from the certainly from the palestinian leadership. 50, that is it from us for now. in leadership. so, that is it from us for now. in the meantime, thank you for now. in the meantime, thank you for watching. can be involved in building the uk's 56 mobile network, despite strong objections from america. huawei's role, however, will be restricted — over fears the chinese could use the network to spy. to ensure the security of ag and full fibre networks, it is necessary and proportionate to place tight restrictions on the presence of any companies identified as high—risk. the risk of adopting a huawei as any pa rt of the risk of adopting a huawei as any part of a telecommunications network in any country outside of china, especially as part of a 5g network, it would come at too great of the cost. so, where does the government's decision leave the uk's

security relationship with the united states? also on the programme: the foreign office insists britons stranded in the chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak will be helped to leave. donald trump unveils his plan for middle east peace. israel is happy, but the palestinians say they won't buy it. we have a special report from west antarctica — on a scientific study measuring the alarming melt rate of a glacier the size of great britain. welcome to just a welcome tojust a minute! and the broadcasting legend nicholas parsons has died. he was 96. coming up on sportsday later in the hour on bbc news: the return of israel folau. the australian rugby star, sacked because of homophobic comments, will be playing in the super league this season.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the government has decided — despite strong objections from the white house — to maintain the chinese technology company huawei's involvement in the uk's 5g networks. there will, however, be restrictions. the firm will be banned from supplying parts to "sensitive areas" of the infrastructure known as "the core", and it will be excluded from sites near military bases and nuclear installations. but america has warned that granting huawei access to the network could allow the chinese government to spy. here's our security correspondent, gordon corera. sg 5g offers the promise of the connected future. more than just faster speeds, it will allow billions of devices to talk to each other. from self driving cars to automated factories, to smart homes filled with sensors. unlocking economic potential, but perhaps

leaving us vulnerable. and today, we learnt that in the uk commit this feature, at least in part, will be made in china. the secretary of state to move. in what may prove to be one of the most significant national security decisions of recent times, the government today said huawei would be given the green light, but with limits. to ensure the security of 5g and full fibre networks, it is both necessary and proportionate to place tight restrictions on the presence of any companies identified as high—risk. but not everyone was convinced those limits would be enough. bear in mind, huawei has tens of thousands, if in as many as 80,000 researchers. they have got more researchers than we have got researchers, —— soldiers, so it is a huge operation we are talking about and are very complex exercise to stop them. but a huawei executive told me accusations

of spying were groundless. huawei executive told me accusations of spying were groundlessm huawei executive told me accusations of spying were groundless. it is definitely not the truth. huawei is a company over the past 30 years, there are no cybersecurity accidents. so we serve one third of the world population who have a very strong track record. the fee is huawei's roll could allow beijing to spy huawei's roll could allow beijing to spy on communications or even turn off the technology on which our lives will depend —— the fear is. but the government says the uk's network can be protected through a series of measures. to avoid dependency and one company, other suppliers will be used and huawei capped at 35% of the total. the company's equipment will be banned from the most sensitive locations like near nuclear or military sites. and it will not be allowed at the heart of the network known as the core, which controls where data flows. the challenge for government is that huawei equipment is already pa rt is that huawei equipment is already part of the infrastructure.

including in 5g musts like this, already being rolled out in cities. a decision to exclude the company would mean ripping out this equipment, at enormous cost, and slowing down the drive for greater connectivity. washington has been lobbying hard for the total exclusion of huawei and one congressman told the bbc why he was proposing legislation to restrict intelligence sharing with countries who used its equipment. the risk of what we are giving up by adopting huawei as a part of, any part of our telecommunications infrastructure or even worse, allowing huawei to control the 5g networks in countries like the uk or in the united states of america is a dangerous path forward. this decision was always going to involve walking a fine line between promoting growth and protecting security. today, the government will hope it has done

enough to convince sceptics at home and abroad that it has got it right, but if it hasn't, the costs may be high. gordon corera, bbc news. our north america editor, jon sopel, is at the white house. this decision, even if huawei's role is limited, is not what the white house wanted. and it puts the uk on a collision course with the united states as a result of it. look, it is very, very rare that you get the us administration from the president, secretary of state, treasury security —— treasury secretary, national security advisor saying don't do it and britain goes ahead and does it. yes, limitations, but i am not sure the americans are that interested in the new ones. let me give you a flavour of the rib —— responses. one prominent republican, london has freed itself from brussels to give up sovereignty to beijing. three members of the senate intelligence committee, really hit the raw nerves. we don't want to

feed postbag brexit anxieties by threatening a potential us and uk trade —— free trade deal, nor would we wa nt trade —— free trade deal, nor would we want to limit uk and us intelligence sharing. but... 0k, thank you, jon sopel, at the white house. the foreign office has asked britons who want to leave wuhan — the chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak — to add their names to a list before tomorrow. today, germany and japan confirmed the first cases of people who haven't travelled to china, but who've contracted the virus. meanwhile, hong kong has announced stringent new measures to stop and spread, with more than 100 people now known to have died on the mainland. our correpsondent rupert wingfield—hayes has sent us this report. if carrie lam was aiming to calm fears in hong kong about the coronavirus, herface mask sent a different message. mrs lam is under huge pressure now to shut the border with china and, today, she

partially capitulated. "intercity services to china will be suspended," she said. "flights will be cut by half. ferries will also be stopped." by thursday morning, the number of people crossing into hong kong from mainland china behind me here should be dramatically reduced. there will be no more ferries, no more trains and no more mainland tourists. it is a very dramatic move that is being made by the hong kong government, but people here have very painful memories of what happened with the sars virus back in 2003 and they now fear the same, or something worse, happening again. doctors like this are leading the cause here for a complete border shutdown. they fear hong kong's hospitals could be quickly overwhelmed. we have to do this now and we have to do this

in a very decisive manner, before we have more knowledge about the disease, more knowledge about the virus, how long is the incubation period, what can we do to treat these patients? from the epicentre of the viral outbreak, more extraordinary pictures today. wuhan is the seventh largest city in china, with a population larger than london. it is not the government that has done this, it is fear. more than 200 britons trapped in wuhan are calling on the government to rescue them. america is already evacuating its citizens, including british—born ian thomson, who videoed his escape to the airport. i think if the us can manage to do it, i think the british government should at least be able to do the same thing for the people out here. there are now signs of panic—buying in other parts of china. these pictures are from beijing. with many new cases of infection being confirmed outside wuhan, anxiety about the virus is spreading too. rupert wingfield—hayes,

bbc news, in hong kong. the grenfell tower public inquiry has been shown emails suggesting that companies directly involved in the building's refurbishment knew the cladding they'd specified would fail in the event of a fire. the evidence was highlighted by the firm celotex, which manufactured the insulation panels used in the work, as it defended suggestions it hadn't made clear the product would burn. 72 people died in the blaze injune 2017. here's tom symonds. the morning after the worst fire in british peacetime history. already, the question is being asked, why did it spread so fast? the inquiry‘s answer so far — the grey cladding panels were largely to blame. good morning, everyone, welcome to today's hearing. the key question for the next phase is why they were used. craig orr qc represents celotex. celotex's sole role was as a manufacturer and supplier of insulation products. today, he revealed e—mails

about the cladding from 27 months before the fire. in one, the technical manager of harley facades, which designed the cladding, said it would be gone rather quickly in a fire. the same month, the fire consultant exova writes: if there were flames, this would cause zinc cladding to fail. an architect response, thanks, this was my point as well. metal cladding always burns and falls off. none of the individuals involved in that march 2015 e—mail exchange have yet sought to explain how their knowledge that the cladding would fail in the event of a fire with externalflaming can be reconciled with their responsibilities. now, who was responsible and for what are two other key questions for this inquiry. and those e—mails will be closely scrutinised in later hearings. but the bereaved and survivors are increasingly angry

at the evidence they're hearing. karim mussilhy lost his uncle. for people to sit there and see that their families have been taken away because of the absolute incompetence of these fools, from all of these different organisations, it's heartbreaking, it's heartbreaking. tomorrow, the inquiry will hear from the royal borough of kensington and chelsea which, unlike the companies, has admitted failings by its building inspectors. i look forward to seeing you all then. tom symonds, bbc news, at the grenfell tower inquiry. government advisors on immigration have recommended cutting a controversial salary threshold for skilled workers to be able to come to the uk. the hope is more teachers and nhs staff could be recruited after brexit, from anywhere, including the eu. a report by the migration advisory committee says the minimum salary

should be reduced from £30,000 to £25,600. here's our home editor, mark easton. government advisers tell ministers they need to make hard choices on who can come here after brexit. the migration advisory committee describes plans for an australian style points system as a sound bite rather than a policy and warned there are some unavoidable and difficult trade—offs ahead. there are some unavoidable and difficult trade-offs ahead. any changes to who is allowed or not allowed to come to the uk is inevitably going to be to the advantage of some sectors and some areas, but to the disadvantage of others. and there is no way to come up others. and there is no way to come up with a system that pleases absolutely everybody. one sector that won't be pleased social care with warnings in the report that without migrants, there would be direct pressure from staff shortages. the advisers say the a nswer shortages. the advisers say the answer is to pay british people more, even if that puts the cost of ca re more, even if that puts the cost of care up. i think we have to be realistic that people are working in social care, a really importantjob, they need to be paid more than they

currently are. and that has to be paid for in some way. and i think there is no way to avoid that. the migration advisory committee recommends reducing the salary threshold for most migrant workers from £30,000 now to £25,600, to help recruit much—needed teaches and health stuff. overall, immigration would be lower, but the country would be lower, but the country would be lower, but the country would be poorer with gdp or economic growth expected to slow. britain wa nts a growth expected to slow. britain wants a new immigration system in place for when freedom of movement from the european union ends at the end of this year. the government's advisers warned ministers need to be clear about their plans and avoid m ista kes clear about their plans and avoid mistakes in the past. the mac is advisory and we will respond back to that mac. it is important to recognise the british public voted for change when it came to immigration and with that, they had voted for an australian style points based system. ministers are being told they need to act quickly, so businesses can adapt. here in york,

for instance, eu staff at the low paid backbone of a tourism industry with half £1 billion a year. so how should this city respond? cutting immigration is not paying —— is not pain—free. mark easton, bbc news. the time is 6:15pm. our top story this evening. the government says the chinese technology firm, huawei, can be involved in building the uk's 5g mobile network, despite strong objections from america. still to come: after a showbiz career spanning 70 years, tributes are paid to the veteran broadcaster nicholas parsons who's died at the age of 96. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, the match of the topurnament. roger federer saves seven match points to reach the australian open semi—finals. he says he now believes in miracles.

a major scientific project has confirmed fears that a glacier in west antarctica, which is the size of great britain, is disappearing more quickly than previously thought, due to warmer ocean waters. the melting of the thwaites glacier, already accounts for a% of the rise in global sea levels, so it's crucial to understand the mechanics of its transformation. until now, no—one has attempted a large—scale scientific survey on the remote glacier itself, which is more tham 1,000 from the nearest research station. our chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt and camera operatorjemma cox, travelled across west antarctica, with a team of scientists, trying to understand how the glacier is changing. they call this the doomsday iglesia, the chaos of broken ice at the front is almost 100 miles wide —— glacier. hundreds of billions of tonnes of melt water is pouring into the sea. thwa ites melt water is pouring into the sea. thwaites glacier sits at the heart of the vast basin of ice that is west antarctica and it is the size

of britain. scientists need to map the ground are needed. next interval. thwaites glacier contains enough water to raise the world sea level by half a metre. the west antarctic ice sheet contains three metres more, enough to swamp many of the great cities of the world. this ice here is very accessible to change, so if we are thinking about what the sea level will look like in ten years, this glacier is the place to be and this is the location to be asking the questions at. we are standing right on it. but it is one of the most remote places on earth, the stormiest part of the stormiest continent, only and four people have ever been here before. it takes five weeks just to get the science teams and their equipment to the front of the glacier. this is an historic moment, the first time anyone has tried to drill down through this glacier. beneath the 600 metres of

ice below me is the most important point of all, the point at which the ice meets the ocean water. it is difficult work, but deploying instruments under the ice is the only way to begin to understand the processes at work here and to make accurate predictions of how sea levels will rise in the future. this isa levels will rise in the future. this is a world first, the first time anyone has seen the place where this glacier goes afloat, the point where it begins to melt. it is crazy. we are there, we are there. you can see the water, the water column and the ice coming down and the sea flow, and there is this huge rush of energy and the bed of a glacier is a place we have never been particularly here. and thwaites glacier really matters, because it's so vulnerable. strip away the ice and most of this part of the continent would be under water. this yea rs continent would be under water. this years work has already confirmed the scientists were spheres, that the

deep, warm open water circling antarctica is flowing to the coast —— worst fears. because the sea bed slopes downwards, as the ice melts, it will expose more and more ice to that water. that means the glacier could begin to retreat increasingly rapidly, but how quickly? and is the big unknown and has so little understanding about the future contribution to the ic —— sheet that it will make to the sea level that it will make to the sea level that it sometimes left out of estimates going into the future. it takes huge resources to do science at the end of the earth, but we need to understand what is happening here if we are to protect ourselves as the worlds oceans rise and the decades —— in the decades to come.

in the last hour, president trump has unveiled his plans to secure peace between israel and the palestinians. he announced the proposals at the white house, alongside the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. the plans involve redrawing the map in the west bank. but there were no palestinian representatives involved, and they've already rejected the plans. at the heart of the conflict is a dispute over land — ever since the creation of the state of israel, in 19a8. the un backs the creation of a palestinian state alongside israel, but israeli west bank settlements, on land captured in 1967, have complicated that so—called two—state solution. israel also captured the eastern half ofjerusalem, which the palestinians want as the capital of a future state. however, mr trump says his plan meansjerusalem will be the capital. our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, reports from washington. president trump calls it the deal of the century. benjamin netanyahu said it was an historic day for israel and one of the most important days

of his life. mr trump has absorbed the israeli agenda and started with one of its top priorities. under this vision, jerusalem will remain israel's undivided, very important, undivided capital. benjamin netanyahu undivided capital. benjamin neta nyahu compared this undivided capital. benjamin netanyahu compared this day to israel's independence day in 19a8. for too long, far too long, the very heart of the land of israel, where out heart of the land of israel, where our patriarchs parade, our profits breached and our kings ruled —— profits breached has been outrageously branded as illegally occupied territory. well, today, mr president, you are puncturing this big live. this offer of a palestinian state does not go anywhere near what the palestinians

want. it is hedged with conditions no palestinian leader could accept. jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict, wholly to christians, dues and muslims —— holyto christians, jews and muslims. palestinians have been organising protests against the trump plan. their internationally recognised leaders aren't part of any talks. they're boycotting the trump administration because it's adopted so much of israel's agenda. the palestinians have pushed for a sovereign, independent state, with a capital injerusalem. it is hard to see how the trump deal will persuade them to give that hope up. nearly two years ago, the us said jerusalem was off the table, when it moved its embassy there from tel aviv, accepting israel's argument thatjerusalem is its indivisible capital. more than 50 palestinian protesters were shot dead by the israeli army on the gaza border that day. many palestinians in gaza and elsewhere are refugees from families who fled, or were driven out of the land that became israel in 19a8.

they want the right of return. israel does not want to grant it. since the oslo accords were signed at the white house in 1993, the international consensus has been that peace is only possible if a sovereign palestinian state is established alongside israel. the trump plan seems designed to create a new consensus. the timing of this announcement looks tailored to the short—term needs of the two leaders. they're both facing elections — and serious charges. high crimes and misdemeanours for trump, bribery and corruption for netanyahu. the stakes are high, the chances of success are low. jeremy bowen, bbc news, washington. our middle east correspondent, orla guerin, is in the palestinian city of ramallah, on the west bank.

just sum up the view of this deal from where you are. well, the palestinian leadership is still meeting now in emergency session but we know it's meeting now in emergency session but we know its view on this proposal, even before president trump started speaking, outlining the details, a palestinian leaders were saying that this was dead on arrival. consider the choreography. we have the palestinian president, mahmoud bass, right here and he was not invited to the white house for the unveiling of the white house for the unveiling of the plan, unlike his honour —— israeli counterpart. in recent days he would not even take a phone call from president trump so it tells you what relations are like. speaking to people here today both inside the palestinian leadership and outside, the strong view is that if this is a deal, it is a deal that has been cooked up between the israelis and the americans. it is not a deal that is going to be done between the israelis and palestinians. we have had some small scale protests here

tonight and calls for more demonstrations tomorrow and there is anger on the streets but i would also say there is a sense of resignation and also a sense that protest, big or small, will not change this and this is one more time where the israelis will make gains and the palestinians suffer losses. thank you for that. the veteran broadcaster, nicholas parsons, has died at the age of 96, after a short illness. he became a household name with the television game show sale of the century in the 19705, but perhaps was best known for hosting the radio a comedy show ‘just a minute' for more than 50 years. our arts correspondent, david sillito, looks back at his life. welcome tojust a minute! he was the chairman ofjust a minute on radio a for more than 50 years. and now, from norwich... and he was the quizmaster on sale of the century for 12 years. hello. and welcome to the sale of the century. it's the quiz of the week.

i am proud of the fact that i helped create a huge success. you don't buck success. i'm proud of that fact. i want to see your passport, please. indeed, there was a lot more to nicholas parsons. what is the purpose of your visit to england? he had appeared in more than 20 films. i've come to find a husband. and in the ‘60s, he'd become a household name as the straight man to the comedian, arthur haynes. i'm sorry, vicar. i thought it was carol singers. merry christmas. he could bring out the funniness in anybody, but unselfishly, always feeding them. he knew he could get something out of them. and he could do that immaculately. he had turned to acting after training as an engineer in a clyde shipyard. do you think you could try and keep quiet? on camera, he was a master of smooth talking charm, a mask for his struggles growing up with dyslexia and a pronounced stammer. and then in 1967, he was made presenter ofjust a minute.

he had wanted to be a panellist, but the producers knew his skill. the good—natured straight man enduring a daily comic assault. he truly was a legend when it comes to radio and to that programme and to be doing what he did in his 90s, with such charm and wit and flair, i think, is truly amazing. and as the minute waltz fades away, once more it is my pleasure to welcome our many listeners... more than 50 years later, he was still in charge, never regretting that day more than 70 years ago when he swapped engineering for showbusiness. nicholas parsons, who has died at the age of 96. time for a look at the weather, and susan's here. good evening. we've seen lots of showers across the uk today and for many it was a case of some heavy downpours of rain and for some though, some fun to be had and there

was some significant show —— no across scotland in this chap having across scotland in this chap having a whale of a time in argyll and bute, but not so much fun when the snow showers if you're travelling across southern or central scotland in the next few hours or potentially first thing tomorrow as they could leave a legacy of ice as well. and quite a bit of snow to come from the showers and for the southwest islands may be five or eight centimetres on the highest ground overnight. you will notice things calm down in the south and it is windy overnight with quite a lot of cold airand in windy overnight with quite a lot of cold air and in rural spots, temperatures around freezing or below so ice possibly anywhere first thing tomorrow but especially after any showers through the evening and overnight but early sunshine for england and wales, still wintry showers across the north went to scotla nd showers across the north went to scotland and they will fade in the morning —— northwest. cloud then pours into the west of the uk along with milder air but heavy and persistent rain for the north of northern ireland, scotland, snow initially as the symptom bumps in and across northern england but up to ten 11 degrees crossing then and

wales and a much warmer day for scotla nd wales and a much warmer day for scotland with the threat of snowfall. warmer because we are behind the weather front that is bringing the rain and for thursday, all of us into the warm air and a question about what this will do to the far south of the uk on thursday as it could bring windy weather into southern coastal counties and more persistent rain. it looks like we are in line for heavier rain in the north west of scotland but generally on thursday a lot of dry weather between the systems and quite a bit of cloud around but the south—westerly wind takes us from today into milder conditions once again. clive. now for the news where you are. have a good evening.

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