15/12/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Ben Bland.

Our top stories...

Brexit negotiations are moving on.

EU leaders give the green light

for talks to proceed to phase two

but warn the next stage

will be even tougher.

We are able to conclude that

sufficient progress has been made.

Now it's up to us to draft

the withdrawal agreement together

with our British friends.

The United States and North Korea

trade barbs at a sitting of the UN

Security Council in New York,

as Secretary of State

Rex Tillerson suggests

Washington could be open

to dialogue with Pyongyang.

Austria is poised to become

the only western country

in Europe with a far-right

party in government.

It's understood Sebastian Kurz's

conservative, anti-immigration

Freedom Party is on the brink

of reaching a coalition deal.

And...

Save the date - Prince Harry

and his bride-to-be Meghan Markle

will wed at Windsor Castle

on the 19th of May.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

We start with Brexit and it's been

a big day for the future

of the United Kingdom,

as it continues the process

of removing itself

from the European Union.

The 27 other EU leaders have

officially given the green

light for a change in gear,

from purely divorce

talks to negotiating

the relationship to come.

The UK hopes that will include

a generous trade deal in due course.

The British Prime

Minister Theresa May

has hailed the progress

as an "important step" forward.

But she still faces differences

of opinion in her own government

and suffered an embarrassing House

of Commons defeat on Brexit

earlier this week.

Damian Gramatticas has more.

On a big day for the EU,

a barrage of questions.

Last night, these leaders gave

Theresa May a round of applause.

Not very enthusiastically,

but it was well-deserved.

Angela Merkel lead that gesture,

appreciative after Mrs May told EU

leaders she wants a smooth Brexit.

It's what they want, too.

The one leader who isn't

here is Theresa May herself,

the leader for whom this matters

more than any other,

getting the green light

in the Brexit process,

to move to the next stage.

And so, the looming question -

exactly what does the UK want future

ties with the EU to look like?

I think the first big step

is for the United Kingdom to say

very clearly what it wants

in clear terms.

I think if this happens in the next

few weeks we can start in earnest

and by March we will have a very

clear European position.

Thank you.

First, the EU 27 agreed,

as expected, sufficient

progress has been made.

Then the discussions turned

to the EU's terms for phase

two of the negotiations

and a new set of guidelines.

They say talks will only move

on if all commitments the UK has

made so far are respected in full -

so no backtracking on the financial

and citizens' deals.

And for a transition,

the EU's terms are, the UK

will continue to participate

in the customs union and single

market - so little change -

but the UK will not have a part

in EU decision-making and will have

to accept all the same rules

as everyone else including any

new EU regulations and be bound

by the European Court of Justice.

As for the framework

for future relations,

it is now time for internal

EU 27 preparations and

contact with the UK.

To get more clarity on their vision.

As for what the UK wants most

of all, in-depth discussions

about the future ties,

they will have to wait until March,

EU leaders said, indicating

it is the EU who is firmly

in control of the Brexit process.

My colleague Christian Fraser is in

Brussels for the summit and gave us

this assessment of the talks finally

came to a conclusion.

I think what we take away from this

summit is that the EU side really

does want to deal with Theresa May.

They see her as their best

chance for a smooth Brexit

and also they think that,

with her, they can ensure

that there aren't the same sort

of hiccups that we might have seen

over the course of the last

eight or nine months.

Let's talk to Damian

Grammaticas,

our Europe

correspondent, about that.

Is that a broad assessment

of where we're at,

that they see Theresa May

as their best chance?

Well, I think they want a stable

Prime Minister in the UK

who can make difficult compromises

for the UK, because that is going

to continue to happen,

and who can deliver those.

So, that is crucial.

There was a real sort

of audible sigh of relief

in this building today.

And it's interesting - the end

of this year is actually quite

a good point to take stock,

because we had the triggering

of Article 50 at the beginning

of the year.

All sorts of confusion

about what was going to happen.

As you said, real down

points when it looked

like everything might fall apart,

and they're back on track

and I think that's what

matters to the Europeans.

What do you make of where

we're at now in terms

of the future relationship?

Because Theresa May's not

spelt out much of that,

but then perhaps that's not a bad

strategy, because if you look at how

she's dealt with the first phase,

she didn't spell much of that

out to her own side, either.

Well, what I can say, I think,

is that the EU side,

the messages they've put out

is that they find that quite

frustrating, actually, I think,

because they want to know more -

they want to engage in this

discussion,

and I think they feel

that the UK side hasn't yet.

We know the UK Cabinet hasn't yet

engaged fully with discussing

what the future will look

like and the EU feeling, I think,

certainly, is that these are really

difficult things

that have got to be grappled with

and that the earlier

the UK does that, the better,

because then the EU can engage

with what the UK wants

and that's what we're

going to start to see next year.

Yeah.

Having said that, they have

all been prime ministers,

Jean-Claude Juncker included.

Some of them lead minority

governments, some of them

are at the head of weak coalitions.

They know how difficult it is to be

a Prime Minister

and they're painfully

aware of the maths back in the UK.

They are, and I think

that's an important point,

actually, to make.

It's an important point to remember

in that there's a lot of sort

of concern in the UK,

I think, watching the progress

of legislation through Parliament.

Here, that is viewed as a normal,

natural part of this process.

Every parliament in Europe

is going to have to look at

what happens in this process,

what comes out at the end

of it, and approve it.

So, they think it's fine that the UK

is doing the same thing.

But actually, I think

the EU side see that...

They don't see that as in any way,

I think, weakening Theresa May.

In a way, I think they'd be glad

of the fact that the parliament

will approve something because,

as I say, they want a sort of

durable outcome from this

that works all round,

however hard it is to get to that.

So, in the New Year,

they move on to the next

part of negotiation.

One thing we should just say

about the withdrawal process.

They are saying in the document

that they released today

that they expect

the withdrawal agreement

to be put into a legal text.

They want it to be legally binding.

And there is still a little bit

of work to finish on that,

particularly when it comes

to citizens' rights.

They're hoping that that can be done

in parallel with the talks

about the future negotiation.

But that is the situation

here in Brussels

at the end of this EU summit.

Christian Fraser there at the summit

in Brussels.

The US Secretary of State says

North Korea needs to show

a "sustained cessation

of threatening behaviour" before

meaningful talks can begin.

Rex Tillerson was speaking

at a meeting of the UN

Security Council in New York.

Mr Tillerson also questioned

the commitment of Moscow,

and especially Beijing,

in trying to reign in the secretive

state's nuclear and ballistic

missile programmes.

There's Chinese crude oil flows

to North Korean refineries.

The United States questions China's

commitment to solving an issue that

has serious implications

for the security of its own citizens

Recently, the North Korean regime

has sought to portray UN sanctions

as harmful to women and children,

but this is a regime that

hypocritically spends billions

on nuclear and ballistic missile

programmes while its own people

suffer great poverty.

The regime could feed and care

for women, children and ordinary

people of North Korea if it chose

the welfare of its people over

weapons development.

Let's speak to the BBC's

Nada Tawfik who is in New York.

It's interesting, a bit of a change

in approach from Mr Tillerson,

falling into line with the White

House approach to how it deals with

North Korea.

Yes, absolutely. Many

may remember that just on Tuesday

when Rex Tillerson was addressing an

audience at a think tank event on

North Korea. He said the US was

ready to enter into talks without

preconditions. The White House

quickly came out and denied that,

saying the US policy had not changed

at all and so to we saw Rex

Tillerson toughening his stands

there, saying North Korea had to

earn its rights to get to the

negotiating table and they really

had to show a commitment walking

back its nuclear programme before

those talks could get under way.

It's interesting because it really

echoes a lot of what the US' allies

have said. For example, the Japanese

Foreign Minister, who presided over

this high-level meeting, he said

that we shouldn't be conducting

dialogue for this sort two Zec

dialogue, that these resolutions are

very clear, that North Korea has to

end its programme and there should

be no compromise on that front.

How

did North Korea responded?

Well, it

was a rare appearance that we got

from North Korea's ambassador and he

said that the nuclear programme was

a self defensive measure to protect

against the United States. He said

if anyone was to blame it was the

US, that North Korea was a

peace-loving country, it was a

responsible nuclear power and that

as long as North Korea's rights were

not infringed upon, no state should

be worried about them using their

arsenal. Rex Tillerson hit back at

that saying that the only country

responsible and who held the

solution to this issue was North

Korea itself as the aggressor.

How

did all of this go down with the

other members of the Security

Council present?

Well, the Europeans

kind of endorsed this maximum

pressure along with the diplomacy

approach, saying it was important

that North Korea, that sanctions

were implemented and pressure was

put on North Korea so they could

come to the negotiating table.

Russia and China on the other hand,

again, they feel that North Korea

needs to abide by its obligations

under the security council

resolutions, but they did show

concern about the increased rhetoric

we're seeing in the region, saying

it is unhelpful and could lead to

unintended consequences if there's

any miscalculation that goes

forward. They reiterated their call,

this proposal that Russia and China

have put out, that says the US and

Japan and South Korea should cease

action in the region in return for

North Korea stopping their

programme. They called for that as a

possible resolution to this issue.

Thank you.

Over to Austria where a coalition

deal between the conservative

People's Party and the far-right

Freedom Party looks set

to be agreed tonight.

Sebastian Kurz's People's Party won

October's parliamentary election

with a hard line on immigration

similar to the Freedom Party's

which came third in the vote.

The two parties are

talking this evening.

If a coalition deal is struck,

then Austria would become the only

western European country

with a far-right

party in government.

Bethany Bell joined us live from

Vienna. Any update?

Yes, we've been

told a number of times that a deal

was extremely close. The parties are

still negotiating at this moment. It

looks as though the leader of the

Austrian conservatives is poised to

become Europe's's youngest leader,

just 31 years old, in coalition with

the far right Freedom Party, which

is quite controversial. This is a

party that has been in power before,

unlike many far right populist

roots, it translated its success at

the ballot box into real power. If

they do agree, this agreement is

tonight as they are widely expected

to do, it will mean a centre right,

far right government here in

Austria.

It's interesting because

the Freedom Party has been in

government in Austria before and

that time it provoked the

unprecedented step of the rest of

the EU member states imposing

sanctions against Austria.

Yes, I

was here back in the year 2000 when

the Freedom Party first came into a

coalition government then. Austria

has just joined the EU a few years

before. The EU imposed diplomatic

sanctions for a first two short

time, temporary ones that were

eventually lifted. There was an

enormous outcry at the far right

being in power. That's much more

unlikely at this time. Austria has

changed, Europe has changed, there

are many more nationalist populist

parties around than there were back

then in terms that we have parties

like the AFD. Many Austrians are

wondering whether the Freedom Party

has changed, too, or whether it has

helped in this trend of dragging

Europe to the right.

Bethany, thank

you very much.

Zimbabwe's ruling party has

endorsed the new president,

Emmerson Mnangagwa,

as their leader and candidate in

next year's presidential elections.

Delegates from the Zanu-PF party

are holding an extraordinary

session, for the first time

since Robert Mugabe

stepped down last month.

Shingai Nyoka reports from Harare.

The Presidents...

A triumphant entry to his first

Congress as party leader.

But the decision to confirm

Emmerson Mnangagwa

was never going to be contested.

The 6,000 delegates

were carefully selected

to ensure the unanimous endorsement.

Now, Mr Mnangagwa can begin

to rebuild a party fractured

by infighting

in preparation for elections

expected in less than a year.

I stand before you, therefore,

as the president of a united,

non-racial Zimbabwe.

The conciliatory speech

is a departure from

the fire-brand nationalist rhetoric

of his predecessor, Robert Mugabe,

who was noticeably absent

from the gathering.

This extraordinary Congress had

been planned months ago

as a platform to sideline

Mr Mnangagwa

and elevate Grace Mugabe

to the vice presidency.

But, in a twist of fate,

the tables have turned

and the Congress has voted to expel

Grace Mugabe from the party

and recall Mr Mugabe,

a figure who's been central

here for the last 40 years.

The new administration faces

the primary challenge

of fixing the national economy

and also bringing confidence

into its human rights record,

addressing ills of the past

as well as trying to make sure

that the free and fair elections

are scheduled in 2018.

And it'll face further challenges

in relation to their ability

to prove to the Zimbabwean people

that they are not going

to be similar

to the previous government

of Robert Mugabe.

And how quickly the party

has moved on from him.

Within the month, new songs have

been written,

erasing reference

to the former leader.

And Zanu-PF's party regalia

now has a new face.

But critics say the intolerance

that marked the former leader's rule

has resurfaced.

Three former senior party members

who were expelled for supporting

Grace Mugabe were today arrested

and charged with criminal nuisance

for wearing the new regalia

without the party's permission.

Mr Mnangagwa told lawyers

that the time has come

Mr Mnangagwa told loyalists

that the time has come

to repair the party,

but there's no sign

of a reconciliation yet

with his predecessor.

Mr Mugabe, his wife and family

are in the far east

on an annual holiday.

Photos appear to show

the 93-year-old leader

leaving a Singapore hospital

and looking remarkably relaxed.

His future role in Zimbabwean

politics is unclear.

The figure that once dominated this

party has gone

and a new imposing figure

has been installed in his place.

The Roman Catholic Church

in Australia has rejected the idea

that priests should report sexual

abuse disclosed to

them in confession.

It was a key recommendation

of a five-year Australian inquiry

into child sex abuse

at public institutions.

The church is among institutions

accused of multiple and persistent

failings to keep children safe

from sexual abuse.

The Archbishop of Melbourne has

warned that any priest who breaks

the seal of the confessional

will be excommunicated.

From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

The report has delved into one

of the most shameful episodes

in modern Australian history.

For years, the vulnerable

were preyed upon by paedophiles

while invariably those in charge

looked the other way

and did nothing.

The Royal Commission says tens

of thousands of children were abused

in Australian institutions over

the past decades.

Most of the perpetrators

were members of the clergy

and schoolteachers.

The Prime Minister,

Malcolm Turnbull, says the scale

of the abuse is a national tragedy.

What the commission has done has

exposed a national tragedy,

it's an outstanding exercise in love

and I thank the commissioners

and those who had the courage

to tell their stories.

For five years investigators

heard agonising stories

of rape and sexual assault.

Some of those tortured children

would later kill themselves,

while others would endure the trauma

for the rest of their lives.

It really happened

and we are believed now

around the world because,

as adults, we were talking

about our childhood

and for a lot of us,

so, so many of us, it was so hard.

The commission has called

for Australia's child protection

policies to be overhauled.

Those six commissioners have done

this country proud, really.

I think everybody here,

wouldn't you all agree?

CHEERING.

Yes.

And, you know, they took

the shame and stigma

from our hearts and they carried it

for the last five years.

The head of the Anglican Church

in Australia has said sorry

for its shameful handling

of many of the abuse allegations.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church

said a major national social

ill had to be remedied.

More than 2,500 cases of alleged

child abuse have been referred

to Australian police,

and so far 230 criminal

prosecutions have started.

While Australia failed

so spectacularly to protect

its children in the past,

the hope is future generations

will never be exposed to such

monstrous abuse again.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

Police in the Netherlands have shot

and wounded a man who was armed

with a knife in the country's main

airport, Schipol, just

outside Amsterdam.

The main entrance to

the airport was evacuated -

but has now re-opened.

The man is in custody.

There were no reports

of other injuries.

Four Palestinians have been

killed and 150 wounded

in clashes with the Israeli army.

Palestinian sources say most

of the casualties occurred

near the Gaza border where protests

have been fiercest against

President Trump's decision

to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

The Oxford English Dictionary

has chosen "youthquake"

as its word of the year.

The word - first used in the 1960s -

is defined as a "significant

cultural, political,

or social change arising

from the actions or influence

of young people".

It's been used more recently

in relation to the effect of young

voters on politics in Britain,

France and New Zealand.

If you have your diary to hand,

you may want to note down

Saturday 19th of May, 2018.

That is the date that's been set

for the royal wedding

of Prince Harry and his fiancee,

actress Meghan Markle.

They will marry in St George's

Chapel at Windsor Castle.

It's the same day as the football

cup final in England.

The pair announced their

engagement last month.

We put it to the BBC's Royal

Correspondent Nicholas Witchell that

interest would be even greater

because Ms Markle is an American.

Well, that's absolutely right, yes.

There will be, I'm sure,

a great deal of attention

from around the world,

as there always is,

to the British Royal family,

but particularly, of course,

on this occasion,

from the United States of America.

And the date, yes -

Saturday the 19th of May.

Now, the choice of

a Saturday is unusual

but certainly not unprecedented

for a royal wedding.

There have been royal weddings

on Saturdays before

and I'm quite sure that

the calculation has been

that because there is to be no

public holiday in the United Kingdom

for this royal wedding,

as there was for William and Kate's,

the fact that it's being staged

on a Saturday

will give those

who are so minded

an opportunity to go out to Windsor,

not far from London,

to be part of the celebration

as the couple have said

that they wish to be the case.

I'm sure that, although the wedding,

of course, itself,

is in the chapel

within Windsor Castle,

there'll be a carriage procession,

I imagine, through the town,

so people will be able to join in.

The other, as you mentioned,

interesting thing

is that Saturday 19th of May

is the date of

one of the biggest sporting events,

certainly in England -

the FA Cup final.

Now, Prince William is president

of the Football Association.

He would normally

attend the cup final.

Somehow, on this occasion,

I suspect he's going

to have to give it a miss.

Now to Germany, where

the SDP has agreed

to enter exploratory talks

on forming a coalition government

with Chancellor Angela

Merkel's conservatives.

The move had been

recommended by SPD leader

Martin Schulz in an attempt to end

the political uncertainty

since elections in September.

Mr Schulz said the talks should

begin in January and last no

more than two weeks.

The SPD has been Mrs Merkel's junior

coalition partner since 2013,

but in September suffered its worst

election result since World War II.

The US space agency Nasa says it's

discovered an eighth

planet circling a distant sun -

making it the first solar system

to have the same number

of planets as our own.

The eight orbit a star

known as Kepler-90.

Paul Rincon reports.

Astronomers have discovered more

than 3,000 planets circling other

stars but very few of these distant

planetary systems resemble our own.

Now a team using the Kepler

space telescope has

confirmed the existence of eight

planets around a single star.

Seven of these were already known,

but experts trained

a software programme

to recognise known planets.

The programme then searched

through raw data and identified

a previously unknown world.

The new planet we found, Kepler-90i,

is the smallest of the bunch

and orbits just outside

the inner two planets.

The new planet is small enough

that we think it is probably rocky

and does not have a thick

atmosphere, the surface

is likely scorching hot.

We calculated that it probably has

an average temperature

of about 800 Fahrenheit.

We've been able to task computers

to go and look into data to find

things people didn't spot or perhaps

didn't have time to spot.

So providing good candidates

for worlds hidden within the Kepler

data, machines can then pick up

the slack and actually go

and discover these worlds.

The distant planetary system

is ordered like our own,

with the small worlds nearest

the star and the bigger

planets further away.

But all the planets are pushed much

further in towards their parent

star, which is known as Kepler-90.

This means they're probably far too

hot for life as we know it,

but machine learning could be used

to find the signatures

of Earth-sized worlds

elsewhere in the cosmos.

That could lead to ground-breaking

discoveries in the search

for life in the universe.

Just time before we go

to show you these pictures

from Central Borneo

where a group of eight

Orangutans has just been

released back into the wild.

Seven of the group were males,

which meant they had to be sedated

and transported by helicopter.

Orangutans are considered

critically endangered

by the World Wildlife Fund.

Thanks for watching.

Thanks for watching.