07/01/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10 o'clock: The Prime Minister says it is full steam

ahead for the coalition right up until the next election. Presenting

the Government's mid-term review, he and Nick Clegg say that the

partnership can last despite their differences. This list to several

policy areas including care of the elderly with a new action being

prepared. It is the Ronseal deal. You could call it the unvarnished

truth! Labour say that the deal it lacks any substance.

Also tonight: Violence in Belfast over the continuing row about

flying the union flag. The seven-year-old boy murdered by

his mother for failing to learn passengers from the Koran.

Republicans are infuriated by appointments buyer Barack Obama and

say they will block them. And the oldest man aged 104 has

died. Everton aim to avoid an upset in

the FA Cup as they take on Cheltenham in the final tier of the

third round. Good evening. David Cameron and

Nick Clegg say they will keep the coalition together until the next

election in 2015. At a joint news conference in Downing Street, they

unveiled the mid-term review and outlined policy areas, including

care of the elderly, when you action is being planned. Labour

said that the review like any detail or substance. -- new action.

After all the rows and disappointment, the leaders of the

coalition want you to know they are not even thinking about divorce and

that is official. We are married. Not to each other. We are both

happily married and this is a Government and not a relationship.

To me it is not a marriage, it is a Ronseal deal. It does what it says

on the tin. We said we would come together, former Government, tackle

the big problems, and get on with it in a mature and sensible way and

that is what we have done. Their partnership, whatever you call it,

maybe 2.5 years old, but David Cameron and Nick Clegg are still

laughing at each other's jokes. could call it the unvarnished truth.

Anyway... I thought it was all right! Today the two men came

together to publish his glossy brochure assessing what they have

done and what they plan to do. But more importantly to insist that

they are sticking together until election Duff Park. -- until

election part them. Are you saying that there will be no break-up and

you will be in this room working together until that election?

more evidence do you need that we are committed to doing what we have

said, doing what it says on the tin? Providing stable Government

for this country for five years. Coalition is still in the national

interest, they claim, but the document did not give any marks out

of 10 for promises broken. Like balancing the books before the next

election. But it said that the whole series of new promises with

no detail or costings. Existing childcare subsidies will be

repackaged, probably as tax breaks. There will be a new cap on social

care costs, higher than that recommended by an independent

inquiry. There will be help with mortgages and there will be more

road tolls are designed to raise funds for an investment in roads.

And a new minimum pension with winners as well as losers. And

surprisingly Labour says that that ignores this, the build a country

is paying for the coalition's failure. -- the bill the country is

paying. If you living standards are being squeezed, you are a business

looking for money, at the relaunch proves nothing. What people need in

tough times is a Government fighting their corner, not a

Government that makes things worse and not better. What you see is not

always what you get. Today they glossed over their many differences.

Thank you for coming and back to work. Their message, we can and do

work together even though there is plenty that we disagree about.

At Downing Street, Nick Robinson is there for us. Those Tories that do

not like the coalition will not have been thrilled with the events

today. The one thing they may have liked is the reassurance from David

Cameron that the coalition is not like a marriage, a relationship.

They will not have liked his insistence that even though it is

guaranteed to end in divorce at the next election in 2015, we should

not judge the health of that relationship by the disagreements

that the two parties and the two leaders have got. Last year it was

the House of Lords reform and reaction to the Levesen Report.

This year there will be arguments about boundary changes and what to

do about Britain's future in Europe. David Cameron and Nick Clegg are

saying we can have those arguments and still get the job done. It is

striking that if you compare the disagreements around this Cabinet

table, over the central economic purpose of this Government for

instance, they are much less than they were under Harold Wilson Ted

Heath, Margaret Thatcher or John Major.

Tomorrow the two parties will try to put Labour into a political

corner over welfare cuts and cuts to tax credits as well. Is all well

in the coalition rose garden? Of course not. Because the economic

news looks like being grown this year again and more cuts will be

felt. We will not be distracted by the Olympics or the Jubilee.

Another crucial reason. However well the leaders get on, those

underneath them, the activists, the extended family in the marriage,

their shareholders in the business Partnership, increasingly detest

the sight of each other. The closer they get to a general election, the

more they will want you and me to know that. Thank you.

There has been more violence on the streets of Belfast tonight where

hundreds of loyalists have been protesting against the decision of

the city council to limit the number of days that the union flag

can fly from the building. They began their demonstration outside

City Hall. The flag decision was made a month ago.

The main road through East Belfast looks more like a battleground.

Violence has broken out for a 5th consecutive night. Writers have

used petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and stones and even laser pens to

attack the police. -- rioters. The protests started five weeks ago but

there is no end in sight. The police have not been able to stop

the violence but they are well aware of the damage it is doing.

is seriously damaging the economy and the image of our city. We have

been renowned across the world for the peace process and the efforts

made to get to this stage of sanity and now it has all been wrecked.

Tonight's demonstrations started at Belfast City Hall. The place where

the flag controversy began. Riot police guarded every door into the

council. It was the first council meeting since the decision to stop

flying the union flag every day. These loyalists have been

protesting ever since. They regard it as a sign that Northern Ireland

is becoming less British. Even though politicians have called for

the protest to end, these people have ignored them. We want our flag

back up. That means more to us than just a symbol. Our people have

fought and died for it. I think it is time that the political leaders

that are getting a good wage is Stormont got off their backsides

and started talking to the people on the ground that put them where

they are. The City Hall process was peaceful but others were not.

cost of policing this is more than �2 million and tonight that bill

has just gone up. There are 20 police fear caused here, dozens of

riot police officers, and this is just one part of the city. -- of

police vehicles. There are allegations that the UVF have

orchestrated the violence and encouraged young people to join in.

I have seen over the weekend young people, 10 or 11, 14 or 15, in

large numbers without parental control, without any direction and

I am deeply saddened by that and I think we all are. Since the

protests started, almost 100 people have been arrested and more than 60

police officers have been injured. Tonight those totals are rising.

A woman from Cardiff who beat her son to death for failing to learn

passages from the Koran has been jailed for a minimum of 17 years.

Sara Ege killed her son Yaseen in July, 2010, and then set fire to

his body. A seven-year-old child, defenceless

against his mother's rage. Yaseen is remembered as an intelligent boy

who did everything to try and please his parents. But nothing

could satisfy Sara's obsession with him memorising the Koran. In court

she sobbed and bowed her head. She collapsed to the floor as the

letter from the dock. The judge said that on the day of his death,

Yaseen was kept home from school to dedicate himself to his studies of

the Koran. He added that on that day, Yaseen must have failed in

some way because I am satisfied that it was that failure that was

the trigger for the beating. His body was discovered by fire crews

called to the family's home. His death had seemed to be a tragic

accident warned by friends and neighbours. But his body had been

set alight by his mother. She tried to hide his injuries. From the

outside, Sara Ege appeared to be a devoted mother. Yaseen, according

to his teacher, seemed to be a happy and obedient son. Behind

closed doors, he endured months of physical violence. The attacks

became worse when Yaseen failed to memorise long sections of the Koran,

but learning sections of the text is part of religious instruction.

Yaseen was forced to go much further. It is tragic the pressure

at the mother has put on the Sun and taken his life. It is not a

reflection on the community, the children, the parents at the

Madrasa or the mosque. A serious case review has found that there

were reports of domestic abuse in the family but Yaseen's death could

not have been prevented. Sara Ege was driven from court to serve a

minimum of 17 years in jail. The judge said she had been a devoted

mother who had abused the pressures relationship with her son. --

precious relationship. A senior police officer has gone on

trial offering to sell information to the News of the World about the

phone hacking inquiry at Scotland Yard. A poor cows lamb is the first

person to go on trial April -- able cows lamb.

Five men have gone on trial in India following the gang rape that

has shaken the country. It is the crime that has shaken

India. Today the five accused came to court for the first time in a

test of the authority's response. Delhi police were out in force with

anger still simmering over the rape of the 23 year-old who later died

of her injuries. Their actions are also under the spotlight as never

before. The Government is promising a quick trial in you, fast-track

courts, trying to ride out the growing media storm. But there are

doubts over the New Court after a chaotic start. The magistrate has

ordered a closed session for the accused to hear the charges against

them of rape and murder. Still recovering from his injuries, the

friend with the woman the night of the attack has told the BBC how she

Even when she was struggling for life in hospital, she wanted to

live. I want to make sure this never happens to anyone else.

had been weeks of protest after the savage attack of the woman, whose

name is still being withheld, but the government look out of touch

with the fast changing nation. They couldn't be a more poignant place

for this to be happening - just across from the cinema where the

woman and her friend went to see a movie on that fateful night before

riding home. More than three weeks later, after the outcry this has

provoked, it is India itself that now finds itself on trial. In a

suburb, signs of house low change maybe. The authorities and their

attitudes are being challenged after another woman in her 20s was

found dead in what is also suspected gang rape. She was on her

way home from her job at the clothes factory, but when her

father first reported she was missing, police didn't listen.

TRANSLATION: They were rude and said she had probably gone off with

a man. Don't worry, they said, she will probably come back. Another

family grieving now, and many are asking if anything will really

change when the anger dies down. Coming up on tonight's programme:

The veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall denies charges of sexually

assaulting girls in the 1970s and President Obama has infuriated his

political opponents in his choice of a new defence secretary. A

number of prominent Republicans say they will oppose the appointment of

Chuck Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Republican

senator, because of his views on Israel and Iran. There's also

controversy about the nomination of a new head of the CIA, as Mark

Mardell reports. This is the man President Obama wants to lead the

largest military force the world has ever known, a former soldier

who knows the cost of war. He knows what is not an abstraction. He

understands that Sandy young Americans to fight and lead in the

dirt and mud, that is something we only do when it is absolutely

necessary. He used to be a Republican senator but he is a

provocative pick. I will always do my best, I will do my best for our

country, for those I represent at the Pentagon and, and for our

citizens. Mr President, I will always give you my honest and

informed Council. If he served in Vietnam, twice wounded, twice

decorated. He says he speaks for those who saw their friends get

their heads blown off. He criticised the handling of the Iraq

war, calling it the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this

country since Vietnam. He visited the Middle East with President

Obama, they worked well together. The TV campaign started against him

when his nomination was just a rumour. Chuck Hagel is not a

responsible option. His history has raised the barrage of questions.

His opponents claim he is anti- Semitic, quoting him saying the

Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people in Congress. He once opposed

the appointment of an ambassador, criticising him for being openly

aggressively gay. He said military action against Iran was not

responsible option. Senators have to vote before he gets the job and

it is by no means automatic. I like Chuck Hagel, two purple hearts, but

quite frankly he is out of the mainstream of thinking on most

issues. President Obama has chosen the man he once regardless of what

the Republicans think, lining up yet another conflict with Congress.

The broadcaster Stuart Hall has appeared in court charged with

indecent assault involving three girls in the 1970s and 1980s. Mr

Hall, who's 83, denies all the charges. Our correspondent Judith

Moritz reports from Preston Magistrate's Court. This is the

first time that Stuart Hall has appeared in court to face the

charges that were brought against him in December. The 83 year-old

broadcaster came to Preston magistrates court, where he

appeared under his full name of James Stuart Hall. During the

hearing, which lasted for less than 15 minutes, he listened intently as

the charges against him were read out. He pleaded not guilty. It is

alleged that Stuart Hall indecently assaulted three girls aged nine, 13,

and 16 or 17 at the time. He is accused of touching two of the

girls and kissing one of them. Stuart Hall made his name

presenting the game show It's A Knockout in the 1970s and 1980s. He

also presented other news and entertainment programmes, and most

recently has been a football reporter for Radio 5 Live. He is

not working for the BBC whilst legal action against him is ongoing.

His case was passed from the magistrates to the Crown Court in

Preston. He was released on bail, and told to appear there on 16th

April. Lord Strathclyde is standing down

as the leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords. He was

one of David Cameron's most experienced Cabinet members whose

first ministerial post was in Margaret Thatcher's government.

Lord Strathclyde says he wants to pursue a career in business, and

will be replaced by Lord Hill. Hundreds of people have held a

rally calling for press freedom outside a newspaper office in

southern China. Journalists there are on strike in a rare protest

against government censorship. The row was sparked when the paper's

New Year message calling for reform was changed by propaganda officials.

The protest is now being seen as an early test of China's new

leadership. From Beijing, Martin Patience reports. They laid flowers

are outside the newspaper's office, and sang in support of the striking

journalists. It is the first walkout by staff from a major

Chinese newspaper in more than 20 years, but a new generation is

challenging the old way of doing things. Many want greater freedom

of expression. This woman says the demonstrators share a common cause

with the journalists. If we don't support them, then no one will

speak up for us when something goes wrong, she says. All Chinese media

is censored. The Southern Weekend however has a reputation for

pushing the boundaries, making it China's most respected newspaper.

But when propaganda officials last week changed an editorial calling

for political reform to one praising the Communist Party,

journalists said it was the final straw. In an open letter they said

more than 1000 stories were sense of last year, making for an endless

routine of on justifiable censorship. The unrest at the

newspaper is an early test for China's new leader, Xi Jinping, who

was facing calls for change just two months into the job.

administration is interested in liberalising certain things but we

have not seen any intention of liberalising the media.

decision is likely to give the clearest sign yet of how China's

new leaders will run this country. The Barcelona and Argentina forward

Lionel Messi has won a record fourth Ballon d'Or award, given to

the world's best player. The 25- year-old scored 91 goals last

season, an all-time record, and took the honour ahead of Real

Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona team mate Andres Iniesta.

Britain's oldest man has died at the age of 110 years and 63 days.

Reg Dean, a former church minister and army chaplain, lived through

two world wars and experienced life under 24 British prime ministers.

As Robert Hall reports, Mr Dean enjoyed writing and singing, and

even took up painting at the age of # Lazy bones... Birthday tribute to

the man who claimed the secret of a long and happy life was laziness.

In the case of Reg Dean you might think there was little time to be

idle. He was born on fourth November, 1902. Britain had just

witnessed the end of the Victorian age. Young men were still fighting

and dying in the second of the Boer Wars, and one man's extravagant

beard was familiar to sports fans as WG Grace sealed his reputation

at the crease. Reg Dean soared 24 prime ministers come and go in a

world of constant change. He feared he would not survive his service as

a military chaplain in Burma but told friends he attributed his long

life to a mysterious brown medicine given to him by an Indian doctor

who told him it would enable him to live forever. He certainly had

staying power. In his 80s, he founded the Dalesman male voice

choir, the guest of honour at his 190 birthday. I will be here next

year, maybe, and the year after, and the year after. You never know.

The Reverend Reg Dean was not able to attend his 110th Party so it

came to him too. Perhaps that magical Alexia had finally lost its

power, but his family said he never lost his sense of humour or his

concern for others. He was a good man to the core and he had a strong

belief you should always look for the best in people. He always

believed that if you did good things for other people, you should

do it not for a reward, but just to help. Reg Dean was certainly never

lazy. A link with our past whose abiding hope was that he had left

the world are slightly better place than when he arrived.