09/03/2012 BBC News at One

Italy demands to know why the British Government didn't inform

them about the operation to rescue two hostages in Nigeria.

The Italian President says he finds it inexplicable that they weren't

consulted about the rescue attempt in which a British and Italian

hostage died. The Labour MP Eric Joyce keeps his

job and avoids a prison sentence as he's fined for assaulting four

politicians during a disturbance in a House of Commons bar.

It is a matter of personal shame what happened a couple of weeks ago,

I have been punished today. I have been lucky to avoid prison frankly.

Barclays paid an unnamed banker �6.7 million last year, even more

than the boss Bob Diamond. Speeding up the adoption process in

England, the Prime Minister says absurd barriers need to be removed

to make mixed race adoption easier. The energy supplier, EDF, pays

70,000 of its customers �50 each after an investigation into mis-

selling. And some of the extraordinary

images of the Northern Lights Will the allocated budget cover

Olympics security. The president extends an invitation

Good afternoon welcome to the BBC News at One.

Italy's President has demanded an explanation over the deaths of a

Briton and an Italian who were killed in a rescue operation in

Nigeria yesterday. Giorgio Napolitano said the British had

failed to inform or consult with Italy about what it was planning

behaviour he called "inexplicable". Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara

died when UK Special Forces and the Nigerian military were trying to

free them from an Islamist group that had been holding them hostage

In Italy as in Britain, there is plenty of speculation about what

happened during the failed rescue mission in Nigeria. There are

questions about whether the Italian authorities were informed and

demands for clarification. Italy's president has called the

British action inexplicable. He He wants a political and diplomatic

explanation. The sense of be wilderment is exowed on streets of

Rome. It is too much of a mystery, says this man.

Another says there should be better international agreements and

contacts between countries. In London, it is clear that

decisions were taken quickly yesterday in response who what was

happening on the ground in Nigeria. The Italians were only informed

after the rescue attempt began. Intelligence became available that

allowed them to be located. There was a decision that had to be made

about whether to act or not. The decision was the best chance of

rescuing them, given all the intelligence we had, was to act

then. This is the house after yesterday's

raid. How long the firefight lasted is not known. The order was given

for British and Nigerian forces to go in when it was decided that the

lives of Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara were in danger.

According to David Cameron, it later transpired that the two men

had been murdered by their captors before the rescue operation began.

Though it is unclear how and when they died.

At Chris McManus's home in Lancashire, friends and former work

colleagues respected the young engineer.

My reaction was devastation. Chris was a really good individual, very

good team player and we were distraught that this has happened.

The company begged him not to go to work in Nigeria. They kept his job

open, and his desk unused for his James Robbins joins me now. How

Awkward is this for the British Government? This is a serious

complaint by the Italians which will have to be answered over time,

particularly because an Italian citizen is dead. It was a Nigerian

and British operation and no one disputes that the Italians were

only told about the the res rescue operation after it started. Part of

the British explanation is they had a tiny window of opportunity to

mount a rescue. They only found out where the the hostages were held

and it would have been obvious therefore, that the extremists

would have known that their location was probably compromised,

and therefore, they wanted to act quickly and and that's why it was a

daylight raid. It doesn't answer the question why they didn't

consult or inform the Italians in advance of the operation and you

are bound to be left wondering whether they are fearful the

Italians wouldn't give their consent and say no.

Because they had been in contact with the whole hostage situation

since it happened last May. I suppose a lot of people will be

surprised that at the crucial moment they weren't told? There was

close collaboration for eleven months. They had been working

closely together on this. But there is a political cultural difference

between the approach of of Britain and Italy historically to kidnaps.

The Italians concede they are more inclined to pay ransoms. That's not

to say that British citizens aren't got out of kidnaps by ransom

payments, it is true that the British Government never agrees to

pay ransoms. The MP Eric Joyce has been fined

�3,000 after pleading guilty to assaulting four politicians in a

bar at the House of Commons. A court heard he had head butted one

Tory MP, attacked two Conservative district councillors and then

turned on a fellow Labour MP. A police officer told the court the

MP for Falkirk had "flipped". Chris Mason is at Westminster

Magistrates' Court now. Tell us more about what the court was told.

Yes, Eric Joyce leaving the court in the last five minutes, a free

man, but with a severely damaged reputation. The court heard this

morning that he was drinking with friends in the Strangers Bar in the

Houses of Parliament over a fortnight ago. At around about

10.30pm and the scenes there became particularly rowdy. Eric Joyce

began singing. He head butted some people within the bar. Two MPs, a

Conservative MP and a Labour whip were assaulted and two Conservative

activists who work for Tory MPs were also attacked. The police were

called. The police arrived at 10.50pm in the evening to discover

upturned tables, Eric Joyce, the court was told, told the first

police officer to arrive "you can't touch me, I'm an MP." In the last

couple of minutes we have heard from Eric Joyce. He gave his

reaction to avoiding a jail term. It is a matter of considerable

personal shame what happened a couple of weeks ago. I have been

punished today. I have been lucky to avoid prison. Frankly, that's

something I'm sad about and very ashamed of that, of course,

particularly apologetic to the people who were badly affected, to

my constituents, to my family, the court and all the other people that

were involved and clearly, that's a long list and a significant litany

of sins. Eric Joyce has been banned from

pubs and and res rants and -- restaurants and can't leave the

country until September. A weekend curfew has been imposed on Eric

Joyce. He said he intends to serving for the people of Falkirk.

It was His intention to serve until 2015.

David Cameron has been setting out his plans to speed up the adoption

process in England and remove what he says are the "absurd barriers"

to mixed race adoptions. He said there was no more urgent task than

to ensure every child was given the love of a stable family and that

councils would be told to avoid waiting for "the perfect match".

Kevani Kand describes having her own children as a healing

experience. She herself was in care from the age of nine and spent her

childhood from then on with Foster parents and in a home. She says

adoption was never mentioned wishes she had that choice.

I would have liked to have been adopted. I am not against it at all,

but unfortunately it was not an option that was given to me.

Looking at things now, it could be due to my age at the time I came

into the care system. Government's is worried that black

children are more likely to stay in care than others. Government

figures show that black children take longer to be adopted than

white or Asian children and they are less likely to be adopted. The

Government wants to make mixed race adoption easier, saying a child or

parent's race shouldn't cause delays. Francesca says she and her

partner were prevented from adopting British children because

of her race. She has two children adopted from Mexico, after being

turned down by her local council who had ethnic minority children it

wanted to place, but wouldn't consider them.

Often I would walk in the street and see children from different eth

nissy. I know there is two children that could have had a loving stable

home for the past four years. Kevani, is not against Inter racial

adoption, but warns with her own experience with white Foster

parents that it is complex. Ministers Are concerned about

delays in the process so a change - - changing the emphasis from

finding the perfect ethnic match to speed. Social workers acknowledge

the system is too slow, but says decisions need great care.

Sometimes you have to various factors to to ensure if the

quickest option is the best option or whether you should wait for a

family that is a better match. Each case is individual. It is a

complicated process. Government wants legislation to

make it easier for parents in England who want to adopt to Foster

those children first and they want to make council to say look

nationally rather than locally for adoptive parents earlier than they

Barclays has revealed how much its top earners were paid last year.

The bank's Chief Executive, Bob Diamond, received �6.3 million, but

two other unnamed executives received even more. Let's get more

sums again? They are big sums of money. Just to be clear Barclays

top executives are getting less than last year, but for most people

these rewards are substantial. Hot off the press here, they are Bob

Diamond getting �6.3 million in total that's a salary of �1.35

million and a bonus of �2.7 million and long-term benefits, long-term

rewards of �2.25 million. As you say, two unnamed executives

receiving in total �6.7 million and and �6.5 million each. And then

there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven others all getting

well over over �2 million. A couple getting five and others getting

four. So big sums of money. This is not a very hard recession for top

bankers. This is going to be in a sense, bankers bonus disclosure day

because in a couple of hours we will be getting the pay rewards at

the semi nationalised banks, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. The

treasury, ministers, will be hoping their rewards will not look quite

as enormous as those that Barclays are getting. I understand that the

rewards those banks banks -- the rewards at those banks will be less.

There will be some getting several million. Some will see them as

public officials as they are semi The prospect of Greece going

bankrupt has receded for the moment after the Government in Athens

reached a deal with private investors who had bought government

bonds. Late last night it successfully re-negotiated the

terms of its repayments with lenders. It means billions of euros

will be written off the country's national debt, but lenders will now

get back far less on the loans they'd given to the Greek

The last few months have been some of the darkest in Greece's modern

history. As the recession has deepened, so has the despair and

anger of the Greek people. Riot, poverty, a loss of faith in the

political leaders, all pushing this country to the brink. Endless End

meetings in Brussels have tried o work out a solution to break the

deadlock of debt, now now a rare glint of hope, a deal struck to

lessen Greece's debt burden and spare the country from default and

exit from the euro. TRANSLATION: This agreement we have

reached with the private sector is excellent. It is A historic day for

Greece, for the Greek Parliament, for the Greek people and for the

national economy. This is the largest debt

restructuring ever recorded. 107 billion euros of debt will be

written off as old bonds are are exchanged for new. 80% of bond

holders agreed to it. Securing the deal was essential for Greece to

get its next bail out, 130 billion euros, that it needs within weeks

to avoid bankruptcy. Debt relief for the Government, but

among ordinary Greeks, few feel relieved. Austerity pushed up

unemployment to record highs. One in two young Greeks are out of work

and with wages slashed, some individual bond holders say they

won't accept the debt deal. It is a wrong decision? Absolutely.

They have done everything they could for the banks. They have

given them tax breaks and everything to them and they haven't

talked to us. By agreeing to the deal, banks and

other investors have given Greece vital breathing space, but the

problems here remain, a lock of growth and lack of productivity and

without solving them, this country will struggle to pull itself out of

its worst recession since the Second World War.

Once again, Greece has teetered towards the edge. Once again it has

been saved, but when will the next crisis moment come and will this

exhausted country have the strength Och Correspondent in Brussels is

Chris Morris. Reece has been told it can get that first batch of

their bail out money now? Yes, in the last few minutes we have had

this statement from the eurozone finance and its ministers, which

has said at the this has been successfully concluded, it will

release money for the second bail- out. They still need to sign up on

the international monetary fund, but it is moving in the right

direction. For a long time, the Euros and tried hock to a board

writing of any debt in this crisis. But more than 100 billion euros of

great debt is simply disappearing. Is that going to be enough? If you

look at what the markets are doing with these new Greek bombs which

will be appearing. They had already suggested there will be another

debt restructurings perhaps in a couple of years. And then put a

problem the eurozone countries, at that stage most of the debt will be

held in public hands, so the people taking the bill will be the

taxpayer. Our top story this lunchtime:

Italy's president demands an explanation after the failed

special forces operation in which a Briton and an Italian were killed.

Coming Up: The flare-up on a sum which caused these amazing Northern

Lights. On BBC London, amid the speculation

about Chelsea's next boss, we get a Spanish lessened the stock is it

going to warm up? We will have a weather forecast in

15 minutes. Three days after six soldiers were

killed by a Taliban bomb in Afghanistan their comrades are

getting ready to be sent to the same area where they died. Five of

those who were killed were serving with the Third Battalion, The

Yorkshire Regiment and had been in the country for less than a month.

As news of their deaths broke, the rest of their unit were still on

Salisbury Plain where they've been training this week ahead of their

deployment. Our defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt, is

with them now. This has been a tough week for the

brigade. They are here in its final exercises before they are deployed.

But they have acted come to terms that six of their comrades who went

out ahead of them on the longer with them. But they know the most

important thing is to focus on the mission they are going to

Afghanistan to try and achieve. These men are showing a brave face

to the world, although many were friends of the men who died. Their

grieving will be done in private, although nobody denies this has had

an impact as they prepare to leave for Helmand. But this week with the

casualties we had just had, I had just had a newborn son. Nobody

wants to go but you have to do it. This has seen the final exercise of

this brigade, but Gissing the minds of many months of training. They

are keen to show their families they are well prepared. I had not

had a chance to speak to my family yet. When I speak to them at the

weekend, I know my mum is proud of me because she knows this is what I

want to do. She knows the training we have done for the last nine

months has made sure we are focused and able to do the job. All are

well aware of the dangers that lie ahead, a few more than a medical

emergency response team, also in training. The presence of these

flying addicts provide reassurance to the troops, that even if they

are injured, help will be at hand. It has a massive impact on troop

morale. The troops on the ground know that if they are injured we

will come in to rescue them, and as soon as they are on board, we will

make them pain-free. We bring the hospital to the patient, rather

than the patient to hospital. Defence Secretary came here in

person, together with the cheek of the Defence that. An indication to

reassure the public that the sacrifices made in Helmand have

been worth it. Having been out there and seen the Afghan security

forces slowly gaining strength, are sacrificed to put them in the right

place to protect themselves is valid. History will finally judge

that, but I think our mission is progressing in the right direction

and the sack its eyes as delivered changes in the security environment.

Leaving for Helmand now will be hard for those here and the

family's back at home, in the knowledge more casualties may be

suffered in the coming months. But the message from the men and women

ready to go, they are as well prepared as they can be.

The omission, of course, is being part of the wider NATO forces in

Afghanistan so the police and forces can operate on their own

once British and other NATO forces lead. That will involve the men and

women here risking the lives on patrol to reassure the Afghans and

make sure their Afghan counterparts are working. They all know it is a

tough job, but they say their minds are focused on the mission ahead.

The energy firm EDF has agreed to pay out �4.5 million after

admitting its sales staff misled customers when they sold them deals.

The energy regulator, Ofgem, found that people weren't given complete

information during the sales process. 70,000 customers will now

get �50 each in the biggest payment of its kind in the energy industry.

Here's our business correspondent, John Moylan.

The doorstep selling. It is an issue that has docked the energy

industry since privatisation in the 90s. Now an investigation into some

of our biggest firms has resulted in the largest payout from a

supplier. The investigation found when EDF's door-to-door salesman

knocked, they did not provide the customers with the information

needed to compare deals. It also found telesales agents make claims

about savings without knowing if those claims were correct.

Energy had breached their obligations. They accept that. They

acted promptly to put things right and they want to do right by their

customers, and that is important to recognise. But EDF Energy had

breached their licence obligations. What we did not find was any

evidence of EDF energy condoning or ongoing the selling. The company

will now pay at �4.5 million as a result of their failings. This

would have gone to the Treasury, but 70,000 of its most vulnerable

customers will benefit. Those households receive a refund of �50.

We have been calling on Ofgem to be more in a to Vic in how it tackles

these investigations and try and get the money back to people who

have been affected, victims of poor behaviour in this market. It is

good to see they have done that. Hopefully it will send a signal to

other companies that it can reach a settlement with the regulator.

Last year, a committee of MPs accused the industry of using Del

Boy type sales practices. Investigations into three other

major suppliers, and power, SNP and ScottishPower, continued.

Oxfam is warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in West Africa, where

13 million people are at risk from hunger. The governments of Burkina

Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger have already declared

emergencies and called for international help. Oxfam has now

launched a global appeal, as our world affairs correspondent, Mike

Wooldridge, now reports. Evidence of the drought is stocked

in Chad. Little for these cattle to graze on, when the grass should be

me high at this time. And the last heart this is it me a grim memory

for these women digging into and hills to search for the grain the

ants have buried. Adjitti Mahamat uses any grain she can find to feed

her children. If she did not do this, she said, the children would

go to sleep without eating. She says this year, the harvest was

back. Oxfam says across Chad and five other countries of this region,

Mahon nutrition rates are hovering between 10 and 15%. And in some

places overworn million children are at risk from Severe, acute

malnutrition. And the grain harvest is down by 1.4 million tonnes for

the six countries, while food prices by 25-50% up on the average

for the last five years and could rise even higher. A special units

in Niger, the children who are so really malnourished and have a

medical complications. Oxfam argues the world we took too long to

respond to the emergency in East Africa last year, and the same

cannot be allowed to happen now in Sahel. Meanwhile, fierce fighting

is taking place in Mal -- northern Mali. Thousands of people are

forced to flee their homes, adding to the challenges faced by aid

workers. Building earth banks to retain any rain that falls. The

cash they and helps them by food it it is available. Oxfam says a far

bigger aid effort is needed across this region it's a potential

catastrophe is to be avoided. Players at Rangers Football Club,

which is facing liquidation, are close to agreeing to a deal under

which they'd receive pay cuts but avoid redundancy. Administrators

say that without an agreement, the Scottish champions may not finish

the season. Colin Blane, is at Murray Park in Glasgow where

players have been training this morning. What is the latest?

Sorry, we cannot see him. We will leave that one.

We will move on. Some spectacular images. A solar storm pounding the

Earth may not have caused the destruction to communications many

feared, but it has resulted in some amazing images of the Northern

Lights. These photographs were taken in Finland, Russia and Sweden,

and show as spectacular display caused by charged particles from

the sun hitting the Earth's magnetic field at over 500 miles a

second. They were thrown into space by two solar flares, the biggest of

five years. Unfortunately, cloudy skies and a full moon will stop us

from seeing those spectacular Cloud has been spoiling things a

bit. In contrast to everything going on high up in the atmosphere,

low down it is quiet. Not just the this weekend but into next week as

well. Right honourable gentleman weather to come and temperatures

are heading into the mild and very mild category. But there is no wall

to wall Sunshine, a lot of cloud. Some brightness moving into the

Midlands and northern Scotland. As we have seen in Glasgow, rain is

coming across Northern Ireland, central and southern Scotland. It

will be turning like but it is accompanied by gusty winds.

Northern Scotland is brightening up. Damp across Cumbria, into the Lake

District and blustery into northern parts of England especially. To the

east of the Pennines, some breaks. In southern England, more cloud

than yesterday and a pot from drizzle, it is Refuse Members'

Drizzle increasing across western areas, into tonight. There will be

hill fog, bridging along the coast reducing visibility. In northern

Scotland the wind picks up again. Elsewhere, sadly a lot of cloud

again so you are hard pressed to find the brakes but the Northern

Lights. In mild start to the weekend. Cloud again to the west,

giving drizzle in places, poor visibility. Patchy rain in northern

Scotland where it is still windy. North and east Wales, East and

Scotland, we get Sunshine breaking through and look what it does to

the temperature. 16, possibly 17 degrees. We are in good shape than

the next round of the Six Nations rugby in Wales. Coverage across the

BBC. It will be fine de Paris on Sunday for the England game. More

cloud around to the far west and drizzle in places on Sunday.

Elsewhere, after a cloudy start it brightens up and does everything

for the temperature. The start of next week - high-pressure Whicker's.

Weather changes will be subtle. It is the weather that will get you in

is the weather that will get you in a spring-like state of mind. And

reminder of our top story - the Italian President has criticised

Britain over a failed rescue mission in Nigeria in which a