:00:07. > :00:11.Steadfast and united - the coalition Government's verdict on
:00:11. > :00:14.how well it's doing at the halfway point of their pact. The Prime
:00:14. > :00:20.Minister and his Deputy prepare to set out shared priorities on
:00:20. > :00:25.childcare, infrastructure and care for the elderly. Now I think the
:00:25. > :00:29.coalition is actually maturing and people can see that we have two
:00:29. > :00:33.parties which sometimes don't agree on things, which sometimes disagree
:00:33. > :00:36.in public, but that are agreed on the big fundamental things about
:00:36. > :00:39.the economy and schools and welfare. The broadcaster Stuart Hall appears
:00:39. > :00:43.in court charged with indecent assault on three girls in the '70s
:00:43. > :00:48.and '80s. More violence in Northern Ireland -
:00:48. > :00:51.the police there say children as young as ten have taken part.
:00:51. > :00:55.The seven-year-old killed for failing to learn passages from the
:00:55. > :01:00.Koran - his mother is jailed for life.
:01:00. > :01:07.And, the Big Bash that almost lived up to its name. The Australian
:01:07. > :01:10.Shane Warne is banned and fined for misconduct. On BBC London: A 13-
:01:10. > :01:14.year-old girl is killed after a police car chase in south London.
:01:15. > :01:24.And how illegal stun guns 20 times more powerful than those of the
:01:25. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :01:38.police are being used in attacks Good afternoon and welcome to the
:01:38. > :01:40.BBC news at One. David Cameron and Nick Clegg will set out their
:01:40. > :01:43.priorities for the coalition Government for the rest of the
:01:43. > :01:45.Parliament, in just over an hour. In what they call their mid-term
:01:45. > :01:48.review, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders will
:01:48. > :01:52.insist they are steadfast and united and that their shared
:01:52. > :01:56.purpose has grown. Labour has dismissed the review as another
:01:56. > :02:02.relaunch. Our political correspondent Louise Stewart
:02:02. > :02:05.reports. Since this historic moment at Downing Street back in 2010, the
:02:05. > :02:09.coalition's had its ups and downs but David Cameron and Nick Clegg
:02:09. > :02:12.are seizing the new term at Westminster as an opportunity to
:02:12. > :02:15.reinvigorate their partnership, presenting the coalition's mid-term
:02:15. > :02:21.review their message is the Government's making progress, but
:02:21. > :02:24.there's Mogg to do. Now -- more to do. Now I think the coalition is
:02:24. > :02:27.maturing and people can see we have two parties that sometimes don't
:02:28. > :02:31.agree on things, sometimes disagree in public, but that are agreed on
:02:31. > :02:35.the big fundamental things about the economy and schools and welfare
:02:35. > :02:38.and are still capable of working together while retaining our
:02:38. > :02:42.separate party identities. The mid- term report is light on detail but
:02:42. > :02:46.highlights some of what the coalition see as their achievements,
:02:46. > :02:50.including a 25% cut in the deficit, and education reforms in England as
:02:50. > :02:54.well as the creation of private sector jobs. Critics say the
:02:55. > :02:59.coalition hasn't delivered on House of Lords reform, has put services
:02:59. > :03:03.at risk by introducing top-down NHS reforms and failed to tackle weak
:03:03. > :03:06.economic growth. We really need from the Government is a strategy
:03:06. > :03:11.for jobs and growth to get the economy moving again, but we are
:03:11. > :03:13.not seeing that in the mid-term review, we haven't seen it in the
:03:13. > :03:18.last two-and-a-half years and that's why our economy is on its
:03:18. > :03:21.knees and families are having to pay the price. Gathering for the
:03:21. > :03:24.first cabinet meeting of the new year, ministers were signing off on
:03:24. > :03:28.a new wave of Government plans. Over the next few months, they'll
:03:28. > :03:32.flesh out pledges to help parents pay for the rise in cost of child
:03:32. > :03:36.care, cap care costs for the elderly, as well as increasing
:03:36. > :03:41.infrastructure investment. David Cameron and Nick Clegg want this
:03:41. > :03:43.review, the coalition agreement mark II, if you like, to
:03:43. > :03:47.demonstrate unity and show the Government still has plenty of
:03:47. > :03:50.ideas. But while those at the top of the parties are working well
:03:50. > :03:54.together, some Conservative backbenchers have dismissed this
:03:54. > :04:02.review as little more than a PR exercise and say the coalition
:04:03. > :04:07.can't last. This is just a sort of refresh, get the coalition going
:04:07. > :04:11.again but really I don't think that two parties that fundamentally
:04:11. > :04:15.disagree on so many things with push through new initiatives.
:04:16. > :04:19.maintain the coalition at mid-term remains steadfast and united but in
:04:19. > :04:26.the longer term it will be up to the voters to assess whether the
:04:26. > :04:28.coalition has actually delivered on its promises.
:04:28. > :04:33.Let's speak to our political correspondent Norman Smith at
:04:33. > :04:37.Westminster. This is the first Government to have something
:04:37. > :04:45.officially called a mid-term review, what do they want out of it?
:04:45. > :04:49.sense is this is meant to be the sort of political equivalent of
:04:49. > :04:52.Popeye's spinach, it's meant to give them get up and go, a bit of
:04:53. > :04:56.drive, by sketching out bold initiatives to show the Government
:04:56. > :05:00.hasn't run out of steam. It's the traditional problem of all
:05:00. > :05:03.governments that they sink into mid-term blues and sort of drift
:05:03. > :05:06.listlessly towards the next general election. The other part of this
:05:06. > :05:11.review to be a long list of the things that the Government has
:05:11. > :05:13.achieved, to say look, all these things we have managed to do in two
:05:13. > :05:17.and a half years. The difficulty with that side, let's be honest, is
:05:17. > :05:21.because it's a sort of self- appraisal form and when we get our
:05:21. > :05:25.own annual appraisal forms we all jot down the sorts of things we
:05:25. > :05:29.have done and think we have done well. We are always generous to
:05:30. > :05:35.ourselves. We have to be cautious about how much we read into the
:05:35. > :05:41.list of achievements. OK, but what will voters be expecting to see?
:05:41. > :05:45.sense is what voters really want is delivery, delivery, it's all fine
:05:46. > :05:49.coming up with reviews and reports, and future plans and
:05:49. > :05:53.recommendations. The real business of Government is making things
:05:53. > :05:57.happen on the ground, changing things for the better in people's
:05:57. > :06:02.lives. There, there was a warning for Mr Cameron today from the head
:06:02. > :06:07.of the National Association of Voluntary Os who said Mr --
:06:07. > :06:11.organisations who said Mr Cameron's idea of the big society was dead
:06:11. > :06:15.because the pace of reform was slow and that's the real challenge
:06:15. > :06:22.facing Mr Cameron, how can he make reform happen on the ground?
:06:22. > :06:28.All this comes on the day that the leader of the Lords has announced
:06:28. > :06:33.his resignation. Do you know why he is going? Else's - he's been in
:06:33. > :06:36.frontline politics for 25 years now. He's been involved in the brutal
:06:36. > :06:40.business of House of Lords reform which has involved marching troops
:06:40. > :06:43.up to the top of the hill and down again. I think, frankly, he is just
:06:43. > :06:46.tired. He himself says he wants a new chapter and wants to do
:06:46. > :06:49.something different. It will be a big loss to the Government because
:06:50. > :06:56.he is the sort of man who knows his way around the House of Lords, who
:06:56. > :07:01.can cut the deals needed there. Thank you. You can see the press
:07:01. > :07:09.conference with David Cameron and Nick Clegg on the BBC News channel
:07:09. > :07:12.at 2.Topm -- 2.30pm this afternoon. One of the coalition Government's
:07:12. > :07:15.policies which has come under criticism has been its decision to
:07:15. > :07:18.take child benefit from more than a million families from today.
:07:18. > :07:22.Ministers say the change affects only the top 15% of earners. Our
:07:22. > :07:25.correspondent Simon Gompertz has the details.
:07:26. > :07:29.These babies at a group for stimulates the senses were born
:07:29. > :07:35.into a world where all could collect child benefit. What's
:07:36. > :07:39.getting their parents going is that they'll now be means tested for it.
:07:39. > :07:44.In Dorking, several are waving bye to the money. It's going to
:07:44. > :07:49.obviously mean we are going to have less disposable income. We do use
:07:49. > :07:55.it all for him. It's just going to mean we are going to be slightly
:07:55. > :07:59.more broke. It's a loss, but many, including baby Georgia's parents,
:07:59. > :08:04.accept that they're an obvious target. If it's still given to
:08:04. > :08:08.people that really need it, with lower salaries, then that's not too
:08:08. > :08:15.bad. What do you think?! Education, health, everyone is having to take
:08:15. > :08:18.a cut somewhere. I think if some people can afford more than others,
:08:18. > :08:25.then sad as it is for those of us affected, it might be necessary.
:08:25. > :08:29.Child benefit is �20.30 a week for the first child and �13.40 for the
:08:29. > :08:34.others. 320,000 families are losing some of it because one partner
:08:34. > :08:38.earns �50,000 or more. 820,000 with a partner on over �60,000 won't
:08:38. > :08:43.qualify for any benefit. It is a complex change because the child
:08:43. > :08:47.benefit is withdrawn gradually between incomes of �50,000 and
:08:47. > :08:52.�60,000 a year. If you are on more than 60 a year you lose it all.
:08:52. > :08:56.Until now these children received a universal benefit, with everyone
:08:56. > :09:01.getting it to make sure that no one missed out. But now they're going
:09:01. > :09:05.to be divided with the wealthiest children getting nothing. Thousands
:09:05. > :09:09.of parents, like this one, have simply opted out of child benefit.
:09:09. > :09:16.She's got the confirmation to avoid having to fill in a tax return and
:09:16. > :09:20.then pay the money back. Only 15% of claimants are the
:09:20. > :09:29.higher earnings having their child benefit eaten into. So most will
:09:29. > :09:32.carry on receiving their money as before.
:09:32. > :09:34.The broadcaster Stuart Hall has appeared in court charged with
:09:34. > :09:37.three counts of indecent assault, involving three girls, aged between
:09:37. > :09:43.nine and 17. The offences are alleged to have been committed in
:09:43. > :09:46.the '70s and '80s. Mr Hall denies all charges. Our correspondent
:09:46. > :09:51.Judith Moritz is at Preston Magistrates' Court.
:09:52. > :09:55.What happened in in in -- in court today? Well, this was the first
:09:55. > :09:59.appearance at court for Stuart Hall since the charges were brought
:09:59. > :10:04.against him in December. We have some pictures of him arriving this
:10:04. > :10:08.morning. There is flash photography in them. He came here for the
:10:08. > :10:12.hearing which was only a short hearing, less than quarter of an
:10:12. > :10:16.hour. He was charged under his full name of James Stuart Hall and the
:10:16. > :10:19.broadcaster, who is 83, sat in the courtroom and listened intently
:10:19. > :10:24.throughout the proceedings. He confirmed his full name and his
:10:24. > :10:28.address and then he pleaded not guilty to the three charges of
:10:28. > :10:33.indecent assault which have been brought against him. The detail of
:10:33. > :10:39.the charges is that in 1974 it's said that he touched
:10:39. > :10:44.inappropriately a girl who was then 16 or 17, that happened in
:10:44. > :10:50.Blackpool. In 1983, in Cheshire, that he touched a nine-year-old
:10:50. > :10:58.girl, and at the following year, 1984, also in Cheshire, that he
:10:58. > :11:00.kissed a girl who was then 13. He pleaded not guilty. But the
:11:00. > :11:05.district judge here said he agreed with the prosecution's assessment
:11:05. > :11:08.this case cannot be dealt with by magistrates, it must go to trial,
:11:08. > :11:12.he said it must go to Crown Court. Stuart Hall was released on bail
:11:12. > :11:20.from here and told to appear next at Preston Crown Court and that
:11:20. > :11:22.will be on April 16th. Thank you.
:11:23. > :11:25.The Chief Constable of Northern Ireland has accused members of the
:11:25. > :11:27.loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force of being
:11:27. > :11:30.involved in the recent violent demonstrations in Belfast. Mark
:11:30. > :11:33.Baggott said 52 of his officers had been injured in the protests which
:11:33. > :11:40.erupted after the City Council voted to restrict the flying of the
:11:40. > :11:46.Union flag. Our Ireland Correspondent Mark Simpson reports.
:11:46. > :11:49.A new year in Northern Ireland, but the same old story. Police on the
:11:49. > :11:53.streets of East Belfast trying to keep the peace. For five weeks
:11:53. > :11:57.loyalists have been protesting at the decision by Belfast City
:11:57. > :12:02.Council to stop flying the Union flag every day. In this part of the
:12:02. > :12:11.city there's been violence four nights in a row. I have seen over
:12:11. > :12:16.the weekend youngsters, ten, 11, 14, 15-year-olds, in large numbers
:12:16. > :12:20.without parental control, without any direction, and I am deeply
:12:20. > :12:24.saddened by that. I think we all are. Police say some senior members
:12:24. > :12:28.of the UVF in East Belfast have been orchestrating the trouble. The
:12:28. > :12:31.MP for the area says violence will not bring back the Union flag.
:12:31. > :12:34.is not some kind of people's revolution. People have the right
:12:34. > :12:37.to go to the ballot box if they don't like what they get when they
:12:37. > :12:41.elect leaders and they have the right to change that. But this is
:12:41. > :12:45.not the way to bring about change in a democracy. Belfast City
:12:45. > :12:49.Council meets tonight for the first time since the flag decision was
:12:49. > :12:53.made. There's little prospect of the flag policy here changing. But
:12:54. > :12:59.there's no sign of the protests ending. Politicians are trying to
:12:59. > :13:07.find a solution, and police hope they find it quickly.
:13:07. > :13:11.Further protests are planned in the city this evening.
:13:11. > :13:14.The body has been recovered of a British man, who died after falling
:13:14. > :13:16.from a waterfall near Sydney. The 20-year-old was with a group of
:13:16. > :13:22.other tourists when he apparently lost his footing and fell around
:13:22. > :13:25.300 feet at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains.
:13:25. > :13:30.Morrisons says its sales over Christmas were disappointing in the
:13:30. > :13:38.six weeks to the 30th December, like-for-like sales were 2.5% lower
:13:38. > :13:41.than the same period in the previous year.
:13:41. > :13:44.There've been chaotic scenes inside a court in Delhi where five men
:13:44. > :13:48.have appeared charged with the gang rape and murder of a medical
:13:48. > :13:52.student on a bus in the city last month. The case has caused outrage
:13:52. > :13:55.across India. Two of the defendants have agreed to testify against the
:13:55. > :13:58.other suspects in an attempt to avoid the death penalty. Our
:13:58. > :14:06.correspondent Mike Wooldridge reports.
:14:06. > :14:10.On their way to court from the Dellly jail where -- Delhi jail
:14:10. > :14:14.where they're being held. Five accused over the death of the
:14:14. > :14:18.student. This was a preliminary hearing taking place in the highly
:14:18. > :14:22.charged atmosphere the case has provoked in India. Security had
:14:22. > :14:26.been stepped up for the men's appearance in court and outside
:14:26. > :14:31.demonstraters had gathered once again.
:14:31. > :14:35.Inside the building there was such a scrum with dozens of lawyers and
:14:35. > :14:41.journalists and onlookers that the magistrate ordered the hearing take
:14:41. > :14:47.place behind closed doors. The protesters outside say say they
:14:47. > :14:51.will not allow any lawyer to defend the accused. This lawyer, though,
:14:51. > :14:54.says they do have the right to be defended, hang them by all means,
:14:54. > :14:58.he says, if they're proved guilty, but they should at least be given a
:14:58. > :15:03.fair chance. The student was attacked on this
:15:03. > :15:08.bus on December 16th. She died later from massive internal
:15:08. > :15:11.injuries she suffered during her ordeal.
:15:11. > :15:16.The eruption of public anger over the case and over the treatment of
:15:16. > :15:20.women led to clashes during this protest in the heart of Delhi.
:15:20. > :15:30.Today's events at the court show that the sense of outrage and the
:15:30. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:35.profile of the case have hardly Over now to Andrew North in Delhi.
:15:35. > :15:41.Huge outcry and we have been hearing about another suspected
:15:41. > :15:46.rape and murder. What can you tell us about that? That's right. As
:15:46. > :15:50.Mike was saying there in his report, questions about the judicial
:15:50. > :15:55.process there is getting under way in the first test of what the
:15:56. > :16:01.Government is promising will be a new fast-track process to deal with
:16:01. > :16:05.this and others. However, over the weekend I've been talking to the
:16:05. > :16:09.father of the victim of the latest suspected gang rape to have
:16:09. > :16:15.happened in Delhi, and this man told me that when he initially
:16:15. > :16:19.tried to report his daughter had gone missing, the police showed no
:16:19. > :16:22.interest. They simply said they thought she had probably gone off
:16:22. > :16:27.with someone. If this is happening in Delhi it shows you that there's
:16:27. > :16:35.still a long way to go before the authorities really change their
:16:35. > :16:39.attitude towards this crime. Thank you.
:16:39. > :16:44.Our top story - David Cameron and Nick Clegg are preparing to set out
:16:44. > :16:52.the priorities for the second half of the coalition's term. They'll
:16:52. > :16:57.insist their steadfast and united and coming up - a big boost for UK
:16:57. > :17:01.car industry as sales hit a four year high. Could the capital's road
:17:01. > :17:06.become safer? We look at new plans for London's superhighways. For the
:17:06. > :17:14.first time in more than 25 years, two British women enter the top 50
:17:14. > :17:16.world tennis ranking, including Wimbledon's Laura Robson. A senior
:17:16. > :17:20.police officer has gone on trial, accused of offering information to
:17:20. > :17:22.the News of the World in return for money more than two years ago.
:17:22. > :17:24.Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, who's 53, denies one
:17:24. > :17:33.charge of misconduct in public office. Our Home Affairs
:17:33. > :17:38.Correspondent, June Kelly, reports. She is the first person to go on
:17:38. > :17:41.trial in the fallout from the phone hacking affair. Detective Chief
:17:41. > :17:45.Inspector April Casburn stands accused of offering to supply
:17:45. > :17:48.information to the News of the World for money. She is pleading
:17:48. > :17:53.not guilty. Today, the senior Scotland Yard officer went into the
:17:53. > :17:57.dock as the prosecution outlined the case against her. The jury
:17:57. > :18:01.heard that in September 2010 the focus was back on alleged phone
:18:01. > :18:05.hacking at the News of the World. This followed the publication of an
:18:05. > :18:08.article in the New York Times claiming it was more widespread
:18:08. > :18:11.than had previously been acknowledged. Detective Chief
:18:11. > :18:14.Inspector April Casburn phoned the News of the World news desk and is
:18:14. > :18:24.said to have offered the paper information for money about the
:18:24. > :18:31.
:18:31. > :18:39.resumed police investigation. The The police investigation was being
:18:39. > :18:41.overseen by John Yates, who also had responsibility for counter-
:18:41. > :18:44.terrorism. Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn was in
:18:44. > :18:47.charge of a team investigating the financial side of terrorism. Her
:18:47. > :18:51.call to the newspaper followed a decision to move resources from her
:18:51. > :18:55.team to phone hacking. Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn
:18:55. > :18:59.admits calling the paper, but denies she asked for money. When
:18:59. > :19:03.she called the newspaper she left her number with the news desk and
:19:03. > :19:13.it was through this she was traced and arrested. She denies the
:19:13. > :19:16.
:19:17. > :19:18.offence of misconduct in public office. It's the latest phase of
:19:19. > :19:21.the Government-backed change4life campaign. They hope the light-
:19:21. > :19:31.hearted animated advert will help raise awareness of obesity and diet
:19:31. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:36.related illness. Critics say it doesn't go far enough. Behind the
:19:37. > :19:40.scenes at a world-famous animation studios. These tiny figures aren't
:19:40. > :19:50.the star of the new movie. This is all about making us think about
:19:50. > :19:50.
:19:50. > :19:54.what we eat. A big nudge is the new year, so check the ingredients of
:19:54. > :19:58.our meals. This is the amount of fat in that whole pizza. Many
:19:58. > :20:04.people don't know what's in processed foods. It's telling the
:20:04. > :20:09.viewers about the hidden nasties about everyday junk food pizzas and
:20:10. > :20:16.fizzy drinks and fries and chips. Kind of just showing them that
:20:16. > :20:19.there's just that amount of fat and oil and sugar that actually in
:20:19. > :20:23.these things. The Department of Health says it's struck a voluntary
:20:23. > :20:27.deal with supermarkets, with special offers on some products to
:20:27. > :20:32.help families eat better. But food campaigners say the Government is
:20:32. > :20:37.too close to industry, that while sales of fresh fruit and vegetables
:20:37. > :20:39.have fallen, less healthy foods are escaping regulation. One of the
:20:39. > :20:44.things that the Department of Health says it's doing is showing
:20:44. > :20:48.up the hidden nasties. Well, frankly, why are they hidden and if
:20:48. > :20:53.they're nasty what are they doing in the food? Many sign up for
:20:53. > :21:00.healthier living in the new year. The real test will be the official
:21:00. > :21:03.statistics measuring the weight of the nation. A mother who beat her
:21:04. > :21:10.seven-year-old son when he failed to memorise passages from the Koran
:21:10. > :21:14.has been given a life sentence for his murder. Sara Ege killed Yaseen
:21:14. > :21:20.Ali Ege in July 2010 and then set fire to his body. Our reporter is
:21:20. > :21:24.at Cardiff Crown Court for us now. Sara Ege collapsed to the ground as
:21:24. > :21:28.she was being led away from the dock to begin her life prison
:21:28. > :21:32.sentence. The judge had told her that she had abused the special
:21:33. > :21:38.precious relationship between a parent and the son, having
:21:38. > :21:42.subjected her son to cruelty for several months. The judge said he
:21:42. > :21:47.was satisfied that it was his failure to memorise passages of the
:21:47. > :21:51.Koran that led to the fatal beating. The seven-year-old boy, deafless
:21:51. > :21:57.against his mother's rage. Yaseen Ali Ege's body was discovered by
:21:57. > :22:01.fire crews called to the family's home in Cardiff in July 2010. The
:22:01. > :22:07.local community mourned what seemed to be a tragic, accidental death.
:22:07. > :22:13.But the postmortem revealed he had been beaten before his body was set
:22:13. > :22:17.alight. Sara Ege's trial lasted five weeks. The jury heard she had
:22:17. > :22:21.admitted beating her son with a stick like a dog. She claimed to be
:22:21. > :22:27.driven by voices in her head. The attacks became worse when he failed
:22:27. > :22:32.to memorise large sections of the Koran, learning chapters of the
:22:32. > :22:37.text at a Madras sa like this one is part of norm A instruction for
:22:37. > :22:41.thousands of children, but Sara Ege had pushed her son to an extreme
:22:41. > :22:46.level. It is tragic that the pressure that the mother has put on
:22:46. > :22:50.the son, which has taken his life to be honest, you know, is really
:22:50. > :22:58.sad. It's not a reflection on the community or the children and
:22:58. > :23:05.parents and all the other mothers. Yousuf Ege was cleared by the jury
:23:05. > :23:09.of allowing his son's death. They decided unanimously that Sara Ege
:23:09. > :23:12.was solely responsible for his murder. As he passed the sentence,
:23:12. > :23:16.the judge said he accepted that Sara Ege had been a devoted mother
:23:16. > :23:20.who had done many good things to raise her son and also been the
:23:20. > :23:26.victim of domestic abuse, but he reiterated this had been a dreadful
:23:26. > :23:28.crime and she would have to serve a minimum of 17 years in jail. Thank
:23:28. > :23:32.you. More than two million new cars were
:23:32. > :23:34.bought in Britain last year - an increase of 5.3% and the highest
:23:34. > :23:37.number since 2008. Ford's Fiesta and Focus and Vauxhall's Corsa and
:23:37. > :23:47.Astra were the four best-selling models. More details from our
:23:47. > :23:48.
:23:48. > :23:52.industry correspondent, John Moylan. 2012 was a good jeer for Jaguar
:23:52. > :23:58.Land Rover. Sales jumpped 25%, boosted by the success of the new
:23:58. > :24:03.mode el, but across the industry the picture was more subdued. In
:24:03. > :24:08.past 20 years, new car sales topped two million. That's up 5.3% on last
:24:08. > :24:12.year, but it's a world away from the 2.5 million sales which the
:24:12. > :24:17.industry enjoyed in the last decade. Why are sales up when the economy
:24:17. > :24:21.has been flat? The industry says those who used to change their car
:24:21. > :24:25.regularly before the downturn are now coming back into showrooms.
:24:25. > :24:29.They are running five, six, seven- year-old cars and seeing the
:24:29. > :24:37.maintenance cost of the vehicles begin to increase and very clearly
:24:37. > :24:41.the fuel economy of a new car is up to 15% to 25% better, so from a
:24:41. > :24:45.day-to-day running cost view, a new car starts to look like sound,
:24:45. > :24:51.economic and financial sense. this is what we're buying - the
:24:51. > :24:56.Ford fest that was the best-selling car in 2012. Ford has had the top
:24:56. > :25:02.spot for the past four decades. The Vauxhall Corsa was in second and
:25:02. > :25:10.then the Ford Focus in third. They say what drives sales here is new
:25:10. > :25:13.products like this B mf Max with no -- B-Max, with no central pillar
:25:13. > :25:18.and the fuel hch efficient vehicles, but having the right finance
:25:18. > :25:23.available is also crucial. But if sales are up, is it at the cost of
:25:23. > :25:26.profits? The last few months has shown an upturn in UK sales, which
:25:26. > :25:31.is encouraging. The question is how that's achieved? There has been a
:25:31. > :25:33.lot of discounting, especially from the manufacturers with European
:25:33. > :25:38.plants who have no hope of selling their cars in southern Europe, so
:25:38. > :25:43.they're shifting them over and discounting heavily. 2012 was a
:25:43. > :25:46.better year, but it follows 2011, what was the worst since the mid-
:25:46. > :25:52.90s. If the car sales of a barometer for the wider economy,
:25:52. > :25:55.the figures suggest there could be tough times ahead. Now, it's not a
:25:55. > :25:58.sight you often see on a cricket pitch, but Australian cricketer
:25:58. > :26:00.Shane Warne and the West Indian Marlon Samuels almost came to blows
:26:00. > :26:03.during a Twenty20 competition. During the incident the pair were
:26:03. > :26:12.seen hurling bats and balls at each other and tugging on shirts. Our
:26:12. > :26:17.sports correspondent, Alex South, has more. Cricket is supposed to be
:26:17. > :26:22.a civilised game. No temper tan rums allowed, but that was ignored
:26:22. > :26:26.as the big tournaments in Melbourne took itself a little too literally.
:26:26. > :26:34.One of Australia's most celebrated cricketers, Shane Warne, in a
:26:34. > :26:39.moment he would like to forget. conscious of the image of the game.
:26:39. > :26:41.I'm disappointed in some of my actions last night, but also I'm
:26:41. > :26:47.pretty disappointed with the severity of the penalties. I
:26:47. > :26:52.thought it was harsh. Coming to his defence was his famous girlfriend,
:26:52. > :26:59.the actress and model Elizabeth Hurley. She hit out saying he had
:27:00. > :27:03.been harshly treated. That's debatable, as their actions have
:27:03. > :27:09.damaged the sport which prides itself on an image as a gentleman's
:27:09. > :27:12.game. Australian police are continuing to search burned-out
:27:12. > :27:15.vehicles and homes in towns hit by bushfires, which have swept across
:27:15. > :27:17.the island state of Tasmania. There are still about 100 people who
:27:17. > :27:27.haven't been accounted for. Our correspondent, Nick Bryant, sent
:27:27. > :27:28.
:27:28. > :27:31.this report. The fires are still burning in Tasmania, though the
:27:31. > :27:36.winds and record-breaking temperatures have dropped. The fire
:27:36. > :27:42.fronts are no longer posing such an extreme threat to communities.
:27:42. > :27:48.Still, they are causing chaos, with roads closed and the peninsula
:27:48. > :27:51.still only reachable by boat and air. In the worst-affected
:27:51. > :27:54.community, Dunalley, where over 60 homes and businesses were destroyed,
:27:54. > :27:59.police have been going from one property to the next. Investigating
:28:00. > :28:03.whether anyone lost their lives. Across Tasmania, 100 people are
:28:03. > :28:09.still unaccounted for, but that's thought to be mainly because of the
:28:09. > :28:15.confused situation. So far, after going through over 250 properties,
:28:15. > :28:19.no fatalities have been confirmed. Today, the Prime Minister, Julia
:28:19. > :28:24.Gillard, surveyed the worst fire damage seen in Australia since the
:28:24. > :28:30.Black Saturday disaster in 2009. Even the local school burnt to the
:28:30. > :28:33.ground. For a number of people they know their home has been destroyed,
:28:33. > :28:37.but as yet, forivity reasons, they haven't been able to return to
:28:37. > :28:41.their home to see the damage themselves, so a really stressing
:28:41. > :28:47.position to be in. Knowing that you have lost so much, but not being
:28:47. > :28:51.able to see it for yourself. With much of Australia in the grip of a
:28:51. > :28:56.heatwave, with temperatures in the 40s, attention over the next few
:28:56. > :28:59.days is expected to shift to the mainland. The New South Wales
:28:59. > :29:06.authorities are warning of perhaps the worst fire day they've ever
:29:06. > :29:10.faced. Now the weather. Alex joins faced. Now the weather. Alex joins
:29:10. > :29:14.us. Some gradual changes with the weather this week. It is slowly
:29:14. > :29:19.going to turn a little colder, but for today it's more of the same.
:29:19. > :29:23.Mild out there and it is grey. There are some big contrasts with
:29:23. > :29:29.the rainfall. This is the radar. It shows it's quite soggy across
:29:29. > :29:33.Northern Ireland and a good part of Scotland. For England and Wales
:29:33. > :29:37.it's dry. There may be some brightness and sunny spells in
:29:37. > :29:42.Devon and east Wales and parts of north-east England. The far north-
:29:42. > :29:45.east of Scotland seize some sunshine. -- sees some sunshine.
:29:45. > :29:50.But for the rest of the country it's dull and soggy for the rest of
:29:50. > :29:53.the day. Similar story for Northern Ireland too. It's damp, but mild.
:29:53. > :29:57.Some of the rain across northern England and North Wales, but for
:29:57. > :30:00.most of England and Wales it's fine. A hint of brightness here and there.
:30:00. > :30:03.Gloomy across East Anglia and the south-east. A little drizzle
:30:03. > :30:10.possible here and there. Some sunny spells continuing across parts of
:30:10. > :30:14.Devon and Cornwall. It's going to stay mild overnight, because it
:30:14. > :30:17.stays cloudy. The rain may ease, but another pulse of rain pushes
:30:17. > :30:24.into Northern Ireland and southern and western Scotland. That rain
:30:24. > :30:29.trickles into Wales too. But for many areas a dry night. It is still
:30:29. > :30:31.mild. 8 to 10 degrees. It's mild and grey on Tuesday morning, but
:30:31. > :30:35.changes tomorrow. We'll see sunshine developing in Northern
:30:35. > :30:39.Ireland and after a wet start, it will brighten up in Scotland. This
:30:39. > :30:44.area of rain will push across England and Wales, but the south-
:30:44. > :30:48.east and East Anglia will stay dry until late on. It is mild again.
:30:48. > :30:51.Actually, despite sun, temperatures are dropping across Scotland and
:30:51. > :30:55.Northern Ireland. That's because this line of rain is from a cold
:30:55. > :30:59.front. That cold front will continue to push the rain across
:30:59. > :31:03.England and Wales during Tuesday night. Behind it, as the name
:31:03. > :31:08.suggest, we have some colder air, so we'll see a big contrast in
:31:08. > :31:13.temperatures compared with tonight. 9 or 10, but tomorrow night in the
:31:13. > :31:16.north much closer to freezing. Maybe closer to what you might
:31:16. > :31:19.imagine in January. A cold day, except maybe in the south-east.
:31:19. > :31:25.Here, we'll have the residue of the weather front, so grey. Elsewhere,
:31:25. > :31:28.a big change. Much colder, but brighter. We'll finally get some
:31:28. > :31:36.sun returning. Colder and brighter is the theme for the week, with the