23/04/2014 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten - a sharp fall in violent crime in England and Wales,

confirming a long-term trend. There's been a significant reduction

in the number of injuries caused by violence being dealt with by the

NHS. One of the factors could be less affordable alcohol and a change

in patterns of binge drinking. In recent years, alcohol has become

less affordable, and particularly the disposable income of young

people has come down. We'll have more details and we'll be

looking at other factors in the downward trend. Also tonight...

Russia says it is prepared to retaliate to protect the interests

of Russians living in eastern Ukraine.

Three young children are found dead at their home in south London -

their mother has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

A special report from Niger, as thousands of refugees flee the

violence in neighbouring Nigeria. And on St George's Day, a taste of

English opinion on Scottish independence.

Good evening. There's been a sharp fall in violent crime in England and

Wales, confirming a long-term trend. The latest figures are based on data

from NHS hospitals. They suggest the number of people treated for

injuries caused by violence has fallen to its lowest level for more

than a decade. A survey of accident and emergency departments last year

recorded 235,000 people being treated for injuries caused by

violence - a reduction of more than 32,000 on 2012. One factor is

thought to be less affordable alcohol and a reduction in

binge-drinking. Our home editor, Mark Easton, has been studying the

findings. British town centres on a Friday and

Saturday night have been likened to war zones - a culture of drinking

and fighting which keeps the emergency services at full stretch.

But that reputation belies an extraordinary change. Two years ago,

Crawley town centre at night was regarded as the worst in the county,

a no-go area for the law-abiding majority. Like many places, binge

drinking and anti-social behaviour went hand-in-hand. But recently,

police, publicans and the local council have worked together to

transform the culture of the night-time economy.

I have seen the change coming through. Nine or ten years ago,

there was a culture of fighting. In Crawley, when I arrived here four

years ago, there may have been an elephant, but what has happened here

now is that people do not tend to go out for a fight, they go out to

socialise, to enjoy themselves and to have a good night.

Figures today show that numbers treated for violent injuries in

English and Welsh hospitals fell 12% last year, just the latest reduction

in a trend which goes back more than ten years. Researchers believe it is

action to do with alcohol-related violence which has made a real

difference. We found in our own research that

where this multi-agency prevention is well-organised and well-led, that

it is in those regions of the country where violence has come down

most. It was 2001 when Labour's Mike O'Brien attempted to woo voters with

the promise of a cafe-style drinking culture. The argument was that if

Britain relaxed licensing laws and toughened sanctions on those who

abused the new freedoms, it would encourage a more responsible

att5itude towards alcohol. Adam Foxley runs Crawley's biggest

nightclub. He has witnessed a real change. The instances we have where

people are assaulted in clubs and bars has reduced dramatically and

usually when that type of stuff does happen, it is always an ongoing feud

which has happened. It isn't, right, we are going to go out and have a

fight - that definitely has changed. Cafe culture may have arrived. Among

young people, there appears to be a greater intolerance of aggression,

from bar room brawls to domestic violence, from knife crime to

football hooliganism, evidence is mounting that these days, it is cool

to be cool. Our home editor, Mark Easton, is here. I think it is fair

to say, there is still plenty of debate about the fact is, but how

significant is this? Nobody is suggesting that the problem has gone

away. In many parts of the country, alcohol-related violence is still a

troubling problem. But we have seen something quite extraordinary,

violence has been falling in this country for 20 years, and on the

basis of these figures, appears to be falling still, and very fast. So

why is it happening, and why particularly among young people? You

will have heard some theories - lead-free petrol, CCTV cameras, even

the abortion laws. I think perhaps more important is a change in youth

culture. Teenagers do much less hanging around these days. In our

generation, it was behind the bike sheds with a callow side are getting

up to mischief. Now, teenagers are much more likely to be in their

bedroom at the computer, playing games, on Facebook, even possibly

doing their homework. In many ways they behave better than their

parents, they drink less, take fewer drugs, teenage pregnancies are at

historically low levels. So, far from regarding a Saturday night

fight as part of growing up, the kid who lashes out is regarded as

something of a loser. Think we are seeing something of a tipping point

where aggression frankly is out, and anger management is in.

Moscow has again warned that it will retaliate if it judges that the

interests of Russian people are being threatened in Ukraine. Russian

troops have begun military exercises close to the border with Ukraine,

while NATO forces are conducting exercises in Poland. Our

correspondent Daniel Sandford sent this report from eastern Ukraine.

Heavy Russian armour on display at the most sensitive time and in the

most sensitive area, just 50 miles from the Ukrainian border. And to

pile the pressure on Ukraine even further, the Russian Foreign

Minister recalled when the army went into Georgia in 2008. If our

interests, legitimate interests, the interests of Russians, have been

attacked directly like in South Ossetia, for example, I do not see

any other way but to respond in full accordance with international law.

Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian

Federation. Camped on the other side of the border, much less

well-equipped, Ukrainian troops, and their supporters. You are our only

hope, she tells the young soldier, though there is no sign of Russian

forces actually entering eastern Ukraine. For now, the Ukrainians are

focused on their internal problems in the region around Donetsk, where

the government has restarted its strangely labelled anti-terrorism

operation, against armed pro-Russian protesters. It is a battle by the

government in Kiev to show that they are in control of some parts of

eastern Ukraine, something they have been struggling to do for more than

two weeks now. In the most rebellious town, Sloviansk, the

gunmen have detained an American journalist. Simon Ostrowski, an

internationally respected documentary maker, has been held for

more than 48 hours now. Why do you need to hold him, why not set him

free? TRANSLATION: He is not an honest, good journalist. All his

reports have one aim, to distort reality. So, to prevent that, he has

been detained. With no sign of the tensions with Russia abating,

American troops were arriving in Poland for exercises, as the United

States tried to reassure its nervous Eastern European allies. NATO was

conducting naval drills in the Baltic Sea, too. Everyone in this

part of the world is reminding each other of the lethal firepower they

possess. A woman has been arrested on

suspicion of murdering her three children at their home in south

London. It's thought the children - twin three-year-old boys and a

four-year-old girl - had a genetic disorder. Our correspondent Ben

Geoghegan reports. Gary Clarence, a proud dad, with his

three-year-old twins. But last night, his two boys and their

four-year-old sister were found dead at their family home. These were

called to the house on this wealthy suburban street at 9.13 yesterday

evening. Inside were the dead children. Among the neighbours

today, a feeling of stunned sadness it is terrible, it is unbelievable,

it is a big shock. What has added to the sense of disbelief here is the

fact that it is the children's 42-year-old mother who has been

arrested on suspicion of murder. Scotland Yard say they are not

looking for anyone else in connection with the investigation.

The children's father, Gary, is a banker. He and their mother are both

originally from South Africa. They had four children, all under the age

of eight. The three who died were disabled as a result of a genetic

illness. Ken Smith helped the family after they modified their home to

cope with their children's needs. I thought that the parents were

caring, and I thought that they were doing everything within the house to

ensure that the children had a secure environment to live in.

Neighbours say the parents devoted themselves to their children. They

have just done everything they can to make those children happy. But

all the equipment they can get, and toys, they have been very good

parents, both of them. Police have not said what caused the children's

deaths. Postmortem examinations will be carried out, and officers say

they are speaking to the wider family to try and understand what

lies behind this chat GG. -- this tragedy. Ben Geoghegan, BBC News,

New Malden. Mark Shand, the brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, has died

in New York. He was 62 and a noted conservationist and campaigner. He

is said to have fallen and suffered serious head injuries.

British detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

are examining five sexual assaults on British children in Portugal. The

cases have come to light since an appeal last month. Police are now

looking at 18 potentially linked brakings.

Campaigners are urging the pharmaceutical company Roche to

lower the cost of a pioneering new breast cancer treatment. NICE, which

sets guidelines for England and Wales, is set to reject its routine

use on cost grounds. Kadcyla can prolong a patient's life by up to

six months and the company says the ?90,000 price tag reflects years of

work. The rival Palestinian factions Fatah

and Hamas have announced a reconciliation which could end the

bitter divisions of the past seven years, triggered when Hamas seized

control of Gaza. Under the agreement, a unity government will

be formed within weeks. Our Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, is in

Jerusalem. Let's talk about the implications of this, not least for

America's plans for peace in the Middle East. I think the timing of

this has to be seen in the context of America trying to make peace

between the two sides here. The deadline was in fact this coming

Monday. That has run into the sand, it is not going anywhere. I think

what the Palestinians on the Fatah side, roughly speaking the

pro-western side are saying, they want to try and build their strength

from within. They are not getting what they want from the Israelis,

trying to change the balance of power in their favour by getting

national unity. It has to be said, they are trying to -- they have

tried to mend this risk before. It has not worked. This may fail

again. The Israelis are saying this is a big crisis. How can they

negotiate with people who are allied with Hamas, an organisation who want

the end of the Jewish state? What this means in a broader state is

there has now been more than 20 years of negotiations, often

brokered by the Americans or other outsiders between the Palestinians

and Israelis, and so far, none of them have worked. Both sides have

not been able to make the necessary sacrifices and deals. So, what has

happened in the past is when a peace initiative has not worked, there has

sometimes been a period of violence after it and people are wondering if

that is the risk now. Thank you. Four more crew members from the

ferry that sank last week off the coast of South Korea have been

arrested, bringing the total number detained to eleven. Prosecutors said

all were on the bridge when the ferry began to capsize. The number

of people known to have died has reached 156, with another 152 still

missing, their bodies thought to be trapped in the submerged vessel.

Memorial services have been held in the city of Ansan, where they all

went to the same school as Lucy Williamson reports.

White flowers told their story of purity and of death. One each for

the grieving mothers, classmates and many strangers. A whole nation

wanting ritual to attain the horror of this loss. They were meant to be

schoolchildren, not heroes, their faces too young for this. What

should I do, she says, what should I do? I feel angry when I think of all

the students who were rescued. If we had acted sooner, they would have

survived. I often imagine what they must have gone through, they must

have screamed for help, they thought tortures me. The messages left by

mourners spoke of sympathy and guilt but also pride. My beloved little

Sister, this one says, we heard you saved your friend. We are so proud

of you. There were faces missing from the commemorations. Scores of

students still have not been found. The nightly searching and

identifying has become a grim routine now. Tonight, more crew

members are being questioned over whether they left their passengers

to drown. There is a need here to find some answers or at least,

someone to blame. For some, the hardest day in this grim story will

be tomorrow. The high school at the centre of this tragedy has become a

memorial site, a place of funerals and grieving. Tomorrow, with half

its classrooms empty, it will open as a school again. Their desks and

lockers will now be empty spaces. School friendships ended, future is

gone. These smiling teenagers will be missed by so many. You hope they

would have known how much. In Nigeria, more than 180

schoolgirls are still missing, a week after being kidnapped by the

Islamist militant group Boko Haram. We broadcast the first images from

the school last night. Tonight, we can reveal that the insurgents may

be paying to recruit fighters from across the border in Niger. More

than 50,000 people are reported to have sought refuge there from the

violence in Nigeria, provoking fears that Boko Haram's insurgency will

spread to all neighbouring countries. Our correspondent Thomas

Fessy has been to the region of Diffa, in southeastern Niger, along

the border with Nigeria and sent this report.

In the Sahara, there is little cover to take from a sandstorm. But at

least it feels safer here. These Nigerian refugees were pushed across

the border into Niger after Islamist militants from Boko Haram raided

their village. On Lake Chad, Nigerians are fleeing by boat. The

UN estimates 500 cross into Niger every week. This man arrived last

month with his two wives and six children. I was going to bed when we

heard the first gunshots, he said. When we ran to escape, a little girl

was shot when she fled her burning house. He says he counted 50 dead in

the streets. It is a growing refugee crisis but without camps. The

authorities argue they could become new targets or worse, recruitment

centres for Boko Haram. Boko Haram have shown they can hit the Nigerian

state in different ways. Bomb attacks, raiding villages, attacking

schools and abducting children. For now, Nigeria's neighbours are

dealing with the consequences of this violence, but the prospect of

this same violence spilling over is becoming more of a question of not

if but when they may strike here. Niger's security forces patrol the

border. Several attacks have been for East and men with links to Boko

Haram have been arrested. We made contact with a local gang whose

members claim they have been collaborating with Boko Haram. They

have agreed to talk to us that we cannot show their faces. The gang

members are all in their 20s. They say five of their group have joined

the Islamist militants. Two have been killed on operations.

TRANSLATION: Some of us are with them now and we hear information

about what is going on. They come to us. If they tell you to launch an

attack, would you be ready to do that? Yes, we are ready. We have no

job so we are ready. That is what we are here for. Boko Haram say they

have paid ?2000 to join their insurgency. It is the cash they

want. They have no interest in defending sharia law. Drought and

hunger have made communities in Niger vulnerable. This fragile

hunger have made communities in is threatened by the crisis next

door that is fuelled by poverty and neglect. Both conditions exist here.

The Lib Dems will not support a minority government if there's a

hung parliament after the next election. That's the pledge given by

Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who went on to say

that his party would be willing to consider a formal coalition with

either Labour or the Conservatives if no party had an outright

majority. He was speaking to our deputy political editor James

Landale. He's the fourth most powerful man in

government. Today, Danny Alexander took a ride to Channel Tunnel to

claim some lead them credit for the light appearing at the end of the

economic gloom, insisting it is his spending which is keeping their

recovery on track. Even though his party's ratings are at rock bottom,

he told me the Lib Dems still want to stay in coalition after the

election and would not support a government that does not have a

majority of MPs in Parliament. I believe that a majority government

-- minority government, an unstable government would not be in the

British national interest. A minority government would not be

able to take the difficult decisions that would still need to be taken in

the next Parliament, to keep our economy on track. Here, halfway

along the tunnel, he told me the Lib Dems would keep a future coalition

anchored in the centre ground. The coalition could include Labour as

much as the Tories. We would seek to work with whichever party had the

strongest mandate from the electorate. Of course there are a

difference with Labour on the economy, with and the Conservatives

on Europe and other issues. The whole point of negotiating a

coalition is to find a way to bridge those differences. Who might take

the Lib Dems into a coalition? Could you lead the Liberal Democrats? That

is a decision which could be made in many years. I will cross that bridge

if it comes. Now he is mapping out a future for the Lib Dems if there is

no clear winner for the election. Danny Alexander has come here not

just claim some Lib Dem credit for the economic recovery, but also to

show that despite its poor poll ratings, his party is determined to

stay in power, even if that means coalition with Labour.

The former Manchester United football manager, David Moyes, has

broken his silence after being sacked yesterday. In a statement he

thanked supporters and said he understood their frustration at

recent results. But the League Managers' Association says the club

has been guilty of behaving in an 'unprofessional manner'. Our sports

editor David Bond is at Old Trafford. What have you learned

there today? David Moyes was quite gracious in his first public

statement since his sacking yesterday. He thanked almost

everyone at Old Trafford except notably the players. The real sense

of anger and frustration was contained in that simultaneous

statement released by the League Managers Association. That used much

stronger language and accused Manchester United or acting in our

unprofessional manner. I am hearing tonight there is a continued

stand-off between the club and David Moyes over his compensation payoff.

That has not yet been agreed. He is said to be more livid today than he

was yesterday at the way the story leaked out and no one from the club

talked to him about it. This could definitely rumble on in the coming

days. I have spoken to senior officials at old Trafford. They have

defended their handling of the way David Moyes was sacked. They are now

scrambling to find a new manager to be in place for the summer transfer

window. Remember, this is a club which is supposed to set the

standard. Tonight, it feels like a club in chaos. Thank you.

The Prime Minister has appealed to the people of Scotland not to sever

their links with what he called the "world's greatest family of

nations". With under five months to go to the referendum on

independence, Mr Cameron said the UK had been a global success story.

Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, said this evening that

social and economic ties between England and an independent Scotland

would not be severed. Our special correspondent Allan Little has been

to the city of York on St George's Day to assess English views on the

Scottish debate. St George's Ross, symbol of English

national identity flies proudly this Saint George's day, at York, a city

founded by the Romans and midway between London and Edinburgh. What

is happening to the sense of Englishness as Scotland debates its

future? At this local business fair, opinion was consistently

against Scottish independence. It is sad. Personally, I think it is a bit

bonkers. I cannot understand why they would want to separate from us

when it is becoming -- the world is becoming more global. The control

will all be about the currency and without an effective control you can

never really have independence. I think there is a growing

entrepreneurial spirit in Scotland, in my industry, the tech industry in

particular. We already have a north-south divide, will we have a

North, middle and south divide? Middle England is relatively new to

the independence debate. Baffled by the fact that their country may

become two countries and perplexed because they have no formal say in

it. Scotland has been arguing about this for decades. England's opinion

has been marked by benign neutrality. All that is changing

with more and more people across the country now starting to believe the

rest of the UK has a stake in this as well. In the Gentle calm of an

art class, more mixed views. For the North, like Scotland, feels distant

from Westminster as well. Emotionally, I have to say, who can

blame them? They feel Westminster does not listen to what they are

saying so if they feel they could do better on their own, I am

sympathetic. Do you want them to vote yes? No. Is Scotland can do it

than I think the North of England can have a few decisions made up

here. Or at least it might help send decision-making coming out from the

south. If Scotland do vote for independence, we might benefit in

the North of England from that. It is not really a good thing making

enemies, which we were for hundreds of years, but for the last three or

400 years, it has worked quite well. But is it still? Scotland's

debate about independence might yet still questions about how the whole

of the UK is governed. That's all from