15/12/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Ben Bland.

Our top stories...

Austria becomes the only country in

Europe for the far right party in

power.

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.

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.

In Austria, a coalition deal between

the Conservative's People's party

and the far right Freedom party has

been announced. It paves the way for

this man to become the next

Chancellor. The deal comes two

months after the original

parliamentary election. It means

Austria will become the only western

European party with the far right

party in government.

Do we expect to see politics in

Austria shifting to the right?

It

appears so, yes. We have a

government which is conservative and

far right and it was noticeable

that, during the election campaign,

it was dominated by the question of

anti-migrant feeling. The Freedom

party even accused the Conservatives

of stealing their position when it

came to anti-migrants. What lobby

interesting to see though is how the

two parties have balanced out the

ministries. They announced this

coalition deal but could not give

any details, the two leaders. They

say tomorrow they will meet

Austria's president, who basically

give the green light to this

coalition to go ahead. They will

then speak to the parties. It will

be very interesting to see the

similarities and differences.

We

will not get the details of what

they agree until Saturday, but any

kind of ideas as to what the junior

coalition party might extract is a

price for propping up the

government?

They have had a very

long coalition negotiation. The

Freedom party is not that much

smaller than the Conservative Party.

One of the things that did emerge a

few days ago that we know about is

repealing a proposed total smoking

ban in Austria's restaurants and

bars, but we do not know what else

they have managed to get. There is

speculation that the Freedom party

may have charged both the Foreign

Ministry and the Interior Ministry

and possibly the Justice Ministry,

but we do not have confirmation of

that yet, we will have to wait and

see what emerges over the next

couple of days. But I think a lot of

people will be wondering exactly how

the Freedom party will in

government. Sebastien and his

Conservatives, some people say they

will tame the Freedom party from its

populism, others will say they are

being pushed more towards the right,

so this will be what the Austrians

will be watching in the months

ahead.

Thank you very much, Bethany.

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 led 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 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.

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 today we saw

Rex Tillerson toughening his stance

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 the sake of 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 respond?

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 military activities

in the region in return

for North Korea stopping

their programme.

They called for that as a possible

resolution to this issue.

Thank you.

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.

Zimbabwe's ruling party has

endorsed the new president,

Emmerson Mnangagwa, as their leader

and candidate in next year's

presidential elections.

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.

Still to come... The UN warns the

United States is becoming the world

champion of inequality under Donald

Trump.

The signatures took only a few

minutes but they brought a formal

end to three and a half years of

conflict, conflict has claimed more

than 200,000 lives. The presence of

Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia put their

names to the peace agreement.

The

Romanian border was sealed in silent

today. Flamini has cut itself off

from the outside world to prevent

the details of the presumed massacre

from leaking out.

The Lewinsky

affair tonight guaranteed Bill

Clinton his place in history is only

the second president ever to be

impeached.

Austria will become the only Western

European country with a far right

party in power. The Conservatives

have reached a deal with the

anti-immigration Freedom party.

Britain's drawn-out divorce from the

EU seems to be making progress. EU

leaders have given the green light

for talks to progress to two.

England's cricketers will begin day

three of the third Ashes Test in

Perth. But they will need to

dispense with Steve Smith early on.

He is unbeaten 92 and knows victory

will secure the series and the

famous trophy.

If day one of this

Test match belonged to England, day

two has belonged to Australia. Not

that it seemed that way at first.

Jonny Bairstow reached his century

and celebrated by head-butting his

helmet, a reference to that infamous

incident in a bar in Perth. But when

Milan went for 140, the rest

of England's batting collapsed

horribly. They lost their last six

wickets for 35 runs, 403 all out and

will feel they should have gotten a

lot more than that. But England's

bowlers set about repairing the

damage, two wickets for Craig

Overton but than a half-century and

92 not out from Captain Steve Smith

turn things around in Australia's

favour. In the end, it was

Australia's day but Jonny Bairstow

with that century, these were his

thoughts afterwards.

It was my

favourite one in many ways. I have

played in a few Ashes Series so far.

The score and Ashes hundreds of

something you dream about as a kid.

It has eluded me until now. A whole

heap of emotions came through.

Australia will feel they are right

back in this. One of the key men,

are battling half-century helping to

turn things around, afterwards he

said he was surprised by the speed

of England's batting collapse.

It

was not that England have a history

of collapsing, we just knew that if

we had a breakthrough, the new

batsmen would find it tough coming

in. Leading into the tail, another

wicket, it is never an easy place to

bat.

A good day for Australia. Steve

Smith the captain is very much the

key man. 92 not out going into day

three. If he gets a big century,

Australia will still be hopeful of

securing a first innings lead and

potentially match-winning and Ashes

winning position.

Pep Guardiola is

adamant his Manchester City side or

not go all season unbeaten. City are

11 points ahead of the English

Premier League table after a record

16th consecutive win. They play

Spurs at home on Saturday.

That

belongs to Arsene Wenger. We will

lose games. Today's completely

different. Now what has happened is

an exception. That is not normal,

but we have done.

The former head of

cycling's International governing

body has told the BBC the Chris

Froome's adverse drugs test is a

disaster for the sport that could

use Team Sky or its credibility too.

Chris Froome was found to have had

double the permitted level of an

illegal drug in his system. He said

he was following doctors' advice.

The president said it would be very

hard for the Britain to avoid a ban.

A senior UN official has criticised

the rich and poor gap in America. He

says the Trump administration's

policies could make the situation

even worse. President Trump has

argued that cutting tax will result

in the US economy performing more

robust you. Let's speak to David

Willis. What are the other points

that Mr Ulster made?

This is a

scathing report on the state of

poverty in one of the richest

nations of the world. The UN special

rapid tour basically making the

point, after spending two weeks here

and talking to a local and federal

government official as well as poor

and homeless people, but the

American dream is becoming an

illusion, the land of opportunity

fast becoming a land of inequality.

He makes the point that his visit

here coincided with a change in

direction in US policy on poverty.

The Trump administration has

proposed a tax reform package making

its way through Congress. He said,

we will make the United States one

of the most unequal societies in the

world as far as wealth is concerned

and widened the gap between the

richest here and the poorest. There

is a telling phrase, talking about

this notion of American

exceptionalism, he says the US has

proved itself to be exceptional in

ways that are shockingly at odds

with its immense wealth and founding

commitment to human rights. As a

result, contrasts between private

wealth and public squalor abound.

I

suppose the counter argument of

those who support the tax cuts would

say that, if it does stimulate the

US economy, then everyone benefits

from that.

That certainly is

President Trump's contention. He

says this is a tax reform Bill aimed

at the middle classes, but critics

say that the main beneficiaries will

be business and the very wealthy. As

a result, the Democrats are refusing

en masse to support this bill which

has been going through Congress, and

indeed there were further

developments today with certain

clauses being tightened up and so

on. It is expected that legislation

to go to a vote of both houses next

week and beyond president Trump's

desk for signing before Christmas.

President Trump is not known as a

man to take criticism without

putting forward his own side of

things. Has it responded to this

report?

No response so far, but it

will not be favourable if the

response comes. We can expect

tweeting over the weekend in

response to this if it picks up

traction here on American cable news

outlets. But there is certainly

damning stuff in that report. No

question about that. Not least as

well about how the so-called social

safety net has basically been eroded

to the point where it is no longer

functioning properly and serving

those that it is intended to serve

him.

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.

The pair announced their

engagement last month.

They will marry in St George's

Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Don't forget you can get

in touch with me and some

of the team on Twitter -

I'm @BenMBland.