22/12/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Kasia Madera.

Our top stories.

The UN Security Council unanimously

backs tougher sanctions

against North Korea,

in response to its recent

ballistic missile tests.

Two former Fifa bosses have been

found guilty by a court in New York

of accepting millions

of dollars in bribes.

Clashes have broken out

in the West Bank between Israeli

troops and Palestinians protesting

against Donald Trump's decision

to recognise Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

We'll hear about the fully-automated

computer system that can trap sexual

predators from thousands of miles

away.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

Within the hour, the United Nations

Security Council has

passed tough new sanctions

on North Korea that will cut oil

supplies vital for Pyongyang's

missile and nuclear programs.

We can look at some images from New

York where a short time ago, with

China's backing, the council

unanimously adopted this US draft

resolution that forces the

repatriation of North Korean workers

abroad, cutting off another revenue

stream of Kim Jong-un's regime.

Here's what the US ambassador

to the UN, Nikki Haley had

to say a short time ago.

Today, for the tenth time,

this council stands united

against the North Korean regime that

rejects the pursuit of peace.

The Kim regime continues to defy

the resolutions of this council,

the norms of civilised behaviour

and the patience of

the international community.

Their arrogance and hostility

to anything productive

has set their country

on a destructive path.

That was Nikki Haley.

The BBC's UN reporter Nada Tawfik

joins me from New York.

This just coming through over the

last hour. Interesting that now we

finally see China supporting this.

They have taken what Rex Tillerson,

his critique his accusation that

they weren't committed, to heart.

Yeah, absolutely, as you say, Rex

Tillerson said he wanted to see

this, president Trump even called

President Xi to say he wanted oil

supplies cut off and we've seen the

Security Council, after tougher

sanctions, getting to this point. To

give a sense of how much this will

hurt Pyongyang, in 2016 according to

the US, beyond Yang got 4.5 million

barrels of refined petroleum. Now

they will get 500,000 barrels, a

nearly 90% cut to what is a lifeline

for Kim Jong-un's struggling economy

and a lifeline, a vital part of his

nuclear missile programme. Diplomats

hope that if this doesn't, as past

sanctions haven't, convince Kim

Jong-un two abandon his nuclear

programme, it will hurt his

credibility to conduct tests.

Unanimous at the Security Council

with the US ambassador Nikki Haley

saying they will further put

pressure on Pyongyang if he

continues to defy resolutions.

Let's

dissect the measures. It's not just

oil, what else is involved?

Yeah,

absolutely, this actually tells

countries, especially China and

Russia, who are hosting 100,000

North Korean guest workers, tells

these countries that they have 24

months to pull them out. The UN has

described these workers as toiling

in slave like conditions and the

North Korean regime heavily taxes

them, so they take most of their

earnings. That is trying to cut off

that source of revenue. Also trying

to close loopholes, allowing

countries to seize ships which they

think are carrying illicit cargo

from North Korea. And it toughens

some of the major exports from North

Korea that passed resolutions that

out. A further ban on textiles and

coal for example, two important

parts of North Korea's economy.

Thank you for joining us.

The vote coming in over the last

hour. Interesting that China voted

to support it.

Within the past half-hour

a mix of guilty and not

guilty verdicts have been

handed down to three former Fifa

officials accused of accepting

millions of dollars in bribes.

The trial in New York City was part

of a United States investigation

into corruption at the football

governing body.

Our sports correspondent

Richard Conway joins me from outside

the court in Brooklyn,

New York.

So, we have partial verdicts,

Richard?

That's right, the jury have

deliberated for the sixth

day-to-day. It came back into court

a short time after 1pm local time to

tell the judge that they have

partial verdicts on the defendants.

What they came back with after some

lengthy legal argument is that Juan

Angel Napout, the former head of the

South American football

Confederation, he's guilty on three

out of five corruption charges that

he faced. Jose Maria Marin, the

former head of Brazilian football

and another big figure within world

football, has been found guilty on

six out of the seven counts he

faced, relating to charges such as

wire fraud, marketeering, conspiracy

and money-laundering. The one count

against Manuel Burga, the head of

the per ruby and FAA, is still

undecided and the jury will have two

comeback and continue deliberations

against Manuel Burga -- wrote the FA

of Baru. -- the Football Association

of Peru. US prosecutors have pursued

this for close to two and a half

years following their action that

launched in May, 2015. Post dramatic

dawn raids we saw in Zurich against

Fifa officials in a 5-star Hotel,

that's where this started, 42 people

indicted. These two men have pleaded

not guilty, taking it to court and

now we have partial verdicts finding

two guilty on a number of those

counts.

As you say we expect the

final decision on Tuesday for the

final count. You follow this for a

long time, in terms of Fifa and the

future, can this verdict, can you

put it into context?

Fifa was

blindsided in May, 2015 when the

raids happened. I was sat in the

Hotel early in the morning and

watching Jose Maria Marin, the

former head of Brazilian football,

being led away by Swiss authorities

on behalf of their American

counterparts. He was extradited to

New York and there was shock through

the system that finally, what many

had suspected had been going on in

the game, had caught up with it. US

authorities pursued charges against

a number of those people, 42. 24 in

total have played guilty, hoping to

receive more lenient sentences in

return for cooperating. Over the

last five weeks many have been in

this court room in Brooklyn to give

evidence against the three men. That

shows the lengths and depths this

has gone too. Fifa says this has

nothing to do with them, it is about

South American contracts, TV rights,

it was only because these men were

then those of the organisation that

we've been dragged into it. Some say

that the tone was set at the top and

this has been allowed to flourish.

Prosecutors will be quietly

satisfied that they've managed to

get those convictions on a number of

key charges against two men who will

return to court next week to see if

the jury can reach a decision on the

final count, against Manuel Burga.

Thank you for joining us.

It's a growing problem in countries

like the Philippines -

children put to work in front

of webcams, forced to perform sex

shows for paedophiles watching

on the other side of the world.

In 2013, a Dutch NGO tried to find

out how big the problem was,

by using the fake online profile

of a ten-year-old Filipina girl,

they called her Sweetie.

More than 1,000 men

offered her money.

Sweetie's been retired

but the team behind her

are launching a new project,

this time targeting individual

Angus Crawford reports.

Online, undercover,

searching chat rooms,

looking for predators.

Sweetie is back.

Always it's about sex.

And always it's about adults

who want to talk about sex.

Look, he's British, like many

others, and remember

they are talking to what they think

is an 11-year-old girl.

Remember this?

I'm not real.

The computer-generated...

Back then, Sweetie needed human

operators to type her chats online.

The new version is different.

The popping up.

Fully automated, she can

now handle hundreds

of conversations at the same time.

So you could be getting

the information on thousands of men?

There is no end.

Sweetie's avatar has been retired

and replaced by two new ones,

sometimes being shown

to predators via webcam.

But we can't show you or they'd

be no use any more.

They invite them into their house,

which is the cybersex den...

So, why is this new campaign?

Here's why.

In the Philippines more and more

children are being forced to sell

sex to foreigners via webcam.

Five people were arrested

and there were more than 600 foreign

customers in the network.

He has turned on his camera...

Sweetie first showed us

the scale of the problem.

Now the team is going on the

offensive against men like this.

He's naked and he thinks

he knows you're just 12.

Exactly.

And he wants you...

To be naked...

To turn on your camera...

Be naked, as well.

I think he will...

Take off his trousers.

Their details could be

passed to the police.

And they'll get a nasty shock.

An automatic message sent

straight to their inbox.

That will have a major

impact on their behaviour.

We know who you are,

we know where you are,

we know what you want, stop this.

Sweetie's job was to raise

awareness, not catch criminals.

This man, Australian Scott Hanson,

was one of the few to be prosecuted.

But in many countries this kind

of evidence doesn't count.

Some police forces support

the project, others don't.

But the Sweetie team go on,

searching chat rooms,

turning the same technology used

to exploit children back against

the predators who seek them out.

Angus Crawford, BBC News.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

Donald Trump has signed

a $1.5 trillion tax bill into law,

before heading to his Florida

resort for Christmas.

The legislation cuts the corporate

rate of tax from 35% to 21%

and includes funds

for missile defence.

It's the biggest overhaul to the US

tax system in decades.

The price of Bitcoin has plummeted

by 30% in just one day -

marking the worst week

for the cryptocurrency since 2013.

It follows days of high-profile

security problems at two exchanges -

as well as stark warnings

from global regulators

about the risks posed

by cryptocurrencies.

The Ugandan army has attacked

rebel camps in the east

of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The rebel groups have set up camps

on the border of Uganda.

The rebel group has been blamed

for a recent deadly attack on UN

peacekeepers in the DRC.

The fourth election in as many years

in the Spanish region of Catalonia

has demonstrated just how divided

the region remains.

The party that won the most

votes doesn't support

independence for Catalonia -

but put together the separatist

parties are able to

form a slim majority.

The sacked pro-independence

Catalan leader, Carles

Puigdemont, has called

on the Spanish prime minister

to negotiate a political solution.

James Reynolds reports.

Catalonia's pro-independence voters

enjoyed their victory.

And now they want their power back.

Starting with the return

from exile of their deposed

leader, Carles Puigdemont.

But he can't just fly

back from Belgium.

He faces arrest in Spain

on the charge of rebellion.

So, from Brussels this afternoon,

Mr Puigdemont had a message

for Spain: let's talk.

We want to be an independent state.

This is the wish of

the Catalan people.

The next step is to talk

with President Mariano Rajoy.

We need to find new ways,

the political solution

for our crisis between the Spanish

state and Catalonia.

That offer doesn't

interest Spain's leader.

This afternoon, Mariano Rajoy made

it clear, if Carles Puigdemont isn't

here, he can't talk to him.

TRANSLATION:

I will have to talk

with the person who actually

occupies that office of president

of the Catalan regional government.

For this to happen, they need

to take up their seat and be

in a position to talk with me.

The crisis began months ago when a

pro-independence administration

faced off against the government in

Madrid.

There followed months

of argument, protest,

debate, emergency measures,

and then the vote.

Now, Catalans find that they are

right back to where they were

when the crisis began.

Nobody has really changed sides.

For now, the local government

headquarters here awaits

its permanent occupant.

The man who won this election can't

come to take up his old job.

The law says that all sides

now have until April

to decide what to do next.

James Reynolds, BBC News, Barcelona.

More protests today against

America's recognition of Jerusalem

as the capital of Israel.

Health officials say two

Palestinians have been killed

in clashes with Israeli security

forces in the West Bank and Gaza.

It comes after yesterday's decisive

vote by the UN General Assembly

rejecting America's decision.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud

Abbas says the Palestinians

will reject any plan for peace put

forward by America.

Sebastian Usher, the Middle

East Editor for the BBC

World Service, join us.

Two people have lost their lives in

protest. The protests increasing in

intensity?

I don't think they are

increasing that noticeably. This is

the third Friday, the traditional

day of protest in the Arab world,

days of rage, as they have been

called. I think ten Palestinians

have been killed hence they started.

Two more today in Gaza. Palestinians

say that the clashes have spread

more widely, almost in every part of

Gaza and the Palestinian territories

in the West Bank. The Israelis say

that the numbers have gone down.

They are fierce clashes taking

place. Israeli forces are clearly

using live ammunition which is why

we are having these deaths. Many

other Palestinian youths have been

wounded. This is going on, it isn't

going down in intensity but it

hasn't gone beyond where we seen it

already, getting to the stage where

Hamas, who controlled Gaza, called

for when they said there should be

an intifada. We've been watching,

especially a day after the UN vote,

which may have given fresh momentum.

We saw the vote, Mahmoud Bass today

saying he will reject any peace plan

put forward by the Americans. What

peace plan is he talking about?

There is a peace plan the Trump

administration have been talking

about, led by the President's

son-in-law, Jared Kushner who was

talking about it a few weeks ago,

not giving the details away but

saying he and the other three people

involved have been out across the

region listening to all sides. I

think although we haven't had

details, what is suggested is that

this will be a take it or leave it

to deal that will be

all-encompassing and they are hoping

that there will be something for

everybody, people are going to

reject bits, the Palestinians and

Israelis, but they may take most of

it because it feels fit gives them

enough. It is ambitious. They say

they are businessmen, the status quo

hasn't worked, peace talks have been

in stalemate, so what is to lose?

The Palestinian President Mahmoud

Abbas made his strongest statement

saying that Palestinians won't get

involved in the peace plan. Maybe

the peace plan to some extent wasn't

going to involve them much in the

first place, which would be a huge

stumbling block because it can't

happen without their involvement.

The other question, Mahmoud Abbas

reiterated that he no longer

believes that the US is an honest

broker. The question is, who else is

going to step in. He spoke with

Emmanuel Macron, the French

president, who has taken a lead in

Middle Eastern issues but he

extensively said that they won't

take the role, they will see what

happens with the US. There isn't any

other player, even if the

Palestinians have decided officially

what they long decided ago at a

street level, that the Americans

aren't unbiased, who else do they go

to?

Thank you for joining us.

The first visit by a British foreign

minister to Moscow for five years

has ended in public disagreement.

Boris Johnson accused Russia

of meddling in the UK election

and Brexit referendum.

His Russian counterpart,

foreign minister Sergei Lavrov,

responded by accusing the UK

of fabricating

allegations against it.

Our diplomatic correspondent

James Robbins reports from Moscow.

Handshakes can be deceptive.

True, this Foreign Secretary has

broken a five-year British boycott

of visits to Moscow.

But when Russia's Sergei

Lavrov says he wants

a return to business as usual,

Boris Johnson says that impossible.

As you rightly say,

Sergei, things are

not easy between us at the moment.

The talks aired

the grievances on both

sides and examined space for

limited cooperation,

by supporting the Iran

nuclear deal together,

and opposing the nuclear

threat from North Korea.

But deep disagreements remain.

At their joint news

conference, that was stark.

For all the attempts

at banter, there was a

seriousness when Sergei Lavrov

tried to brush off

British allegations of Russian

meddling in foreign elections.

TRANSLATION:

My neighbour, Boris

Johnson, recently stated he had no

evidence that Russia medelled

in the referendum on the withdrawal

of Britain from the European Union.

Not successfully.

Not successfully,

I think is the word.

Not successfully is the word

that I think you need to

introduce.

TRANSLATION:

You see?

He is scared if he doesn't

disagree with me, his

reputation will be ruined

in the media at home.

I...

Sergei, it's your reputation

I'm worried about.

But this was dark, serious humour.

When Boris Johnson was asked if he

trusted Russia's foreign minister,

he tried to make light of that.

You know, it's a measure of my trust

that as soon as I got into this

excellent Foreign Ministry,

I immediately handed my coat, my

hat, my gloves and indeed everything

that was in my pockets,

secret or otherwise,

to Sergei Lavrov.

TRANSLATION:

I can say there

was nothing in the pockets of Boris'

coat.

So how did relations with Russia

go from bad to worse?

Russia's use of radioactive

poison to murder

Alexander Litvinenko in the middle

of London started the slide.

Three years ago,

Russia's annexation of

Crimea and interference in Ukraine

provoked tough EU sanctions strongly

backed by Britain.

Then last month, Theresa May

accused Russia of cyber

espionage and meddling

in the elections.

Britain says it has cyber weaponry

to retaliate if attacks get

worse.

So, striding across Red Square,

the Foreign Secretary was no

mere tourist.

He was nodding to Russia's

historic greatness, while

pressing for a radical

change of direction.

Coming here to Red Square,

Boris Johnson insists he

loves Russia.

He points to his name,

the fact he has Russian ancestry.

What he doesn't love

is the present Russian government.

So, paying his tribute

at the tomb of Russia's

unknown soldier had

a particular symbolism.

Britain and Russia fought together

against Hitler as allies.

Restoring that closeness now

seems a long way off.

A mourn our website. -- a lot more

on our website.

After sexual harassment allegations

against Kevin Spacey

became public in October,

Netflix announced he would not be

involved in future seasons

of the television show

House of Cards.

But film director Ridley Scott faced

a more complicated problem.

His new film, All the Money

in the World, starred Kevin Spacey

in the role of oil

tycoon John Paul Getty.

It had been due for release today.

Here's a clip from

the original trailer.

Mr Getty!

Mr Getty, how much would

you pay to release your grandson

if not $70 million?

Nothing.

# It's the time of the

season for loving...#

After those allegations came

to light, the decision was made

to replace Kevin Spacey

with Christopher Plummer.

Just a warning - these pictures

contain flash photography.

A number of key scenes had to be

re-shot and the film

was re-edited at a rumoured

cost of $10 million.

It comes out on Christmas -

remarkably, that's just three days

after the original release date.

The BBC reached out to one

entertainment industry critic

to gauge their reaction to the film

and whether the decision to recast

Spacey's role was the right one.

It works just on the basic

"Did they pull it off?"

level.

I guess you'd call it

a Spacey-ectomy, you know,

which I would define as the surgical

removal of a disgraced actor

from an already finished film.

Two scenes in with Christopher

Plummer in the role,

you relax right into it

and it's clear that just

on a technical and narrative level,

they've completely pulled it off.

You need to pay

the ransom, Mr Getty.

I do not have the money to spare.

No one has ever been richer

than you are at this moment.

What would it take

for you to feel secure?

More.

Yeah, the movie is not terrific.

It's not top shelf Ridley Scott,

but I would say it's a good,

solid telling of this story.

They have some competition

from the Danny Boyle FX

miniseries next month,

so they did get to market first.

This was a special case of deciding,

"Well, do we simply just cash

out and call it a day,

"or do we actually try

to salvage this thing?"

And on that level, even though

the story actually belongs

to Gail Harris, in this telling

played by Michelle Williams,

and she's good, on that

level, Plummer absolutely

was the right choice.

And some say he was actually

Scott's first choice.

It's the kind of notoriety

and scandal that will not help

you at the box office,

and I think what you're getting,

just on an artistic level,

is, Ridley Scott has said that

Christopher Plummer brings

a warmer and more empathetic

quality to the role.

The movie lacks a little bit of...

There's no sense of humour

in this film at all,

and I think Kevin Spacey would have

brought a sneaky sense of humour

because that's his style.

But I think in the end,

it was a good trade.

I don't know.

We don't know where it ended yet.

I feel like we're still

midstream on all of it.

We'll have to see it