22/12/2011 BBC News at Ten

A crisis amid fears of sectarian violence.

We have warned long ago, that trim will continue to be acting in Iraq

against the Iraqi people unless the political landscape is corrected.

Tonight, there have been further attacks, we have the latest from

Baghdad. Also in the programme. A new system of adoption on the way

in England. Parents say that the current one is painfully slow.

It was devastating for the children that we knew and are probably still

there. They were not given the chance of a loving, stable home.

Fears of job losses as bmi is sold in a multi-million pound deal it

British Airways. More democracy protests in Moscow

as the President promises to listen and to act.

And John Terry's first match for Chelsea, since the news that he

Good evening. A wave of bomb attacks in Baghdad

has claimed at least 65 lives in the worst outbreak of violence

there for several months. It comes a few days after American forces

withdrew fully from Iraq and it co insides with the growing political

crisis. There are fears that sectarian sectors could plunge the

country into greater turmoil. It was a reminder of the horrors of

the past and a warning of what may loom ahead.

At the height of the morning rush hour, 1 blasts across Baghdad. The

targets were commuters, the country's anticorruption agency,

In this home, a sleeping family was blasted into wakefulness.

TRANSLATION: My baby was sleeping in her bed. Glass was falling on

her. But the comfort -- countries are stable, why don't we have

safety and security? No group has admitted responsibility, but focus

is falling on the Sunni extremists of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Sectarian

boundaries dramatically hardened during American occupation.

Militias from the Shia majority and the Sunni minority terrorise

civilians. The attack targeted areas where they work together, to

sow political instability on sectarian fear. It comes as the

power-sharing agreement is unravelling, with a demand by the

Shia prime minister for the rest of the Sunni vice-president on charges

of running hit squads. He, in turn, accuses the Shia leaders of wanting

to monopolise power. Today there was this warning from the

Government from a former prime minister. We warned long ago that

terrorism will continue to be acting in Iraq against the Iraqi

people, unless the political landscape is corrected and the

political process is corrected, and it becomes an inclusive political

The attacks come just four days since the last American combat

troops left Iraq, at around insertion from their President that

even then sounded like a hostage to fortune. All of it has led to this

moment of success. Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many

challenges ahead. But we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable

and self-reliant Iraq. The attacks were described as an attempt to

derail progress by the White House, which called on Iraqi politicians

to come together. But that would take a will for compromise that has,

so far, been absent. There is now a Well, there are reports of a new

tax tonight. A short while ago I asked our correspondent in Baghdad

Yes, there were three more attacks in Western Baghdad this evening, at

least two people were killed and 13 injured in those attacks. So, that

would be added to the death toll of this series of attacks that struck

Baghdad this morning. We know that at least 14 different

neighbourhoods, all around the Iraqi capital, were targeted in

this wave of attacks this morning. What is your sense of the deepening

political crisis there in the wake of these attacks? The Iraqi Prime

Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, issued a statement accusing parties of

having political goals behind the attacks, after they pledged that

the attackers will not succeed in derailing the course of the

political process in Iraq. But we know very well that the cause of

political process in Iraq is a matter of deep disagreement between

the Prime Minister, who is a Shi'ite, and the leaders of the

Sunni factions in his government. Our correspondent in Baghdad,

talking to me a short while ago. Now, the process of adopting

children in England is painfully slow and many potential parents are

put off. That is the Government's view, and ministers are planning a

complete overhaul of the current system. But experts say while the

system does need improving, checks must be robust so that vulnerable

Our children languishing in care because the adoption system is too

slow and unwieldy? The Government thinks that they are. Although

numbers in care have gone up, figures for those adopted have gone

down, with just over 3000 children in England going to a permanent

home last year. Francesca is the proud mother of a one-year-old and

another child or three, both adopted from Mexico. Her and her

partner had originally wanted to adopt British children, but they

were turned down because they were white and their local council said

they had reached their cap of white couples adopting ethnic minority

children. The fact we were turned down purely based on skin colour,

before even being given the chance and the option to actually go

through a home study or face-to- face interview, that was both

devastating and quite infuriating, actually. The Government wants more

people to adopt. But it also thinks that too many potential adopters

are rejected because they are not the right ethnic match, or for

other reasons like being overweight. It is creating a panel to make the

system more bureaucratic. Although it is very long, I don't think that

the process is very analytical. I am sure the panel are an impressive

group of people and I am sure there will come up with something that is

shorter, but as rigorous that we need. It takes, on average, two

years and seven months for a child to be adopted. Protective --

prospective parents had checks on health and whether they have a

criminal record. There are reports of people being asked if they have

fire drills at home, and three pages of assessment devoted to pets.

But research suggests that, despite this detail, one in five adoptions

still breaks down, leaving some wary of convincing the process.

There should not be any short cuts with the process of assessment. If

you do not get that right, then you serve children very badly. Or you

will produce is further adoption breakdowns in the future. That is a

disaster that we should really try to avoid. Today's plans only deal

with one part of a complex system. Delays in the Court slow things

down as well. Adoption has become a political priority. Ministers want

to make the process friendlier to The owners of British Airways have

announced a deal to buy the airline bmi. They have warned they could be

job losses as a result. IAG said it would also be able to launch long

haul routes, using extra landing slots at Heathrow. Virgin Atlantic

has warned it would amount to a Bmi is one of Britain's best-known

brands. But not, perhaps, for much longer. The sale to the owners of

British Airways means a makeover might be on the way. This will give

us the opportunity to expand a long haul, international network from

Heathrow. I think it will reinforce the position of Heathrow, as one of

the leading international airports. At first glance, the deal looks

like a risky one for IAG, which has spent more than than �72 million on

a company which lost more than �150 million last year alone. But the

jewel in the crown is its 56 landing slots at Heathrow. Getting

those gives IAG control of more than half of all of the landing

slots at the airport. That makes Virgin Atlantic see red. It had

also bid for bmi and it says that the new deal will tighten what it

calls the British Airways stranglehold on Heathrow. Sir

Richard Branson said, we will fight this monopoly every step of the way,

as we think it is bad for the consumer, bad for the industry and

bad for Britain. Virgin may be able to delay the deal, but AIG says

other big European airlines have an even greater hold of a landing

slots on the Continent. It is confident that regulators will

approve the sale, despite Sir Richard Branson's objections. IAG

accuse Richard Branson of being a sore loser. It says that key bmi

routes like to Belfast will be maintained and there will be a

greater choice of long-haul destinations. But they admit there

will be job losses. We don't have the detail, all we have is the

headline announcement. It's one of the reasons we are pressing for an

early meeting with I A G and Lufthansa, to find out what the

plans are. Bmi will keep its colours for now. But IAG hopes that

the sale will go through with the next three months. Then they expect

The Ministry of Defence has announced the death of a Royal

Marine in Afghanistan. He was fatally wounded south of Kabul,

when the vehicle he was travelling in was caught in an explosion there.

His family has been informed. At the Old Bailey, the jury in the

Stephen Lawrence murder trial has been told it must not be swayed by

the immense public significance of the case. A barrister representing

one of the two men, who denied murdering the black teenager in

south London in 1993, has urged the jury to try to remain objective.

Now, the economy grew slightly faster than previously thought,

between July and September, according to revised figures. But

it is still a fragile economic picture according to the Office for

National Statistics. Stephanie Flanders examines the latest

evidence in the state of the economy, and the prospects for

growth as we prepare to under 2012. The letters stand for gross

domestic product, the sum total of everything produced in the UK.

Today, we found out that it grew slightly more than we thought in

the three months to September, by 0.6%. That was the good news. But

growth in the previous quarter was revised down and more up-to-date

surveys suggest that the economy has weakened since the summer.

There is still a long way to go from where we were. We are now at

about 3.8% below the peak level that we reached just before the

financial crisis hit. That was in the first quarter of 2008. We

expect it will take until the beginning of 2015 until we reach

that level again. There was another small piece of good news in these

figures. They show that, overall, the disposable income of households

actually went up slightly in real terms, in those three months to

September. Perhaps unsurprisingly, consumers did not spend that extra

cash. They saved it. Retailers have been hoping they will spend it now.

That is if we are not too depressed. According to a new global survey,

Britain is now one of the gloomiest nations on earth. Fewer than one in

10 of us, 9%, thinks the economy will get stronger in the next six

months. People are much more upbeat in India, where growth, until

recently, has been very strong. They are positively ecstatic in

Brazil. But even the hard-pressed Italians are more than twice as

upbeat as the Brits. We do tend to get seriously groovy -- blew me

sometimes. There is a lot to be gloomy about, unemployment is at a

15 year high. We also need to remember that, sooner or later, the

economy will recover. Maybe 2012 will be the year. By the time of

the Olympics, the City is betting that inflation will be close to 2%,

less than half what it is today. If the crisis in the eurozone doesn't

get any worse, that should mean the average household starts to feel a

little better off. Or at least they should stop feeling any worse. Here

Coming up: The stars gather in Salford. But which one was voted

After weeks of demonstrations in Russia, the President has promised

to reform the political system. Thousands have protested after the

recent parliamentary elections, claiming they were rigged.

President Dmitry Medvedev, in his state-of-the-nation address, said

he was listening to those demanding change. But there is another big

Backed into a corner by recent massed protests, the Russian

political establishment made its move today.

Responding to the concerns about unfair elections, President

Medvedev came out promising comprehensive political reform.

Abandoning some of most frustrating obstacles for the opposition

parties. But he also blamed foreign

countries for in siting the protests.

-- in citing the protests. He attempts to manipulate Russian

citizens, that have occurred, are unacceptable, he says, that Russia

needs democracy, not chaos. There was an eruption of anger

after the much-criticised parliamentary elections and the

government knows it has to win back public confidence quickly before

the Prime Minister, puet put puet, runs for President in March.

-- Vladimir Putin, run for President in March, but the veteran

Deputy Prime Minister, Boris Nemtsov says that their time is out.

There is no confidence from the Russian people, zero. The Russian

people don't trust them. The movement for fair elections has

emerged with breathtaking speed, driven by the internet. From this

Moscow flat we found five people who had never been involved in

politics before, preparing tens of thousands of white rib ops, the

symbols of the protests. They had been inspired by the massed

demonstration for democracy two weeks ago.

That was amazing to see and very positive. So that is what it felt.

That we can really change something. That this is really happening for

the first time in 20 years. There are now almost daily protests

against the elections. That was a flash mob, an impromptu Facebook-

inspired demonstration on the Moscow Metro. The internet seeths

with angry viral videos, including one by Russia's top crime novelist

who despairs at the country's corrupt politicians. -- politicians.

Chaelting, it is normal for them, but it is not normal for us any

longer. We are fed up. We are not going to take it any longer. This

surprise political awakening of so many people in Russia came about

because they are tired of being lied to and cheated. President

Medvedev's problem is that however good his proposed reforms sound,

they just don't believe him anymore. The Americans admit that mistakes

were made during an operation near the Afghan border last month which

led to the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers. They were killed when US

helicopters an jets opened fire on them, believing that they were

militants. A US military report said that mapping errors

contributed to the incident. It said that both sides were to blame,

Pakistan has rejected the findings. Among the biggest challenges facing

the United Kingdom in the years ahead is the potential breakup of

the union itself, according to Sir Gus O'Donnell, Britain's mogs

senior civil servant. He is about to retire as the Cabinet Secretary.

His words were taken as a signal that the biggest Westminster

parties had not worked out a coherent response.

It is a constitutional question that may unpick the union and lead

to independence for Scotland. And Britain's top civil servant on

the eve of his retirement is warning it could become a major

issue and it warrants an honest and objective debate. In an article tor

the Telegraph, Sir Gus O'Donnell said over the next few years, there

will be great challenges, such as whether to keep the kingdom United.

In May's SNP Scottish elections and their promise of independence has

thrust the issue of up the agenda. The Scottish government is up for

this challenge of independence. I think that the UK parties have

their heads firmly in the sand. So I think he was aiming a wake-up

call to the Westminster parties. what could a referendum look like?

Well, there would be the choice to vote for the status quo. It is

possible there could be a maximum devolution option, giving the

Scottish Parliament the power to make laws in all areas, accept

foreign defence and monetary policy and the chance to vote for full

independence in Scotland. Opinion polls show that the majority 6

Scots are not in favour of independence.

But the SNP have a majority of members from Holyrood and big

donors and they are the party in power here in Scotland and they are

dominating the debate. We are still trying to recover from

the shock of the nationalist win in May. So at the moment in least in

terms of how things are going, the SNP are playing the game and

playing it effectively, you would imagine the unionists have not been

table to demonstrate that effectively.

Opposition parties in Scotland, all with new leaders, disagree.

I'm looking forward for the opportunity for Alex Salmond to

come forward to the referendum to finally get the say that Scotland

is better off in Britain. While the parties are opposing in

independence, they appear divided in strategies it is weakness that

Alex Salmond and the SNP home to exploit as they bring in their

argument for independence in Scotland.

Police in south Yorkshire, warning of the dangers of drinking too much

at Christmas released images of a woman who fell down a narrow gap

between the train and at platform at Barnsley station. She was helped

by passengers, the police say she escaped with just cuts and bruises.

John Terry took to the pimp with Chelsea this evening for the first

time he is to be charged with abusing a fellow player. The match

ending in a 1-1 draw. We have this report from Tim Franks.

The Chelsea team hoping that their journey would take them to third in

the takenly, replacing Spurs. John Terry making his first appearance

since become charged with racial abuse and among both sets of fans,

rare agreement. You are innocent until proven

guilty. So, I think he should play. It another issue. Get the football

out of the way and deal with it after the game.

Inside the ground, the Chelsea captain found the home fans rather

less accommodating. Within minutes Spurs had made themselves at home.

Bailed torturing Chelsea's defence. Chelsea then woke up, Spurs slum

bettered. Ashley Cole controlling the ball with a hint of the hand,

but the real crime was the Spurs defence, watching Nicola Sturgeon

sturpblg score. Five minutes later and Didier Drogba was left

splintering the post. In the second half, there were a few Brazilian

dance moves but they Claude the ball away. Then they found space

and no sense of direction. Then Gareth Bale, he of speed, split

five frantic defenders with the lazy stroke of the foot. The man

flinging himself on the line, John Terry. A draw, then. Mitch hand

clapping from the Chelsea captain, but Spurs are third and at the

moment, the leading London club. The Sports Pesonality Of The Year

Award is the cyclist, qav Mark Cavendish. The result is announced

live a few moments ago. The way that the shortlist is compiled is

to be revised following next year's competition as this list did not

contain a woman. The Sports Pesonality Of The Year

Award for 2011 is... Mark Cavendish. Not many have got the better of

Mark Cavendish this year. Tonight he was simply unbeatable. The top

sprinter at the tour defans, world champion on the road and now the

Sports Pesonality Of The Year Award, he seemed overwhelmed.

I'm absolutely speechless really. I think that a few of the guys, my

teem mates, here, would say that is a rare thing, you know, but it is

those guys, without those guys, this would not be close to possible.

I guarantee you that. Sports Pesonality Of The Year Award

is always a glittering event, but this year's has been tinged with

controversy because of a short h list of ten contenders, there were

ten men and no women. That, despite Britain having several female world

champions this year, like Kerri- Anne Payne. Many believe that the

profile of women's sport has a problem.

Unfortunately, in non-Olympic years you don't read about it, hear about

it, see little of it on television. So it is very hard for female

athletes, swimmers, jockeys, eventers, hockey players, netball

players to make impact on Sports Editors' minds when they are not

getting any profile at all. One of the night other big awards

went to five times rowing Gold Medallist, Sir Steve Redgrave

winning the Lifetime Achievement Award honour and a spine-tingling