01/08/2013 BBC News at One

black, reporting profits of �2.1 billion for the first half of this

year. The news prompts speculation that the bank, part owned by the

Government, could be privatised within weeks. We'll be live in the

City to ask when that might happen and at what benefit to the taxpayer.

Also this lunchtime. Calls for a review of parking charges in England

as authorities continue to make hundreds of millions from fees and

fines. The question to the death of a second soldier to be awarded A/V

receiver bravery in Afghanistan has found he was unlawfully killed.

Morgan Tsvangirai denounces the country selection as a huge farce

alleging widespread rigging. All to play for. It evenly poised at Old

Trafford. Later on BBC London. We expose parts of this warehouse

illegally rented out for people to live in, breaking planning laws and

putting lives in danger. And potting up the plants at Kew Garden ahead of

BBC News At One. Lloyds Banking Group is back in the black for the

first time in three years. The group, which is 39% owned by the

taxpayer, has returned to profit, making �2.1 billion in the first

half of this year. That's compared with a loss of almost half a million

pounds in the same period last year. The news has prompted speculation

that the Government might sell its stake in the bank sooner than

previously thought. Our business correspondent Simon Gompertz

reports. It's a sign that Lloyds is clambering out of its banking pet.

Out of the red and into profit. We can now take the first steps to

returning lights to the private sector where it belongs. That is

timed nicely after George Osborne told the city in June that two

fifths of the bank owned by the taxpayer would soon be up for sale.

Today it's not clear exactly when the sale will happen. We have got no

set timetable for that. We are continuing to look at it. It's not

something we are going to rush because we need to make sure the

taxpayer gets their money back. Lloyd's profits turnaround has been

driven by a drop in losses from bad debt, down 43%. Less money, half as

much a set aside to pay compensation for the mis-selling of payment

protection insurance to customers, the result being that losses of 456

million in the first half of last year have been replaced by profit of

2.1 billion this time round. Lloyd's can now tell potential buyers of its

shares its back in profit. The question is how quickly the

Chancellor might move now to sell some of the governments 39% stake.

Whether taxpayer games more by off-loading quickly or by waiting a

bit? You should be able to see a big share shortly, public offering early

next year, sometime like that. In 18 months or so, it may be possible

that the taxpayers get paid off, in effect, and those shares are owned,

not by the government. What about the price? Rescuing Lloyd's by

buying shares costs the taxpayer �20 billion five years ago at 61p per

share according to the government accounts. The actual cost is put at

73p, by financial experts. Today the market price rose even above that

level. So the Chancellor faces a tantalising prospect of being able

to boast the taxpayer will make a return from bailing out Lloyd's but

the whole process will take many months and depends on city and

international investors wanting to buy into Britain's battered banks.

Let's get more on this from our Business Correspondent Ben Thompson,

who's in the City. What reaction to all of this? The big question is

when the government will sell and at what price? You heard in that report

of a Chancellor saying he is prepared to sell above 61p a share

but there was mounting pressure on him to now sell at 73p. The level we

all bailed out the banks at, �20 billion, back in 2008, nonetheless

the share price has been rising consistently over the course of the

day. It's currently trading at just over 74p, and you can really see on

the graph how quickly that has been rising. Largely as a reaction to

those better-than-expected figures, and you can see they are heading a

2.5 year high, but the chief executive of Lloyd's has said he is

ready for the government to sell his stake. The big issue is, if it

doesn't happen with the next few weeks, it's likely to be put off

until September or October when many of the traders and investors are

back from their summer holiday. OK, thank you. And one more item of

financial news. Interest rates are to remain at 0.5%. The Bank of

England has announced that it's keeping the key borrowing rate at

the same level as it's been for more than four years. Parking charges and

fines are providing huge cash surpluses for some English local

authorities. Research by the RAC Foundation has found they brought in

�565 million in one year alone. Eight of the ten councils with the

biggest surpluses were in London, as our local government correspondent

Mike Sergeant reports. Some authorities say they are

reining in fines and charges but a parking ticket is still issued every

four seconds in England. This year 's figures show another likely

increase in council parking profits. The total surplus is set to

rise to �634 million, 5.6% increase. For this window cleaner in central

London, parking charges can take a big chunk out of his earnings. If

you're trying to earn a living, you know, some of the jobs you don't

earn �5. And you pay that in parking charges, you know. The RAC

Foundation is named the council is making the most. The city of

Westminster has a surplus of nearly �42 million, London borough is

dominating the list, but others are Brighton and Hove, and Cornwall with

a surplus of 8 million. Its fine for local authorities to operate a

parking policy and get money out of it but not fine or legal for them to

raise money in that way in order to fund their general expenditure.

in Westminster, it costs �4 40 41 hours parking. Councils say they can

keep traffic flowing and drivers and pedestrians safe. Any surplus they

make from parking charges is supposed to go back into the

transport budget, but Westminster council says that exactly what

happens. And it's parking profits are falling. Westminster has reduced

the surplus it makes from parking year-on-year. By about 50%, the

number of parking tickets we have given out. But across the country,

some drivers think they are an easy target. These residents in Cornwall

were fined after a few minutes. It's an awful shock. I was going to the

shop for my eyes, and my husband had to come with me, and I was near to

it because that's as far as it can work. The council says people can

usually find a space but ministers think the rules are not fair and

need to be reviewed. The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is

ascribed the murder of a four-year-old as vile and evil and

said it should be on all of our consciences. Daniels mother and

stepfather were found guilty of his murder. Birmingham Crown Court heard

that at the time of his death, Daniel weighed just over one stone.

Nick Clegg said warning signs had been overlooked. I think we all ask

the same question, how did this happen? What happened when a teacher

saw this boy scavenging in rubbish bins for food and saw him losing

weight and apparently did pass on information. Why did nobody act on

it? He went to hospital and the parents spun a web of lives that

lies. What happened then? Nick Clegg speaking this morning. An inquest

into the death of Lance Corporal Ashworth has found that he was

unlawfully killed by enemy attack. Lance Corporal Ashworth was killed

as he stormed an insurgent position in Helmand province last year.

Jonathan Beale reports. His mother, Kerry, with his brother here, has

already spoken of her enormous pride when she received her son 's

Victoria Cross. Today she and the family had a more sombre task of

attending his inquest. James Ashworth was killed in Helmand

province in an attack on an enemy position. One comrade said the word

selfless, brave and courageous did not do justice to what he did day.

On the 13th of June last year, he was among a group of Grenadier

Guards who flew into a Taliban stronghold with orders to capture

and kill. They came under intense fire soon as they landed. The

inquest heard how they cornered a sniper who refused to surrender.

James volunteered to go forward, crawling along a wall with bullets

flying around him. He was killed as he broke cover as he pulled the pin

from its grenade. He died from blast wounds for the being quest at how we

been hit by a bullet just before he threw the grenade. Recording a

verdict of unlawful killing, the coroner praised his actions on that

day while his commanding officer described James Ashworth as simply

the best and bravest of men. Afterwards, his mother, who shed

tears throughout the hearing, paid this tribute to her son. James

passed away doing a job he loved. At times, it was a hard job but he did

get to experience new countries, learning new skills and make some

wonderful friends. The nickname for him is ash or Jimmy, and I know the

myth as much as we do. He's only the second British soldiers fought in

Afghanistan to posthumously been awarded the Victoria Cross, the

highest military honour, and won his family will cherish. A man who was

due to stand trial for the murder of four soldiers in 1982 killed by an

IRA bomb at Hyde Park in London, has been granted conditional bail. John

Downey's trial date has been put back until next January. Our home

affairs correspondent Matt Prodger is at the Old Bailey now. What can

you tell us? Can you hear us? No. I'm terribly sorry, we have lost

that. Technology failing us. The fugitive Edward Snowden has left

Moscow airport. He had been at the airport for several weeks after

coming to international prominence after leaking several classified

documents detailing massive electronic surveillance by the US

government. He had been unable to leave following the cancellation of

his US travel documents by Washington. Reports say he just

received the necessary papers to enter Russian soil. It's not clear

where his going but we can get more from our Moscow correspondence.

the last half an hour, we got the news Edward Snowden has been allowed

to leave Moscow airport. It seems he has been given temporary asylum for

up to one year, that's what is Russian lawyer has been saying, he's

basically allowed to stay in Russia for at least one year and then he

will be able to renew the asylum application after that. It seems he

also is actually left the airport. There is some debate about whether

he left about three quarters of an hour ago or whether it was close to

two hours ago, but information suggests he has left Moscow airport

for an unknown destination. His lawyer says the destination won't be

disclosed because as one of the most wanted men in the world. Edward

Snowden has been at the airport for five and a half weeks in transit

while he's been trying to work out what his future would be. He's going

to be here for it seems at least a year and he may stay longer or head

for his original intended destination, Latin America. Daniel,

in Moscow, thank you. Observers in Zimbabwe say the presidential

election there has been seriously compromised with a million people

unable to vote. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network used 7,000

observers across the country. Robert Mugabe's party, Zanu PF, are

claiming an emphatic victory. But Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr Mugabe's

opponent, has described the election as a huge farce. Our correspondent

Nomsa Maseko is in Harare. From what we know so far, the results are not

in yet. The Zimbabwe electoral commission has released a statement

saying that the results are still being counted and are being

correlated and the result will be made known within the next five

days. They have not given us any indication whether it's going to be

any time soon from today, but they had taken and undertaken that the

result will be released in a matter of five days and, of course, the MDC

leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said he is concerned

and has declared these elections are null and void because of huge

irregularities which he claims are in the voters roll. Thank you.

main headline... Lloyds Banking Group is back in the black,

reporting profits of more than �2 billion, property speculation that

the bank could soon be privatised. -- prompting speculation. In the

Ashes Test match here at Old Trafford, England are having to work

hard, but they have taken two wickets before lunch. Later in the

hour, I will have all of the sport, including news from the World

Swimming Championships in Barcelona, where Andrew Willis has qualified

second fastest for the 200 metres have delivered if Britain had been

on the verge of nuclear war has been released to the National archives.

It is among government documents dating from 1983, which have been

made available under rules allowing their publication after 30 years.

The secret papers also revealed that Margaret Thatcher blocked a young

William Hague from becoming a special adviser to the Chancellor,

denouncing his proposed apartment as an "embarrassing gimmick". -- his

proposed appointment. Ross Hawkins reports. Police confront women

protesting at Greenham Common, outside a British base where US

nuclear missiles were due to arrive. Margaret Thatcher dismissed them as

an expensive city, but one member of her Cabinet warned that they had

underestimated -- eccentricity -- the public opposition to those

missiles being brought on to British soil. The Cold War led to some grim

thinking. I have the most chilling document is this address drawn up

for the Queen as part of a NATO war game exercise, showing what she

might have said if an actual nuclear complex were looming. It states bash

the madness of war is once more spreading through the world, and our

brave country must once again prepare itself to survive against

great odds. There was a real conflict coming with the miners. The

records show ministers considered using troops to move coal around the

country. Detailed plans were drawn up on how to handle the strike which

was not far off. And with victory in the Falklands war behind her, and

this, a general election year which would prove triumphant, Mrs Thatcher

was all-powerful at Westminster, leaving not even the smallest

details to chance. Could the Treasury hire a 21-year-old called

William Hague as a special adviser, she was asked? No, said Mrs

Thatcher. Ministers found ways of coping with it. If you started off

to put a paper to Cabinet, you'll often would not get the first two

sentences out before the Prime Minister would interrupt, and more

or less concluded the meeting. Well, you learnt, you just waited until

she drew breath and you started again. Sometimes even she failed to

get her away. When the leader of Granada, a Caribbean island part of

the British Commonwealth was murdered, the US invaded. She tried

to stop President Reagans -- President Reagan taking military

action, but the special relationship made no difference. When the dust

settled, she told the Cabinet that whatever had happened, written's

relationship with the US must on no account be jeopardised. --

Britain's. Police are investigating after threats were made to a number

of prominent female journalists on Twitter. The three were told that

bombs had been placed outside their homes. Sarah Campbell reports. The

tweet sent to the Independent newspaper's race Dent, one of three

female journalist who received online bomb threats. Their

properties were searched for suspicious devices and they were

warned by the police to stay elsewhere over night. -- Grace Dent.

It follows threats of rape against two women as well. We need Twitter

and the police to be working together to identify these

individuals, who are harassing us, with direct threats. It needs to be

treated extremely seriously. These individuals need to be held to

account. In the last three weeks, Twitter has made it easier to report

abuse, with a specific button currently available on their mobile

site but due to be rolled out across all platforms. The head of Twitter

in the UK says they are doing all they can to police their 200 million

users. We are working very quickly on the process of simplifying the

reporting process. We will be making it easier for people to report

instances of abuse, where people are behaving irresponsibly on the

platform or violating our rules. We do not allow specific threats of

Ireland's, we do not allow unlawful behaviour. When that happens, once

it gets reported, we act immediately. The police are

continuing to investigate the bomb threats. Some users are calling for

a boycott of Twitter this Sunday, to reflect how seriously they feel

their online community is being abused. When it comes to our

television viewing habits, it seems we are heading back in time to a

rather more traditional era, where the family sat down together to

watch television in the living room. A study by Ofcom suggest fewer

children now have televisions in their bedrooms, and are joining

their parents instead. However, it also seems, instead of watching the

single screen, we are also multitasking on our personal

devices, as Rory Cellan-Jones explains. It was back in the 1950s

that Britain first got the TV bug, and the set in the living room

became the focus of a family evening for millions. Now, it seems those

days are back and, like this West London family, we tend to watch

together on the main set, rather than children having their own TVs.

On average, we watch four hours a day, and live, rather than

pre-recorded or streamed television, still accounts for most of our

viewing. It is great, you feel like you are watching a programme with

your kids, but they could be texting 30 other people on Facebook. It is

hard to know how much they are engaged with you, but there is just

enough conversation going on around the programme so that you know you

are together, but they are often miles away. We are gathering in

front of a big living room TV again, but mobile devices mean the

experience is changing. Over half of all adults now own a smart phone,

and ownership of tablet computers has more than doubled in the last

year. While watching the screen, quarter of us are using these

devices to interact with the TV will speak to friends about it. People

are very likely today to use their smart phone or tablet to watch

television, but also to multitask, to do other things while watching

the TV, on different media. Also, one in five of us are using a second

screen to watch a different type of content while everybody else is

watching the main, big screen in the living room. The average home now

contains three devices which can connect to the internet. Younger

people are finding all sorts of new ways to communicate. But good,

old-fashioned television, albeit on a much bigger screen, is still at

the centre of the British home. Now, thousands of police officers and

firefighters are taking part in their very own Olympics. The World

Police and Fire Games is being held in Northern Ireland over the next

ten days. It is the first time the event has taken place in the UK.

There are some common sports, as well as some rather strange

contests. I confess, I had not know much about this event, but it is

absolutely huge... ? Yes, 7000 competitors, from 60 different

countries. Those strange sports include the ultimate firefighter,

the toughest competitor alive, and also, they are preparing for an

opening ceremony in this specially instructed Arena outdoor at the

Kings Hall in Belfast. They are expecting 14,000 people here. These

games take place every two years, and this year, it is Belfast. They

have come dressed for action, but these are not their usual uniforms.

Over the next ten days, police officers, prison officers and

firefighters from all over the world will do battle in Northern Ireland.

The ice hockey tournament at the World Police and Fire Games has

already begun, and it is clear that there is a real sense of rivalry.

This competition is all friendly, in the bar, but on the ice, it is

competitive. Otherwise, we are, rats. 70,000 competitors will

represent 60 different countries, in the games, which are being held in

the British Isles for the first time in their 30 year history. -- we are

comrades. Yes, there are some unique sports involved. The stair race is

one of those unusual contests. It will see firefighters in full

uniform, tackling Belfast's tallest building, the Obel, 28 floors high.

But holding these games in Northern Ireland means tight security is

needed. There is still a real threat from dissident republicans, and they

have been involved in attempted attacks on the police in the last

year. And it is only a matter of weeks since officers were injured in

loyalist waiting in Belfast. We will want to make sure that the

competitors are safe, but this is a sporting event, not a security

event. There are events which hark back to the traditions of the

services, like the muster, which includes firefighters connecting a

hose and shooting a target against the clock, as well as against the

competition. It is like something out of It's A Knockout. Having heard

more about it, some teams are taking it a bit seriously. Over the next

ten days, for each of the services, medals and pride will be on the

line. Among the other unusual contests is a battle between armed

police teams, but the only thing that will be battling here tonight

in the opening ceremony will be the weather, because it might be one of

the hottest days in other parts of the UK, but in Belfast, it is one of

the wettest. Also, we will be looking forward to the third Ashes

Test, which is under way at Old Trafford. England won the first two

Tests, of course. Joe Wilson is at Old Trafford for us. As you say, it

is now or never for Australia. They have to win this match to stay in

the Ashes. They chose to bat first and get a big score, and at lunch,

they are 92-2. Already signs that this match might be a stiffer test

for England. This means look means no mercy - let everybody who comes

to Old Trafford be certain, England will not release their grip.

Manchester could not wait. It took a long, hard fight for permission and

finance to turn this ground into a modern cricket venue, and this match

was Manchester's reward. Australia could forget about the Ashes if they

failed to make a big first-innings total here. Chris Rogers had a

couple of embarrassing dismissals in the last Test match, and he was

batting for his future, whether my facing a local hero in Jimmy

Anderson. -- never mind facing a local hero. Chris Rogers was now

batting like an Australian, or rather, like Australians used to do.

-- Jimmy Anderson. Chris Rogers will be 36 this month. It is his fourth

Test match. He has learned to be patient. England had kept faith with

Tim Bresnan. Watson went, and then, enter Graeme Swann. Khawaja had just

a faint edge of the wicketkeeper, enough for the on field umpire, even

though the batsmen did not believe it. England battling hard for

wickets. Isn't that how it is supposed to be in the Ashes? I can

tell you, that dismissal of Khawaja has provoked a furious reaction, it

seems that he hit his had, not the ball. Loads of replays, but the

decision stood. Michael Clarke will be at the crease, and we might well

see David Warner, the bad boy of Australia, running out to bat as

well. Let's have a look at the weather. On balance, there will be

plenty of play today, which I think will be good news for England,

hopefully, anyway. It has been cloudy this morning at Old Trafford,

at that cloud should break up two reveal some increasingly warm

sunshine. A day of huge contrasts across the UK. We have got a lot of

cloud across Scotland and Northern Ireland, with outbreaks of rain. The

heat continues to build across the south-east. The July heatwave is

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 56 seconds

back, for one day In that getting up to the mid-20s. Rather more cloud

around, showery bursts. Moving erratically west to east and some of

them could be quite lively with some thunder. Some sharp showers for

parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland. Arguably, a better day.

There will be some sunshine between the showers but temperatures not as

These little fronts will come up with shower was at times and then

this feature here, it will bring more persistent rain at the weekend

but this is Saturday's picture. You will notice sunshine and showers

moving west to east. You might get lucky and avoid the showers but

there will be some fairly sharp ones around. We could see some persistent

rain arriving later on in the day but for most of us, and up-and-down

sort of weekend. Yes, some sunshine and showers, but we will have lost