:00:00. > :00:00.on the BBC News Channel. I'll be back with the late news at 10pm
:00:00. > :00:12.Now, the news where you are. Goodbye.
:00:13. > :00:16.The mayor of one of five London boroughs, criticised by the
:00:17. > :00:18.government for spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on free
:00:19. > :00:25.newspapers, has said he has no intention of getting rid of the
:00:26. > :00:28.paper in his area. Sir Robin Wales, the directly elected Mayor of
:00:29. > :00:33.Newham, argues it's good value for money and popular with residents.
:00:34. > :00:35.The Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has
:00:36. > :00:38.threatened to shut the council publications, accusing them of
:00:39. > :00:41.peddling propaganda using t`x payers money. Richard Slee reports.
:00:42. > :00:45.The Newham Mag is published every two weeks, and is delivered free of
:00:46. > :00:47.charge to 100,000 residents in East London. It's also one of thd
:00:48. > :00:50.magazines produced by Labour`controlled councils targeted
:00:51. > :00:59.by Eric Pickles as propaganda on the rates, because of the frequdncy of
:01:00. > :01:16.their publication. In a statement, Mr Pickles said:
:01:17. > :01:20.But the Mayor of Newham says his
:01:21. > :01:24.magazine is a vital local sdrvice, and he won't scrap it.
:01:25. > :01:27.If we did away with this we would have to do hundreds and hundreds of
:01:28. > :01:30.different leaflets, people wouldn't necessarily read them. When we asked
:01:31. > :01:34.people, 75% are telling us they get a lot of information from it. Since
:01:35. > :01:38.we produced it, we've gone from 41% saying they're well`informed to 75%.
:01:39. > :01:42.So people are telling us, thank you, we want to know what's going on in
:01:43. > :01:45.our community. Sir Robin also rejects crithcism
:01:46. > :01:51.that free council papers ard driving local newspapers out of bushness.
:01:52. > :01:55.But the shop owner here says that these days he doesn't sell lany
:01:56. > :01:58.local papers. Most of the ptblishers say the free magazines and papers
:01:59. > :02:04.like this do take away their advertising revenue.
:02:05. > :02:07.Most of the Newham residents we spoke to said they do read the free
:02:08. > :02:14.magazine and they would miss it What do you think of it? It's not
:02:15. > :02:18.too bad. It's good informathon. I like to have a read. It is
:02:19. > :02:21.interesting to know what's going on. The five councils ` Newham,
:02:22. > :02:24.Greenwich, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets ` have two weeks
:02:25. > :02:39.to justify their publications, and explain why legal proceedings should
:02:40. > :02:42.not be taken against them. Designer handbags worth thotsands of
:02:43. > :02:45.pounds each have been stolen during a ram`raid at the Chanel store in
:02:46. > :02:49.West London. Thieves drove ` stolen car through a window at the front of
:02:50. > :02:52.the shop in Brompton Road, hn the early hours of this morning. Police
:02:53. > :02:54.say no`one was hurt during the raid, and has urged anyone with
:02:55. > :02:57.information to come forward. Concerns have been raised over the
:02:58. > :03:00.Environment Agency's decision to grant a new licence to a wood
:03:01. > :03:03.recycling company at a wastd site in Hertfordshire, where a largd fire
:03:04. > :03:06.broke out in 2012. Protestors claim the new company has links to the
:03:07. > :03:08.former operators who were fhned for breaching safety rules. The
:03:09. > :03:11.Environment Agency insists there are no operational links between the two
:03:12. > :03:15.companies, and the site will be strictly monitored.
:03:16. > :03:18.For the fifth year in a row, Trafalgar Square has been
:03:19. > :03:20.transformed into the Jerusalem of two millenniums ago. An 80`strong
:03:21. > :03:23.cast from Surrey's Wintersh`ll Players and livestock have performed
:03:24. > :03:26.the Passion of Christ. The group's epic performances of the life of
:03:27. > :03:29.Jesus started as humble plaxs in a barn in the grounds of the
:03:30. > :03:31.Wintershall estate, but thex now attract a 20,000 strong crowd
:03:32. > :03:40.annually in central London. Tarah Welsh reports. It might be one of
:03:41. > :03:43.the oldest stories but thousands came along to see it brought the
:03:44. > :03:47.life. It is rare to see a crowd of this
:03:48. > :03:53.size sitting quietly in the centre of London, but for 90 minutds young
:03:54. > :03:59.and old seemed focussed on the action.
:04:00. > :04:03.Which graphically tells the Bible story.
:04:04. > :04:08.He is killed, murdered. Crucified. Now I think one has to show that, as
:04:09. > :04:13.unpleasant as it was. Otherwise you could argue it is almost a blasphemy
:04:14. > :04:18.if you pull punches. This started as a Nativity play in a barn 23 years
:04:19. > :04:24.ago, but no the players perform all over the world. It is wonderful I
:04:25. > :04:29.am be bibbing to see famili`r face, we have been here four years and
:04:30. > :04:32.seen old friends coming. Now we are getting more people from an broad
:04:33. > :04:39.that are coming to celebratd here. James is a professional actor, the
:04:40. > :04:44.rest are volunteers. There `re 7 cast members and that is not
:04:45. > :04:50.including Chester the donkex. I got him out of field. He was like, I am
:04:51. > :04:57.ready, let's go. Off to London. Today being Good Friday, it is a
:04:58. > :05:01.good time and a good place to be. Very moving, touching, I I shed a
:05:02. > :05:09.few tears. It seems this is one story that continues to movd people.
:05:10. > :05:14.And now the latest Easter wdather. So far so good for the start of the
:05:15. > :05:18.Easter weekend. Although out of sun and in the breeze it felt chilly and
:05:19. > :05:23.through the night it will ttrn cold and the clearing sky, there will be
:05:24. > :05:26.a widespread ground frost developing, particularly in more
:05:27. > :05:30.rural spots. Sunny spells tomorrow, because there will be patchx cloud,
:05:31. > :05:33.and there will be one or two hit`and`miss showers popping up late
:05:34. > :05:37.morning, lunchtime into the first part of the aftertyphoon. There is a
:05:38. > :05:42.nagging breeze with a chill, when the sun disappears behind the
:05:43. > :05:46.clouds. Top temperatures rotnd 4 C. Still expecting some rain come to in
:05:47. > :05:50.on Sunday, with the freshenhng wind and cloud and a risk of a fdw
:05:51. > :05:55.showers on Easter Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
:05:56. > :05:57.And that is all from me for now I will be back at 10.15, for now have
:05:58. > :06:14.a very good evening. Today we have seen temperatures
:06:15. > :06:17.rising if Scotland but again tonight, with the clear skies and
:06:18. > :06:22.light wind temperatures will fall sharply, and for many of us, we are
:06:23. > :06:24.looking at a touch of frost. The satellite picture tells a story
:06:25. > :06:28.nicely. This belt of cloud is sitting in the far north-west of
:06:29. > :06:32.Scotland, we have had this cloud bubbling up across eastern areas and
:06:33. > :06:36.with the northerly wind it has felt cold in East Anglia. That cloud is
:06:37. > :06:39.going to melt away, we will get an easterly breeze picking the cloud
:06:40. > :06:43.back in again later in the night in eastern areas and we still have this
:06:44. > :06:46.cloud and rain in the far north west of Scotland, but for most we will
:06:47. > :06:49.have clear sky, light wind, Ness are the temperatures in towns and city,
:06:50. > :06:55.spin it round into the countryside, you can see it is colder, close to
:06:56. > :07:00.freezing, it could be down to minus three or four in Scotland. Saturday,
:07:01. > :07:03.that band of cloud and rain isn t moving anywhere. We will see the
:07:04. > :07:05.breeze dragging in more cloud into eastern areas in the morning,
:07:06. > :07:06.pushing into