:00:11. > :00:16.Tonight at ten, MPs approve the plans to cap benefit rises for
:00:16. > :00:20.millions of people. The cap of 1% for the next three years applies to
:00:20. > :00:26.most working-age benefits and tax credits, and has provoked a furious
:00:26. > :00:30.debate. This bill is about picking up the pieces, sorting out the
:00:30. > :00:34.deficit and being responsible. don't want to live in a society
:00:34. > :00:38.where we pretend we can enjoy the good life while our neighbours lose
:00:38. > :00:42.their life chances. We will look at the group's most affected by the
:00:42. > :00:45.planned changes. Also tonight, a British soldier
:00:45. > :00:48.died and six were injured when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them
:00:48. > :00:53.in Helmand. He in Australia, wildfires are
:00:53. > :00:59.still burning and there is a major emerging threat in New South Wales.
:00:59. > :01:04.The swirling, and a vicious wind, the soaring temperatures, 45
:01:04. > :01:07.degrees. At the moment, there has been a sudden change in the wind.
:01:07. > :01:16.The senior police officer who denies offering information to
:01:16. > :01:26.tabloid journalists for money. And after a decade of silence,
:01:26. > :01:53.
:01:53. > :01:56.David Bowie is back with a new Good evening. The coalition's plans
:01:56. > :02:00.to cap benefit rises for many people have been approved by the
:02:00. > :02:04.House of Commons. Ministers want to limit the annual rise in working-
:02:04. > :02:08.age benefits to 1% for the next three years. Labour says millions
:02:08. > :02:18.of low-income families will be worse off, but ministers insist
:02:18. > :02:19.
:02:19. > :02:23.that the welfare budget can't be insulated from spending cuts.
:02:23. > :02:27.Time to cut welfare. Before MPs today, a plan to squeeze a long
:02:27. > :02:32.list of working age benefits and tax credits over the next three
:02:32. > :02:36.years. Billions will be saved, but millions will be affected. The
:02:36. > :02:41.coalition has long promised spending cuts. Now they are
:02:41. > :02:44.beginning to bite. That meant some angry exchanges in the Commons,
:02:44. > :02:49.where ministers said they were acting where Labour would not,
:02:49. > :02:53.challenging Labour to say what it would cut instead of welfare.
:02:53. > :03:00.difference is that they spent taxpayers' money like drunks on a
:03:00. > :03:04.Friday night. They spend more, tax more, borrow more and let the next
:03:04. > :03:08.generation pick up the bill. This bill is about picking up the pieces,
:03:08. > :03:12.sorting out the deficit and being responsible. But Labour said the
:03:12. > :03:16.best way to cut welfare would be to create jobs, and they challenged
:03:16. > :03:21.the Government to justify tax cuts for the rich while squeezing the
:03:21. > :03:25.low-paid. We oppose this tax. Welfare to work will not work
:03:25. > :03:29.without jobs. This bill does not create a single job, it creates a
:03:29. > :03:34.heck of a mess and it asks Britain's Working families to clear
:03:34. > :03:38.it up. The bill before Parliament will increase many benefits and tax
:03:38. > :03:46.credits by 1% over the next three years. That is below inflation, so
:03:46. > :03:50.it is a real-terms cut. The working ages of those -- working-age
:03:50. > :03:53.benefits are affected. But disability benefits and the state
:03:53. > :03:56.pension are not affected. The Government is gambling that most
:03:56. > :04:00.voters will accept that you can't cut the deficit without cutting
:04:01. > :04:06.welfare. Labour is gambling that voters will think no, this is an
:04:06. > :04:10.unfair squeeze on millions of low- income families. Both sides say
:04:10. > :04:14.they have public opinion behind them. Both sides can't be right.
:04:14. > :04:17.The Tories say opinion polls show that voters agree with them.
:04:17. > :04:21.Benefits should not rise faster than wages. Labour says some of
:04:21. > :04:26.those voters may change their minds when they realise that they could
:04:26. > :04:30.also get hit. Across the Commons, battle lines today were clear and
:04:30. > :04:34.unambiguous, and not without passion. The same mean and
:04:34. > :04:40.miserable piece of legislation from a mean and miserable government.
:04:40. > :04:46.This Government is committed to giving a hand-up, not a handout. We
:04:46. > :04:52.want to see people get into work. This rancid bill is not about
:04:52. > :04:57.affordability. It is not. It reeks of the politics of dividing lines.
:04:57. > :05:01.This is a reasonable choice to get the economy out of the mess that he
:05:01. > :05:05.admitted he and his colleagues left it in. A like him, most Lib Dems
:05:05. > :05:09.back to the cuts, but not all. Some were concerned about the language
:05:09. > :05:16.of the undeserving poor. I shall vote against the bill today with a
:05:16. > :05:20.heavy heart. I hope myself and any others who choose that cause of
:05:20. > :05:24.action will give the Government cause for thought. Tonight, despite
:05:24. > :05:29.that modest Lib Dem rebellion, the Government easily won the vote. But
:05:29. > :05:32.the battle for public opinion has only just begun, and it will last
:05:32. > :05:36.all the way to the next general election.
:05:36. > :05:40.By the government's own estimates, poorer households and lone parents
:05:40. > :05:44.will be hit hardest by the cap. But ministers insist that benefits
:05:44. > :05:49.should not go up at a faster rate than wages in the public sector.
:05:49. > :05:52.The plans affect many people both in work and out of work, and apply
:05:52. > :05:57.to payments which have traditionally gone up in line with
:05:57. > :06:01.inflation. Our economics editor has been studying the figures.
:06:01. > :06:05.No one will see their benefits for in cash terms as a result of the
:06:05. > :06:08.change, but there will be a squeeze in benefits in real terms because
:06:08. > :06:12.they will not keep up with inflation. Government analysis
:06:12. > :06:17.shows that 30% of households in Britain will be affected, and
:06:17. > :06:20.families with children will be hardest hit. According to the
:06:20. > :06:26.Institute for Fiscal Studies, 7 million of those who lose out will
:06:27. > :06:33.be households with at least one person in work. On average, they
:06:33. > :06:36.will be �165 a year worse off by 2015 as a result of this change.
:06:36. > :06:41.Georgina Maric and her husband both work part-time because they can't
:06:41. > :06:45.afford full-time child care for their two kids. If their child tax
:06:45. > :06:49.credit shrinks in real terms, she is not sure it will make sense for
:06:49. > :06:54.her to work at all. I have to pay more for childcare, but I am
:06:54. > :06:59.getting less help and I am not getting a wage increase. For me, if
:06:59. > :07:03.it will not go up any more, it will be very difficult. But the people
:07:03. > :07:07.worst affected by this policy will be those who don't have a job to
:07:07. > :07:14.start with. The Institute for Fiscal Serv for -- Studies reckons
:07:14. > :07:18.2.5 million out of work households will be �215 a year worse off on
:07:18. > :07:23.average by 2015 up as a result of the 1% cap. Phil Smith from York
:07:23. > :07:26.had worked all his life before he lost his job as a heavy goods
:07:26. > :07:32.driver four years ago. He has struggled to find work ever since,
:07:32. > :07:37.and he thinks people like him are already suffering enough. It is not
:07:37. > :07:43.anything to live on. You can exist on it, you can't live on it. It is
:07:43. > :07:47.there as a safety net. If you cut that safety net, people will really
:07:47. > :07:53.feel serious pain, especially at the bottom end where I am.
:07:53. > :07:56.welfare budget is more than �200 billion, 30% of all public spending.
:07:56. > :07:59.That means any government that wants to squeeze public spending
:07:59. > :08:04.will have to look for ways to squeeze welfare. Any measure that
:08:04. > :08:09.saves real money will have to affect millions of households. On
:08:09. > :08:13.average, the bottom 60% of UK households get more from the
:08:13. > :08:18.Government in benefits and public services than they pay out in taxes.
:08:18. > :08:24.Recently, those benefits have risen a lot faster than average earnings.
:08:24. > :08:29.Earnings have gone up much more slowly than inflation since 2007.
:08:29. > :08:34.This begins to close that gap. People in work have on average done
:08:34. > :08:39.worse as a result of the recession than people out of work.
:08:39. > :08:43.biggest risk in this is inflation. Most forecasters think inflation
:08:43. > :08:47.will be relatively low over the next few years. If they are right,
:08:47. > :08:51.benefits will fall by about 4% in real terms between now and 2015,
:08:51. > :08:55.roughly as much as inflation has shrunk the average pay packet since
:08:55. > :08:59.2010. But if there are any more nasty inflation surprises,
:08:59. > :09:09.households on benefits will find they don't have the protection they
:09:09. > :09:22.
:09:22. > :09:26.A British soldier has been shot dead in Afghanistan and six others
:09:26. > :09:30.have been injured. Yesterday's are back at a military base in Helmand
:09:30. > :09:33.was carried out by a man in Afghan army uniform. The British soldier
:09:33. > :09:42.who died was serving with 28 Engineer Regiment. His family has
:09:42. > :09:46.been told. As their British instructors look
:09:46. > :09:54.on, Afghan soldiers are trained in mine clearance inside a British
:09:54. > :09:59.base. They work and live at close quarters. But always in the
:09:59. > :10:04.background are armed British soldiers, called Guardian Angels,
:10:04. > :10:09.their protection against insider attacks. In classrooms, too, they
:10:09. > :10:13.stand watch. Increasingly, it is an uneasy relationship between the
:10:13. > :10:18.Afghans and their foreign partners. The first British soldier to die
:10:18. > :10:22.this year still has not been named. But like the five others who died
:10:22. > :10:26.before him on their six-month tour of duty, he was killed by Afghan
:10:26. > :10:30.security forces. The Afghan commander in the area explained
:10:30. > :10:36.what happened. TRANSLATION: Before firing on the
:10:36. > :10:40.British soldier, he shot first at Afghans. Then he targeted the
:10:40. > :10:44.coalition camp next door. Then the gunman was killed. We will have
:10:44. > :10:49.more details soon. So orders are now at risk where they should be
:10:49. > :10:54.most safe, inside their camps. Taliban infiltration is often to
:10:54. > :10:58.blame. The insurgents' tactic is to undermine the relationship between
:10:58. > :11:02.Afghan forces and their coalition partners, making it difficult for
:11:02. > :11:06.the Afghan military to take over security here. President Karzai
:11:06. > :11:09.arrived in Washington earlier today. He is there to map out with
:11:09. > :11:15.President Obama Afghanistan's future after foreign combat troops
:11:15. > :11:19.have left. Their meeting will influence how many American troops
:11:19. > :11:25.remain in Afghanistan and determine their primary mission - to fight
:11:25. > :11:30.the Taliban, or to root out Al- Qaeda. President Karzai wants
:11:30. > :11:34.American soldiers out of his country's towns and villages.
:11:34. > :11:38.Increasingly, they are. His forces now lead most of the missions
:11:38. > :11:44.across the country, but in the toughest areas, they still are not
:11:44. > :11:51.ready. So for many years to come, these soldiers and Afghanistan
:11:51. > :11:55.generally will still rely on America's support.
:11:55. > :11:59.High winds and record temperatures are driving more than 130 fires in
:11:59. > :12:02.south-eastern Australia. In four areas of New South Wales, the
:12:02. > :12:12.danger has been classed as catastrophic. Experts say fires
:12:12. > :12:14.
:12:14. > :12:20.breaking out in the region are likely to be uncontrollable.
:12:20. > :12:22.Bast in scale and frightening intensity. The New South Wales
:12:22. > :12:26.bushfires have been fanned by ferocious winds and some of the
:12:26. > :12:30.highest temperatures this state has ever witnessed. Four large regions
:12:30. > :12:34.are being placed at the highest state of alert, catastrophic. It
:12:34. > :12:39.means the bushfires are uncontrollable and fast-moving.
:12:39. > :12:43.Residents are strongly urge to escape their paths. At ground level,
:12:43. > :12:49.we saw how terrifying and unpredictable the fire France can
:12:49. > :12:53.be. This is one of the state's main roads, the Princes Highway, in the
:12:53. > :12:56.middle of the afternoon. Too dangerous for all but emergency
:12:56. > :13:01.services to travel. Just off it, the country homes and properties
:13:01. > :13:08.most at risk. Close to the fire front, you get a sense of the
:13:08. > :13:13.conditions the firefighters are dealing with, the swirling, vicious
:13:13. > :13:18.winds, the soaring temperatures, 45 degrees. At the moment, there has
:13:18. > :13:21.been a sudden change in the wind, which is what makes these fires are
:13:21. > :13:28.unpredictable. In the small town of Wandandian, Barbara Bennett decided
:13:28. > :13:37.to stay and protect her home, her garden hose her main defence.
:13:37. > :13:41.will only go if necessary. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
:13:41. > :13:48.roads shut and communities isolated, many locals faced a different kind
:13:48. > :13:52.of agony. Stranded from family members as the fires closed in.
:13:53. > :13:59.can't get out, and I can't get into them, so I told them to fill up
:13:59. > :14:05.every available bath, bucket. Helicopters are bombarded the fires
:14:05. > :14:09.with water. But to little avail. The weather conditions are such
:14:09. > :14:16.that we can't do any heavy fire fighting at the moment. The wind is
:14:16. > :14:20.too strong and it is too hot. not just New South Wales that has
:14:20. > :14:26.been affected. Victoria, the state that suffered the awful Black
:14:26. > :14:30.Saturday disaster in 2009, is being hit again. Seldom has Australia
:14:30. > :14:40.witnessed a heatwave like it, nor fires that have affected such a
:14:40. > :14:47.
:14:47. > :14:55.A senior police officer says it's ludicrous to suggest she offered
:14:55. > :15:04.money to the News of the World -- offering the News of the World news
:15:04. > :15:09.for money. How widespread was phone hacking at the News of the World?
:15:09. > :15:13.That was the question posed by the New York Times back in September
:15:13. > :15:17.2010. Their report led Scotland Yard to examine whether the hacking
:15:17. > :15:24.inquiry should be re-opened. This angered April was burn, the officer
:15:24. > :15:27.now on tried. -- April was burn, the officer on trial. She admits
:15:27. > :15:32.phoning the News of the World, but the journalist who took the call
:15:32. > :15:37.says he offered information about the inquiry in exchange for payment.
:15:37. > :15:40.April was burn said when she picked up the phone to the paper she was
:15:40. > :15:43.acting out of public interest and not because she was unhappy with
:15:43. > :15:48.her personal situation at Scotland Yard. She constantly denied that
:15:48. > :15:52.she had asked the News of the World for money. April Scotland Yard,
:15:52. > :15:57.hacking was being investigated by the Counter Terrorism Commmand.
:15:57. > :16:01.Referring to the TV series she described the command as Life on
:16:01. > :16:05.Mars in the 21st century. She said when it came to possible victims
:16:05. > :16:09.one officer wondered if he would get to see the actress, Senna
:16:09. > :16:19.Miller. She told the jury as a counter-terrorism officer not on
:16:19. > :16:27.
:16:27. > :16:31.the investigation she was concerned. She said: As for why she went to
:16:31. > :16:35.the News of the World, she said it was a big-selling newspaper and the
:16:35. > :16:45.press exposed wrongdoing. At one stage she was in tears. She denies
:16:45. > :16:48.
:16:48. > :16:51.misconduct in public office. The trial continues tomorrow. Coming up
:16:51. > :16:55.on tonight's programme - 20,000 gadgets go on show at the world's
:16:55. > :16:57.biggest technology show in Las Vegas. In Northern Ireland,
:16:57. > :17:00.political leaders have warned of severe consequences unless a
:17:00. > :17:03.peaceful solution is reached in the violent dispute over flying the
:17:03. > :17:06.Union flag at Belfast City Hall. A decision to stop flying the flag
:17:07. > :17:09.every day has enraged unionists and led to weeks of clashes on the
:17:09. > :17:18.streets. Tonight, there was more unrest, as our Ireland
:17:18. > :17:24.correspondent Mark Simpson reports. These are the protesters who refuse
:17:24. > :17:28.to stop. Back out this afternoon in East Belfast. They have no faith in
:17:28. > :17:32.politicians at Stormont. They prefer street politics. They
:17:32. > :17:36.believe the peace process has made Northern Ireland less British and
:17:36. > :17:40.the recent removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall was the
:17:40. > :17:46.final straw. We have had enough. Enough is enough and it's time for
:17:46. > :17:51.action. Enough of what? Being pushed about. We demonised. We
:17:51. > :17:54.can't walk anywhere and you can't do this and that and millions spent
:17:54. > :17:59.on inquiries. Scrap the Good Friday Agreement and start again, because
:17:59. > :18:04.it's one-sided and we won't settle for it. Simple. The flag protests
:18:04. > :18:08.began 36 days ago, but when are they going to end? Once we get the
:18:08. > :18:14.flag back, all this will stop. There won't be any protest. Will
:18:14. > :18:17.that not show that violence pays? Violence might pay, but we want to
:18:17. > :18:21.represent our country and our unionists. We want to represent our
:18:21. > :18:25.flag and they've took it down from the pain building in the city.
:18:26. > :18:28.demonstrations have been peaceful, others haven't. The police say
:18:28. > :18:33.loyalist paramilitaries have been orchestrating some of the trouble
:18:33. > :18:36.in East Belfast. I think the paramilitary organisations, the UDA
:18:36. > :18:40.and UVF still have the clout and dominance of the communities to
:18:40. > :18:44.switch this off if they want to. We are in a situation now where people
:18:44. > :18:48.are playing to the crowd and the mood, playing to the street.
:18:48. > :18:52.violence has only been in a small number of areas and Stormont's
:18:52. > :18:56.First Minister says most unionists, although angry about the flag issue,
:18:56. > :19:01.still support the peace process. I'm certainly not going to give way
:19:01. > :19:03.to those who want to bring down the process, because that would be
:19:04. > :19:06.anti-democratic and against the wishes of the people. Tonight,
:19:06. > :19:13.there was more trouble in East Belfast, but not as bad as
:19:13. > :19:18.previously. Tomorrow, the Union flag will fly again over Belfast
:19:18. > :19:22.City Hall to mark the birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge. It's one
:19:22. > :19:25.of 19 days, mostly Royal birthdays, on which the council has agreed to
:19:25. > :19:29.fly the flag. The new policy is seen by some as a compromise, but
:19:29. > :19:34.by others as a betrayal. It's a symbol of Northern Ireland's on-
:19:34. > :19:39.going divisions. The Met Office says it's standing
:19:39. > :19:41.by its long-term forecast of global warming for the rest of the century.
:19:41. > :19:44.A new computer system estimates that temperatures will rise by
:19:44. > :19:47.slightly less over the next five years than previously forecast. But
:19:47. > :19:55.the Met Office says people shouldn't read too much into the
:19:55. > :20:00.change, as our science editor David Shukman explains. The met office
:20:00. > :20:03.tries to forecast everything and what might happen five to ten
:20:03. > :20:10.years' time. It's one of those forecasts that hit the news today
:20:10. > :20:15.and here's why - they had forecast the world would warm by a little
:20:15. > :20:20.over 0.54C by 2015, when compared to the long-term average. They have
:20:21. > :20:25.had to revise that. They've downgraded it to under 0.4C. It's
:20:25. > :20:31.caused quite a storm. The key thing here is that if that forecast is
:20:31. > :20:36.right and there isn't much warming by 2015, we might have had a 20-
:20:36. > :20:39.year period without much warming and a lot of will will say what's
:20:39. > :20:43.the fuss about? The Met Office and climate scientists are saying
:20:43. > :20:46.actually global warming is a long- term threat. Natural factors may
:20:46. > :20:49.get in the way and influence things, the oceans and solar output, but
:20:49. > :20:59.bear in mind it's a long-term threat and one that's not going
:20:59. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:05.away. Thank you very much. One of the world's biggest technology
:21:05. > :21:07.shows has opened in Las Vegas this evening. Over the next week, an
:21:07. > :21:10.estimated 20,000 new products will be launched at the Consumer
:21:10. > :21:12.Electronics Show. One of big trends this year is televisions - with
:21:12. > :21:21.much greater definition and interactivity. Our technology
:21:21. > :21:24.correspondent Rory Cellan Jones reports. Thousands of new products
:21:25. > :21:27.are unveiled. The industry giants battle for the attention of
:21:27. > :21:31.consumers. You can tell that Samsung is the giant of this
:21:31. > :21:37.industry by the sheer scale of this enormous stand, which is apparently
:21:37. > :21:41.taken a whole month to build. It shows off the dominance in every
:21:41. > :21:45.place from smartphones where it's the current leader to the kitchen
:21:45. > :21:49.where it's trying to sell us smart fridges, but it's television where
:21:49. > :21:55.the giants of the industry are trying to show their muscle. The
:21:55. > :21:59.screens get bigger every year. This one is 110 inches across. Next door,
:21:59. > :22:03.Sony hopes 4 K screens offer four times as many pixels as HD and will
:22:03. > :22:06.put it back in the race. But Samsung has another trick up its
:22:06. > :22:10.sleeve, a 3D screen which can show two different programmes at the
:22:10. > :22:15.same time. The screen appears blurred, but look through the
:22:15. > :22:20.glasses and each viewer's picture becomes clearer. It's all about the
:22:20. > :22:25.screens. Smart TVs and tablets, smartphones and how you can connect
:22:25. > :22:31.them all together and connect devices. Lots of devices whether
:22:31. > :22:35.it's cameras with si IM cards. -- SIM cards in or other things like
:22:35. > :22:40.putting in your suitcases to find out where they are. The car
:22:40. > :22:44.industry has brought new ideas. Many aimed at automating the
:22:44. > :22:49.driving accidents. This Lexus research vehicle effectively drives
:22:49. > :22:56.itself. It sensors judge when it is getting close to other cars and
:22:56. > :22:59.applies the brakes. You don't see a day when I will be sitting in the
:22:59. > :23:05.back seat and let the car do the work? I would prefer you didn't do.
:23:05. > :23:10.I would prefer that you drove and the car made you a better driver.
:23:11. > :23:16.Some of the gadgetry has no commercial purpose, other than to
:23:16. > :23:22.wow the visitors, but many of the products will take off. Some could
:23:22. > :23:25.even change our lives. Following a decade of silence, David Bowie
:23:25. > :23:28.surprised the rock world by releasing a new single today, on
:23:28. > :23:30.his 66th birthday. His long absence from the industry and heart surgery
:23:30. > :23:34.in 2004 has prompted plenty of speculation about his health. But
:23:34. > :23:44.as our arts editor Will Gompertz reports there's also a new album on
:23:44. > :23:44.
:23:44. > :23:48.the way suggesting plenty of new energy. Without fanfare or
:23:49. > :23:57.flamboyance, David Bowie posted his first new track for a decade on the
:23:57. > :24:04.internet. # Where are we now
:24:04. > :24:07.# Where are we now... # It's a sorrowful ballad that sees the 66-
:24:07. > :24:16.year-old rock star reminiscing about his time spent in Berlin in
:24:16. > :24:20.the 1970s. # Had to get the train from
:24:20. > :24:24.Potsdamer Platz... # Fans were surprised and relieved. Some had
:24:24. > :24:29.thought he had quietly retired and others speculated that poor health
:24:29. > :24:35.had incapacitated him, which is not the case according to his old
:24:35. > :24:39.friend and producer, Tony advice Conti. David is extremely melt --
:24:39. > :24:42.advice Conti. David is extremely healthy and he's rosy cheeked.
:24:42. > :24:51.During the recording he was smiling all the time and he was so happy to
:24:51. > :24:57.be back in the studio. His stamina is fantastic. Bowie has a history
:24:57. > :25:01.of surprising fans. In 1972 he produced his flamed-haired alter
:25:01. > :25:05.ego Ziggy Stardust and in so doing helped change the face of pop. It
:25:05. > :25:08.was here in the West End where the famous album cover shot was taken.
:25:08. > :25:12.There's a plaque to mark the moment, which in a way is significant,
:25:12. > :25:22.because it represents part of a process which has turned a pop star
:25:22. > :25:24.
:25:24. > :25:31.into something approaching a living legend. From glam rock is 1980's
:25:31. > :25:38.upon. Bowie set the fashion, others followed.
:25:38. > :25:42.# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues... # He is a true artist.
:25:42. > :25:48.Says the man who played with him during his last live performance in
:25:48. > :25:54.the UK in 2006. To play with him in the UK, you get the real deal and
:25:54. > :25:57.to feel that voice and the power of that voice. And the charisma. And
:25:57. > :26:06.to see the people just really loving him. It's a great, great
:26:06. > :26:10.experience. This new single will only add to the Bowie myth, as the