:00:06. > :00:14.Another bleak assessment of the eurozone crisis. A key credit
:00:14. > :00:16.rating agency says a solution is now beyond reach. Six eurozone
:00:16. > :00:21.countries including Spain and Italy are warned their credit worthiness
:00:21. > :00:24.may be downgraded. More than 400 people are killed as
:00:24. > :00:28.a tropical storm hits the Philippines.
:00:28. > :00:33.Fresh clashes in Egypt one year on from the event that sparked the
:00:33. > :00:43.Arab Spring. And discounts to woo shoppers but
:00:43. > :00:55.
:00:55. > :00:59.have they been they enough to spark Good evening. Governments around
:00:59. > :01:02.Europe are taking stock of another grim prediction about the eurozone.
:01:02. > :01:07.The credit ratings agency Fitch says it believes a solution to the
:01:07. > :01:12.crisis is now beyond reach. It's warned it may downgrade the credit
:01:12. > :01:15.worthiness of six eurozone members including Spain and Italy. Here,
:01:15. > :01:19.the former Chancellor Lord Lamont has warned that time is running out
:01:19. > :01:27.to stop what he called an explosion in the eurozone. Our Business
:01:27. > :01:30.Correspondent Joe Lynam reports. Few of the Commons on this eurozone
:01:30. > :01:35.crisis have been as pessimistic as those from the credit rating agency
:01:35. > :01:39.Fitch, which said a comprehensive deal to save the single currency is
:01:39. > :01:43.now beyond reach. And more pressingly, 6 and euros countries
:01:43. > :01:48.face an immediate downgrade which means Italy, Spain, Ireland,
:01:48. > :01:53.Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus might soon have to pay even more on the
:01:53. > :01:57.markets for the Government to borrow money. What Fitch had done
:01:57. > :02:00.our state the condition they would like to see before considering the
:02:00. > :02:04.eurozone crisis is probably being resolved, and what strikes them at
:02:04. > :02:09.the moment is that they don't find the kind of co-ordination in the
:02:09. > :02:13.eurozone they would like to see. Although firms like Fitch play a
:02:13. > :02:16.huge role in causing the financial crisis for years ago, they once
:02:16. > :02:20.again find themselves at the centre of the current eurozone crisis
:02:20. > :02:24.which could affect us all. Even though they are seemingly removed
:02:24. > :02:27.from our day-to-day lives, credit rating agencies do matter.
:02:27. > :02:30.Especially in this eurozone crisis. That's because markets listen
:02:30. > :02:34.carefully to the opinion. The lower the rating, the higher the interest
:02:34. > :02:38.paid by companies and countries and that means governments have less
:02:38. > :02:42.money to spend on stuff like hospitals, schools and wages.
:02:42. > :02:46.Norman Lamont knows a thing or two about recession currency blocs. He
:02:46. > :02:50.was the Chancellor when Britain was forced out of the European
:02:50. > :02:56.exchange-rate mechanism in 1990 to almost 20 years later. He is now
:02:56. > :03:00.concerned. This has to be taken extremely seriously. So far, the
:03:00. > :03:07.eurozone have been in a state of denial about the nature of the
:03:07. > :03:11.crisis. And the extent of the crisis. The treaty designed to save
:03:11. > :03:15.the euro agreed at last week's summit may already be unravelling
:03:15. > :03:20.with a detrimental impact on all European citizens.
:03:20. > :03:26.Our Political Correspondent Iain Watson is here. A really stark
:03:26. > :03:29.warning on the eurozone from Lord Lamont, saying it might explode.
:03:29. > :03:34.Absolutely, he said the eurozone was in denial about the nature of
:03:34. > :03:38.the crisis, but he was Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer in the
:03:38. > :03:42.1990s and presided over Britain for the out of the exchange-rate
:03:42. > :03:46.mechanism and he issued a stark warning and said the eurozone now,
:03:46. > :03:50.unless there was urgent action, would have to contract or explode
:03:50. > :03:55.and Nick Clegg it warned of an explosion of a different kind, not
:03:55. > :03:59.economic, but political explosion. He said times get tough, xenophobia
:03:59. > :04:06.and chauvinism are on the increase. Not to take no pop but Euro-
:04:07. > :04:12.sceptics, but also at the SNP and the UK Independence Party, accusing
:04:12. > :04:17.them of peddling the politics of grievance. Both parties reject that.
:04:17. > :04:20.The Commons from Nick Clegg smacked of desperation, they said. Also
:04:20. > :04:25.Newsnight on one of the names it came to symbolise the financial
:04:25. > :04:28.crisis. Northern Rock was the symbol for a long time because it
:04:28. > :04:31.was the first bank which had been nationalised during the crisis in
:04:31. > :04:36.order to save it. The Government announced last month it was going
:04:36. > :04:40.to sell it off at a loss, but tonight the National Audit Office
:04:40. > :04:47.has announced its going to look into whether that sailors going to
:04:47. > :04:52.be representative of value for money for the tax payer. They went
:04:52. > :04:55.report in till next July. Tonight, Labour are calling for the Treasury
:04:55. > :04:59.to postpone the sale altogether but the Government say we got the best
:04:59. > :05:03.value for money we possibly could under the circumstances and we are
:05:03. > :05:06.taking independent advice and the sale will go ahead. OK, many thanks
:05:06. > :05:09.indeed. More than 400 people have been
:05:09. > :05:12.killed in a tropical storm in the Philippines. Tens of thousands of
:05:12. > :05:17.people on the island of Mindanao have moved to evacuation centres,
:05:17. > :05:25.and soldiers have been mobilised to help with the rescue effort.
:05:25. > :05:30.Gabriel Gatehouse has more details. The people of the Philippines are
:05:30. > :05:34.no strangers to flooding. But tropical storms caught the island
:05:34. > :05:43.of Merkozy by surprise. Most people were asleep when the flash floods
:05:43. > :05:46.struck on Friday night -- Mindanao. Rivers burst their banks and
:05:46. > :05:52.residents searched desperately for higher ground. They found shelter
:05:52. > :05:55.where they could, some stranded on rooftops waiting to be rescued.
:05:55. > :05:58.TRANSLATION: All we could see were lights flashing and he made a whole
:05:58. > :06:03.lot through the roof to climb out on two and stayed on top of the
:06:03. > :06:06.roof for the whole time. Filipino military says thousands of
:06:06. > :06:12.its soldiers are involved in the rescue effort but, for many, help
:06:12. > :06:16.us come too late. We found two bodies over here, this villager
:06:16. > :06:20.said, and three more over there and now we are looking for bodies in
:06:20. > :06:24.the nearby village. The islands of the Philippines are battered by
:06:24. > :06:28.around 20 major storms every year. But most take a more northerly
:06:28. > :06:33.route. Rescue workers say it's possible the number of dead may be
:06:33. > :06:37.so high this time because the people of Mindanao simply are not
:06:37. > :06:43.used to bear in the full brand of 50 mph wind like those of this
:06:43. > :06:46.tropical storm. A year ago today a young fruit
:06:46. > :06:53.seller set fire to himself in Tunisia because he said he was
:06:53. > :06:56.being harrassed by the authorities. They were trying to stop him
:06:56. > :07:02.trading. That single act began the Arab Spring uprisings which topped
:07:02. > :07:04.decades-old dictatorships across the Arab world. But while Tunisia
:07:04. > :07:07.and Libya are making progress, today protestors have again taken
:07:07. > :07:13.to the streets in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Our Middle East
:07:13. > :07:19.correspondent Jon Donnison reports. Tunisians gather today to remember
:07:19. > :07:25.that one man who changed the Middle East. His mother addressed the
:07:25. > :07:28.crowd. She tells them her son symbolise the beginning of the
:07:28. > :07:34.revolution. And says she appreciates all the martyrs who
:07:34. > :07:37.have died this year. Meanwhile, in Libya, the American Defence
:07:37. > :07:44.Secretary was in Tripoli. He offered congratulations on another
:07:44. > :07:49.move towards democracy. They have to determine what their needs are,
:07:49. > :07:53.what kind of assistance is required. And whatever they need, the USA
:07:53. > :07:57.will be happy to respond. Libya's revolution that climaxed here in
:07:57. > :08:04.what is now called martyr's Square, was, in many ways, the most
:08:04. > :08:07.conclusive, a 42 year long dictatorship ending with Colonel
:08:07. > :08:16.Gaddafi's death. Libyans are enjoying their revolutionary
:08:16. > :08:22.honeymoon but across the region, a process of change is far from over.
:08:22. > :08:25.Egypt are still volatile. Clashes in Cairo continue today. These are
:08:25. > :08:32.security forces savagely beating protesters who say the pace of
:08:32. > :08:37.change is too slow. One man eventually tries to get up. A
:08:37. > :08:42.second looks to be unconscious at best. At least eight people have
:08:42. > :08:46.died since Friday. 11 months after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, and
:08:46. > :08:52.halfway through new elections, the future direction of the country is
:08:52. > :08:57.far from clear. And in the Yemen this weekend, there were more anti-
:08:57. > :09:03.government protests, even though the President agreed to finally
:09:03. > :09:08.step down last month after over 30 years in power. But provoking most
:09:09. > :09:14.concern is Syria. The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed
:09:14. > :09:18.since the uprising began against the President. One young Tunisian
:09:18. > :09:23.was the trigger for the Arab Spring. A year on, for millions of people
:09:23. > :09:26.across the Middle East, it's not over.
:09:26. > :09:29.New fishing quotas have been announced for the UK after all
:09:29. > :09:34.night talks in Brussels. The deal includes increases in quotas for
:09:34. > :09:38.catching cod and haddock. The UK Fisheries minister said the result
:09:38. > :09:41.was the best that could be achieved. But some Scottish fishing
:09:41. > :09:48.communities are still unhappy about a reduction in the number of days
:09:48. > :09:52.they can spend at sea. James Shaw reports.
:09:53. > :09:57.This is a strenuous job for the crew in rough weather. Once, not so
:09:57. > :10:03.long ago, fish stocks around Britain were plentiful. That was
:10:03. > :10:07.before dramatic reductions caused by overfishing. Now what species
:10:08. > :10:13.can be caught and when are matters for closely argued negotiations
:10:13. > :10:17.amongst the fishing nations of Europe. The UK government says this
:10:17. > :10:21.year's deal is the best possible. Scottish ministers are less
:10:21. > :10:27.convinced. And industry leaders in Scotland say it is not a good deal
:10:27. > :10:34.at all. The problem, they say, is being allowed fewer days at sea.
:10:34. > :10:39.There's no way you can claim this is a success. It's not a success.
:10:39. > :10:43.The perversity is, there is fish to catch, and there may not be time to
:10:43. > :10:48.catch at all. The new agreement will allow UK fishermen to catch
:10:48. > :10:53.more of some species like cod and haddock in certain areas. And that
:10:53. > :10:59.is a concern for fish conservationists. What's wrong with
:10:59. > :11:02.the deal being struck today is that the advice the scientists have been
:11:02. > :11:09.producing has been completely ignored and that is unacceptable
:11:09. > :11:15.for the future of fish stocks. Britain's love affair with fish and
:11:15. > :11:21.chips shows no sign of ending but preserving fish stocks is still a
:11:21. > :11:24.pressing concern and we need to strike a balance between demand and
:11:24. > :11:29.sustainability for it to continue for the foreseeable future.
:11:29. > :11:31.The Labour Party in Scotland has elected a new leader. Johann Lamont
:11:31. > :11:38.said her priorities are tackling youth unemployment, getting the
:11:38. > :11:41.economy to grow and providing more support for carers.
:11:41. > :11:45.Now with Christmas just around the corner, it's been one of the
:11:45. > :11:48.busiest shopping days of the year. An estimated 11 million Britons
:11:48. > :11:52.have taken to the high streets and shopping centres, spending more
:11:52. > :11:59.than �1 million a minute. Fiona Trott joined the shoppers in
:11:59. > :12:03.Gateshead. Only a week to go. And here in
:12:03. > :12:10.Gateshead, stores are doing their best to seduce the shoppers. Some
:12:10. > :12:14.are offering 50% off. It is tempting, but if it tempting enough
:12:14. > :12:18.to bring out the credit card and throw caution to the wind?
:12:18. > :12:24.haven't got the money and we can't have it. I don't have a credit card.
:12:24. > :12:28.I used to have it. I don't like the thought of paying it after
:12:28. > :12:32.Christmas. It adds up Andy De Beers how much your spending. On the
:12:32. > :12:36.credit card, I try not to go overdrawn too much. I've been quite
:12:36. > :12:42.careful. The next few days are vital. Some retailers rely on
:12:42. > :12:46.Christmas for up to 30% of their annual turnover and they are clever
:12:47. > :12:51.and uses discounting incentives. Customers know it, which is why
:12:51. > :12:54.they wait until the last minute. It's a game, but it seems to work.
:12:54. > :12:59.I think we have been pleasantly surprised because, throughout the
:12:59. > :13:04.whole year, it's been a picture of doom and gloom and we have all
:13:04. > :13:10.known we have got to work harder to actually drive sales, but we are
:13:10. > :13:13.seeing some positive results. It's good at the moment, actually.
:13:13. > :13:16.Retailers have been smiling in London's West End for it was as
:13:16. > :13:22.busy as ever at this time of year. The British Retail Consortium
:13:22. > :13:27.estimates shoppers across the UK spend �2.5 billion today, a welcome
:13:27. > :13:30.boost following poor sales in November. And, with Christmas Eve
:13:30. > :13:36.falling on a Saturday this year, panic buyers will be putting more
:13:36. > :13:39.money into the tills this time next week.
:13:39. > :13:42.Now with the sports news, here's Olly Foster.
:13:42. > :13:45.He's done her shopping. I wish!
:13:46. > :13:52.There were three draws and three wins in today's six Premier League
:13:52. > :13:55.matches. All the goals are on Match of the Day straight after the news,
:13:55. > :13:59.so for those of you who don't want me to give you the results, you
:13:59. > :14:02.know the drill. Chelsea were the only team in the top five playing
:14:02. > :14:06.today, but they were held to a one- all draw at Wigan. Jordi Gomez
:14:06. > :14:09.pounced on an error by Petr Cech to equalise in the last two minutes.
:14:09. > :14:11.Wigan stay in the relegation zone but the bottom two both lost. Owen
:14:11. > :14:14.Coyle says he takes full responsibilty for Bolton's current
:14:14. > :14:17.position. They lost 2-0 at Fulham. That keeps them bottom, one point
:14:17. > :14:20.behind Blackburn Rovers another defeat for Steve Kean's side, 2-1
:14:20. > :14:24.at home to West Bromwich Albion. Here are the other results. Everton
:14:24. > :14:27.got a late equaliser against Norwich. 1-all the final score. No
:14:27. > :14:31.goals between Newcastle and Swansea and Peter Crouch got the winner for
:14:31. > :14:34.Stoke at Wolves. Rangers are seven points clear at the top of the
:14:34. > :14:37.Scottish Premier League again after a tough 2-1 win against Inverness.
:14:37. > :14:42.Elsewhere, Hibs lost at Aberdeen, Hearts eased past Dunfermline,
:14:42. > :14:45.Dundee Utd got a late equaliser at Kilmarnock. Motherwell still third
:14:45. > :14:51.after a draw with St Mirren. Second placed Celtic are at St Johnstone
:14:51. > :14:54.tomorrow. In rugby union's Heineken Cup, there were wins today for
:14:54. > :14:56.Leinster, Ulster and Gloucester. Glasgow drew their match with
:14:56. > :15:01.Montpellier, while Leicester kept their European hopes alive with a
:15:01. > :15:11.stunning comeback against Clermont Auvergne. Despite trailing by nine
:15:11. > :15:12.
:15:12. > :15:16.points at half-time, Julian Salvi's try helped them to a 23-19 victory.
:15:16. > :15:19.Big Bucks has extended his unbeaten run over Hurdles. It now stands at
:15:19. > :15:25.14 after Ruby Walsh steered him to an easy victory in the Long Walk
:15:25. > :15:28.Hurdle at Ascot today. The Paul Nicholls trained eight year old is
:15:28. > :15:34.now two away from Sir Ken's record of 16 consecutive race wins set in
:15:34. > :15:37.the 1950s. And the Nottingham fighter Carl
:15:37. > :15:40.Froch faces American Andre Ward in Atlantic City overnight. It's the
:15:40. > :15:44.final of the Super Six tournament, which has seen the best super-
:15:44. > :15:49.middleweight boxers fight each other over the last two years.
:15:49. > :15:56.Froch and Ward are putting their WBC and WBA belts on the line. And
:15:56. > :16:02.you can hear the fight live on BBC Radio 5 Live from 2.30am. And
:16:02. > :16:06.that's the sport. Thank you very much indeed. That's
:16:06. > :16:16.it. You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News
:16:16. > :16:18.
:16:18. > :16:22.Good evening. I wouldn't get too excited about a white Christmas
:16:22. > :16:27.just yet. It's going to turn milder next week but it's cold at the
:16:27. > :16:30.moment. Temperatures close to freezing right now. Some rain
:16:30. > :16:35.showers particularly towards the western fringes and snow in
:16:35. > :16:38.Scotland, northern England, giving a light covering in places. In fact,
:16:38. > :16:43.that sleet and snow ending up in the Midlands through tomorrow
:16:43. > :16:49.morning. A light covering. Heading towards the south-east, but I
:16:49. > :16:53.wouldn't hold your breath. A few wintry showers arriving in the
:16:53. > :16:57.morning. Brighter skies and sunshine for the West Country.
:16:57. > :17:02.Showers on the coastal fringes at 9am. An icy stare across Wales,
:17:02. > :17:06.particularly when you have snow over the high ground. Plenty of
:17:06. > :17:10.sunshine a during the day. Northern Ireland, ice will be hazardous out
:17:10. > :17:12.there particularly with showers moving from the north coast. Rain
:17:13. > :17:16.showers for the western coast of Scotland as well but most of it
:17:16. > :17:21.will be frozen solid in the morning with a lot of snow on the ground.
:17:21. > :17:23.It could be slippery. Through the day, wintery showers will fade away
:17:23. > :17:31.from the south-east and although there will be shut was on coastal