as London will once again become

the focus of a Royal fairytale.

In other news...

Two pharmaceutical firms have

said they'll invest more

than a BILLION ponds in the UK -

creating nearly two-thousand jobs.

Freed - after four years

in an Indian jail -

six British men accused of arms

smuggling - after a long

campaign for their release.

Leave your homes: 100,000 people

near Bali's Mount Agung have been

ordered to evacuate -

as officials fear a major eruption.

And coming up in the

sport and BBC News...

And coming up in the

sport on BBC News...

As England lose the first

Test Jonny Bairstow tells the media

his head-butt of an Aussie

opponent was just a joke.

Good afternoon, and welcome

to the BBC News at One.

I'm

here at Kensington Palace

which from next Spring

will become the London home

of Prince Harry an his new bride.

The news came just in the last three

hours. It was something that had

been speculated at lot in recent

days and weeks. In the last few

hours it has become at Bristol. --

has become official. The Queen and

the Duke of Edinburgh in a statement

from Buckingham Palace said they

were absolutely delighted with the

news. Our first report comes from

our royal correspondent Nicholas

Witchel.

They've known each other for rather

less than 18 months and they've done

their best to remain out

of sight of the media.

This was an exception when they were

seen hand-in-hand at the

Invictus Games in Toronto

earlier this year.

But now they are to be married

with the wedding planned for

the spring of next year.

The news was given

in a statement from

Clarence House at ten o'clock.

His Royal Highness

Prince Henry of Wales

and Miss Meghan Markle

are engaged to be married.

News of the engagement has been

greeted with pleasure within

the Royal Family, the Queen and

the Duke of Edinburgh who celebrated

their 70th wedding anniversary

last week said they were

delighted for the couple

and

wish them every happiness.

Those who have seen

the couple together say they

are very much in love.

That much was confirmed

recently by Meghan Markle

herself, in an interview

with Vanity fair magazine

she declared, 'we are

a

couple, we are in love.'

For Harry, the engagement

brings to an end the

bachelor life which he has led

and enjoyed for a good many years.

Whilst all the time seeking someone

with whom he could settle down and

start a family.

Twice it had seemed he had

found the right person,

Chelsea Davey, born in Zimbabwe,

educated in Britain was his

girlfriend for six years up to 2010

and then there was Cressida Bonas,

young actress and aristocratic

British family who was with Harry

young actress from an aristocratic

British family who was with Harry

for two years until 2014.

In both cases the

relationships foundered at

least in part because of

the intense media scrutiny.

That scrutiny may be something

Meghan Markle is better

prepared to deal with.

Wow, you're pretty.

Good, you've hit on me, you can get

it out of the way that I'm

not interested.

As an American actress

with several high-profile

roles, she is used to

the public spotlight.

Beyond her acting career

there are significant other

dimensions to Meghan Markle's life.

I'm smart and I know...

She's described herself

as a strong woman

of mixed-race.

Her father is of Irish

descent, her mother is an

African-American.

She's been active in

humanitarian campaigns and is a

UN advocate for the

empowerment of women.

I am proud to be

a woman and a feminist.

For Harry, an engagement

finally offers the

prospect of the personal fulfilment

which at times has seemed elusive.

As any girl would ever

tell you it's, oh my

God, he's a prince...

This was him in a US

television interview in 2012.

Look at me, I'm 27 years

old and not so much

searching for someone to fulfil

the role but obviously finding

someone that would be willing

to take it on.

Harry has finally found

that special person.

We're going to look at privacy

and harassment law...

One of the couple's

immediate challenges

will be to find some privacy.

In a statement soon after

the relationship became public Harry

said, this isn't a game,

it is his and this

said, this isn't a game, it is his

and Miss Markle's life, a life which

in her case, is about

to take a remarkable

change of direction

as

she prepares to join

the British Royal family.

Nicholas Witchell, BBC News.

Meghan Markle is best know

for playing Rachel Zane

in the US TV drama Suits.

She was born on the 4th August 1981

and grew up in Los Angeles.

Our Royal correspondent

Daniella Relph reports

on the actress who will soon be

a member of the royal family.

This is no ordinary royal

engagement. Meghan Markle, an

American, an actress, a divorcee and

a campaigner. She grew up in an

argument never heard of Los Angeles,

went to a private Catholic school,

she is mixed-race, the daughter of

divorced parents, her daughter --

mother a yoga teacher, her father in

respect had lighting director. There

is no question over her ability to

cope with her new status.

She

handles herself with poise and

grace. As I said, it's a great

tribute to the way she handles

herself, she doesn't seem to be

preoccupied, influenced by the fact

that she is going to be a member of

the Royal family.

And in the area

her mother now lives there have been

many offers of wedding help.

Great,

love it. I want to be a bridesmaid!

I think it would be nice, different,

the first of a kind, I think it's

something the community can embrace.

I'm ecstatic and I would love to do

a fascinator or a hat for her or

even her wedding peace.

As an

actress her early career included

adverts. And a stint opening the

boxes on the TV programme deal or no

Deal. Before her big break in the

show suits. But alongside her acting

has been heard humanitarian work,

focused on young women and gender

equality. That interest in

campaigning was common ground with

her husband to be. But in the early

days of their relationship some of

the media coverage and settled the

couple, Prince Harry issued a

statement describing it as having

racial undertones.

It definitely

felt very coded and very racist to

me and furry much like there was an

attempt to make cursing like an

other, and outsider. Yes, that was

pretty startling.

Meghan Markle's

background is unlike any other

senior member of the Royal Family,

she will have to navigate life

inside the British aristocracy. It

is a path trodden by Julie Montague

of Illinois, she married the son of

the Earl of Sandwich.

Marrying into

this real old British aristocratic

family, you know I have had to I

guess, sort of touch up on my

manners. When I rode over here I was

much more an open book, married into

the British aristocracy I realised

you have to, you have to close down

a little but further his reasons.

This will be a whole new world for

Meghan Markle, one of great

privilege but with it, will come

great scrutiny.

As we've heard Buckingham Palace

said the Queen and the Duke

of Edinburgh were "delighted

for the couple" and wished

them every happiness.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

said it had been "wonderful

getting to know Meghan"

while the Prince of Wales

said he was thrilled.

David Sillito has more.

Prince Charles was Albus morning

looking at community and green

initiatives. The first topic was of

course... Congratulations sir, what

do you think about the engagement?

Thank you, very thrilled, thank you

brain much, for both of them, I hope

they will be very happy indeed, that

is all I can say.

The Prime Minister

offered her warmest congratulations,

she says it's a time of huge

celebration for two people in love

and Jeremy Corbyn at his press

conference, the first matter to be

addressed was the engagement.

Look,

first of all, my congratulations to

Harry and Megan, I wish them well, I

hope they have a great time and

great fun together and having met

Harry a couple of times I am sure

they are going to have a great deal

of fun together.

A big engagement

announcement from Kensington Palace,

Prince Harry and American actress

naked Markle are engaged.

Unsurprisingly the engagement was

headline news in America.

Ricky news

out of London, drum roll please,

Prince Harry and American Meghan

Markle arrogated to be married.

Hip

hip, array, congratulations. It even

managed to bring smiles out on the

street of a damp and great Monday.

So thrilled, wonderful news. Really

great.

Ayew excited they are getting

married spring 2018?

Yes, lovely.

What do you think about it? I think

it's great, another royal wedding,

something to look forward to in

times of trouble.

Maybe it will make

my bloke proposed to me now so we

can have a joint one.

Congratulations to Prince Harry and

whatever her name is.

Meghan Markle.

Have a happy and long life together.

The Archbishop of Canterbury also

said he was absolutely delighted.

Cheerful news headline for once.

I immediate correspondence there

were three action on both sides of

the Atlantic. We have to behave just

little differently on British

television but we are having

continuing coverage of this that the

big news story and we await the

photocall later this afternoon. For

now, from Kensington Palace, back to

you.

Well lets get more from our

Royal Correspondent Daniela Relph.

He is fifth in line to the throne,

when he is married, he could be six

line, this will a greater -- Frank

royal marriage.

I think so and you

can see that with his choice of

bright, Meghan Markle is divorced,

independent, in her late 30s, a

point of view, divorced, not the

daughter of an aristocrat. Together

as a couple they will have a greater

degree of freedom. The Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge for one day be

queen, but will not be the case for

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, they

will be able to cut their path and

do things differently, we may see

that with the choice of wedding they

have. They could go for the big

Westminster Abbey occasion, they may

feel they want to do something

smaller, different in terms of how

they approach that and I think

together we are going to see a lot

of freedom in terms of the kind of

work they do. They clearly are going

to forge quite a powerful

partnership when it comes to charity

and humanitarian work and I think a

lot of focus will go on that going

forward.

Thank you very much. Two

other news now.

Two pharmaceutical firms -

one American, the other German -

have said they will invest more

than a BILLION pounds in the UK -

creating more than 18-hundred jobs.

The government said these biotech

deals illustrated confidence

it its industrial strategy -

aimed at supporting more

research and development,

encouraging firms to embrace

new technology, and

boosting the economy.

Our economics correspondent

Andy Verity reports.

High levels of investment harnessing

cutting edge ideas, the robots at

this commentary Manufacturing Centre

cost millions to design and

programme and the car door as they

turn that can compete across the

world. With Britain's weak

productivity record innovation like

this is very much the rule.

We look

at how we translate good ideas from

academia and take them into industry

and if we can utilise bat for other

sectors including things like

infrastructure and construction I

think we have a great opportunity

for the future.

The government chose

a biomedical research Institute as

the venue for its industrial

strategy launch, including bigger

tax breaks to encourage innovative

ideas, be skilling people with

better at maths and technical

education, investment in

infrastructure like five G,

improving the business environment

through partnerships with

environments like life sciences and

making places were productive with

better transport links.

On the basis

of setting that out in the strategy

document these companies already

recognise this is a long-term

strategy, have confidence in it and

are making big investment decisions

today that create good jobs around

the country.

But it's not in

high-tech industries but low-tech,

low-wage companies that productivity

is weakest. The new money announced

today, 725 million is spread over

three years, compare it to total

spending of 780 billion, it's a

small fraction, just 0.03%.

They

talk about industrial strategy they

focus on high-tech sectors let

pharmaceuticals, life sciences,

there is space and automotive.

Productivity is high already. The

problem we have is in the rest of

the economy, the everyday economy,

sectors like retail, tourism and

hospitality, for productivity is

considerably worse than most

European competitors, tremendous

variation between firms and that's

really worthy effort needs to go.

Many private companies have funds to

invest in skills and technology that

could boost worker productivity but

since the financial crash directors

have an uncertain will be be enough

demand for the goods for that

investment to pay off and with

Brexit looming, overcoming that

uncertainty isn't getting any

easier. Andy Verity, BBC News.

With Finau is our business editor.

This White Paper long in the

waiting. What have we learned today?

Five sectors, five leaders that the

government can pull. The government

sticks in a bit of money for

research and development. It asks

the academic institutions in a

certain area to cluster round it,

then they let these different

centres to have test-beds for their

stuff. In life sciences, that might

be accelerated accept and of new

drugs by the NHS, which is something

they have committed to. For

driverless cars, it might be using

public streets. They put this in

place, and then private investment

poured in. They would say that this

morning's announcement is the

industrial action.

It needs to work.

We learned last week in the budget

that things are tough.

We learned a

couple of things last week, just how

difficult the economic challenges

are. Abysmal productivity and

growth. Growth downgraded. They are

hoping this will cure those economic

ills, and you have Brexit round the

corner. They say they have been

working on this for a long time. In

the old day, a concerted industrial

strategy, they wouldn't have liked

the sound of that. But they now say

it's necessary, and with Brexit

round the corner, it is urgent.

Thank you.

The families of five people killed

when a stolen car crashed in Leeds

at the weekend have paid tribute

to their loved ones -

three of the victims were teenagers.

Two 15-year-old boys remain

in custody on suspicion of causing

death by dangerous driving.

Our correspondent

Danny Savage reports.

At the scene of Saturday

night's crash,

the police were still searching

this morning for any evidence.

Why did the stolen car career

off this straight road?

The tree it hit bears

the scars of the devastating

impact which killed five.

The tragedy of young people,

it's immensely sad.

Whatever the rights or wrongs

of those involved, there's a feeling

of shock that so many young lives

could be lost in a single crash.

It's hard to get your head round,

really, that so many people

were killed so suddenly,

and this road will never

be the same for me.

When I think about it and come

up here, this memory.

In view of what's happened,

we simply feel sympathy

and want to be alongside those

who've lost their loved ones.

Named locally, the youngest victims

were Ellis and Elliott Thornton,

who were brothers,

aged just 12 and 14.

Also in the car was 15-year-old

Darnell Harte, along

with 24-year-old Robbie Meerun,

and father of two Anthoney

Armour, who was also 24.

The Renault Clio was stolen,

and some of the victims

were known to police.

It's also understood

there were seven people in a car

designed to carry a maximum

of five passengers.

The two survivors, both 15,

were arrested on Saturday night.

The full reasons why this

crash happened may not be

known for some time.

Detailed work needs to be carried

out, as the families of those

who died try to deal

with the aftermath.

Danny Savage, BBC News, Leeds.

Our top story this lunchtime.

Prince Harry is to marry American

actress Meghan Markle

in the Spring of next year.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace

said the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh

were 'delighted' at the news.

Coming up, a dropping down under as

England lose the first Ashes Test by

ten wickets. In sport, England's

Eddie Jones has been named coach of

the year in Monaco. He beat Warren

Gatland and New Zealand's Steve

Hansen.

The Indonesian authorities

have urged people living

near Mount Agung -

a volcano on the island of Bali -

to move to safety, because of fears

it's about to erupt.

Last night the island's main airport

in the captial Denpasar

was shut, leaving thousands

of tourists stranded.

Officials have ordered that 100,000

residents need to leave

the immediate area around

the Volcano, but so far only

40,000 have done so.

The volcano first began belching

thick smoke last week.

The last time it erupted,

in 1963,

more than 1,000 people died.

Tom Burridge reports on the latest.

A giant cloud of rocks, glass,

crystal and gas spews out of Bali's

tallest volcano. Mount Agung started

staring two months ago, but the

force of nature here has taken

another unpredictable turn.

I'm very

concerned for the people within the

exclusion zones. I really hope they

manage to get out of the way. The

biggest worries are the mudflows

which began several hours ago now.

If this develops and starts to

produce hot, rapidly moving

avalanches down the volcano, that is

a very big concern.

Life does go one

nearby. Many remain here even as the

authorities work to evacuate 100,000

people. The hope, that there will

not be the death and destruction

brought by Mount Agung last time

round. That was in 1963. In a

country with a history of volcanic

eruptions, this was one of the

worst.

Ash and lava leave 100,000

acres forever unproductive.

More

than 1000 died. The orange glow

today, magma visible at the top of

the volcano, a sign that a

full-scale eruption could come soon.

As the magma move up through the

volcano, it has heated water inside,

creating steam and pressure.

Breaking of fragments of rock and

hurling it thousands of metres into

the air. For weeks, some have been

living in temporary accommodation,

ever since tiny earthquakes caused

by the volcano were detected. But

others in the villages surrounding

Mount Agung have no choice but to

stay put.

TRANSLATION:

I'm scared but I don't

have the money to leave.

This

morning, disruption as the island's

airport closed. Thousands of

holidays and journeys affected.

We

have no information because the

gates to check-in have been closed

indefinitely.

Some tourists, though,

staying put to take it all in. This

could be a relatively minor eruption

over a long period of time, or

something more serious. Even for

experts, predicting what I volcano

will do next is an impossible task.

Six British men who've been

in prison in India for more

than four years have been freed

by an appeals court.

They were jailed on weapons charges

while working on ships

in the Indian Ocean.

They said they were security guards,

employed to combat piracy.

Our correspondent Sanjoy Majumder

sent this report from Chennai -

it begins with the moment relatives

heard the news during

an interview with the BBC.

35 released.

Oh, my God.

A short

text message with the news they'd

been waiting to hear for four years.

Billy Irving and Joanne Tomlinson's

brother, John Armstrong, among six

former British shoulders acquitted

of smuggling arms into India. It is

an emotional moment for the families

of the six men. They had campaigned

long and hard to bring them home,

and when nervous in the hours

leading up to the verdict.

We've

been waiting for four years, so we

had got used to the waiting, but

that doesn't mean it gets any

easier, especially at times like

this when the judge has written his

verdict. He knows what he's going to

say.

The men were on board this

ship, the American owned MV Seaman

Guard Ohio, when it entered the

southern Indian coast in 2013. They

were accused of illegally possessing

arms, a charge they denied, saying

they were legally carrying weapons

as part of antipyretic operations.

In January last year, to their

horror, they were convicted and

sentenced to five years in prison.

This is where they spent their time,

behind the high walls of a prison

outside the city of Chen I.

Conditions have been grim. They have

slept on the floor and have lost

considerable weight, with minimal

contact with their families. Once

the judge's order is communicated to

the prison authorities, the six

former British soldiers will walk

free, emerging from the gates behind

me of the Chen I Central prison

where they have been kept for the

better part of four years. They have

spent anxious weeks awaiting their

fate. Finally they can go home.

Years of frustration and desperation

have finally given way to dry, as

news of their release is shared

swiftly with friends and family.

Gratitude to those who have given

their support.

Councils in England generated £500

million in profit from parking fees

this year. Figures obtained from the

RAC Foundation showed four of the

five councils with the largest

surplus were in London.

England captain Joe Root says

they have to bounce back quickly -

after losing the first Ashes Test

by ten wickets in Brisbane.

So despite some promising moments

along the way for England,

Australia needed just an hour

to wrap up the win to go one up

in the five match series.

Our sports news correspondent,

Andy Swiss reports from Brisbane.

Head to head on the pitch.

And, it seems, off it.

Australia cruised to victory.

The focus was on Jonny Bairstow

behind the stumps.

And Cameron Bancroft in front.

What did happen between them

in a bar in Perth for weeks ago?

Well, after hitting

the winning runs, Bancroft

revealed Bairstow's

rather bizarre greeting.

I got into a very amicable

conversation with Jonny and, yeah,

he just greeted me with a head-butt,

kind of thing.

I was expecting a handshake.

It wasn't the greeting of choice

that I was expecting.

As for Bairstow himself,

he insisted the incident had been

blown out of all proportion.

Cameron and I enjoyed the evening

and continued to do so.

There was no intent nor malice

about anything during the evening.

As you can see, out there today,

there is no animosity

between myself and Cameron,

or any of the other

Australian players.

England say there will be

no disciplinary action

against Jonny Bairstow

but after losing this match it's

a distraction that they hardly need,

and one that raises more questions

about players' behaviour.

After the incident involving

Ben Stokes in Bristol and now this,

the ECB say they'll be reminding

the squad of their responsibilities

and one former England captain says

the players should be more careful.

To arrive in Australia,

you've got to get over jet lag

and many teams go out for a drink,

and Jonny Bairstow and his

team-mates had on that night.

But with what's gone

on back home in Bristol,

and everything that is surrounding

this team at the minute,

the lads have got to be

a little bit smarter.

And, so, England's Ashes have begun

in defeat and controversy.

What was an already tough challenge

is now a whole lot tougher.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Brisbane.

Back now to our main story.

Prince Harry and his girlfriend,

the American actress, Meghan Markle,

have announced their engagement.

Jane Hill is at Kensington Palace.

It's on.

It certainly is. Thank you

very much and welcome back to a

blustery Kensington Palace. This has

been speculated about for some time

now. Let's speak to the Royal editor

of the Sunday Express. Not least by

your own publication. It's going to

be a busy spring next year.

It is.

The Cambridges' third baby is due in

April. The statement has gone out

that they are going to have a spring

wedding, so the question is exactly

when, before baby or after? Putting

my maternal hat on, I would suggest

that perhaps it's best to have it

before Kate gives birth, because I

think you would rather be pregnant

and shepherding young royal

children, because we would expect

Prince George and Princess Charlotte

to have a starring role in the day,

rather than perhaps having a newborn

in tow as well.

Easy times ahead.

Thank you very much. It is a busy

afternoon here at Kensington Palace.

People like Camilla are having to

run inside the palace because we are

waiting for the first official

photocall later this afternoon. We

are told there will be formal photos

later this afternoon with the happy

couple. Prince Harry is to marry his

American girlfriend, Meghan Markle,

and the wedding will be next spring.

Simon, back to you.

Let's have a

look at the weather. Chris Fawkes

has that.

look at the weather. Chris Fawkes

has that.

There is in improving weather

picture for many of us. The early

morning rain has been clearing away

from southern England and has been

replaced by something a bit dry and

brighter. The Peak District looking

beautiful there, with snow covering

the tops of high ground. The

satellite picture tells the story

nicely today. A lot of cloud around,

but breaks moving the way into

northern and western areas. Some

gusts for a time this afternoon

across eastern areas, touching gale

force across the likes of

Aberdeenshire. There will be some

showers for Northern Ireland, the

north-west parts of England and the

north-west parts of Wales. Some

sneaking into the Midlands as well.

Cloud around, but some bright

spells. It will feel fairly chilly

today for many areas, though

temperatures could reach double

figures for some. Overnight tonight,

showers continue to feed in across

north-western areas with a bit of

snow across the hills of Scotland.

It will be cold here, with some icy

stretches. Winds will keep

temperatures a couple of degrees

above freezing, but actually start

to Tuesday. The weather will

stakeholder over the next few days,

because of this block of

high-pressure stretching from the

mid-Atlantic into Greenland. That

prevents mild air from reaching our

shores, and instead we are getting

the cold winds from the Arctic. If

anything, temperatures will be going

down over the next few days. A cold

start to Tuesday, but most of us

will see some sunshine. Plenty of

showers across north-western areas.

With a change in the wind direction,

more northerly, showers will come in

from the North Sea to affect eastern

areas of Scotland and England. Five

to 7 degrees your top temperature on

Tuesday, and colder still on

Wednesday. Some of those showers

will get lower down, potentially

getting too quite low levels in

northern and eastern areas. These

temperatures are all low for the

time of year, and it might be, for

the next couple of weeks, the

weather tends to be colder than

normal. That's pretty