22/01/2013 BBC News at One

More than 5,000 British soldiers are to lose their jobs this summer.

The redundancies are part of the latest round of cuts to the armed

forces and there are more to come. Shock in Indonesia as a judge

sentences a 56-year-old British woman to death for smuggling

cocaine into Bali. Hundreds of schools remain closed as more heavy

snow brings yet more disruption around much of the UK. Israelis go

to the polls with Benjamin Netanyahu favourite to remain as

prime minister. And life on the frontline. A look behind the scenes

with Prince Harry. Everybody has a good old look at me, and that is

one thing I dislike about being here because there are plenty of

guys who have never met me and to look at me as Prince Harry, rather

than captain Wales. And coming up in the sport, defending Champion

Novak Djokovic is through to the semi finals of the Australian Open,

beating Thomas Berdych by two sets Good afternoon and welcome to the

BBC News at One. 5,300 soldiers will lose their jobs this summer in

the latest round of Army redundancies. And the Ministry of

Defence has warned that there are more job losses to come. The cuts

had already been announced but they are higher than expected. Army

numbers are being cut from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2020 in a bid to help

plug a multi-billion pound hole in the defence budget. Here's our

defence correspondent, Jonathan Beale.

This was part of the British Army on exercise on Salisbury Plain a

few years ago. Today, it has fewer tanks and fewer soldiers. Within a

few years' time, it will be even smaller. With confirmation another

5,000 troops are to be made redundant in this shrinking force.

In 1960, as national service came to an end, the army was 315,000

strong. By 1982, the time of the Falklands war, it had 160,000

troops. Last year, it was 102,000 and by 2017, it will those

currently surveying, or about to serve in Afghanistan will be exempt

from this largest round of redundancies. But the security

threat is not just confined to Helmand province, but there are

growing concerns about Islamic radicals in the rest of the world,

most recently in the north of Africa. The restructuring of the

army under the Army proposition, it gives you a force designed to deal

with these threats and this is a case, big is not always better. It

is taking what you have and resource it probably and training

for threats. It is the hostage crisis in Algeria and the West's

intervention in Mali which has prompted Labour to question the

logic behind these latest cuts. For now, the government says it will

limit Britain's military involvement in Mali to logistics

support, intelligence and training but the question, what will happen

if that is not enough? The problem is, once you have deployed those

clever things, and they don't quite work, the temptation then is to

start think again about putting books on the ground and that is

when smaller forces are always at a disadvantage. The ministers say

this has been a painful process for the armed forces and it is not over

yet. With the army set to go through a 4th round of redundancies,

possibly later this year, with another 4,000 soldiers said to lose

their jobs. Our political correspondent Norman

Smith has more from Westminster. Rather awkward timing, this. Only

yesterday the prime minister was warning of the generational

struggle with al-Qaeda linked groups in North Africa. Is the

government under pressure to rethink these cuts? They are, but,

Sophie, cuts to the army or always profoundly politically difficult

because of understandable public sympathy for soldiers and some of

these soldiers are going to be sacked, made compulsory redundant.

As you say, these cuts are particularly difficult because of

the juxtaposition between the Prime Minister yesterday warning over

this generational struggle against terrorists, who apparently regard

mass murder as not only acceptable, but desirable, and the decision

today to press ahead with a large tranche of army cuts we have seen

in recent history, a decision made even harder by questions about the

Government's broader defence strategy and whether they give

enough account of the emerging threat of this new terrorist threat

with Labour saying that the Strategic Defence Review, which

underpins these cuts, makes no mention of Mali or Algeria and a

factor in the threat from terrorists in North Africa. My

senses the government are very unlikely to back off over these

redundancies. Why? Because they say the only support they could provide

in North Africa is a logistical, involving transport, training, but

it will not involve soldiers on the ground, and be affected by reducing

the size of the army. But there is a bigger factor and that is money.

The MoD has a black hole in its budget of around �37 billion, and

given the huge difficulties the Government is having cutting back

the deficit and debt, it is extremely unlikely they will ease

back on the pace of redundancies in the army. The Norman, thank you

very much. A British woman has been sentenced to death for smuggling

drugs into Indonesia. 56-year-old Lindsay Sandiford was arrested last

May for trying to traffic nearly five kilos of cocaine into Bali in

a suitcase. Her lawyers say they are surprised at the sentence, and

will appeal. Karishma Vaswani's report from Bali contains flash

photography. Lindsay Sandiford was expecting a

guilty verdict today but nothing like this. There was an audible

gasp in the room as the judges The judges handed down the death

penalty despite the prosecutor's recommendation that she should get

15 years in prison. They added she had damaged reputation of Bali and

weaken the Government's anti-drug programme. Any comment? Are you

shocked they gave you the death penalty? Visibly shocked and hiding

her face behind a Brown at scarf, she refused to speak to us as she

left the court room. Her lawyer says she will appeal and the

verdict is too harsh. TRANSLATION: I think the judges did

not consider her remorse for her actions. In her previous statement,

she has already said she regretted what she did and has apologised to

the people of Indonesia. Many holidaymakers were surprised by the

news but not all were sympathetic. This verdict has shocked people

fear in Bali and around the world but it appears that the judges were

trying to send out a message. Get caught bringing drugs here and you

will face serious consequences. Officials here don't want anything

to ruin the image of their peaceful holiday island.

There's more travel disruption today across the UK, because of the

snow and icy conditions. And hundreds of schools remain closed.

More than 500 schools are shut in Wales alone. Our correspondent

Hywel Griffith has more from Caerphilly. Sofi, yes, don't be

fooled by the picturesque scenery. This fresh blanket of snow which

fell overnight has caused a fresh round of problems across South

Wales. As you say, hundreds of schools closed, many people still

recovering from last week's battering and now the Met Office at

issued a fresh am a warning which comes into effect this afternoon.

Besieged by snow. This medieval castle has weathered plenty of

storms over the years but today's fresh snowfall has brought another

day of disruption and difficulty to South Wales. Several mountain roads

have been closed, others are gritted and possible but many

businesses are already feeling the chilling effect of these weather

conditions with no customers venturing to their doors. Yes,

let's hope it does not go on for much longer because it's costing

people money, wages, it is costing everybody, really, it's not good

for anyone. Councils are also feeling the strain, rubbish

collections are abandoned so staff could work on clearing the snow.

These conditions can be pretty bewildering for parents. For

example, this school is open today and the children are in their

classrooms but just 200 yards away, on the other side of the playground,

the neighbouring school has closed. Nearly 500 schools across Wales

have been closed. For this teacher, that means a day looking after her

own children. She understands some parents are becoming frustrated.

It's easy to have a go at teachers because we have quite a lot of

holidays and things like that but I know the head teacher would not

close the school and as a was absolutely necessary and would

consider the safety of the children. Another 10 centimetres of snow

could fall on higher ground here this evening and many are already

stocking up, preparing themselves for yet another day in the cold.

Well, that warning, net of this means that people should consult

and check the forecast before they venture out for the rush hour in

South Wales this afternoon will be anything but, with fresh snow

falling and a risk of ice, as well, on the roads. Thank you very much.

Drifting snow has caused problems on roads in Aberdeenshire and Moray.

Grampian Police have advised motorists not to travel unless it's

absolutely necessary. There have been some partial road closures on

minor roads due to large vehicles losing traction. Forecasters say

the east of Scotland is expected to get at least 15 centimetres of snow

before 6.00pm tonight. Four times as many schools are shut in

Scotland, than yesterday. More than 150 are closed today compared with

37 yesterday. In northern Ireland, almost 90 schools have closed. The

bad weather has caused problems in the south west of England where

there have been a number of accidents caused by ice and hail

storms. In Birmingham, icy conditions forced the rush-hour

closure of the Aston Expressway, which links the city centre with

the M6. Heathrow Airport says there will be more delays and

cancellations today. Other airports have warned passengers to check

their flights before leaving home. Our correspondent Sian Lloyd is at

Heathrow. What is the situation today? 48 flights cancelled so far

today. That's compared to hundreds that were cancelled yesterday and

over the weekend. The airport tell us that today the problem is

nothing to do with Heathrow, but the conditions are good,

particularly the visibility, but it is the bad weather in Europe,

Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels at the airports, and they are

experiencing bad weather and they are popular destinations for

flights from Heathrow. However, the weather will change later on in the

day and they will monitor that closely. No one wants to see a

return to those scenes at the weekend when hundreds of people

were sleeping on the floor here at Terminal 5. People on planes not

going anywhere and were later cancelled. Elsewhere, they had been

problems at Gatwick and Birmingham airport, too. And on the railways,

for rail passengers, South Eastern trains have seen some problems, the

Gatwick Express, and also Eurostar. And, of course, the Rose,

disruption for passengers as we have been hearing -- the roads. The

AA say this could be one of the busiest days of beer for them

because they are receiving reports of breakdowns of 2000 per hour.

Let's come back to Heathrow and in case you're wondering about what

happened to one unfortunate passenger who we featured yesterday,

I can bring you right up to date on that. Ian Acheson had been trying

to get to a meeting in Las Vegas since last Friday. During that time

he stayed a night in a hotel, and spent one night at home. Altogether

he spent 13 hours on a plane, without taking off. And he didn't

see his luggage in all that time. Well, we have some good news. Ian's

flight finally left yesterday afternoon. And, as you can see,

he's arrived in Las Vegas with his bags. Thank you very much. Well,

just a reminder that the BBC News Channel will have all the latest

information on the weather and travel throughout the day. There

are also more details on our website. The BBC Weather website

will have comprehensive forecasts for where you live. And don't

forget to tune in to your BBC Local Radio Station for the latest news,

weather and travel in your area. A former police officer and a senior

journalist from the Sun newspaper are facing criminal charges over

alleged corrupt payments for information. Former Metropolitan

Police Constable Paul Flattley and the Sun's defence editor Virginia

Wheeler will be charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in

public office. The charges are being brought as a result of

Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden. The government borrowed slightly

more than expected last month, fuelling fears that the UK could

lose its coveted triple A credit rating. Figures from the Office for

National Statistics show that UK public sector net borrowing hit

�15.4 billion in December. That's �600 million more than a year ago.

Our business correspondent Adam Parsons is here. What is behind

these latest figures? A lot of technical language goes around but,

basically, every month the government spends a certain amount

and looks at how much has come in and it doesn't have enough, it has

to borrow more and what has happened this past month, it has

spent more than it had, so had to borrow over �15 billion. Quite

simply, the economy is contracting, there's not much money coming in in

terms of income tax, corporation tax, and VAT, so they have to

borrow more and more and of course, you get into this vicious circle.

As the economy contracts, fewer tax receipts coming, so with those same

austerity will have to be even tighter, spending cuts should come

in, the Chancellor has said he wants to balance the books. The

fear now is that if the economy really is beginning to weaken, and

the triple-A rating, the best credit rating you can get, could

slip away, and that is one of the things the Chancellor George

Osborne has always nailed his colours to. He says he wants to

defend that credit rating and at the moment it under more pressure

than it's been for many years. Our top story: more than 5,000

British soldiers are to lose their jobs this summer. The redundancies

are parts of the latest round of cuts to the armed force and there

are more to come. I'm at the Royal Academy in London, taking a look at

the first exhibition in this country for over 50 years of the

pioneering French artist, Edouard Manet.

Later in the hour I'll have all the The people of Israel are voting in

a general election today. The Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's

alliance is expected to win with a reduced majority. The polls

indicate that Israel's coalition has been losing ground a riffal

party further to the right. -- rival. Israel's Prime Minister,

Binyamin Netanyahu was chirpy this morning, as he arrived to vote.

By the end of the day, he'll likely have even more reason to be

cheerful. The leader of the right-wing Likud

Party is expected to come out on top and keep his job.

But at Jerusalem's main market, the lack of suspense means there's

little election fever. Most take it as a given that

Binyamin Netanyahu will get four more years in office. Bibi, if you

ask me, no Bibi, no nothing. Security, never far from the minds

of Israelis, is what many here see as Netanyahu's strength. But if he

is to win, he won't win alone. At the polling stations today,

voters have a choice of more than 30 different parties. They're

competing for just 120 parliamentary seats. Now Israel has

proportional representation. And you don't have to be a mathematical

genius to work out that, as usual, we are going to end with up a

coalition government. One of those likely to join a

coalition is the only real surprise of these elections,-and-a-half

tally Bennett and his new Jewish Home Party, -- Naftali Bennett.

They are to the right of Netanyahu. His success, some say, shows the

country is opposing that way. He doesn't want to give up any land to

create a Palestinian state, side- by-side with Israel. This year,

Middle East peace has not been a vote winner. Palestinians,

settlements, peace, people aren't talking about that.

And as Israel goes to the polls, that does not bode well for those

hoping for peace in the Middle East. Let's talk to our correspondent

Katya Adler who is at a polling station in Jerusalem. There are

fears about the impact that this election could have on the peace

process. Well, yes, absolutely. It's not

just the Israelis voting here today who will be watching carefully the

outcome of this election. The international community, including

Britain and the United States, expressed great frustration at the

outgoing government of Binyamin Netanyahu, which kept building and

expanding settlements, illegal under international law, on land

the Palestinians want as part of their future state. But, Sophie, we

have to be careful about predicting the policies of Israel's next

government, even if Binyamin Netanyahu stays the country's prime

minister. He is not a man wedded to ideology, he is a political

pragmatist. So rather than imbed himself in a government of the

right or far right and risk further alienating friends abroad and even

Israelis at home, he may well choose to invite a couple of

parties of the centre into his coalition government, which would

give him more political wiggle room, if you like. His main focus, some

say his absolute obsession is Iran, and stopping that country getting

nuclear weapons it could be point at Israel. If, for example, the

United States, Israel's closest ally would say - we'll take tougher

action on the Iran issue but you in Israel need to take some steps

towards restarting the stalled Palestinian peace process, Binyamin

Netanyahu may well do just that. Now for years it's been hailed as a

popular, sustainable fish, renowned for health benefits. Now we are

being told that mackerel should be eaten onlyly occasionally because

of fear that is too many are being taken from the sea around the

pharoah islands. The Marine Conservation Society says consumers

need to be aware of the dangers now posed to mackerel by overfishing.

We are not suggesting that people stop eating mackerel altogether but

just to think about the situation. We are putting up a sign-post

saying it is an issue that needs to be dealt with soon. If knots, the

stock is in great danger of collapsing altogether. -- if it is

not. Ed Thomas is at the fishing port of

Grimsby. What has been the response to that? A lot of people here are

worried, Sophie. So many rely on the fishing industry in this town.

I have also been told that mackerel has been one of the most popular

buys today at the fish market but concern for the Scottish fishermen

is too many of these fish are being taken out of the sea around the

pharoah islands and Iceland. There is even talk now of factions --

Farr owe islands. It is It is a worrying for people

like Chris sparks. How do we get to this situation? By the fears of the

Scottish fishermen who fear like the Icelandics and those in the

Faroe islands are taking too many fish out of the sea. These talks of

sanctions from the EU placed on Iceland on white fish stock, what

impact would that have on places like Grimsby? It would be

catastrophic to a place like Grimsby that rely mainly on imports

on fresh fish of cod, haddock and plaice. It would be devastating.

How many jobs in this town from the fishing industry? Somewhere in the

region of 4,500 to 5,000 rely on the seafood and processing industry.

What is your message to the EU, Icelandics and sksh fishermen?

my -- Scottish fishermen? From Grimsby's point of view, get around

the table, sort it out and have an end to it, amicably. Thank you. The

Icelandic government says it is willing to talk and negotiate.

Prince Harry is on his way back to Britain after completing a second

tour of duty in Afghanistan. Before leaving Helmand province, the

Prince gave a series of interviews at Camp Bastion, which couldn't be

broadcast until he left the country. Harry talks about what life is like

for a gunner & Co pilot of an Apache helicopter, who also happens

to be nird line to the throne. - third in line. Life is never

quite normal, but perhaps this is as close as he gets. On the

PlayStation in Afghanistan, where Prince Harry says he can be just

"one of the guys." The most amazing thing I suppose is being in a tent

one minuteing, playing PlayStation and thrashing the guys at FIFA and

then jumping in the cab and the only time you know what you are

doing is when the information comes on the radio. Prince Harry's

deployment came with an agreement to do a number of media interviews.

If he was needed, though, the talking stopped.

But even just doing his job in Afghanistan doesn't offer much

privacy. Camp Bastion is huge. Home to around 30,000 military personnel.

And the third in line to the throne never goes unnoticed. It is a weird

reality being stuck in Bastion. For me, I hate it being stuck here. I

go into the cookhouse. Everyone has a good gawp. That's one thing I

dislike about being here. There is plenty of tkpwhies there who have

never met me and therefore look at me and think Prince Harry as

opposed to Captain Wales. Which is frustrating. Christmas comes

towards the end of Prince Harry's tour and he is in festive mood.

have show you the homely bit. -- I will show you. Paradigm phone.

So, this is as much privacy as one would ge. It is fine. There is only

four of us here. If you are sitting in that seat, you are probably

speaking to home, I would have thought.

The storeroom. The usual things. It never changes. KitKats and Mars

bars. Everyone tries not to eat them but they do. This is my bed. I

don't make it when I'm here. Army friend one. His mother needs to

know he has been smoking while he is out here. We will make sure that

is on camera. Now Harry is returning to the UK,

inevitably there are questions about whether he will settle down.

If you find the right person and everything feels right, it'll take

time. Especially for myself and my brofrplt you ain't ever going to

find someone who will jump into the position that it would hold, as

simple as that. -- for myself and my brother.

far as you are concerned, there is no-one waiting for you at home?

100% single? I'm out here doing my job. That's all I can say at the

moment. In Afghanistan, he has had as much of the prief sane life he

craved. Life back home will feel different. You can watch a special

programme showing more of Prince Harry's tour in Afghanistan on the

BBC iPlayer. The French artist Manet has been

described as the founding father of modern art, because of the way he

broke the rules of the art establishment, by painting modern

life in a modern way. This week the Royal Academy in London has opened

up an exhibition of his work in the UK and for the first time the focus

has been on Manet's portraits. I'm in the Royal Academy in London

where the first major Edouard Manet show for over 50 years is about to

open this Saturday. I'm joined by the curator, Marya, in ne, Stevens.

Why has to takeen so long for an Edouard Manet show to be staged in

London There have been exhibitions- his work else where. There was the

sense that why make another retrospective. Let's look at a

particular area of his work that has not been looked at before and

see to what extent that will open up new ways of understanding this

really, extraordinary artist. doubt he is an extraordinary artist.

You call him the founder of modern art. He was an inspiration to the

impressionist and rebelled against the academy. What will we learn

from the show? First that he was a committed portrait painter. Nobody

has bothered to look at tpwfrplt he started at the beginning of his

career and right to the end of his life - when he died early at the

age of 51 - he he was painting portraits. He used the sitters in

his portraits to translate them into actors in his scenes of

contemporary life. He use Madam Manet, he paints her portrait and

then he uses her sitting in an interior in Arachon in 1871. It is

important. It is a part of Manet's way of taking up the challenge of

the dominant aesthetic movement of the day - realism. And saying, if

I'm going to make a really, realistic painting I'm painting

people in my scenes of contemporary life, who I know, who I have

painted and who are there for reality. It kind of awe thenty

kaits that message. Now if you live along the south

coast and have been detecting a funny smell here is why. A leak at

a chemical flapbt Rouen in northern France has sent clouds of foul-

smelling gas across the region, across the channel. Emergency

services in Paris were inundated with calls from worried people but

French police say the gas is a harmless substance which escaped

from the factory yesterday. from the factory yesterday.

Now the latest weather. Something else to worry southern

England now, an amber weather warning issued for the south-west

of England and South Wales which comes into play this afternoon,

last through this evening and into tomorrow. Our amber warning across

Scotland will lapse this afternoon. Conditions improving here. An area

of rain approaching the south-west will turn increasingly to sleet and

snow as it pushes particularly into Devon and across into Dorset this

afternoon and through the evening. This is the rush-hour and notice

how we could see snow perhaps as far north as the M4. We cannot be

precise about the ins tensities but we could be looking at lower levels

to two to five centimetres snow. For higher grounds, perhaps up to

ten sent meerts and with a strong breeze, problems with drifting and

reduced visibility. -- ten centimetres.

The problems in Scotland will tame down. The winds easing and we'll

lose fresh-falling snowfall. For Northern Ireland, showers clearing.

For Wales a largely fine evening to the north but to the south that

question mark about how far north that area of rain, sleet and snow

might spread. I urge you, if you are travelling in south Wales or

the south-west, increasingly through this evening perhaps

further eastwards to keep up-to- date with the forecast. BBC Radio

stations and internet pages excellent places to keep up-to-date.

Through the evening the spell of wintry weather persists moving into

Hampshire and Wiltshire and into the small hours we could see a risk

of fresh snowfall into the West Midlands and eastern Wales. The

issues are likely to continue into Wednesday morning rush-hour. Of

course, it's another bitterly cold night with a widespread frost. So

there will still be a lot of lying snow around elsewhere and ice will

be a big issue first thing on Wednesday. Add to that as well the

potential for patches of freezing fog. Overall, the day as a whole

quieter than we have had of late. In terms of any fresh snow flurries,

perhaps a few light ones out of the thicker cloud. Generally a dry day.

Again, though, it is cold. Ice could be an issue really throughout

the day. Any thaw very gradual as we go into the latter days of this

week. The story is for it to stay cold into Thursday and fri. Once

again ice will be one of the our biggest hazardsment By the weekend,

the potential for some significant change and quickly as well. Milder

air coming in to start weekend. By Sunday the potential for heavy rain

and strong winds. Unfortunately by this time next week, that means we

could be talking about flooding. Thank you very much. The top story:

more than 5,000 British soldiers are to lose their jobs this summer.