02/12/2011 BBC News at Ten

Saving the eurozone, Germany's plan to change existing treaties and

impose new controls over tax and spending. Chancellor Merkel also

wants sanctions for countries that fail to stick within their budgets.

The Prime Minister meets his French counterpart to discuss their

preferred solutions. The bottom line for me is what is in the

interests of the UK and how can I promote and defend that? Will be

looking at the challenges for Europe's leaders ahead of next

week's summit. Inside the ransack British Embassy

in Iran. The ambassador describes when protesters broke into the

building. It was the fire and smoke coming up to the third floor which

forced us out. Boozing Britain, how young people

are on course for an epidemic of alcoholic liver disease.

Relief for England in the Euro 2012 draw, but they will have to face

France. And a new warning on the impact of

climate change from the nation's best-loved natural history

broadcaster. We know these changes are happening, the evidence is

incontrovertible. As far as we can see ahead, if they go one, it will

have catastrophic effects. In sport, we will have more

reaction to that draw and what it means for England as well as the

Good evening. Europe needs to change its current treaties or

create new ones have to solve the debt crisis, according to the

German consul or -- Chancellor. She said there's needs to be tougher

controls over tax and spending across the eurozone to force

countries to stick within their budgets and they should be

sanctions for those that don't. It is part of the attempt to find a

lasting solution to the debt crisis and will be discussed at an EU

summit next week. Today the Prime Minister went to Paris to hold

talks with the French President and promised to protect British

At this critical time, here is the European Central Bank celebrating

the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the euro bank note.

In the German parliament today, Angela Merkel was looking for a

plan that would save the single currency. Her ambitious idea is the

eurozone countries to be bound more closely together with tough rules

to prevent government overspending. TRANSLATION: Anybody who just a few

months ago would have said we were introducing very serious steps for

a European stability Union, a fiscal union, would have been

considered crazy. But she said that fixing the crisis was a process

that would take years. At the heart of the latest plan devised by

Angela Merkel is turning the eurozone into what is called a

fiscal union with tighter control over tax and spending. There would

be enforceable sanctions against those who broke the rules, with

defender countries possibly being taken to the European Court of

Justice. National budgets could even be vetoed. Of course this is

difficult to swallow for any politician and any sovereign

country, but the situation at the moment is such that countries can't

really bargain for very much, they need to agree with whatever is on

the table in order for this crisis to be resolved because otherwise

to be resolved because otherwise the consequences will be dire.

Angela Merkel's view, these plans Angela Merkel's view, these plans

will require changes to the EU treaties. But that is controversial.

In the past, haggling over treaties such as Lisbon took years and

involved some countries holding referenda. What is not clear is

whether these latest proposals to alter the treaties will be limited

or substantial. Treaty changes pose a big dilemma for Britain. Today

the Prime Minister was in Paris visiting President Sarkozy, who is

also backing treaty change. David Cameron neither wants nor does he

see the need to change the treaties. The British position is to wait

until it is clear what the final proposal will be. If there is

treated change, I will make sure we further protect and enhance

Britain's interests. We will see what happens next Friday, but the

bottom line for me is what is in the interests of the UK.

dilemma is that a major treaty change would require British

support and many of his backbenchers would see that as an

opportunity to get back powers from Brussels. We have to say, you have

proposed the renegotiation of the European treaties, we are not going

to accept those on your terms. report builds bridges. So the

European Central Bank may be celebrating 10 years of euro notes

and coins. What the financial markets will want to know is how

long it will take for these latest plans to have impact.

A fairly gloomy warning from Chancellor Merkel that it could

take years to resolve this, but the markets today responded very

encouragingly. And absolutely. I think what the markets of doing his

spying what they are calling a grand bargain. In the long term,

they now begin to see that there will be a controller the spending

and if countries break the rules, there probably will be sanctions

against them. What they are hoping is that this will encourage the

European Central Bank in the short term to act more boldly, more

aggressively, to move into the markets and so low that borrowing

costs for those countries in trouble. But I have to tell you, a

lot of these plans, like substance and detail, and they will be a lot

of bargaining over the weekend. The British ambassador to Iran have

spoken for the first time about the moment when the embassy compounds

in Tehran were overrun by protesters. Dominic Chilcot said he

had to lock himself in a safe room and had no idea how it would end.

The attacks on Tuesday caused diplomatic out rage with Britain

closing the embassy and expelling On Tuesday afternoon, protesters

stormed into the British Embassy. The ambassador and his core staff

had to lock themselves into a safe for him. And now, pictures from the

ambassador's own camera show how much damage they did and just how

close they came to him and his staff. You could hear them trying

to smash down the doors and windows, but they could not get into our

part of the building, except at one point when they got into one of the

consular offices and started a fire. In the end it was the smoke coming

on to the third floor which forced us out. They were unhurt, but to

the ambassadors horror he faced a much bigger problem. He had sent

his non-essential staff to a separate residential compound to be

safe. But protesters went after them as well. One colleague had

locked himself in his keep, he had pressed the heavy safe begins the

iron door, he had pressed her bed begins the safe and had braced

himself against the bed. They came for him because they knew he was

there. You can imagine what it is like a, they are breaking the

windows, they are trying to break the door. He kept them out for 45

minutes, but in the end the door was broken around him and there was

nothing he could do for top eventually he got out. Protesters

looted and stole hard drives. The ambassadors photos show they also

went to work on a few British symbols. Queen Victoria's portrait

barely survives. Edward the Seventh is defaced. The next morning, all

British diplomats left Teheran with a firm belief as to who was

responsible. Iran is not the sort of country where spontaneous

demonstrations congregate and then attack a foreign embassy. That sort

of activity is only done with the acquiescence and support of the

state. That is why Britain has expelled Iran's diplomats from the

UK. This morning, they packed up. Iran's diplomats are leaving in a

hurry. Iran's government has called the decision to close the embassy a

hasty one and Tay ran's Nadir has promised that when the diplomats

get back home, they will be treated as heroes. And they are already on

their way. This afternoon, the diplomats and their families left

Heathrow. Now, disagreements over nuclear activities and sanctions

will have to be addressed at the UN. Iran and the UK's talked for

decades, but still they barely understand one another. Now the

last flight has left and those misunderstandings are likely to get

deeper. The Independent Police Complaints

Commission has launched an investigation into the collapse of

a police eight police officers were cleared of perverting the course of

justice in relation to the murder 23 years ago of Lynette White from

Cardiff. The IPCC will investigate how files vital to the case came to

be destroyed. Police in Essex are treating as

attempted murder two incidents where concrete blocks were dropped

on to cars on the A12. A woman was badly injured when a lump of

concrete the size of a bucket smashed through her windscreen as

she travelled under a bridge on Thursday night. The driver or so it

suffered cuts. Britain is facing an epidemic of

lizard -- liver disease caused by binge drinking according to some of

the country's top consultants. In the north-east of England, there's

been a 400% increase in the number of people in their early 30s

admitted to hospital with alcoholic liver disease. The consultants have

called for alcoholic advertising to be kept to protect young people.

Fergus Walsh is here. It sounds worrying.

It is. Liver specialists say it used to be rare for them to treat

people under the age of 50 with people under the age of 50 with

alcoholic liver so roses, but that has changed. If we compare the

number of people in their late twenties admitted to hospital in

England with alcoholic liver disease in 2002 with last year, it

has increased by 70%. Now if you look at people in their early 30s,

there's a similar worrying upward trend, the increase is 60% in a

decade. In north-east England, the increase among this age group is

increase among this age group is Joanne Paterson needs dozens of

tablets a week to stay alive. The result of years of alcohol abuse.

The 41-year-old from Sunderland used to drink at least three

bottles of wine a day. Her liver is so damaged that she may need a

transplant. I do think it was because I started drinking too

young. You get a taste for it. What can you do? You take yourself to

the next level. Adults in Britain drink double the amount of alcohol

they did in the 1950s, but in recent years, overall alcohol

consumption has been falling. A group of liver specialists in the

north-east is concerned with binge drinking among the young and has

called for restrictions on alcohol advertising. We have seen this

epidemic of alcoholic liver disease and hospital admissions of the

result in very young people, in their thirties and twenties. This

is all because alcohol is far too cheap, far too available, and far

too heavily promoted. The drinks industry says there are already

strict controls on advertising and it is a minority who abuse alcohol,

but when they do it increases the risk of not just liver disease, but

cancer, stroke, a range of conditions. There are estimated to

be about 2.5 million higher risk drinkers in England alone and this

costs the NHS at least �2.7 billion costs the NHS at least �2.7 billion

a year. There's been a rising trend in deaths from alcohol in Britain

since the early 90s. You will see that there was a slight fall

recently, which might be due to falling consumption, but today's

figures are worrying signs of what may happen to the next generation

The Government has won an important ruling on the way that pensions are

calculated for public sector workers. Unions were arguing about

the measure of inflation being used, describing it as unlawful. This

week, between 1 million and 2 million public-sector workers went

on strike over changes to their pensions. Today, unions lost a key

legal battle over how pensions will be increased for years to come.

Pensions are uprated annually to take account of the rising price of

a basket of goods. Traditionally, RPI has been used. In April, the

Government switched to see PRI - the consumer prices index - which

it says is a more accurate measure of inflation. -- at CPI. Phil

Campbell and many other private sector employees now face a cut in

what they receive. The CPI measure it is a percentage point on average

lower than RPI. I probably will not notice it next year but it is the

same amount it will be eroded by each year. Take a teacher who

retires on 10 bars and pounds a year, over 20 years, she will now

receive �40,000 less. -- �10,000. That is an enormous saving for

government and taxpayers. I am told there were some sighs of relief at

the Treasury when the result of the case finally came. The Government

was or was confident it would win. It said it welcomes the High Court

acceptance to use the consumer prices index for inflation proofing

certain pensions and benefits. Unions insist the legal fight is

not over. We intend to appeal and we want that to be heard as quickly

as possible. It is too important for us to leave it there.

Government says its reforms will make pensions sustainable longer

term. The switch to CPI it is a key part in that. This case has the

potential to upset those plans. Coming up: Now, warming

temperatures have meant less sea ice. A new warning on the impact of

climate change on the polar ice Football, and the draw for Euro

2012 has been made. England are in a group with France, Sweden and the

joint hosts, Ukraine. England's coach, Fabio Capello, says he is

content with England's balanced Group D draw. From Kiev, here is

As he arrived at the Palace of Arts, Fabio Capello was looking for some

love. Despite the festivities, dangers were lurking in the

Ukrainian capital as England prepared to learn their 2012 fate.

For a moment it looked as though they could come up against Spain.

England were last to be drawn. They knew they would be facing less

intimidating opponents. England, the last one. The draw had been

kind. Fabio Capello seemed content. The best group was Group A. We are

happy with the group - Group D. It is a tough group. Having based

themselves in Krakow, all three of England'is quick gains will be

played in Ukraine. The first in the next. -- Donetsk. Of arduous 12 per

Jenny's a weight on the trains. The team could suffer as well. -- 12

our journeys. It will be a couple of hours in and out for every match.

You are having to acclimatise in your hotel and it is destructive.

After a shambolic campaign in the World Cup last year, England have

an opportunity for redemption. This is the large -- the last major

tournament for Fabio Capello in charge. England will leave here

knowing that things could be much worse. Most of the big guns have

been avoided. The challenge is not so much who they play but where.

The organisation which monitors standards at care homes in England

has been accused of several failures, including not carrying

out enough inspections. The National Audit Office says the Care

Quality Commission is facing serious and considerable

difficulties. The commission's chief executive, Cynthia Bower,

admitted the commission had faced a challenging period but said it is

now on track and making rapid progress. The son of a pensioner,

murdered as he tried to stop his car being stolen, says his father's

death has left his mother feeling she no longer wants to live. James

Simpson, who was 76, was run over outside his home in Larkhall in

South Lanarkshire. His son today appealed for anyone with

information about his father's He came to power promising to root

out corruption but Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party has been

branded a bunch of crooks and thieves by the country's opposition.

Public anger about state corruption, and the numbers of civil servants

buying luxury homes and cars, has become a big issue in the run-up to

parliamentary elections this weekend. Daniel Sandford, has been

investigating. In a Moscow graveyard, the tomb of a young

corporate lawyer, Serguei Magnitsky, who died in prison after a severe

beating amounts of medical neglect. He had been investigating a tax

fraud of over �100 million. Tax officials and police when he

accused turned the tables on him and had him arrested. Within a year

he was dead. The Government tax inspector signed of the huge rebate

at the heart of the case and her family became multi-millionaires

soon afterwards. Her mother in law it is the registered owner of this

ultra-modern luxury house, worth over �10 million. She claims the

money came from her husband's business but their tax returns show

at the joint income of only �20,000. -- ate joint income. It is terrible.

I do not know how these people live with themselves. They have no

conscience. I find it difficult to come to terms with that. For many,

the death of Serguei Magnitsky epitomises many of Russia's

problems. People enriching themselves with no one to bring

them to account. Outside Moscow, behind huge fences, dozens of

secretive luxury estates have sprouted up. Opponents have

nicknamed the ruling party which most officials belong to, the party

of crooks and thieves. These �10 million houses should be out of the

reach of any public servants but they are not. From 40 to 60% of the

buyers of top housing in Russia are Russian government employees.

ferry the new elite around, thousands of luxury cars have been

bought with taxpayers' money. Top of the range Mercedes, Audis and

BMWs. This was discovered by the former KGB officer and one of the

few voices in Parliament against the corruption. Our bureaucrats did

not save any money. They spent a lot on their luxuries - for their

pleasure. The correction is spiralling because the parliament

has become a toothless tiger. During this session on fraud, it

was half-empty and no one was listening. The deputies themselves

were cheating. They raise growing anger in Russia. A biased electoral

system means the poll on Sunday will not bring much change. He is

the face and voice of natural history broadcasting in Britain.

And his extraordinary career spans almost 60 years. As his latest

Frozen Planet series reaches a climax, Sir David Attenborough has

spoken to the BBC about the dangers of climate change. He has warned

that the speed of change in the Polar Regions has implications for

us all, as our environment correspondent, David Shukman,

reports. The Antarctic continent is smothered by the world's greatest

ice sheet. It has been a journey of breathtaking beauty to the remotest

polar regions with audiences in their millions guided by the giant

of Natural History broadcasting, David Attenborough. The last of the

series next week is a highly personal view. This penguin is the

most southerly nesting of all penguins. Like the polar bear, up

in the north, there lies a dependent on the sea ice. His big

concern is the effect of rising temperatures. A huge iceberg breaks

away from being -- Greenland. The melting could accelerate if the

Arctic and part of Antarctica continue to warm up. I met David

Attenborough for an interview and he explained it was the speed of

change that was most striking and worrying. This change is extremely

swift. It is happening in our lifetime. We have seen it happening.

In geological, biological and ecological terms, it is hugely

sweat. You can adapt to slow change but sweet -- swift change is much

more difficult. The Wilkins Ice Shelf is seen breaking up. The

Frozen Planet crew failed huge fissures are running through it.

is not beyond possibility that warming will cause sea level rises

and that could threaten the centre of London. Is there a risk of

sounding too alarmist about this? try not to. We know these changes

are happening. The evidence is incontrovertible. As far as we can

see ahead, if they go on, they will have catastrophic effects on the

human race. Behind this concern is the lifelong passion for which he

is best known - wildlife. His favourite polar creature is quite

surprising. I think a caterpillar. A caterpillar that lives for 14

years and is a frozen solid - frozen solid to its core 14 times -

which takes 14 years to accumulate enough food to allow it to grow

into Amos. That is amazing! -- a moth. What about the future?

Scientists cannot be sure about the rate of melting. Distant regions