19/10/2013 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. More than 50 areas across

the UK could lose hundreds of millions of pounds if a new high

speed rail link is built between London and the north of England. The

BBC has obtained previously unseen figures from a government

commissioned report, suggesting areas not served by HS2 will be

worse off if it goes ahead. Tom Barton reports. It's the railway

line that the Government boosts will boost Britain's economy by ?15

billion, but the report in which the claim was made is facing accusations

of playing down the economic effects of the line, but in some areas.

While the report told us that the winners would be Greater Manchester,

West Yorkshire and Greater London, it left out the fact that there

would be losers, lieb Aberdeen, Cambridge and Bristol. What you

should do is put that money into the really successful economies like

Cambridge and make sure that we have the infrastructure to be able to

continue the kind of contribution that we make to UK PLC.

The Department for Transport say that the figures reflect the fact

that HS2 will not serve all regions and adds that the project accounts

for part of Government spending on transport infrastructure. .

There a large chunk of money. Billions, ?56 billion going into

better road infrastructure. For places like Cambridgeshire, a better

infrastructure to ensure that other parts of the country benefit as well

as the HS2, the north/south high-speed rail line.

The campaign has so far been concentrated around the areas

affected by its construction, but the figures could widen the

opposition to parts of the country that the line will not go anywhere

near. An international search has been

launched to trace the family of a four-year-old girl found living on a

Roma campsite in Greece. DNA tests have revealed that the child was not

related to the couple she was living with in Farsala. Police believe she

may have been a victim of abduction or child trafficking. From Athens,

Mark Lowen reports. Four years old, possibly a victim of child

trafficking. Maria, as she is known, was found by the police, after her

colouring made her stand out. Tests showed that there were no links to

the couple claiming to be her parents.

There was no resemblance to the supposed parents. During questioning

about the girl, they gave conflicting answers. They are

constantly changing claims, consolidating beliefs that they were

not her family. Very have been arrested on suspicion

of abduction. One claiming that they had six children in a period of ten

months. The little girl is under protection by the charity. She is

scared but in good health. The fear is that she could have been a part

of an international trafficking ring. A spokesperson foricate and

Jerry McCann, said that this case has given them hope that their

daughter may be found alive. The lawyer for the couple arrested told

me that they did not abduct Maria but given to them by a woman who

could not look after her. They are in a state, in the belief that their

legitimately adopted child has been taken away. An appeal for

information on Maria has prompted calls, some claiming to be her

biological parents, but for now, exactly what happened to this little

girl remain as mystery. Police say a 12-year-old boy could

be responsible for a series of sex attacks around Manchester

University. Officers have released this e-fit of the suspect. The

attacks on women in their 20s and 30s happened in the past month. In

Australia, an investigation is underway to see if a huge bushfire

in New South Wales was started by a military training exercise. Around

200 homes have been destroyed and dozens of fires now burning. From

Sydney, Jon Donnison reports. New South Wales has not seen fires like

this in more than a decade. The Blue Mountains, 50 miles to the west of

Sydney are worst-affected. Today, the temperatures are cooler, giving

the firefighters a window to get on top of things, but it is a race

against time. With the mercury expected to rise in the coming days,

but for many, it is already too late. Firefighters have been

battling on the ground but also from the air.

We have the best firefighters in the world.

They are second to none. The... We can only be proud of what has

unravelled in the last 24 hours. Australians are well-used to

bushfires but not so early in the year. It is not summer yet, but the

spring's record temperatures have left many fearful of what the next

few months may bring. The Italian Navy is increasing

patrols in the Mediterranean after hundreds of migrants drowned in

recent weeks off the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. Our

correspondent Alan Johnson reports on the bid to stop the deadly

journeys. A dangerous stretch of sea. Hundreds of drowned down there.

So the pilots watch for more boats from Libya, overcrowded and

unseaworthy, they are disasters waiting to happen.

What really strikes you up here is how vast the Mediterranean is. You

full y what a great expanse of sea there is between us here and the

coast of North Africa. Some of those who risk their lives

at sea, and have won their gamble, migrants from Africa and the Middle

East who have made it, moving on now to mainland Italy, hoping that their

dream of a new life in Europe is about to come true. As they watch,

the survivors leave the helicopter -- survivors leave. The helicopters

crew watch with memories. I saw many people in the water. I

saw children, parents, they were picked up and taken to the ship.

So many people see these waters as the route to a better life in a

richer world. As long as they keep coming in their dangerous boats, no

matter how many patrols there are, another disaster is always possible.

It could happen at any moment.