03/12/2013 BBC News at One

The UK's schools fail to make the top 20 in international tests as

Shanghai tops the league. British 15-year-olds tested in maths,

reading and science trailed far behind international counterparts

like China, We'll be asking why and what can be

done about it. Also this lunchtime. RBS apologises for an embarrassing

computer failure that left customers unable to pay by card on what was

the busiest online shopping day of the year. The two men accused of

murdering off-duty soldier Lee Rigby. The jury is shown harrowing

mobile phone footage taken by eyewitnesses. Six years in jail for

one of the Bolshoi ballet's star dancers after an acid attack on the

company's artistic director. And public recognition at last. Prince

Charles unveils a memorial to the brave women who were secret agents

during World War II. Details on how much bus fares will

go up and a teenage boy stabbed in palmers Green, the second fatal

stabbing in 12 hours. Good afternoon and welcome to the

BBC News At One. British students are trailing behind many of their

international counterparts at maths, reading and science. That's

according to the latest figures. The UK failed to make the top 20 in any

of those subjects, in tests which are conducted every three years by

the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. And

Welsh students are lagging behind the rest of the UK in all three core

subjects. Our Education Correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti has

the details. This is learning Korean style, testing and a fierce work

ethic which sees teenagers putting up to 13 hours study a day, what

British teenagers are up against. Today's ranking shows, when it comes

to international competition, the UK is simply lacking behind. Our

students will have to complete that compete against student globally in

the future. In today's world, jobs are anywhere in the world and

students need to be prepared for that so, it is concerning. Today's

international league table focuses particularly on mathematics. The pop

countries are all from East Asia. Shanghai, Singapore and another

Chinese territory, Hong Kong, are the top. Korea is in fifth place.

The UK is 26. The Education Secretary said he was introducing

the sort of reforms required to improve the UK's lacklustre

performance. There's an emphasis on social justice, helping child to

succeed. A commitment to an aspirational curriculum for all

students. A high level of autonomy from bureaucracy for teachers,

accountability for performance and headteachers have a critical power

to hire who they want. Labour said a newspaper article I Michael Gove

attacking them for poor results was unfair. The Secretary of State

cannot have it both ways. If, as he said, in the Daily Telegraph, the

Labour Party should take its share of responsibility for these results,

would you not agree it should also take its responsibility for, in his

words, delivering the best generation of teachers this country

has ever seen? The report says the UK spends more per child on

education than the average in developed countries. It also reports

that pupils in the UK are largely happy at school. These 15-year-olds

from Birmingham where thoughtful about why the UK performed so

indifferently. I think the Chinese people work harder than us and we

don't appreciate our education because it's free. Here they try to

make people more all rounded, you have to have a bit of work

experience to make sure you are suitable for the workplace. Wales is

a particular concern with its teenagers achieving lower average

scores in the subjects tested, maths, science and reading, than

those in the three other UK nations. As I see why it is now the subject

of hot debate. Let's pick up on that subject. Our Wales correspondent

Hywel Griffith is in Cardiff. We don't know why? It's a question that

we have been putting two teachers, parents, politicians and it seems be

one of those multiple-choice questions because, on one hand, many

people point towards the decisions made in the first decade of

devolution, after 1999 when the Welsh government got rid of tests,

scrap league tables, so the 15-year-olds in Wales, who took

those exams, that would've been first external testing. However,

others say it's much simpler than that. It's the money. In the last

decade, there's been a growing spending gap between England and

Wales. By the end of the last decade, it was worth ?600 per pupil

per year. The Welsh government says it's not all about the money because

some countries which are done better than Wales, better than UK, like

Vietnam, Poland, spend far less than they do here. It's going to be a

difficult question for the Welsh government and the Labour Party

which runs the Welsh government, not just this year, but leading up to

the general election in 2015 because their record is being questioned by

the coalition party and when Michael Gove wants to point towards what

Labour is doing in education, he will undoubtedly point towards

Wales. Thank you very much. And there's much more on this story on

our website. Including an in-depth look at why Shanghai continues to

out-perform the rest of the world in education. The Royal Bank of

Scotland group has apologised to thousands of customers who weren't

able to use their payment cards for three hours yesterday evening on one

of the busiest shopping days of the year. The technical failure left

some people unable to pay for their petrol. Others were forced to

abandon full shopping trolleys at supermarkets. The bank says it will

compensate anyone left out of pocket. Customers at RBS

subsidiaries Natwest and Ulster Bank were also affected. Our personal

finance correspondent Simon Gompertz reports.

It was the worst time for a bank's system not to work. The end of the

busiest Christmas shopping day so far with millions needing to get

hold of money from RBS, NatWest and Ulster bank. In Belfast, they are

still smarting from last summer's catastrophic computer failure. Now

they are suffering again. Really annoyed, because I stayed with them

last time. They said it would never happen again. It has, so I won't be

banking with them. Overall, not too happy. It's happening so often. The

past couple of years. I decided to get another account just to be

safe. Customers wasted no time in venting their theory on the Internet

messaging service Twitter, calves being refused in a meltdown and for

many, not being able to pay for petrol. -- cards. We exist because

of the customers we serve. It's only weeks since the new RBS chief

executive told staff service was the priority. Today his managers were

having to apologise and promise to reimburse customers. We have been

clear nobody will be out of pocket as a result of this. I have had

customers who have a penalty and we will refund that penalty. If anybody

has got specific expenses, please get in touch and we'll make sure we

put this right for you. The previous computer glitch when they extended

opening hours to help customers, is still being investigated by the

financial watchdog which could impose a healthy fine. There are

already time to find out what happened this time. RBS taking in

NatWest and Ulster bank, didn't use to many customers after last year's

IT failure but now it looks like a repeat offender, the consequences in

terms of people deserting the bank could be much more serious.

terms of people deserting the bank could This is yet another complete

shambles and the banks have to put this right quickly. And sort out,

convince their customers, what they are going to do to prevent this

happening in the future. They have allowed these systems to crash time

after time before that if the banks can't sort it out, the regulator

will have to force them to. RBS insists the problems persisted for

three hours yesterday evening and then was solved. But customers

report they are having trouble with online accounts today, some saying

there is money missing. And Simon is here now. It couldn't have happened

on the worst day, could it? It is very embarrassing. The chief

executive put out a statement saying it was not acceptable because too

many people suffered from it. And the reason it is unacceptable is

that the two things you want from a current account in the bank, your

money is safe and you can get at it when you want it. If a bank is not

offering that, however big they are, they have got a problem with their

customers. We have had today people saying they couldn't get online last

night and now they have got online but found there is money missing

from my account, even though I couldn't make those transactions.

Several stories that sort, and need to get in touch with the bank to

explain what the deficit is on their account and also, as you heard, if

they have incurred penalties, gone into overdraft, then they should get

any money they are reimbursed, but not quite so clear what would happen

if you missed out on a bargain in the shops. Because you couldn't pay

for them and also the frustration and embarrassment of not being able

to pay for something, it's unlikely you will get money back for that but

it's worth having a try. Simon, thanks very much. Despite the

problems at RBS, Amazon UK says it had its busiest day of sales ever

yesterday as pre-Christmas shoppers went online for Cyber Monday. The

retailer says more than 4.1 million items were ordered at a rate of

around 47 per second. The busiest time when sales peaked was at

9.22pm. The Energy firm, NPower, is writing to all of its 3.4 million

domestic customers in the UK to apologise for problems with its new

billing system. Complaints to the company have risen sharply in the

last year. It says some bills and statements weren't sent out, and

some direct debit payments weren't set up properly. The trial of two

men accused of killing Fusilier Lee Rigby has been shown mobile phone

footage of one of the alleged attackers with bloodied hands

speaking to passers by. The jury also heard from an armed officer who

arrived at the scene. She described how she thought she was going to be

killed. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale deny murdering Lee

Rigby in Woolwich in May. Just to warn you that this report from our

Home Affairs Correspondent June Kelly contains some graphic details

which some viewers may find distressing. Day three of this trial

and as is now routine, traffic around the Old Bailey was stopped

for the arrival of the convoy carrying that two men accused of Lee

Rigby's murder. For Fusilier Lee Rigby's family, it's another painful

day of evidence. There's also details of the kindness shown by

members of the public who tried to help the young soldier. After being

thrown into the air by the defendants car, he was then attacked

with a meat cleaver and a knife wielded by the two men. This

morning, the jury saw footage of his body being dragged into the

middle-of-the-road. Then, in particularly gruesome evidence, with

Lee Rigby's blood on his hands, Michael Adebolajo was delivering a

message. The only reason we have killed this man today is because

Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers. This British soldier is an

eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Today, from the dock, Michael

Adebolajo watch the video of himself on that spring afternoon, his

co-defendant, Michael Adebowale, had his head down, not looking at the

screen. Among those, the jury heard from was this woman, who witnessed

the attack and stopped to help. At one point, during a testament, she

was in tears. The men waited for the police to arrive and were shot as

they ran at firearms officers. A female firearms officer described

how armed with a meat cleaver one of the men ran towards her and she

could see the whites of his eyes full them she said, I thought it was

going to kill me. Major A departments in England are seeing a

growing number of people over the age of 65. That's according to a new

report. Official NHS statistics show there has been a shift as the number

of older people in the population has grown. This winter, emergency

departments are getting a little extra money to help cope with the

demands. Our Health Correspondent Branwen Jeffreys is here with the

details. Let's look first of all at the figures. How busy are A

departments? What today's report shows is that accident and emergency

is busy all year round now. 22 million people turning up each year

in England to be seen. If you look at who's going, there's an important

shift. 20% of the people who are going are now elderly people over

the age of 64, who need more care, have more medical problems. If you

look at how that translates into hospitals, children, only 13% go in

to a hospital bed. Look at the older people. The same figure goes up to

almost half of them, needing to go into hospital. And that explains why

hospitals are so busy. And I have a target to meet? They have to see

people within four hours. Yes, the target is overall being met. But the

casualty unit are struggling with that. Interestingly, today's report

shows are closely watching for our target, the more likely they are to

whisk you into a hospital bed at the last moment, suggesting there are

pressures there. The pressure is something we will look at something

closely over the winter. We will follow it all winter. We would like

people to tell us their experiences. They can do that by going to the

website. Follow the link for NHS winter. Thank you very much. The

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has laid flowers at the scene of the

helicopter crash in Glasgow which killed nine people. Police have now

identified all of those killed at the Clutha Vaults pub. Our Scotland

Correspondent Laura Bicker is in Glasgow. well, the reoperation here

is now fully complete. There are still police onside as

part of the investigation, but as you can see, this scene has

overwhelmingly become somewhere that people come to pay their respects to

those who lost their lives. Nine names that Glasgow will

remember. Gary Arthur, Marco Pree, pilot David Traill, Samuel McGhee,

PC Tony Collins, PC Kirsty Nelis, Robert Jenkins, Colin Gibson and

poet John McGarrigle. The police helicopter at the centre of this

investigation has now been taken away to Hampshire. We know there was

no media -- emergency call and the helicopter made a vertical descent

onto the roof of the Clutha bar. But families will want more answers.

This site has become a focal point of grief for relatives, friends and

those who just want to do something to help. It is an outlet for morning

-- those morning. Politicians came to pay their respects and thank

those who have worked tirelessly. The best of communities is revealed

when the very worst happens and that is what we have seen here over the

last few days in Glasgow. I think the whole country is full of

admiration for the way the community here has come together. A book of

condolence sits in Glasgow Cathedral for all to sign. Today's Scotland --

today, Scotland's First Minister added his name. People are

expressing sympathy but more than that, solidarity with those who are

bereaved or injured and the city itself. There are still 11 people in

hospital, three in intensive care and three in special spinal units.

The remains of this bar no sits desolate on the edge of the city

centre. One of the owner's says his thoughts are with the family's

victims. We will see what happens, but most importantly, whatever

happens, there has to be... It is still very early to discuss these

things, but not a monument but certainly a memorial to those people

who have died. This city ran to help those in need. It is now time for it

to heal. A fund has been set-up to help those

bereaved the First Minister Alex Salmond will be confirming within

the next hour that public money will go into that fund. As far as the

investigation goes, the helicopter is on its way to Farnborough to be

examined, but it may be many months before the cause of this crash is

known. The time is coming up to 1:20pm, the

top story this lunchtime: International tests show teenagers

in the UK are making little progress in reading, maths and science,

compared with students around the world.

Still to come, recognition at last for the women secret agents blown

into mainland Europe from Britain during the Second World War.

Later on BBC London: Almost half of Londoners say they

know or suspect they know someone who is a victim of domestic

violence, according to a new survey. We look at the campaign to help

them. And a new breakthrough by London

scientists means breast cancer patients could avoid unnecessary

surgery. One of the stars of the world-famous

Bolshoi ballet has been sentenced to six years in jail for his role in an

acid attack that nearly blinded the company's artistic director. The

judge said Pavel Dmitrichenko and his two co-defendants had

intentionally caused grievous bodily harm to Sergei Filin. He suffered

severe burns to his face and eyes. Here's Emily Buchanan.

Moscow's world-famous Bolshoi ballet. The month-long trial has

exposed the backstage atmosphere of bickering and rivalry. So poisonous,

it resulted in a night-time attack against the company's artistic

director. Sergei Filin was walking home last January when a man in a

mask threw acid in his face. Mr Filin suffered severe facial

injuries, which left him partially blind. The man who ordered the

attack was the star dancer, Pavel Dmitrichenko apparently because of

arguments over the allocation of the best ballet roles. He and his

accomplices were led into court to hear the guilty verdict. Mister

Dmitrichenko name he did not want acid to be used, but the man he

hired to rough up the artistic director was a former convict, Yuri

Zarutsky, who said that throwing acid was his own idea. The other

defendant was his driver. It has been the biggest scandal ever to

embroil the iconic ballet company and its internal politics are still

fraught. Only this week, the music director suddenly designed without

explanation. The Prime Minister has been

defending Britain's relationship with China during a trade visit with

100 British business leaders. David Cameron said the trip had delivered

an export deals worth ?6 billion to the UK, with Britain getting more

Chinese investment in the last 18 months than the previous 30 years.

Martin Patience reports from Shanghai.

The Shanghai skyline, a symbol of China's stunning development. And a

postcard backdrop for the Prime Minister's visit. This was all about

David Cameron connecting with the Chinese public and a short stroll

certainly drew a large crowd. He had began the day by catching a cab. It

may be a British icon, but the black cab is no Chinese own. Its bosses

announced an ?18 million investment at a plant in Coventry. Earlier in

the day, he held a business lunch with some China's most successful

entrepreneurs. David Cameron was key to tout -- keen to tout British

expertise. In this room, we have the expertise from Britain to start a

hospital, dig an oil rig, designer city, design university and college

courses, sell insurance, design the fastest car and one of the most

traditional cycles. We even have people who can help you to breed a

pig. We have everything a country could possibly need for its future.

And he went the extra mile to charm his hosts. My own small bit of

Chinese. In both sides interests. Thank you

very much indeed. But but by focusing on trade,

critics say the Prime Minister is selling out on human rights. In

front of university students, he said the country is needed to

acknowledge their differences. There are enough problems already without

trying to think forward to the next set of problems, so I prefer to

think that if the Britain and China partnership can grow in the way I

wanted to grow, and the way I believe the Chinese wanted to grow,

then when we come across obstacles in the road, we will be able to find

out the best way around them. Throughout this trip, David Cameron

has been stressing that this is a partnership of equals, but one

Chinese newspaper has described Britain as an old European power, at

only four study and travel. You get the sense that Britain is talking up

this trip far more than China apt only for.

A witness has told the inquest into the police shooting of Mark Duggan

that he had a mobile phone in his hand when he was killed. It was his

death that sparked the summer riots in England. What was said in court?

Until today, the only witness accounts of the shooting of Mark

Duggan had come from the police and they said he was holding a gun when

he was shot dead. Today, we heard from Witness B who lived in the

nearby flats and he said that Mark Duggan had a phone in his hands and

he had his hands up above his shoulders near his face. There was a

police officer standing in front of him and it was definitely a phone

clutched in his hand. He then said a police officer standing 57 steps

from Mark Duggan shot him twice. -- five or seven. Witness B said he

went back to get his mobile phone to film footage. He said he had been

forced to move to London as a result of the incident and said he was

reluctant to give evidence to the inquest because of the controversy

surrounding shooting of Mark Duggan. The Thai authorities have surprised

protestors in Bangkok by taking down concrete barriers and razor wire,

and inviting them into key government buildings. Demonstrators

have been on the streets for days, clashing with security forces and

demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

From Bangkok, Jonathan Head reports. An unexpected celebration. On the

Prime Minister's front lawn. These are the people who have been trying

to overthrow the Government. Even the entire political system. But

suddenly, a truce, after the police let them in. And it seems some

mediation by the army, which is there to keep things calm. Until

last night, it was all very different.

GUNSHOTS The protest is launched attack after

attack on the police barricades guarding the building. Using

whatever they could lay their hands on. -- the protests. We have seen

some amazingly dramatic battles at this bridge over the last few days

but this is not a victory yet. It merely made a point that they reject

the elected government and it comes at a high cost to the country's

reputation. This is their target. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

has shown a conciliatory figure, but the deeply divisive figure remains

her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed by a clue seven years ago.

This man was hit in the jaw, possibly by a rubber bullets, while

protesting. So was it worth it? TRANSLATION: Well, no, but we have

to do this for our country, and because we cannot accept Thaksin

Shinawatra. That sentiment still burns fiercely here, despite the

truce. Just as Thaksin Shinawatra's popularity burns equally fiercely in

other parts of Thailand. They were the women's secret agents

trained in Britain and then flown into mainland Europe to help the

resistance during the Second World War. For a long time, their

extraordinary stories remained secret and so their work was never

publicly recognised. But today, Prince Charles has unveiled

unveiled a memorial to the women. Robert Hall is at RAF Tempsford in

Berkshire. Yes, great excitement here and in

the view of many people, a long-awaited day. The chance to

honour those who operated in so much secrecy. Nobody knew what was going

on at RAF Tempsford to the war years but as we now know, it was the nerve

centre for operations by the Special Operations Executive and others into

occupied Europe. The monument unveiled by Prince Charles this

morning honours in particular the 75 female agents who travelled across

the Channel, many of whom did not return and also remembers their male

colleagues and last but not least, the pilots who got them out there

and flew in other dangerous circumstances to bring them back.

Let me talk to Noreen, who was a trainer with Special Operations

Executive. You met many of these before they set off, how would you

describe their qualities? I suppose Courage comes into it but they did

not think of themselves as courageous. Many were at angry,

angry at what had happened to their country. One lady went in after her

husband was killed and wanted to avenge his death. Others went in...

I really don't know, they were individuals. They were mostly very

beautiful, actually. Sometimes they left young children, which was

something I never understood. It must have been so sad, so many of

them, you never saw again. Unfortunately, 15 of them never came

back, yes. We were all young and when you are young, you do not

realise the danger, because you are immortal. It is something that

happens to other people. Courage, yes, but a courage that is almost

unnoticed. Noreen, thank you very much. So the village that was once

such a secret place, at least the today is back in centre stage.

Time now for a look at the weather with Alex. There is talk of snow.

It is going to get colder, definitely. I think wind is

It is going to get colder, definitely. I think wind going to be

the biggest problem, the weather is going to change dramatically. The

first change tomorrow, actually something brighter. We will see some

sunshine but the wind is really getting lively on Thursday and

severe gales could cause some problems and very cold for Friday,

but a short lived cold spell. For the time being, it is another

satellite picture showing the cloud smothering the UK and another drab

affair. The thicker cloud above northern Scotland is providing some

outbreaks of rain in northern England and for the bulk of Wales,

dreary but a dry. There are one or two breaks in the cloud, a hint of

sunshine but another grey affair with temperatures still in single

figures. You may see a little bit of rain trickling towards Cumbria later

in the day. The outbreaks of rain are continuing to push south towards

Glasgow. Some of that patchy rain getting into Northern Ireland. Where

it has been raining for much of the morning, brighter across northern

Scotland. We will follow this band of rain south overnight. It will be

damp or Northern Ireland, rain into northern England and by the morning,

part of Wales and the West Midlands. Some of those areas will stay dry,

it may turn foggy but further north, with clearing skies, it will turn

cold, certainly in rural parts there will be a frost. But there will be

also some sunshine. The wind is picking up in the far north, a few

wintry showers likely. A damp start in many southern counties but the

rain edges away and should move away soon after lunchtime. Then much

brighter skies for tomorrow and we see some sunshine. Temperatures

still in single figures but that sunshine will make a big

difference. However, the big change takes place on Wednesday night and

into Thursday. High pressure getting moved out of the way by a deepening

low pressure. This one will whizz to the north of Scotland, spewing out

isobars, really packing in and the winds getting very lively during

Wednesday night and Thursday, and across northern Britain, gusts of 60

or 70 mph, possibly 80 and the wind could pick up during the course of

Thursday, sending a band of rain further south. So a very blustery

day on Thursday, the strong wind not only causing problems but also

starting to introduce cold air. Still relatively mild on Thursday

across the South but that mild air will get kicked out of the way by

the cold air, so it will feel chilly on Friday but, as I mentioned, it

doesn't last too long and mild air will push back for the weekend.

There will still be some snow showers around, there are warnings

in force about that and the winds. You can see them online.

showers around, there are warnings in force about that and A reminder

of the top story this lunchtime: International tests showed teenagers

in the UK are falling behind in reading, maths and science, compared

with students around the world. That's all from the News at