21/10/2013 BBC News at One

Bridge and will get the first nuclear power station in a

generation. The government signed a deal with EDF to build Hinkley C in

Somerset. It comes as a NPower tells customers it is raising energy

prices by more than 10%, the biggest rise so far.

Weighing up the waste - Tesco reveals it threw away almost 30,000

tonnes of food in the first half of this year.

A couple appear in court in Greece charged with the abduction of a

four-year-old girl living with them.

Battling flames - firefighters in Australia tried to stop three knee

jerk wildfires merging into one. -- three major wildfires.

Rio Ferdinand has treated his approval after being asked to join

the Football Association. Good afternoon. The UK is to get its

first new nuclear power station in more than a quarter of a century.

The government has agreed a deal with the French energy company EDF

for a new ?16 billion generator at Hinkley Point in Somerset. It says

the new station will eventually produce 7% of the nation's power

needs and create thousands of new jobs, but the deal has been

criticised because it guarantees a price for electricity which is

double the current cost. The news of the new generator comes on the same

date that the energy supplier and power has become the latest to

announce a big rise in prices. Let's cross to Hinkley Point.

We know that most of our nuclear plants will be turned off in the

next decade and there is increasing concerns about a power crunch. To

date, there was confirmation of a new plant turning on just as the

plant behind me turned off in a decade, and it will help to provide

powerful Britain -- power for Britain for decades to come. Hinkley

Point in Somerset, for almost 50 years they have been generating

nuclear power here. That is set to continue well into this century.

Hinkley Point B one day will have to close... With energy high on the

political agenda, the Prime Minister and EDF's bosses joined workers in

the reactor hall this morning to herald the dawn of the new error --

era. They will see Britain is building a new generation of nuclear

power stations funded by overseas countries and investors will see

Britain is open for business. The new plant will power more than 5

million homes. 25,000 people will be employed over the construction phase

with a further 900 permanent jobs when it starts operating a decade

from now. For the first time in Britain, taxpayers will not shoulder

the cost. It will be paid for by EDF and its Chinese partners. In return,

they will receive a guaranteed price of ?92.50 per every megawatt of

electricity Hinkley Point generates. That could drop to ?89.50 if they

agree to build a second power plant, but that could prove

controversial as wholesale power prices have averaged half that over

the past year. What will that mean for our bills? If wholesale prices

did not rise that much then energy consumers will need to pay a little

bit more. That has been estimated at the moment between ?five and ?eight

per year more than they pay otherwise. If the price goes above

that, energy bills should drop to account for that. Even as the deal

was announced, and power was raising prices by more than 10% and Labour

said it showed the need for a price freeze. We have a Prime Minister who

says we need to fix prices 35 years ahead for the energy companies but

he cannot freeze prices for the consumer. No wonder we have got a

cost of living crisis in this country. The deal still requires EU

approval. Final contracts it should be signed next year. Assuming that

goes ahead, we should be entering a new nuclear age in Britain. This

project is obviously good news for the local region and there are hopes

it could kick-start a new nuclear supply chain, so lots of jobs in

Britain, too. There is bad news on this announcement. If the government

is right and wholesale electricity costs are going to double over the

next ten years, it looks like we are facing higher energy bills in the

years ahead. Let's get more detail on those in

power price rises. It is the third company to put up its energy prices

in just over a week and it is the biggest rise so far. Our business

correspondent is with me now. Tell us about what it means. Another day,

another rise in energy prices. More of us are now having putting our

heating on so it will cost even more. A NPower says gas prices will

rise by 11.0% and electricity by 9.3%. It is the third of the big six

energy firms to raise its prices. We do expect the other three will

follow suit. How do these compare? Of the three that have already been

announced, N power is the largest. It will go up by 10.4%, an average

rise for dual fuel. Last week, British Gas raised its prices as

well. They will go up by 9.2%. But if the average for dual fuel.

Scottish and Southern energy was the first to keep lower costs, -- keep

it at 8.2%. They say the cost of getting the energy to our homes is

going up, as is the wholesale market, and they are having to

invest in infrastructure. They say the government is imposing heavy

taxes on them to invest in renewable energy services, -- sources, but

also, all of this taken together means that bills are rising by three

times the rate of inflation. Lets get more from our chief political

correspondent in Westminster. This will keep the focus on energy prices

and what it will mean in the future? We will learn an unpalatable

truth today, which is that our energy bills will keep going up and

going up by a lot. What we discovered from the Hinckley deal is

that by the calculation of ministers, our energy prices are

likely to double over the next ten years, which is why they have agreed

to guarantee EDF a price in 2023 which is twice that of average

prices today. In other words we can expect the sort of phrase we have

seen from an power today, year after year, for the next ten years. Labour

are not challenging that. They are broadly supportive of the Hinckley

Daly, which means for all the political argy-bargy about freezers

and competition, the SNP talking about cutting fuel bills, there is a

broad preservation acceptance among the political classes that energy

bills will keep going up. The BBC News website has a question

and answer section on energy bills. A couple are due to appear in court

in Greece charged with abducting a four-year-old blonde girl named

Maria. She was found during a raid on a Roman camp last week and DNA

tests revealed that she was not related to the couple. An appeal for

information about her identity has resulted in more than 8000 calls.

This was the little girl police found on a routine drug raid, known

as Maria. Tests have revealed the couple she lived with and not her

biological parents. The accused will appear at this courthouse in Larisa.

Some of the community have arrived to support them. Maria was staying

in this Roman settlement -- in this Roma settlement in southern Greece.

She had more than a dozen siblings, some of whom may not belong to the

family. Police say couples often occur multiple children to receive

more state benefit. Friends and relatives are apparently grief

stricken that Maria has been taken away. He believes -- this man says

he is the brother of the arrested man. He says, we did not take the

girl to sell her, we loved her so much. The family claims Maria was

adopted from a woman who could not look after her. Our client's claim

is that we never abducted this child, we just adopted her in a

nonlegal way. Roma experts say the community is often involved in

illicit activity, but this case has surprised even them. It is very

unusual. Up until now in Greece, we have seen scores of Roma families

selling newborn children to Greek families who do not have children

and cannot adopt because of the law. Those Roma families came from

Romania, most of them. This is the first case that we know where the

child ends up and lives for years in a Roma family. The charity now

looking after Maria says she is doing well. They urgently want to

find her biological parents. Already they have had thousands of

enquiries. The UK's biggest retailer, Tesco,

says it threw away nearly 30,000 tonnes of food in the first half of

this year. It has published figures that suggests that across the UK

food industry, two thirds of like salads are bend, most of it by

customers who never get round to eating it when they buy buy one get

one free deals. This is about what is being called

the food waste footprint. It is about tracing what happens to

produce like this when it leaves the shelves and hard to stop it going in

the bin. -- how to stop it. Perfect looking fresh produce ready to eat,

but a significant proportion of this will end up as rubbish. The latest

figures for the UK suggest a quarter of grapes are wasted, 40% of apples

and two thirds of salad is thrown away. I am looking at your bag of

wild rocket. Do you think you will need all of it? I will try to. Once

I open it tends to go off quickly. Do you find that if you buy a bag of

letters you waste some of it, why do you buy these ones? These ones I

find last longer. The ones in a bag have use by dates. I think they are

not as nice. Tesco says it is determined to tackle waste. It has

been working with independent advisers to come up with new

strategies, including removing display until dates and ending

multi-buy deals on salad in bags. When a banana mousse from green to

yellow it becomes much more likely that it will be wasted. -- when a

banana mousse. We will help them to understand not to put them in the

fruit bowl because that will create waste at home. The wastage is fast,

as Tesco threw out nearly 30,000 tonnes of food in the first six

months of this year. Campaigners sated a's announcement does not go

far enough. Tesco needs to do a lot more. It has taken a long time to

get to this stage. It needs to get rid of buy one get one free, which

leads to waste, and it needs to stop rejecting perfectly good fruit and

veg because they are the wrong shape or colour. Tesco says it will

continue to review its processes across the supply chain to reduce

food waste. It is not just about the cost of the environment, but the

cost to people's purses. It is estimated families through around

?700 of food each year. -- families throw away. Two men have

appeared in court charged with terrorism offences. The man, who

cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested in London last

weekend. Correspondent is at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Both men were referred to only by the initials JB -- by their

initials. They were both arrested in 15th October and both 25. They were

charged under the terrorism act, relating to preparation for acts of

terrorism. Both have been charged under section 58 of the Terrorism

Act 2000, a charge relating to the possession of terrorist information.

In this case, a computer file labelled bomb making. The second

defendant was further charged with a defence contrary to the identity

documents act of 2010. Both men were referred to the Old Bailey on 18th

November. They have been remanded in custody until then. Two other men

who were arrested in the same operation were released earlier this

week. The top story this lunchtime... The

UK is to get a new nuclear power station, the first in more than a

quarter of a century. How six well-known authors have been

cast with bringing Jane Austen's novels into the modern day.

they are some of the biggest bushfires Australia has seen for

years. Hundreds of homes have already been destroyed in the state

of New South Wales, and firefighters are battling to stop three separate

blazes from merging together into one enormous fire which would extend

over hundreds of kilometres. The Fire Service and says they are

dealing with unparalleled conditions. That is not allowed

shrouding the Blue Mountains, it is smoke, from some of the country's

most aggressive wildfires in decades. Dozens of separate blazes

are ripping through forest. It has been an unusually warm few months,

and the vegetation is tinder dry. More than 75,000 people live in this

rural area, west of Sydney. 200 homes have already been destroyed.

Fires raging over thousands of acres. Resources are stretched. We

have probably not got the units to put everything right. We are doing

our best. Now, on the ground, fire crews are actually setting

controlled fires, ahead of the flames, in order to create

firebreaks. I have been anxious for them to burn it, because then we can

stop worrying about it. We have been watching the fire from over there

for two days, creeping this way. As the flames approach, local residents

are saving what they can. Here, a pet possum is injured but safe. Who

knows what the toll will be on Australia's unique wildlife?

Throughout New South Wales, there is a state of emergency. 2000

firefighters are tackling more than 60 fires. They are worried high

winds will force separate blazes together, and weather forecasts

suggest worse may come. People wake up tomorrow, and if it is cooler,

they should not think the crisis is over. It is every bit as bad as it

was. The authorities have issued stern warnings after reports of

looting from fire-damaged areas. Meanwhile, further east, Sydney lies

bade in smoke, and the fear is of unstoppable fires threatening

Australia's biggest city. Our correspondent has spent the day with

one team of firefighters, racing to stop those separate blazes merging

into one. What they are doing here is called back burning, basically

fighting fire with fire, by burning off vegetation in a controlled way,

so that if the really big fires were to get here, they would not have so

much fuel to burn. They are worried of the possibility of some of the

bigger blazes merging into one kind of super fire. Today we have had

very, very hot conditions, in the high 30s, but we have not had

serious wind. That is expected to change come Wednesday and Thursday,

when conditions could get really dangerous. They are worried that the

fire could jump over these containment lines and spread much

further. Most of the firefighters here say they have not seen it as

bad as this in decades, if ever, in this state. It seems this emergency

is far from over. A survey of primary school children

suggests that many nine- to in 11-year-olds are indulging in

potentially unsafe behaviour online. Almost one in five of those

questioned by the charity Safe and Secure Online have admitted to

meeting up with people they first made contact with on the intranet.

For these children at a Kent primary School, the intranet is a key part

of their lives. They are learning about its dangers. The organisation

which runs classes like this found worrying news for parents, when they

asked more than 1000 children about their internet habits. The survey

found that 18% of nine- to in 11-year-olds had met somebody in the

real world who they had previously met online. 12% had missed school

after a late-night online. Youngsters participate in a lot of

risky behaviour which I do not believe parents know about, not

because of any ill will on behalf of the parents, it is just that the

parents do not understand technology. The research shows that

many primary school children are now really experienced users of the

internet, but what they do not know is that many sites, like Facebook,

are inappropriate for their age, and they seem to be unaware of the

dangers online. It is how long some children spend on the internet at

home which worries the headteacher. We have a lot of children who come

in late, and if they are playing on the internet after ten o'clock, it

is not surprising that they are tired in school. That has an

immediate impact on their ability to concentrate. But the safety lessons

are getting through to some of the children. You need to look out for

who is on the other side, whether you know them or not, and whether

they are safe. Do not speak to people who I would just talk to

people that I know, like people from my school or from my old school 's.

The key message is for parents - if you want to keep your children safe,

you need to understand what they are doing on the internet. Staff at the

Grangemouth oil refinery have until six o'clock tonight to decide

whether to agree to new work terms and conditions. The plant provides

most of the fuel in Scotland, northern England and Northern

Ireland. Its owners, Ineos, said the changes are vital if it is to stay

open. Our Scotland correspondent, Laura Bicker, is there. Are the work

is likely to agree to this? At the moment, we're waiting to find out

how many workers will sign up to this. Further talks were held

between management and unions this morning, but no agreement was

reached. What the site's owners, Ineos, are looking for, are two

things, from staff, firstly, I guarantee that there will be no

strike action for 60 days, and secondly, they want staff to sign up

for this survival plan, which includes a pay freeze, no bonuses as

well as changes to their final salary pension. The owners say that

without signing up to this survival plan, the site will close by 2017.

The union says it will agree to no strike action, it will put it in

writing. However, they want to negotiate on these new terms and

conditions. So far, Ineos does not want to agree to that. Talks broke

down this morning, this might please from the First Minister, Alex

Salmond, for them to come to an agreement. -- despite please. --

pleas. Staff have until 6pm tonight to decide whether they will accept

these new terms. A witness who claims to have seen the car carrying

the gunman who killed three members of a British family in the French

Alps has spoken publicly for the first time. The forestry worker has

told Panorama that he saw a dark grey BMW with a British numberplate

shortly before the attack. Saad al-Hilli, his wife and her mother

were shot in September 2012 along with a French cyclist. Jane Corbin

reports. Three members of a family from Surrey are murdered in their

car while on holiday, and a French cyclist is killed by what is thought

to be an experienced hit man. Over a year later, only the brother, Zaid

Al-Hilli, has ever been arrested. He remains on bail, and denies

arranging the killings. He has never been charged. And aroma has tracked

down a witness who has never spoken publicly before, and does not want

to be identified. A forestry worker claims he saw a British, grey, BMW

4x4 being driven by a man with dark skin shortly before the attack. And

he saw a man dressed in black on a black-and-white motorbike, thought

to be the gunman. The Forrester says two of his colleagues also saw the

bike ten minutes later. They passed the motorbike further up, so they

had words with him, Chris motor vehicles are not allowed. So, they

called out to him and asked him to drive down. They saw his face, he

had a bit of a Beeld. -- because motor vehicles... It suggests the

motorcyclist may have had an accomplice in the BMW, carrying out

surveillance. The British Cycling also saw the motorbike leaving, just

moments before he came across the people who had been killed. -- the

British cyclist. I was thinking, is there a hunter or a sniper type of

character hiding in the trees, shooting from a covered position or

something like that? I was thinking to myself, I wonder if this is going

to be painful when I get shot. French police admit they have got no

evidence on who the hit man or his accomplices were, but they say they

will solve the mysteries of the murders, however long it takes. And

you can see more on this on Panorama at nine o'clock tonight on BBC One.

A second round of tickets for next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

has gone on sale this morning. They are available in ten sports,

including a few for athletics and gymnastics, but are only on offer to

those who missed out the first time around. 202 years after it was

published, Jane Austen's first novel, Sense And Sensibility, is

coming out again, but this time in a modern-day version, rewritten by

Joanna Trollope. She is one of six well-known authors who have been

asked to rework Jane Austen's finished novels. She completed just

six novels, but almost 200 years since her death, Jane Austen's

classics still captivate. It is a truth universally acknowledged that

a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife...

But can you update a classic, and should you even try? This is

Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen's Gothic parody. And this is crime

writer Val McDermid, who is rewriting it in a modern-day

setting. I hope it will reawaken interest I think people will be

fascinated by how it translates to the present day. Human nature

remains the same. I am sure there will be a lot of disapproval from

the purists, but I hope to confound them. Meanwhile, Emma is to be

reworked by Alexander McCall Smith. Pride And Prejudice will be written

by an American author. Sense And Sensibility, by Joanna Trollope, is

the first to be completed, to be published this week. The writers of

the other two have not yet been revealed. Film and television

adaptations are one thing, but we writing Jane Austen? That is

something else. Joanna Trollope has placed Sense And Sensibility firmly

in the 21st century. Social media features heavily. So, what did this

south London Reading group make of it? I think it is brave, actually,

to update what is an absolute classic. It is definitely chick lit,

which is not my favourite genre. I thought it was cleverly done, I

enjoyed it, though not as much as the original. We writing a Jane

Austen novel is courageous, but whether it is effective or

successful, we will soon find out. -- re-writing. Let's have a look at

the weather. More classics for you now,

the weather. More classics for you classic October fair with the

weather for the rest of this week, which means more of the wet stuff.

The gusty wind is coming from the south, bringing some mild air. It

will not be cold. You can see the classic autumnal scene, with the low

pressure and the isobars. It is mild air, but the weather fronts are

providing bands of rain, the first of which you can see here. The rain

made of, but it will linger across Scotland and Northern Ireland and

northern England this afternoon. -- the rain may linger. Across northern

Scotland, there is a little bit of sunshine. The rain not really

reaching the central belt of Scotland until this evening. For

England and Wales, there will be some drier spells, but more showers

to come as well, with a bit of brightness across east Anglia and

the south-east. It feels cooler with the strong and gusty winds. These

western areas will see more strong winds tonight. A bit drier in parts

of the east. It is a mild night wherever you are. Still mild

tomorrow, because we have still got those gusty, southerly winds,

spreading more rain across most areas. It may brighten up in

Northern Ireland. Perhaps a bit brighter across Wales and south-west

England later in the day. Most of us can expect more rain tomorrow, but

it will be mild, four or five degrees above the average for the

time of year. On Wednesday, it will not be cold, either, but it will

still be Casty. Elsewhere, some sunny spells, but plenty of showers.

-- gusty. Thursday, still a few showers around, and more rain to

come on Friday. The ground is starting to get saturated, so there

are some warnings in force, which are visible on the website.

are some warnings in force, which are visible on Our main headlines...

The Government has given the go-ahead for the UK's first nuclear

power station in more than a quarter of a century. It comes as Npower has

announced a big price rise. And just to tell you, Ed Davey, the energy

secretary, will be making a statement to MPs about the new

nuclear reactor at Hinckley, and that is at 3.30 this afternoon,

which you can watch on the BBC News Channel.