07/04/2014 BBC News at One

I would like to apologise.

There has not in a moment since this tragedy happened that I

have not thought about her family.

We will have all of the latest from the courtroom.

Also this lunchtime, the search for MH370 -

officials say two new signals have been detected consistent with

the plane's flight recorders.

The supermarket chain Asda announces plans to create

up to 12,000 new jobs.

The biggest general election in history - India goes to the polls.

And Prince George's first royal tour.

The eight-month old arrives with his parents in New Zealand.

Later on BBC London:

Police hunt a man who attacked three women with a hammer at a hotel.

And women complain after being photographed eating on the tube

and finding their images online.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

Oscar Pistorius has begun giving evidence at his trial for the murder

of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

He repeated his claim that he'd mistaken her

for an intruder when he shot her dead at their home last year.

He told the court, I was simply trying to protect Reeva.

He also apologised to her family, saying he could not imagine

the pain, sorrow and emptiness he had caused them.

Let's cross to Pretoria and our Africa correspondent,

Andrew Harding.

It has been quite a dramatic morning here in court.

The focus finally shifting to Oscar Pistorius himself.

His testimony will be central to the trial.

It may be a disappointment to those following on television,

but only the audio of his testimony is being broadcast.

No video this morning.

A crucial day for Oscar Pistorius as he arrives in court to begin

his defence.

Much hangs on the credibility of his version of what happened

the night he shot Reeva Steenkamp.

May I start off with my evidence by tendering an apology...

The athlete turned to the public gallery where

lady-macro's mother was sitting.

I would like to apologise.

There has not been a moment since this tragedy happened that I

have not thought about her family.

I wake up every morning and you are the first people I think

of, the first people I pray for.

I cannot imagine the pain and the sorrow this has caused you

and your family.

I was simply trying to protect Reeva.

I can promise that when she went to bed that night, she felt loved.

Oscar Pistorius went on to describe how he had been

affected by her death.

I have terrible nightmares about things that happened that night.

I wake up and I can smell blood and I wake up to being terrified.

His sister listened in tears.

Oscar Pistorius went on to talk about his childhood,

how he battled disability and his mother's early death.

The trial has his -- has resumed and he is back on the stand.

There will be updated throughout the day on the BBC News Channel plus a

special programme each evening with the key moment of the day at 7:30pm

say two underwater sounds picked up by an Australian ship are consistent

with signals from an aircraft's black box recorders.

Officials say it's the most promising lead they've had

so far, with Malaysia's transport minister saying he was cautiously

hopeful about the findings.

The plane with 239 people on board was flying from

Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8th of March when it disappeared.

Richard Galpin has the latest.

The Australian Navy ship the ocean shield has been launching

this high-tech sound detector to try to pick up any underwater signals

from the plane's black-box data recorder.

Price now it has picked up distinctive pings.

This would be consistent with data from the Accord -- with

the recorders.

This is a most promising lead and in the third so far it is probably

the best information we have had -- in the search.

The area they are searching off Western Australia is now well

defined.

The ship the ocean shield is currently

manoeuvring to try to pick up the underwater signal for a third time.

If they gain another acoustic event, that will be the trigger to launch

the autonomous underwater vehicle would be more at Croke -- with

the more accurate sonar.

First, this underwater sound detector must

pick up the signal again.

So that the Australian Navy can pinpoint

where the sound is coming from.

Everyone here is a work time is running out.

The batteries on the plane's black-box recorders

may only last a few more days.

The new developments have been the most promising we have had.

I urge all nations and the international community to unite in

their prayers and not give up hope.

Everyone involved in this long search is still being

very cautious in stock but today there has been more optimism that

the mystery could be resolved.

Let us talk to our transport correspondent.

A significant development this.

What happens now?

I cannot tell you how incredible it would be if they have

stumbled over these signals.

The listening device trickles along at a few miles an hour.

They are searching an area the size of Britain.

They have found no wreckage.

No expert gave them a hope of hearing anything.

Let us hope they have unlocked something.

They will need to find the signal again.

It helps them pinpoint the location.

Then they send the kit down which can map the bottom of the ocean.

It uses sonar and cameras and they can seriously start trying

to find wreckage.

It is a very long slow process.

They rock can look like the wheel of an aircraft.

If they can confirm the signal, they will know roughly where to look.

Incredibly promising lead but they have not found the aircraft yet.

Thank you very much.

Eight-month old Prince George has begun his first overseas visit.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge landed this morning in New Zealand

with their son on the first day of a three-week tour down under.

The tour began with a traditional Maori welcome.

Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell sent this report

from Wellington.

The weather was not at all what people had wanted.

Low cloud and driving rain.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force brought them on the final leg

of their flight from London, the door opened and there with

his parents was the baby so many have been so keen to see.

George, eight and a half months old now, getting a final reassuring

tweak from his mother before emerging for the first high-profile

appearance outside of the UK.

The first time he has been seen properly

since his christening last October.

A blustery first encounter with New Zealand at the start

of a three-week visit to both New Zealand and Australia.

How had he coped with the flight?

Much like any other eight-month-old probably.

He looked composed at the end of it, if rather disinterested

in the line of people there to welcome his mum and dad.

George was taken for a rest supposedly, but from

the look of him, that may not have fitted with his plans for the day.

William and Catherine headed to the Governor

general's residence for the official welcoming to New Zealand.

The Maori ceremony began with spear waving, but before long,

noses were being robbed.

The couple could be King and Queen of New Zealand as things stand.

The serious part is trying to fathom whether New Zealand's and warmth

and enthusiasm towards the family amounts to a wish to retain

the monarchy for the remainder potentially of this century.

The supermarket chain Asda says it's planning to create at least 12,000

jobs over the next five years.

It's part of the company?s plans to open nearly 200 new outlets.

Let's speak to our chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym

Asda talk about the potential for 12,000 jobs.

What do they mean by that?

They are saying, we have a plan and we want to

deliver this over five years.

If it goes according to what has been set out in the announcement

today, it will create 12,000 new jobs in parts of the country work

Asda currently isn't represented, quite a lot in the south.

It is not definite.

Why they are doing this is there is a big shake-up going on

in the supermarket world.

Tesco are pulling back from large stores in terms

of new builds, Asda are saying they want to build 40 large stores.

They think there is potential.

Some of the other jobs will be in smaller supermarkets

and also signed him -- also something forecourt stores.

They want to develop more click and collect.

There is a lot of new activity going on in the supermarket sector.

It is part of Asda's plan to catch up in some areas with what

their competitors are doing.

The overall boss has been in the UK today.

He is saying he is confident these plans can be delivered.

The UK is a great place to do business.

David Cameron was pleased to hear that and was with him.

Supermarkets are often creating new jobs.

Other sectors of retailing are taking jobs away.

RBS last week announced plans to close branches for example.

Thank you very much.

The political crisis in Ukraine deepened today when pro-Russian

demonstrators who'd seized government buildings in the eastern

Ukrainian city of Donetsk called for the creation of a people's

republic, independent from Kiev.

The group have also asked Moscow to send in what it called

a peace-keeping force.

Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused Russia

of fomenting the unrest.

Here's our world affairs correspondent, Emily Buchanan.

Much more than a protest in the Ukraine in the -- city of Donetsk.

A victory after fierce clashes over the weekend.

They are pushing for a referendum raising ominous parallels with

events in Crimea were a referendum ended up with annexation by Russia.

Armed men have also taken over the security service headquarters

in a city near the Russian border.

Outside, placards read, no to NATO.

Why would I want NATO?

I want to go home and see my family and Russia.

For that, I need a passport to cross the border?

To see my aunt, my sisters, my cousins?

Overnight, there was another violent invasion

of a local government building.

Ukraine is now accusing Russia of sowing and rest.

-- unrest.

TRANSLATION:

It is clear it is the realisation of an anti-Ukrainian anti-Abergavenny

LAN, a plan to destabilise the situation, a plan for foreign

troops to cross the border and sees the territory which we will

not allow -- anti-Abergavenny.

Emily Buchanan.

David Cameron has again been defending his Culture Secretary

Maria Miller as the row over her expenses rumbles on.

He insisted she was doing a good job.

Let's get more from our political correspondent, Carole Walker.

The Prime Minister has had to defend Maria Miller twice in a week,

how much pressure is there?

Clearly another day in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons.

It is not what Maria Miller or Downing Street would want.

A sense of frustration by some Conservative MPs out there

campaigning for European elections, wanting to talk about the economy,

finding instead the spectre of MPs' expenses is what is

on the minds of the people.

The Telegraph today suggested Maria Miller was trying to wriggle

out of paying capital gains tax on her home in Embleton.

They point to the fact that letters were sent out in 2009 from

the Commons authorities seeking an undertaking that she would pay any

capital gains tax due on the house.

She stopped making claims.

Her team say it is wrong and Maria Miller had already stopped

making any claims on the property in Wimbledon.

They also point out the house was sold a couple of months ago.

It has not been assessed for any tax liabilities and if she is asked to

pay any tax on it, she will do so.

For the time being, the Prime Minister is standing.

Behind Maria Miller and she does seem determined to ride it out.

There are questions about whether the system needs to change to stop

No Our top story this lunchtime, Oscar Pistorius has begun giving

evidence at his murder trial.

He has repeated his claim that he thought he was shooting

an instructor -- intruder when he shot his girlfriend dead last year.

And still to come, we look back at the life and career of

the Hollywood great, Mickey Rooney, who's died at the age of 93.

Later, I will have all the sport as Sunderland look to escape

the relegation zone.

They play Tottenham tonight and we will hear from both managers.

The biggest general election in history has begun in India.

It's so big that even though polling began today, voting won't

actually end until May the 12th.

Over 800 million voters, 100 million more than

in the elections of 2009, are eligible to vote, at 930,000 polling

stations, with a final result due in six weeks, on May 16th.

The election sees the ruling Congress party,

now headed by the latest member of India's influential Nehru-Gandhi

dynasty, Rahul Gandhi, pitted against the Hindu nationalist, BJP.

Let's cross to Jon Sopel, who's in Mumbai.

Matthew, thank you and welcome to Mumbai.

As you say, the world's biggest election

in a very big and noisy country.

We are outside the chakra party terminus, which was the Victorian

terminus in colonial times.

If I wanted to catch a train from their 2-goal to Assam where

voting is taking place, I could do so but it will take me

three and a half days to get there.

It is 1700 miles away.

It gives you an idea of the size of this country.

Our correspondent is there.

They queued up from the early hours of the morning at this polling

station set up in April school.

Women almost outnumbering men.

Standing patiently for hours in 30 degrees heat.

Once inside, a quick identity check.

After which, their fingers are marked with indelible ink to make

sure that no one votes twice.

It has been a solid start on day one of the voting.

A pretty good turnout.

And that is always a sign that the voters want to send

the politicians a strong message.

Assam has not kept pace with the rest of India

when it comes to development.

There is a sense sometimes hear that they have been left out.

A sense of frustration and even of alienation.

This is tea growing country.

The plantations dotting this region were set up by the British

in the 19th century to produce the world-famous Assam tea.

But while the industry has prospered, the tea growers have not.

This is three generations of one family.

Father, son and grandson.

They are all going to vote in these polls.

They lived by the plantation.

Conditions that have seen little improvement over the years.

The tin shacks that serve as their homes offer no protection

against the heat.

There is no electricity or proper health care.

TRANSLATION:

The British worst year and I have been working here since then.

They left and I voted in the first elections

and all the elections since then.

TRANSLATION:

We're not asking for much.

All we want is someone who will help us.

We work so hard but our wages are low.

The tea industry is making a profit but we get no share of those.

TRANSLATION:

I am voting for the first time.

So I really excited.

Our lives here are pathetic.

There is no future for me here.

I'll want to vote for someone who will give me an opportunity to move

out from here and begin a new life.

Now it is decision time for Assam and the rest of India.

Five weeks from now, we will know who they have backed.

So voting goes on until May the 12th and then the

result is declared four days later.

But that may or may just be the beginning

because with horse trading going on to form a coalition government,

it can take weeks after that.

India may be the world's biggest democracy but voters here also

have to be the most patient.

Shrien Dewani, the man accused of arranging the murder of his wife,

Anni, during their honeymoon, is due to to South Africa this evening.

For him, it will be the end of a three year

legal battle against extradition.

For the family of his murdered wife, it's the beginning of a process,

they hope.

That will uncover the truth, about what really happened when

Anni Dewani was shot dead in 2010.

Jon Kay reports.

It was November 2010 when Anni Dewani was shot dead while

on honeymoon in South Africa, apparently the victim

of a carjacking outside Cape Town.

But the South African authorities believe that carjacking was ordered

by her new husband, Shrien Dewani.

The couple, seen here on CCTV just before she was killed.

Prosecutors claim that the 34-year-old businessman wanted

his bride dead and so paid a local taxi driver to organise it.

For more than three years, they have been trying to have him

extradited to face those allegations at the businessman's lawyers say

that he is not well enough.

Instead, he has remained in a mental health unit where he is said to be

suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

But after a High Court decision last month, it seems his legal fight in

the UK is now over and today he is expected to be taken from Bristol

and then flown to Cape Town.

On arrival there tomorrow, it is understood that he will appear

in court and then on to a high security hospital where he will be

assessed by psychiatrists who will decide if he is fit to stand trial.

Anni Dewani's relatives have described the last three years

as torture and have told the BBC they desperately need answers.

Finally, this case is going to be about Anni.

Up till now, it has been about everything but Anni.

So we are relieved and pleased that this might end this case.

We are getting closer to closure.

Shrien Dewani denies any involvement in his wife's death.

Three local men have already been jailed for their parts

in her murder.

Young and vulnerable victims face an unacceptable ordeal

in courtrooms in England and Wales, according to the former Director

of Public Prosecutions.

Sir Keir Starmer is heading the Labour Party's new

He says it's time to consider changing

the way courts question victims, who can be on the stand

for hours or, in some cases, days.

One of the all time Hollywood greats, Mickey Rooney,

has died at the age of 93.

His career began in Vaudeville, when he was just 18 months old,

but spanned nine decades, during which he starred alongside some

of the greatest names in cinema.

Nick Higham looks back at his life.

# I said good morning # The sun is shining

# Good morning # Hear the birdies sing

# It's great to stay up late

# Good morning, good morning to you.

Mickey Rooney was 19 when he made Babes in Arms with Judy Garland.

She was still learning to be a star.

He was the real thing, a veteran of 120 films.

He was an irrepressible child star, playing Mickey McGuire in one series

He was an irrepressible child star, playing Mickey McGuire in one series

of more than 60 comedy shorts.

Then Andy Hardy, the all-American boy nextdoor.

I couldn't tell you nothing before!

I didn't have no partner in the bank!

I couldn't tell you because I couldn't give my brother up!

He could act as well.

He played opposite Spencer Tracy

Lots of vinegar, I'll grant you.

And he played opposite another child star, Liz Taylor,

in National Velvet.

He's loose!

But he grew up too quickly and his private life was a mess.

He married eight times, the first time to Ava Gardner,

and went broke twice.

The self-styled rubber ball of showbiz, he made endless comebacks,

often in films for children.

Acting, he maintained, wasn't work.

Being in a business where you're so fortunate to just be a gron-up kid

playing make believe and memorising some lines to do before the camera.

That's a walk in the park.

He lived a long life and made over 300 films but never matched

the brilliance and charm of those early films with Judy Garland.

In many way, our modern world is more inter-connected than ever

before, thanks to things like the internet and social media.

But do we really feel closer to the people around us?

The BBC has commissioned research, called 'Who Do We Think We Are',

looking in detail at our own identity

and who we feel most connected to.

Here's our Home Editor, Mark Easton.

With European elections, Scottish independence referendums and

the Commonwealth Games and football World Cup, 4014 is the year when

our relationship with each other and the wider world will be tested.

I am in Northern Irish.

I am Welsh.

I am British, not English.

I am British, not English.

In a major face-to-face survey for the BBC, we asked people across

the UK if they feel more less connected than decade ago with other

people in their neighbourhoods, country and the wider world.

6% more said that their connection with people in

their neighbourhoods was stronger, rather than weaker with the wider

world the difference was 11%.

But ask about the connection with people

in their country, 9% more said it was now weaker than stronger.

Our sense of connectivity seems to be more local and international

at the same time.

Perhaps people living 100 miles away in your own country are

just somehow less interesting.

These doctors in Manchester are baking for a local cake sale.

Raising funds for Syrian refugees.

I think it is worth it.

I feel locally connected to the community, especially as a doctor.

I'm working with a lot of people in the community.

You are also then having an international perspective, through

the contact with the outside world.

Our survey tried to unpick our relationship with the wider world.

We asked people to look beyond our shores.

The outlook and values of which country outside of the United

Kingdom is closest to their own.

In all of the countries in the world,

four lead the way when it comes to their outlook matching our own.

Tied for first place with 9%, Australia and the United States.

Third equal with Germany and France.

By the end of the year, the people of the United Kingdom

must reflect on these relationships and consider the question.

Who do we think we are?

Time to consider what the weather is doing.

Plenty of opportunity today to get rained on.

Some of that will be on the heavy side.

Some of that will be on the heavy side.

Some hail and thunder in the next, onto the evening.

We can see the UK is buried under a cloud.

Something clear out West, heading our way for tonight

and into tomorrow.

In fact, that greater regime is coming across Northern Ireland

through this afternoon.

Ahead of it, blustery wind.

A second band of rain moving eastwards across us.

Some of that could be heavy and thundery, from parts of Yorkshire

down through the East Midlands and on words into East Anglia.

This is five o'clock.

Some wet weather around to the West.

Behind that, things clearing up nicely.

The wind is switching to the West, ringing in clear skies.

-- bringing in.

A bit of an edge to the wind.

Across Northern Ireland, some heavy showers going into this evening.

Generally, the best of the weather...

Overnight, southeasterly parks, we will keep a brisk breeze going.

Some long, clear spells going.

It will feel colder than it did last night for many

of us with temperatures well down into the single figures.

A touch of frost not completely out of the

question but it will be a struggle.

What about tomorrow?

Still plenty of isobars on the chart.

A breezy day.

That will tend to kill off the showers through the day.

North-western areas prone to one or two.

Across Northern Ireland, they will run through quickly.

Sunny spells for most of us that a fresh feel to the date

with a brisk wind blowing in.

Temperatures around about ten or 11.

Actually, that is right for April.

We will see above-average temperatures in both places.

Temperatures picking up again with a stark change of wind direction.

Most of us will be dry with rain across the North West of Scotland.

Even that will fade away as we go through

into the second half of the week was not quieter weather on the way.

into the second half of the week was not quieter weather on the way.

Thanks, Peter.

Just a reminder of our top story.

Oscar Pistorius has begun giving evidence at his murder trial.

He has repeated his claim that he thought he shot an intruder when he

shot dead his girlfriends last year.

You can see continuing coverage of Oscar Pistorius' trial