there is something milder to come 00:00:02,561 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 through the rest of the week. this is bbc news. the headlines. the us and israel announce what they say is a middle east peace deal, but the palestinians reject it as a ‘conspiracy‘. after 70 years, this to be the last opportunity they will ever have. i would like to say to them that the government says the chinese technology firm, huawei, can be involved in building the uk's 56 mobile network, despite strong objections from the white house. as the coronavirus infects more people in china and beyond, british citizens are warned against all but essential travel, to the whole of mainland china. the salary threshold for skilled migrants coming to britain should be lowered to just over 25 and a half tributes are paid to nicholas parsons — chair of radio 4'sjust a minute for more than 50 years — who has died at the age of 96. and at half past eleven we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers george eaton from the new statesman and baroness ros altmann, stay with us for that.

good evening. president trump has unveiled his plans for what he claims is a credible peace deal between israel and the palestinians — including a promise to keep jerusalem as israel's undivided capital. mr trump announced the proposals at the white house, alongside israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the president said the deal would work — but no palestinian officials were involved. tonight they rejected the proposals. at the heart of the conflict is a dispute over land, ever since the creation of the state of israel in 1948. the un backs the creation of a separate palestinian state, 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. our middle east editorjeremy bowen sent this from washington. president trump says he has a whole new way of making peace after years of failed negotiations giving israel the security it deserves, giving palestinians the state they crave. but, critics of what he is proposing have used words like the coercion of the palestinians to describe what he is talking about and even the words "apartheid". so, the stakes are high but the chances of things getting better are low. in the east room of the white house it felt more like a party than a press conference. applause 7? party than a press conference. applause ? ? transmit party than a press conference. applause 7? transmit 7? capnext 7? linebreak. donald trump and benjamin

netanyahu linebreak. donald trump and benjamin neta nyahu congratulated each linebreak. donald trump and benjamin netanyahu congratulated each other. their entourages clapped and whooped. as everyone knows i have done a lot for israel, moving the united states embassy tojerusalem, recognising... recognising the go on heights. —— the goal on heights. and frankie perhaps most important, getting out of the terrible iranian nuclear deal. —— frankly perhaps. and now comes a document to attempted to seal israel's victory in the centuries long conflict which the palestinians will read a surrender terms not a peace proposal. it almost exact replicates mr netanyahu's proposal. it almost exact replicates mr neta nyahu's deepest proposal. it almost exact replicates mr netanyahu's deepest police about israel's security and it is right to the land most of the rest of the world is occupied palestinian territory. for too long, far too long, the very heart of the land of

israel where our patriarchs prayed, oui’ israel where our patriarchs prayed, our prophets preached, and our kings ruled has been outrageously branded as it weekly occupied territory. well today, mr president, you are puncturing this big y. -- a big lie. in gaza tonight palestinians demonstrated. their site has been divided. opposition to the trump document could finally unite them. the palestinians were already boycotting the trump administration for its wide support for israel. the positing president mahmoud abbas wasn't a party to the proposals and we re wasn't a party to the proposals and were ejected in straightaway. translation: i say to trump and netanyahu jerusalem is not for sale. all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. they are arguing about land captured by israel in the 1967

middle east war. for a generation, international consensus has been no peaceis international consensus has been no peace is possible without a palestinian state on the land with a capital in jerusalem. today, palestinian state on the land with a capital injerusalem. today, the land is sliced up by walls, wire, and checkpoints. the trump plan wa nts to and checkpoints. the trump plan wants to throw out the oath consensus to offer a sort of state to the palestinians if they agree to restrictions approved by israel and israel has a chance to get bigger with what looks to be a green light to annex territory it wants like here in the jordan to annex territory it wants like here in thejordan valley. the timing suits the two leaders, a distraction from elections and serious charges, high crimes and misdemeanors for trom, bribery and corruption for netanyahu. this may be the deal of the century for the israeli government but it is not for the palestinians. it could create a sense of frustration, anger, and hopelessness which in such a combustible part of the world is

dangerous. jeremy bowen, bbc news, at the white house. at least 10 palestinians have been injured in clashes with israeli forces amid protests against the plan unveiled in washington. the demonstrations, in the israeli occupied west bank came as the palestinian leader, mahmud abbas, said his response to trump deal was "1,000 times no." our international correspondent orla guerin has spent the day in the west bank gauging palestinian opinions on the plan. bethlehem before sunrise. palestinians rushing to a day's work in israel, those lucky enough to have permits. movement is tightly controlled. that's life under israeli occupation. and few here today were expecting a new dawn from the white house. do you have any hope for the peace plan from donald trump? "no, no, no," says ibrahim,

a father of seven. "they don't want to give the palestinians their rights. "the plan has failed, even before it's announced". a view echoed over coffee in ramallah. that's an hour away, or triple that if there are delays at israeli checkpoints. here, we met some of the oslo generation, palestinians who grew up with the peace accords signed in 1993. they say the trump deal ends that era and it's time for a new strategy. it finally spells the death of the peace process that many assumed would lead to a palestinian state, and instead opens the door for us as a new generation to begin building a type of resistance movement based on what nelson mandela did. so this is the end of the peace process as we know it? this is the end of what i would call the illusion of a peace process.

do you think you will still be living under occupation in ten years' time, 20 years' time? everything, all israeli policies against palestinians, are happening at such high speed, that it's terrifying to think of where we are going to be five years from now. and tonight on the streets of ramallah, a vow to return to the intifada, the palestinian uprising. the crowd here was small. sound and fury, perhaps. but also, weariness and resignation. let's here some other views from others on this deal. well, khaled elgindy was as an adviser to the palestinian leadership in the west bank on peace negotiations in the 2000s. he said president trump's deal fails to serve the interests of the palestinians.

there really is nothing here for palestinians to latch onto. i think the danger for any palestinian leadership or the europeans or arab states to go to engage with the administration on the basis of this plan is quite dangerous because the rules that the peace process, the diplomatic rules, no acquisition of territory by force, israel's to occupation has to end, settlements are illegal, that there should be a sovereign genuine independent palestinian state, those have been completely thrown out the window. by the trump administration. so the trumpet meditation once palestinians to negotiate on the basis of realities on the ground, meaning what israel dictates on the ground based on of course it's pre—net power. add that the old rules that have under girded even

dps process that mr blair was involved in for more than half a century no longer apply. so that is not a process i think that really offers anything for palestinians from a diplomatic standpoint, but also politically if you look at the details of the plan, it is clear in quite vivid detail that the tram provision does not include a meaningful palestinian state, in that it meaningful palestinian state, in thatitis meaningful palestinian state, in that it is not truly sovereign, it will continue to be controlled by israel. its borders, its airspace, is entry and exit points. it would not be a contiguous state. it will be something more akin to a band to sta n be something more akin to a band to stan that is completely surrounded and controlled by israel. —— pakistan. even if they wanted to engage, there is nothing left to

engage, there is nothing left to engage on. a little earlier, i spoke to david makovsky, a fellow at the washington institute of near east policy. he formerly worked in the office of the secretary of state as an adviser on israeli—palestinian negotiations and said president trump's package could be considered if israel holds off on the annexation of settlements. i think there are some interesting ideas in it. but i do not think... i think it will be obscure when that should not be key at all. you want this package to be considered, each side take time to discuss it, to think what is possible, this is the first time ever that arab states did not reflexively line up of the palestinian side, we have never seen this before. if you are next now, you will drive those arab states into the palestinians' corner. it is self—defeating for neta nyahu, into the palestinians' corner. it is self—defeating for netanyahu, but he is on the eve of an election and has other priorities. on the arab

states, what constructive role do you think they can play? great question, i think the idea of the administration at the white house is that they would give a qualified lacing. the expectation is they will not embrace the plan, it is too heavy for them. they have read it, interesting elements here, they could say they are worthy of negotiation, a senior arab diplomat said it is a good start. now you quys said it is a good start. now you guys have got to sit down and take it from here. i think that is the best you can hope for, that would have been a worthy objective. something people in the administration were really hoping for, and now that is at risk. until the annexation piece is pushed off, i hope it is not too late, but i worry that is the takeaway message today, that you can cherry pick of the good parts right now, right up front, at the other stuff, we will see about that later.

and we'll take another look at how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the assistant editor for the new statesman, george eaton and the former conservative pensions minister baroness ros altmann. the chinese technology firm huawei has been granted a limited role in the uk's ultra—fast 5g mobile phone network. the decision, by the prime minister borisjohnson, came despite pressure from the trump administration to block huawei's involvement, alleging that it could make the uk vulnerable to surveillance or sabotage by the chinese authorities. huawei denies any involvement in espionage but ministers say it has nonetheless been designated a ‘high risk‘ supplier. our security correspondent gordon corera has more details. 5g offers the promise of a 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, for the uk, this future, at least in part, will be made in china. this may prove to be one of the most significant national security decisions of recent times. but the defence secretary told me tonight that the restrictions announced today will limit any risk from huawei. i don't think we should get so paranoid that somehow this is going to lead to big brother from china watching us. what it really means is that we have to make sure that first of all the commitments made by huawei are met but also that are world—leading, and it is a first, we are the first nation to try this, that this is enforced. but even amongst senior conservatives, not all are convinced the measures are enough. bear in mind, huawei has tens of thousands, i think as many

as 80,000 researchers. they have got more researchers than we have got soldiers, let alone gchq analysts, so it is a huge operation we are talking about here and it's a very complex exercise to stop them. but a huawei executive told me accusations of spying were groundless. it's definitely not the truth. huawei is a company over the past 30 years, there have not been any cybersecurity accidents. so we serve one third of the world's population. we have a very strong track record. the fear is huawei's role could allow beijing to spy on communications or even turn off the technology on which our lives will depend. but the government says the uk's network can be protected through a series of measures. to avoid dependency on 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 part of the infrastructure, including in 5g masts like this, which are 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 lobbied fora hard line, and one congressman, who's proposing legislation to restrict intelligence—sharing with countries who used huawei, told the bbc the uk's controls are not enough. 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's got it right, but if it hasn't, the costs may be high. gordon corera, bbc news. the foreign office has tonight warned people against ‘all but essential travel‘ to mainland china, because of the outbreak of coronovirus. british nationals currently in the worst—hit hubei province have just a few more hours to register their request to leave — japan and the us have begun evacuating citizens. tonight, officials in hubei confirmed 125 people have died in the province as a result of the virus, with thousands more infected. hong kong is under pressure to close its border with the mainland

to prevent the spread of the virus, as our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. (tx 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 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. britain today advised against all but essential travel to mainland china and the foreign office is now finalising plans to evacuate more than 200 britons who are trapped inside wuhan city. america has become the first country to begin evacuating its citizens.

for the lucky few it‘s a huge relief. very scary. i mean, we have basically been under house arrest. you can't really go anywhere. most places are just closed down. 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. government advisers on immigration have recommended

reducing the minimum salary required for skilled workers to be able to come to the uk. the hope is that after brexit, more teachers and nhs staff could be recruited from anywhere — including the eu. our home editor mark easton reports. a british patrol boat preparing to defend the uk border in dover today, as government advisers tell ministers they need to make some hard choices on who can come here after brexit. the migration advisory committee describes home office plans for an australian—style points system as a sound bite rather than a policy, and warn 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 detriment of others. there is no way to come up with a system that pleases absolutely everybody. there you go. one sector that won‘t be pleased is social care, with warnings in the report that without migrants, there

will be direct pressure from staff shortages. the advisers say the answer is to pay british people more, even if that puts the cost of care up. i think we have to be realistic with people working in social care, a really important job. they need to be paid more than they currently are. that has to be paid for in some way and i think there is no way to avoid that. the migration advisory committee, or mac, recommends reducing the salary threshold for most migrant workers from £30,000 now to £25,600. this would help recruit much—needed teachers and health staff. overall, immigration would be lower, but the country would be poorer, with gdp or economic growth expected to slow. the mac is advisory so we will respond back to the mac in due course. i think it is important to recognise as well that the british public voted for change when it came to immigration and with that, they have voted for an australian—style points—based system. ministers are being told they need to act quickly so businesses can adapt.

and a pot of tea. here in york, for instance, eu staff are the low—paid backbone of the tourism industry, worth half a billion pounds per year. the oldest street in town is the shambles. so how should this city respond? cutting immigration is not pain—free. mark easton, bbc news. a major scientific project has confirmed fears that a glacier in western 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 4 per cent 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 than a thousand miles 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 glacier, the chaos of broken ice at the front is almost 100 miles wide. hundreds of billions of tonnes of 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. —— need to map the ground beneath it. 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 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 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 year‘s work has already confirmed the scientists‘ worst fears, that the deep, warm open water circling antarctica is flowing to the coast 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 ice sheet 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 in the decades to come. one of britain‘s best—known entertainers and broadcasters — nicholas parsons — has died at the age of 96. in a long career — on radio and television — he hosted the bbc radio 4 comedy panel show ‘just a minute‘ — for more than half a century, our correspondent david sillito looks back at his long life and career. welcome tojust a minute! he was the chairman ofjust a minute on radio 4 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, but i don‘t want to just be remembered for sale of the century. 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‘d 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 those 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‘d turned to acting after training as an engineering 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‘d wanted to be a panellist, but the producers knew his skill. the good—natured straight man enduring a daily comic assault. i‘m going to ask my guest to speak on the subject that i give them and they will try to do that without hesitation, reputation or deviating from the subject... 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. the entertainer and broadcaster, nicholas parsons, who‘s died at the age of 96. now it‘s time for the

weather with louise lear hello. january 2020 for many has been pretty grey and white at times. some of us on tuesday morning were greeted to a winter wonderland, take a look at this beautiful weather watcher from for