21/10/2013 BBC News at Six

The first British nuclear power station to be built in a generation

gets the go-ahead, amid more arguments over energy bills. It will

cost ?16 billion, take ten years to build, and construction will create

thousands of jobs. By investing in nuclear power stations, we increase

the chance that bills will be lower than they otherwise would have been

if we did not invest in technologies like this. But there is more misery

for customers, as another energy giant, Npower, put its prices up.

Also tonight... A Ukranian student admits murdering an 82-year-old

grandfather on his way home from the mosque. The young girl discovered in

a Roma community in Greece - a couple appear in court accused of

abducting her. Tesco reveals the amount of food

that ends up as waste - worth ?700 a year for the average family.

Will others follow where Liverpool leads? The city scraps bus lanes for

a nine-month trial. Coming up in the sport, Theo Walcott

will miss a further three matches, possibly more, as he suffers an

injury setback following surgery. Good evening and welcome to the BBC

News at Six. It is the first nuclear power station to be built in Britain

for a generation. Hinkley Point C was given the go ahead today, with

arguments raging about whether it will eventually bring down energy

bills. That row intensified today when another energy giant, Npower,

became the latest supplier to hike its prices. Hinkley C will take ten

years to build. It will generate 7% of the UK's electricity supply. And

it is expected to create around 25,000 jobs during the construction.

We will have reaction from customers in a moment, but our industry

correspondent, John Moylan, has our first report tonight.

Hinkley point in Somerset. For almost 50 years, it has been

generating power for Britain. Now, that is set to continue for decades

to come. This land will be the site of one of the biggest nuclear plants

ever built. To mark the occasion, the most powerful man in Britain

came to one of the most powerful places on the planet, Hinkley's

existing reactor, to make the case for nuclear. By investing in nuclear

power stations, we increase the chance that bills will be lower than

they otherwise would have been if we did not invest. In the two years it

took to negotiate this deal, one potential investor, Centrica, pulled

out, paving the way for Chinese investments to come in. If it goes

to plan, the new powers stations will be switched on in ten years'

time, just as the exacting reactor in the distance is switched off. --

existing reactor. Private firms, not taxpayers, will be covering the ?16

billion upfront investment. In return, they will be guaranteed a

price per megawatt hour, which is almost twice the current wholesale

price. EDF and its partners will bear the risk if the cost of the

project spirals out of control. But the plant will add to our bills. So,

is it a good deal for consumers? It is an excellent deal for the British

customers. It will create thousands of jobs, and at the same time, it

will deliver secure, low carbon electricity at a price which will be

more competitive than otherwise. But that is for the future. For now,

millions more households are facing yet another energy price-wise.

Average dual fuel bills at end has a will be going up by more than 10%,

adding more than ?130 to average household energy costs. It will hit

more than 3 million customers. It is another day, another 10% rise in

energy prices, and we have got a Prime Minister who is standing up

for the companies, not hard-pressed families. The deal still requires EU

approval. Final contracts should be signed next year. If it goes ahead,

Britain will be entering a new nuclear age. Well, the suggestion

from David Cameron that the new power station could help to peg

energy prices back will interest energy customers - especially as it

comes on the day another of the big suppliers raised its tariffs.

Today, the government got broad political support for the Hinkley

Point steel. The three largest parties all support new nuclear

projects, including the Liberal Democrats. The Government has been

able to use today to make big arguments about the need to generate

more electricity, in a low carbon way, and also ensuring energy

security. Ministers have also been claiming that unlike with past to

Labour governments, they are grasping the nettle and thinking

long-term about the economy. But MPs have been raising some detailed

questions, like, is it the right price, are the risks too large, will

this actually reduce prices in the long-term? The Energy Secretary

today said, we can give no guarantees, you would have to be a

clairvoyant to try to work out precisely what this project will

cost in the long-term. And there is also the question about energy

prices. The timing of this could not be worse, on the day and has

announced price rises, leaving the Government facing the accusation

that they are fixing prices for energy companies for 35 years, but

will not freeze prices for consumers over the next 20 months, as Labour

wants to do. We will have more on this story

later in the programme. A Ukranian student has admitted murdering an

82-year-old grandfather in Birmingham. Pavlo Lapshyn stabbed

Mohammed Saleem while he was walking home from a mosque in April.

Lapshyn, who had only been in the country for five days, also admitted

plotting to cause explosions near mosques in the West Midlands. Sian

Lloyd reports. Ukrainian Ph.D. Student Pavlo

Lapshyn, who detect it is described as calm, calculated and committed.

His victim was Mohammed Saleem, an 82-year-old devout Muslim. Lapshyn

stabbed him as he made his way home from the local mosque. Over the next

few months, he plotted and made bombs which he took to three masks

in the West Midlands. Today, at the Old Bailey, Lapshyn pleaded guilty

to murder and admitted causing explosions and preparing for acts of

terrorism. He was targeted simply because of his faith. His beard and

his clothing represented who he was. Lapshyn chose to kill him that night

with only that intention in mind. It was in this street that Pavlo

Lapshyn stamped Mohammed Saleem three times in the back. He told

police he had targeted the grandfather just because he was not

white. The 25-year-old was an award-winning Ph.D. Student. This

picture taken at the residence of the British ambassador in Kiev last

year shows him being presented with his prize. A work placement at a

software company in the heart of Birmingham's Muslim community

followed. Five days after he arrived, he killed Mohammed Saleem.

He plotted further violence from his flat on the site, where police found

evidence of bomb-making activity. These CCTV pictures show how he

travelled to the mosques by bus, carrying improvised explosive

devices in a green bag, hidden in a child's lunchbox, which police say

looked similar to this. The first explosion was in Walsall in June.

One week later, another device went off in Wolverhampton. The last, a

nail bomb, was timed to go off during Ramadan in Tipton. The

devices could have killed and injured. None of them went off as

planned, but in Tipton, debris was sent flying into a nearby street. He

is a dangerous, Ivo and completely there is no justification for the

crimes he committed or the intent he has. -- evil. Police say, far from

furthering his career, Pavlo Lapshyn was a student intent on increasing

racial conflict, and in the 90 days he spent in the UK, he managed to

bring terror on an entire community. Three police officers have

apologised for their "poor judgement" in briefing the media

over the Plebgate affair, which cost MP Andrew Mitchell his job as a

cabinet minister. The former chief whip resigned last year after an

official police log reported that he called officers "plebs", something

Mr Mitchell has always denied. The apology follows an investigation by

West Mercia Police which criticised the way in which three officers

conducted a meeting with Mr Mitchell when the allegations were first

made. A couple accused of abducting a

young girl in Greece have appeared in court. The child was found during

a raid on a Roma camp last week. DNA tests have shown that the blthree

onde girl is not related to the couple. Greek police have received

more than 8,000 calls from around the world as they try to trace the

girl's biological parents. From Greece, Mark Lowen reports.

The first images today of the couple suspected by police of kidnapping a

little girl for unknown reasons. They have now appeared in court,

facing charges which they deny. They say Maria was given to them by

someone who could not look after her. Members of the Roma community

rallied in their defence. New footage appears to show Maria

dancing happily in the village in central Greece, where she lived. It

is near the town of Farsala, a quiet and unassuming place. The house

where the couple and Maria lived was locked up today, no answer at the

door, just signs of the life of a child strewn across the front porch.

One neighbour said the couple was taking care of her well. She was

crying when the police took her, she said. So what if she is blonde? She

was their child, she says. In the next shop, cost us tells me he found

her presents unusual. I do not know how she ended up here, he says. We

just tried to film in the larger Roma community over there, but we

were attacked and chased away. They believe they are marginalised, and

that negative stereotypes of them will only be reinforced by this. But

many Greeks say it is the involvement of some illegal Roma

activity which created that perception in the first place.

Either way, this has exposed the lack of social integration here.

So, what now about the search for Maria's biological parents?

According to official figures, she is one of 250,000 children who go

missing in Europe every year. An international appeal to find her

family is gathering place. -- gathering pace. She is feeling well,

playing with her toys. We are trying to see if we get any specific leads

which might be useful for the police. There are now probing

questions, like how a seemingly out of place little girl lived here for

so long. Was there something sinister involved, and how far

across this community does it stretch?

40% of the apples and a quarter of the grapes on sale at Tesco stores

end up as rubbish. That's the startling revelation from the

supermarket chain, which has published the figures for the first

time. The company says the waste amounts to almost 30,000 tonnes of

food in the first half of this year. Tesco says it will end some of its

promotional offers to try to tackle the problem. Jeremy Cooke reports.

A mountain of rubbish, piles of household waste, plastic and metal

and packaging of all kinds. But look more closely and you can see that

about a third of it is food. From not so fresh fruit and vegetable

inevitable bags of salad, tonnes of it in a never-ending stream of

recycling. We receive on average 650-700 tonnes a day, and we found

that between 25-30% is pure organic matter, food waste, ultimately,

whether it is potatoes, leftovers, gravy, you name it. At the heart of

the matter, the big supermarkets. Today, Tesco has said it generated

almost 30,000 tonnes of food waste in the first half of this year. It

has announced changes, including restricting multi-byte deals and

managing their supply chain. We think we can do more to help

customers reduce waste, and also, we can help our suppliers, and make

sure that more of what is produced ends up in the houses of customers.

An estimated 15 millions tonnes of food and drink is consumed each

year. Bread is the most wasted food, with 32% of all purchases getting

thrown away. It all costs each household an estimated ?700 a year.

This lady's fridge is typical of so many. She and her daughter are

checking out the sell by dates, which is not good news. We have got

two packets of corn on the cob, one from last week, one from the week

before. She says part of the problem is overwhelming choice in the

supermarkets. I go shopping and I tend to buy the same things each

week, and they do it might be bags of salad, carrots, broccoli, trying

to feed the kids the right things, and things end up getting thrown

away. A big part of this is consumer choice perhaps the most obvious way

for us to reduce the mountain of food waste is for all of us to bring

home less from the supermarkets. The challenge is how to persuade

consumers to buy only what we actually need.

The time is 6:15pm. Our top story this evening: Britain's first

nuclear power station in a generation gets the go-ahead. And

still to come, an unusual welcome for the World Cup rugby league stars

in Warrington More than 60 bush fires are raging in Australia

tonight, engulfing houses and threatening whole towns. After a

poor run in 2013, Rory McIlroy shows a return to form, finishing

runner-up at the Korean open. More than 60 bushfires are raging in

Australia, in golfing houses and threatening towns. -- engulfing

houses. They're burning across New South Wales but the area worst hit

is the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where it's feared two

blazes, one stretching 187 miles, could merge together. Temperatures

of 37 degrees centigrade and winds of up to 50 miles per hour are

fanning the flames. And New South Wales has declared a state of

emergency. Our Correspondent Jon Donnison sent this report.

Around the clock, firefighters are battling for control. But the task

is massive. The biggest fire in the Blue Mountains has a perimeter

stretching almost 200 miles. It is probably one of the biggest fire

situations I have seen in 20 years of doing it. We do not have multiple

fires, but we have fire on three or four sides. Some of the fight is

carried out from the air. And on the ground, thousands of firefighters,

most of them volunteers what they are doing here is back biting --

backlighting, controlling fires to burn off vegetation before the

dangerous fire can get here. What they are worried about is that

several of the huge blazes could merge into one massive fire later in

the week. But the weather is not helping. Temperatures today rose

into the high 30s, and the real fear is the arrival of strong winds

forecast for Wednesday. Many living here have been watching nervously to

see if the fires can be held at bay. I have been really anxious for them

to burn it, because then we can stop worrying. We have been watching the

fire for two days creeping this way, so the sooner they got here and

lit it up, the sooner we get a night of sleep. It is not just his home

under threat. Nearby firefighters discovered a pet possum, injured but

alive. It is not known what damage the fires have wreaked on the unique

wildlife of this country. Hundreds of houses here have already been

lost. Families left with nothing. Many more homes could go before this

emergency is over. 50 miles away, Sydney, Australia's biggest city, is

cloaked in smoke. A reminder that these fires are uncomfortably close.

And all of this before summer has even started.

Workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery have been voting on changes

to their pay and conditions in a dispute over the future of the site.

The plant has been closed since last week. The owners had set a deadline

of 6:00pm for workers to accept a deal or face possible redundancy.

Our Scotland Correspondent James Cook is at Grangemouth now. James,

as I said, the deadline was 6pm. What is the latest? It has been a

difficult day again for the 1350 staff at this refinery and

petrochemical complex. They had until a few minutes ago to decide

whether to accept the deal or not, which amounts to a pay freeze for at

least three years, a cut in shift allowances and a move away from a

final salary pension scheme. A union official emerged from the plant a

few minutes ago to tell us that he thought around 50% of the members

had rejected that deal. 50% of staff on the site had rejected that deal,

and the union claims that the site is financially viable and doing

quite well, but the owner has a different story, saying it is in

trouble and it really needs these changes if it is going to be started

up again. But for now, it remains closed. We are unlikely to find out

what is going to happen until tomorrow, and that is when the

billionaire owner, Jim Ratcliffe, will make a final decision which

will affect a lot of people here and beyond. James, thank you.

Bus lanes have been scrapped throughout Liverpool in a nine-month

experiment to find ways of cutting congestion. The City's mayor

believes bus lanes aren't an effective way of controlling the

flow of traffic, but bus operators and transport groups have expressed

concern at the plans. From Liverpool, Danny Savage reports.

If you had driven a car across the bus lane yesterday, you would have

been given a fine, but it was the beginning of a new era in Liverpool

today. The bus lanes were opened up to all to try and ease congestion.

And also improve the mood of motorists. It is ridiculous. I don't

know how many times I have driven down roads and they are empty, but

this one lane is full. It's a ridiculous idea. A good day for the

drivers in Liverpool? A very good day. There is more space on the

roads and you are not getting stuck in queues and queues of traffic.

While plenty of drivers will undoubtedly welcome the abolition of

the bus lane, what about bus passengers? Are they worried that

journeys are going to take longer? It's already more expensive to get a

bus than the train, so it made me think twice about getting it. You

mean you will have buses and cars coming here? You're going to have

congestion, aren't you? No, rubbish. But the bus lane are free for all is

only a nine-month trial, which the mayor of Liverpool believes will

make the city better. This will allow the traffic to smoothly run

through the city, and in that sense it will be more environmentally

friendly, because I genuinely believe that bus lanes, in certain

bits of the city, add to the congestion. It is a financial

sacrifice as well. Bus lane cameras generated ?700,000 in fines last

year, but if it is is congestion, the City Council thinks it is a

price worth paying. -- eases congestion. More on the top story,

the go-ahead for the first British nuclear power station in a

generation. David Cameron's suggestion that the new power plant

could peg energy prices back will interest energy customers. We have

been gauging reaction near the site amongst workers and other local

people. They know all about energy round here. Tens of thousands of

volts are being screwed into the electrified floats for the

Bridgewater annual carnival -- light bulbs. What will a new nuclear power

station up the road mean for household bills? Rosie is a working

mother with three children. She would like to think energy prices

will fall as a result of the new site, but she is not convinced it

will make family life any easier. The fact that we have to cut down

and cut down on everything all the time makes it very difficult to

survive as a family unit, really. Which you will have a brand-new

power station up the road producing Annecy. I do think that's going to

make much difference to me in that respect. -- producing energy. As a

job-seeker, this woman thinks the nuclear deal is good news. She is

training for a job in construction after months of unemployment. She

hopes to be amongst the thousands of workers who will be needed to build

the power station over the next decade. It means everything. You

know you have money coming in and coming in for a while. You can look

ahead and plan ahead, which is good. Others are less convinced.

Soon after the announcement today, antinuclear protesters delivered a

pile of farmyard muck to the EDF energy showroom. Nicky thinks we

should be investing in renewable power, like wind turbines and solar

energy will stop and she has concerns about the long-term safety

of nuclear -- nuclear -- solar energy. As a citizen, I will get

awake -- in the way of the diggers, in the way of EDF, anyone who tries

to impose this on my community. Next week, that community will be lit up

for the carnival. A tradition that dates back centuries. But this year,

perhaps more than ever before, they will be considering their energy

future. It's the latest in a string of great

sporting events being hosted in Britain. The Rugby League World Cup

was launched today, five days ahead of England's clash with favourites

Australia in Cardiff. It's an opportunity for the sport to grow

its fan base beyond its traditional northern stronghold, as our Chief

Sports Correspondent Dan Roan explains. His report contains flash

photography. It may not be the World Cup that

most sports fans have been talking about recently, but the spotlight is

about to fall on Rugby league's flagship event. Today the captains

of all 14 nations came together to launch the tournament in

Manchester. England, who co-host the event alongside Wales, had slipped

to a shock defeat to Italy in their last warm up game, but they know

there is a lot at stake. England need to be successful here. As

players, we are aware of it. We saw on the back of the Olympics last

year, even going back further to the Rugby union World Cup in 2003, that

legacy, the impact you can have on your own sport. Organisers claim

that rugby's 14 World Cup will be the best attended ever with 28

matches spread across 21 Stadium. The World Cup final will take place

here, at Old Trafford, in just under six weeks time. But the sport is

well aware that could prove a true success this tournament must make an

impact nationally, and not just in the traditional northern heartlands.

Here in rugby gland, Warrington, World Cup fever has taken home --

hold. -- rugby land. This was the welcome for the team from Samoa. But

in a time when the numbers playing the sport has fallen, the challenge

lies in the south of the country where rugby league comes a distant

second to rugby union. Most of the clubs are in the north, but we play

rugby league in every county in the country. This is the biggest

opportunity for the sport in a generation because nothing attracts

people to sport like an international success. 1972, and the

home Nations triumph at the World Cup, competing as Great Britain.

This time, on home soil, hearts and minds must be won over by a sport in

need of a breakthrough. Time for a look at the weather now. Here's

Susan Powell. If you are not a fan of the rain,

look away. Plenty to come this week, and the headline summarises what we

have the next few days. Heavy rain, strong winds, but it will be quite

mild. That is because we are pulling up there from the south of the UK.

It will bring in heavy rain, but the strong winds might be the bigger

problem around the Irish Sea coasts, touching gale force at times. The

wettest weather is in the south-east, Wales, and the

south-east of Scotland. Northern Ireland might just miss the worst of

the rain as it sits further east. On Tuesday, the whole lot will push

towards the east, starting fine with maybe some glimmers of sunshine but

in the afternoon expect heavy and persistent rain. Further west, quite

a transformation. Northern Ireland does not fare badly through all of

this, but Scotland is drier and brighter in the afternoon. Northern

England could pick up some showers. I cannot promise you it will be

completely dry for Wales and the south-west, but it should look

better than the morning and you can see sunshine. The south-east of

England and East Anglia could be in for heavy rain through the afternoon

and into the evening, unfortunately right in time for the Russia.

Wednesday's story is blustery showers -- the rush hour. Persistent

rainfall Scotland but Northern Ireland doing well through this.

Thursday, blink and you will miss it, but there is a bit of

high-pressure sitting across the UK, so Thursday not off to a bad start.

Too good to last? You bet you. The low pressure piles on and brings

strengthening winds. Yet more heavy rain sweeping across the British

Isles, so basically, the week is summed up by wet, windy, but at

least it is mild.