27/03/2014 BBC News at One


27/03/2014

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official investigation into claims that millions of consumers have paid

:00:08.:00:10.

too much for their gas and electricity. New evidence that

:00:11.:00:18.

profits and prices have risen, and competition has not worked as well

:00:19.:00:26.

for consumers. Energy bosses warn of delays to investment - and the

:00:27.:00:30.

possibility of blackouts. With new power stations, there is the risk

:00:31.:00:34.

that at certain times of the year we will have to do have some sort of

:00:35.:00:40.

demand constraint. We'll be looking at the implications for the industry

:00:41.:00:43.

- and for the consumer. Also this lunchtime. What is going on there?

:00:44.:00:51.

How many children have you got? Failed by police - the Home

:00:52.:00:53.

Secreatry demands urgent changes for victims of domestic violence. Being

:00:54.:01:00.

overweight has become the new normal and England's Chief Medical Officer

:01:01.:01:03.

warns that most parents are unable to recognise if their child has a

:01:04.:01:06.

weight problem. The dramatic moment a helicopter rescues a 4-year-old

:01:07.:01:09.

boy from the roof of his home destroyed in a mudslide in the

:01:10.:01:16.

United States. I am in Papua New Guinea to find out which creatures

:01:17.:01:24.

will survive as emissions of CO2 make the seas more acidic. On BBC

:01:25.:01:31.

London... A commitment to transform the Met in five years - Commissioner

:01:32.:01:34.

Hogan Howe pledges to increase police diversity to match the

:01:35.:01:37.

capital's ethnic mix. And new targets to improve out of hours

:01:38.:01:40.

emergency and maternity care in the capital ARE raising standards.

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Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. The energy market

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is to face a full-scale investigation into whether consumers

:02:00.:02:09.

are getting a fair deal. The big six energy firms which control around

:02:10.:02:11.

95% of Britain's energy supply market have been referred to the

:02:12.:02:14.

Competition and Markets Authority by the energy watchdog, OFGEM. The

:02:15.:02:17.

inquiry could last up to two years and could lead to companies being

:02:18.:02:20.

broken up. The companies argue that a lengthy inquiry will delay

:02:21.:02:22.

investment and could lead to blackouts. Our industry

:02:23.:02:28.

correspondent John Moylan reports. It is an industry that touches

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everyone of us but in recent years, consumers have seen tariffs rise and

:02:33.:02:38.

profits at the suppliers grow. Now, admit growing mistrust, the energy

:02:39.:02:44.

market is to face a competition investigation. There is evidence

:02:45.:02:49.

that profits have risen, prices have risen, and competition has not

:02:50.:02:53.

worked as well for consumers. On that basis, it is vital to rebuild

:02:54.:02:58.

trust in consumers, and to persuade consumers that the price they pay

:02:59.:03:02.

for energy is fair. A full investigation that clears the air,

:03:03.:03:07.

that looks as all areas, is the best way to restore consumer trust. The

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move follows a review of the market that found low levels of switching,

:03:13.:03:19.

not enough people shop around. It highlighted the dominance of the big

:03:20.:03:24.

six suppliers. There was evidence to of tacit Corporation. Dash-macro

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coordination. It has derailed, look. Richard Jackson believes it is

:03:33.:03:37.

time the industry got back on track. He switched energy supplies several

:03:38.:03:41.

times that is not convinced he is getting the best deal for his

:03:42.:03:46.

family. I personally feel very annoyed and confused when I look at

:03:47.:03:49.

the tariffs, and I do not feel I should have to switch every six

:03:50.:03:56.

months. I do not want to make sure I am on a decent deal. The big six

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firms broadly welcome this new probe but feel it could lead to companies

:04:02.:04:06.

being broken up. The boss of the UK's the guest supplier told me that

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he believes investment could be put on hold. If we do not get new power

:04:12.:04:17.

stations built, there is the risk that at certain times of the year we

:04:18.:04:21.

will have to have some sort of demand constraint and that is bad

:04:22.:04:26.

news for customers. The energy market has become a political

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battlefield. Labour wants to freeze prices and reset the market. The

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energy secretary insisted that a full investigation was the right

:04:37.:04:40.

option. This is not a quick fix but it is the right way to restore

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people's trust that the energy markets are working for their

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benefit. It is the right way to create long-term certainty for

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investment. Instead of defending the big six and asking for their

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cooperation, why does he not enforce a price freeze right now? This

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investigation will take the politics out of the energy row, and seek to

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clear the air once and for all. It is a landmark moment that food

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change the energy landscape. Well, John's here now. Some people have

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been calling for this for years. Yes, they have. We had a review

:05:20.:05:24.

which gave us the reasons why they are going ahead with it. There are

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startling fact. We tell profits, it has gone up from 233 million to 1.1

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billion in just over four years. 34% of consumers distrust the energy

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firms. We heard this line about tacit coordination, the energy firms

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raising their prices at the same time. We have heard these arguments

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before. If you look back to the autumn, the whole row over energy

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prices, it reached extraordinary levels, and I think most people

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think that billions have been wiped off the energy companies, and people

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have decided that the only way to go forward is to reset the market and

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have a full probe of the industry. There are risks in all of this will

:06:12.:06:14.

stop the government insists there are reforms in place to allow

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investors to come in and build power plants, but we heard the boss of

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British Gas telling us that investment has been on hold for some

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time and it could be on hold for another two years. Our chief

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political correspondent Norman Smith is in Westminster. Will this take

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the political heat out of the argument? My sense is that it may

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have the opposite effect. Why? Because of the politics. The whole

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issue is being long grassed because this enquiry will not report until

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2016, and then they have to use government legislation which could

:06:53.:06:55.

take two years. Fundamental reform of the energy market could be years

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off. The energy industry itself is up in arms because they say that

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creates uncertainty, deters investment and damages security.

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This lunchtime, the Conservative chairman of the energy select

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committee said such uncertainty could even lead to the lights going

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out. Thank you, Norman. And you can find out more about the competition

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inquiry on the BBC website. Victims of domestic violence are routinely

:07:26.:07:28.

being failed by police forces across England and Wales. A report by HM

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Inspectorate of Constabulary criticised poor evidence gathering

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and said there was an "alarming" and ineffective response to victims'

:07:39.:07:41.

complaints. The Home Secretary, Theresa May has called for urgent

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changes and has said she will personally oversee improvements.

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June Kelly reports. A film which is part of one police force's Internet

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campaign against domestic violence. They are actors but the 999 call is

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real. What is going on there? How many children have you got? We spoke

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to a mother of two whose husband tried to strangle her. She was ready

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to testify against him in court but she was let down by the police.

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Having made that decision, and having mentally prepared myself for

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it, I got a phone call to say that the police had not put my case

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together, and the CPS would not take it forward to prosecution. That was

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devastating. Every fortnight in England and Wales, three women are

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killed by their current or ex-partner. Men are also victims of

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domestic violence. The report says that in most forces it is a priority

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on paper but not in practice. That is what the leading domestic

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violence charity, Refuge, has been saying for years. We need a huge

:09:00.:09:04.

cultural change around domestic violence. It needs to be seen as

:09:05.:09:09.

real crime. It is just as serious as any other violent crime, if not more

:09:10.:09:13.

serious because the attacker has a key to the front door. Among the

:09:14.:09:18.

issues highlighted are a lack of leadership by senior officers, what

:09:19.:09:24.

are described as alarming weaknesses when it comes to collecting

:09:25.:09:32.

evidence, and some victims who feel they are not believed. This is

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appalling, we need urgent action, and I hope you lead that action.

:09:37.:09:41.

Police targeted football fans with their campaigns. There is often an

:09:42.:09:46.

increase in attacks after matches. This is a poster used by the Greater

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Manchester force. We think we need to be more ambitious and a different

:09:52.:09:55.

system of protection through the courts which will get us in front of

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the magistrates much quicker, without requiring a victim to make a

:10:01.:10:04.

complaint. This will allow a range of different professionals to give

:10:05.:10:09.

evidence. Like other police leaders, he says the focus has to be

:10:10.:10:13.

on all parts of the criminal justice system, not just the police.

:10:14.:10:21.

A Thai satellite has spotted about 2-300 objects floating in the

:10:22.:10:24.

Southern Indian Ocean - close to the area being searched in the hunt for

:10:25.:10:27.

the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. The objects vary in size, but some

:10:28.:10:31.

were thought to be up to 16 metres long. They were seen in a region 200

:10:32.:10:34.

kilometres from where a French satellite spotted 122 objects last

:10:35.:10:36.

weekend. The search itself is partially suspended again today

:10:37.:10:39.

because of bad weather with planes grounded but ships continuing their

:10:40.:10:44.

efforts. The IT firm, ATOS, which has been assessing whether benefits

:10:45.:10:47.

claimants are fit to work, is quitting its contract. Its

:10:48.:10:49.

replacement will be appointed early next year. Disability campaigners

:10:50.:10:55.

have criticised ATOS' tests for being "ridiculously harsh." ATOS

:10:56.:11:04.

said last month it no longer wanted to undertake fitness to work tests.

:11:05.:11:07.

It was reported its staff were receiving death threats. Being

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overweight has become the new normal in England - that's according to the

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Chief Medical Officer. In her annual report on the state of the nation's

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health, Dame Sally Davies says the majority of adults are now

:11:18.:11:20.

overweight or obese. The report also says that most parents of overweight

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children are unable to recognise that their child has a weight

:11:24.:11:25.

problem. Our health correspondent Dominic Hughes reports. Burning of

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some excess energy at a sports centre near Wigan. Many of these

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children have been identified as being overweight. This is a chance

:11:33.:11:37.

for them to get some exercise in a friendly, relaxed environment. It is

:11:38.:11:42.

nice, and fun. It is nice to hit balls. Exercise, losing weight, it

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really helps. It is fun. 20 or 30 years ago, and exercise class like

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this one would have been unheard of. Now it is much more common. Part of

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the problem is that parents have problems identifying when their own

:12:04.:12:06.

children are at risk of becoming overweight. The report highlights

:12:07.:12:10.

the rapid growth in the number of overweight and obese people in the

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last 30 years. In England, two thirds of adults are classified as

:12:16.:12:19.

being overweight or obese. A third of children are heavier than they

:12:20.:12:22.

should be. Three quarters of parents of overweight children failed to

:12:23.:12:27.

identify when their truth and have put on weight. The average weight is

:12:28.:12:37.

overweight. We need to protect people from being unhealthy will

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stop we need them to understand that being overweight is unhealthy, and

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we need to help them understand what they can do about it. Weight if they

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sensitive issue for children who risk being bullied. If you get a

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letter saying your child is overweight, the first thing you feel

:13:00.:13:02.

is that they are trying to say you are bad parents, and that is not the

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case. They can have a healthy diet but if they are not active, they put

:13:09.:13:15.

on weight. Being overweight increases the risk of diabetes,

:13:16.:13:19.

strokes and cancer. If people do not recognise that their weight is a

:13:20.:13:22.

problem, they can do nothing about it and I can have serious

:13:23.:13:27.

consequences for the health of the nation in years to come. The first

:13:28.:13:33.

stage of the overhaul in the pensions industry, announced in the

:13:34.:13:35.

Budget, has come into force. It means some people will be given

:13:36.:13:38.

greater access to their pension pots. Our personal finance

:13:39.:13:41.

correspondent Simon Gompertz reports. The government says 400,000

:13:42.:13:51.

workers in the process of retiring will be able to take advantage of

:13:52.:13:55.

the relaxation of tax rules starting today. 60-year-old Paul Lester says

:13:56.:13:57.

it will polish up his finances nicely. He does not need the

:13:58.:14:00.

Lamborghini one minister said people would be able to spend the money on.

:14:01.:14:12.

He will spend more time on his Yamaha, bought by cashing in his

:14:13.:14:15.

?3,500 pot of pension money, most of which would have gone in tax before.

:14:16.:14:21.

It's going to make a huge difference to me because I can now invest it,

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spend it, do what I want to do with it, which is the whole point of

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saving it to start with. If what you want is a regular income, you can

:14:30.:14:33.

now take out more than before per year, and thus avoid having to buy

:14:34.:14:37.

an annuity. If you want to cash it all in and have less than ?30,000

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saved in different pension pots, you can take it all out at once subject

:14:42.:14:52.

to normal income tax. You can cash in pots with less than ?10,000,

:14:53.:14:59.

however much you have put by. All this is designed for those like

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Paul, setting out with those pensions, who have saved something

:15:03.:15:05.

in an investment fund, not in the salary linked pensions that nurses,

:15:06.:15:12.

teachers and some others get. So pensioner households will be revved

:15:13.:15:15.

up by these new freedoms to the tune of what could be billions of pounds

:15:16.:15:19.

a year. That brings with it the danger that they could make the

:15:20.:15:22.

wrong investment choices, they could even be ripped off. People are going

:15:23.:15:26.

to need a lot of help and support to really think through some of the

:15:27.:15:29.

implications about whether they should take the money as a lump sum,

:15:30.:15:32.

whether they might end up paying more tax that way if they took it as

:15:33.:15:36.

a lump sum rather than an annuity. The government has promised

:15:37.:15:38.

face-to-face guidance once the full reforms kicks in next year. From the

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age of 55, there will be no upper limit on how much you can take out

:15:43.:15:44.

your pots of pension money. Local councils in England have been

:15:45.:15:51.

told by the government to look again into allegations that Jimmy Savile

:15:52.:15:54.

carried out sexual abuse in 21 schools and children's homes. Tom

:15:55.:16:01.

Symonds has this report. The ripples from his life of abuse

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continue to spread. Jimmy Savile preyed on his victims in TV studios

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and hospitals, but also children's homes and schools. Now, councils in

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England are being asked to look closely at them and what happened

:16:16.:16:21.

and why. The 21 institutions named to date include children's homes

:16:22.:16:26.

like parklands in Gloucestershire, now closed. It provided

:16:27.:16:31.

accommodation for young people from the 1950s until 2002. The list also

:16:32.:16:37.

names schools, including Sevenoaks in Kent, an independent school,

:16:38.:16:41.

whose board of governors has been asked to carry out an

:16:42.:16:46.

investigation. We welcome any investigation that will reveal how

:16:47.:16:50.

widespread this abuse was perpetrated, and at the end of all

:16:51.:16:54.

these different enquiries, there must be some drawing together, says

:16:55.:16:59.

lessons can be learned, and we ensure it doesn't happen again. It

:17:00.:17:03.

is thought no new allegations have come to light, instead, local

:17:04.:17:07.

authorities will follow up accounts which were given to police and

:17:08.:17:11.

children's charities in 2012, when the investigations began in two

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Jimmy Savile's activities. Allegations go back to the 1960s

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until the 1980s. Even at those institutions still open, most

:17:22.:17:25.

potential witnesses will have moved on or died. The government says it

:17:26.:17:30.

wants to make sure wherever possible lessons are learned.

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Our top story this lunchtime. The big six energy companies face

:17:37.:17:39.

official investigation into claims that millions of consumers have paid

:17:40.:17:42.

too much for their gas and electricity.

:17:43.:17:45.

And, still to come: 100 days to go. The countdown starts to the world's

:17:46.:17:48.

most famous bike race coming to the UK.

:17:49.:17:51.

Later on BBC London: The gay couples preparing a midnight marriage, to

:17:52.:17:58.

take advantage of a change in the law.

:17:59.:18:00.

And, have you got a nose for love? The new-style speed dating which

:18:01.:18:03.

could help you sniff out the perfect partner.

:18:04.:18:11.

The emissions from modern society that are heating the climate are

:18:12.:18:16.

also making the seas more acidic, killing off corals and other

:18:17.:18:18.

organisms. Scientists are due to report next week that about a third

:18:19.:18:22.

of our CO2 emissions are mixing into the water from the atmosphere. The

:18:23.:18:28.

report to the UN, seen by BBC's Newsnight, says the last time the

:18:29.:18:31.

sea changed this rapidly there were mass extinctions. Our environment

:18:32.:18:38.

analyst Roger Harrabin reports from a research site off the coast of

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Papua New Guinea. Coral reefs, the most diverse

:18:41.:18:48.

natural systems in the seas. Under threat from the way we live.

:18:49.:19:05.

Emissions of CO2 from our homes, cars and power stations are

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unquestionably changing the chemistry of sea water, according to

:19:08.:19:11.

a UN report next week. We need to know how the oceans will react, as

:19:12.:19:15.

more of the CO2 from human society dissolves in the sea water, making

:19:16.:19:23.

it more acidic. That is what has brought us here, to this remote spot

:19:24.:19:27.

off the tip of Papua New Guinea, to see a unique site that offers a

:19:28.:19:31.

glimpse into the future of the seas. The sea bed is bubbling. The gas is

:19:32.:19:34.

pure carbon dioxide, from volcanic rocks. The bubbles turn the sea

:19:35.:19:44.

water locally more acidic. Part of the site shows the same level of

:19:45.:19:47.

acidity predicted for the world's oceans later this century, as

:19:48.:19:52.

mankind continues to emit CO2. It seems, here, between a third and

:19:53.:19:55.

half of corals cannot survive the change. In Australia, a new ?20

:19:56.:20:03.

million centre employs industrial technology to predict how corals

:20:04.:20:06.

will react to higher CO2, and high temperatures. In this experiment, we

:20:07.:20:15.

have corals and sponges from different species. We are trying to

:20:16.:20:19.

tease apart the combined effects of ocean acidification, and elevated

:20:20.:20:21.

sea temperature. Sponges like this might thrive under

:20:22.:20:24.

high CO2. But other key creatures are likely to be wiped out. This is

:20:25.:20:34.

a baby coral. It is very sensitive to acidification, it cannot grow,

:20:35.:20:38.

and will often die in areas of high CO2. One example of many, and

:20:39.:20:44.

scientists are finding, more and more, that a lot of marine species

:20:45.:20:47.

and ecosystems are likely to be highly affected by ocean

:20:48.:20:52.

acidification. Back at the volcanic site, it is

:20:53.:20:55.

clear the branching corals that shelter fish cannot cope with extra

:20:56.:21:01.

CO2. They are missing from the reef. The UN scientists warn our emissions

:21:02.:21:04.

could make countless species of sea life extinct.

:21:05.:21:14.

You can see that report in full on Newsnight, tonight on BBC Two, at

:21:15.:21:20.

10:30pm. A mine manager has gone on trial in

:21:21.:21:23.

connection with the deaths of four miners in a Swansea Valley colliery.

:21:24.:21:26.

Malcolm Fyfield was the manager of Gleision drift mine, when it flooded

:21:27.:21:29.

in September 2011. He denies all charges. Hywel Griffith is at

:21:30.:21:37.

Swansea Crown Court. When the four men became trapped in

:21:38.:21:41.

the narrow galleries of the Gleision mine, their families, the country

:21:42.:21:46.

hoped they could be reached. When their bodies were recovered, they

:21:47.:21:51.

were found filled with dirty water and silt. Today, the mine manager

:21:52.:21:55.

who was with them and the directors of the company went on trial accused

:21:56.:21:58.

of being responsible for their deaths.

:21:59.:22:03.

At the mouth of the mine, rescue teams were left exhausted after

:22:04.:22:09.

spending more than 24 hours trying, in vain, to reach the four men

:22:10.:22:15.

trapped below. Garry Jenkins, Philip Hill, David Powell and Charles

:22:16.:22:20.

Breslin, were all experienced miners, all were fathers, all

:22:21.:22:26.

drowned 275 metres into the colliery. The manager of the mine,

:22:27.:22:32.

Malcolm Fyfield, was also injured in the collapse. He arrived at court to

:22:33.:22:36.

stand trial accused of causing the deaths through gross negligence. In

:22:37.:22:42.

court, he sat silently as the jury heard he still suffered from

:22:43.:22:46.

post-traumatic stress disorder. The jury was told there were seven men

:22:47.:22:51.

underground on the morning and old wall collapsed allowing water to

:22:52.:22:54.

flood through. The sound was deafening, like a jet engine. The

:22:55.:23:00.

miners shouted out one, but only three made it out. When he came to

:23:01.:23:04.

the surface, Malcolm Fyfield said simply, they have gone. The rescue

:23:05.:23:09.

workers who tried to reach the miners had to dig through tonnes of

:23:10.:23:14.

silt and rock with their hands. The trial will centre on conditions deep

:23:15.:23:18.

underground, and how much was known by the manager and the company about

:23:19.:23:24.

the risk of a flood. The families of the miners have waited two and a

:23:25.:23:28.

half years for the trial to begin. They hope that, over the next three

:23:29.:23:32.

months, there questions will finally be answered.

:23:33.:23:38.

The jury had been shown a detailed plan of the mine underground which

:23:39.:23:44.

became soaked in the rescue attempt. The three managers deny the charges

:23:45.:23:49.

against them. 90 people are still missing after a

:23:50.:23:52.

massive mudslide in Washington state on Saturday. Dramatic footage from

:23:53.:23:55.

the small town near Seattle has emerged of the helicopter rescue of

:23:56.:23:58.

a four-year-old boy who was pulled from the roof of his submerged home.

:23:59.:24:01.

Our correspondent David Willis has this report.

:24:02.:24:11.

Plucked to safety from a sea of mud. A four-year-old boy somehow managed

:24:12.:24:17.

to survive a massive mudslide. Jacob Spillers was on the second floor,

:24:18.:24:21.

when his home was hit by a deadly tide of mud and rock. His father and

:24:22.:24:25.

three siblings were downstairs, and are still missing. A fellow survivor

:24:26.:24:33.

said when she came across him, he was scared and shivering. I stripped

:24:34.:24:38.

him down and bundled him in a blanket and said, I am grandma, I am

:24:39.:24:44.

going to take care of you, we are going to find your mummy. Searching

:24:45.:24:47.

the mile-square site of this disaster continues apace. 90 bodies

:24:48.:24:50.

could lie buried beneath the wreckage. Finding them all could

:24:51.:25:00.

take months. We need to take a step back, and look at the magnitude of

:25:01.:25:03.

what happened. The debris is huge, it is complex, it is dangerous. And

:25:04.:25:07.

I don't think we have a lot of answers. All I can definitively say

:25:08.:25:15.

is we have the number at 90 and we are going to pursue it as much as we

:25:16.:25:17.

can. There are pockets of mud at 40 feet

:25:18.:25:23.

deep. Factor in the presence of toxic chemicals from crushed cars,

:25:24.:25:25.

that amounts to a difficult and dangerous recovery operation. The

:25:26.:25:29.

rescuers' biggest problem now, the weather. It has been raining

:25:30.:25:36.

constantly these last few days. That has not only hampered the recovery

:25:37.:25:38.

operation, it has also raised the possibility of further mudslides

:25:39.:25:46.

here. It's 100 days to go before the

:25:47.:25:49.

world's most famous cycle race comes to the UK. The Tour de France starts

:25:50.:25:54.

in Leeds on July the 5th, and is expected to attract up to three

:25:55.:25:57.

million spectators. It will take in some of the best-known hills in

:25:58.:26:00.

British cycling, including the longest continuous climb in England,

:26:01.:26:03.

Cragg Vale. Our chief sports correspondent Dan Roan is in

:26:04.:26:12.

Harrogate in Yorkshire. Right here in Harrogate is where the

:26:13.:26:16.

first day of the Tour de France will finish, the second day goes from

:26:17.:26:20.

York to Sheffield, then Cambridge to London. This is a cultural

:26:21.:26:24.

phenomenon as well as a sporting one. We saw the launch of an arts

:26:25.:26:31.

festival in the build-up to the biggest event Yorkshire has seen.

:26:32.:26:38.

Yorkshire is gearing up for the ride of its life, on the horizon, the

:26:39.:26:43.

start of the Tour de France, looming into view. In Harrogate, the

:26:44.:26:48.

countdown began and those who represent the region say it is a

:26:49.:26:52.

once in a lifetime opportunity. It is so exciting, this is a massive

:26:53.:26:58.

event, hundreds of millions of people watch the Tour de France. For

:26:59.:27:03.

Yorkshire to be able to put ourselves on the map nationally and

:27:04.:27:10.

in Europe and across the planet is a fantastic opportunity. With the Tour

:27:11.:27:13.

de France won by British riders for the last two years, the sport has

:27:14.:27:18.

established itself. The event coming here provides another boost, Ilkley,

:27:19.:27:24.

home to the biggest cycling club now in the country. 1200 members, 40% of

:27:25.:27:30.

which are women. Rides go out every day of the week. What it is doing

:27:31.:27:37.

for Yorkshire is raising awareness, and kick-starting people using the

:27:38.:27:46.

outdoors. When the world's cyclists ride here it will showcase this

:27:47.:27:51.

dramatic scenery to a global audience and the economy is set to

:27:52.:27:57.

benefit. The route cuts directly through this farm in Holmfirth. With

:27:58.:28:02.

millions of spectators expected, they intend to capitalise. We have

:28:03.:28:08.

provision for around 1000 tenths. Would that be a boost to your

:28:09.:28:12.

finances? A big boost if it comes off and people come to visit.

:28:13.:28:17.

Interest from the home of the event is growing, one French cycling

:28:18.:28:22.

legend rode the route this week. It may be in Yorkshire for two days,

:28:23.:28:27.

but the feel-good factor could last for years.

:28:28.:28:33.

Organisers hope Yorkshire will benefit from a 100 missing pound

:28:34.:28:37.

boost to its economy and today a new three-day long international race on

:28:38.:28:42.

the cycling candour has been announced, to take place from next

:28:43.:28:48.

year. A sporting legacy as well as a financial one.

:28:49.:28:50.

President Obama is at the Vatican for his first meeting with Pope

:28:51.:28:53.

Francis. Although they disagree on many issues, including abortion and

:28:54.:28:56.

gay marriage, they are expected to find common ground, when it comes to

:28:57.:28:57.

the fight against global poverty. Time for a look at the weather.

:28:58.:29:09.

We have seen just about everything fall from the sky is. Cold, easterly

:29:10.:29:20.

winds are around. Temperatures will peak at around 20 degrees at the

:29:21.:29:25.

weekend. High pressure is blocking weather fronts moving in from the

:29:26.:29:32.

Atlantic. An area of low pressure is to the south-west. Quite a bit of

:29:33.:29:39.

cloud is billowing up. A lot of it is shower cloud. We have seen heavy

:29:40.:29:46.

showers already across the Midlands. We will see Hale and thunderstorm

:29:47.:29:51.

mixed in. Not many showers across the far south-east of England. Not

:29:52.:29:57.

too many showers the North West Wales. North-east England, a

:29:58.:30:04.

miserable day, persistent outbreaks of rain, snow and thunderstorms.

:30:05.:30:10.

Temperatures around the coast, five degrees. Northern Ireland, this is

:30:11.:30:15.

where the best of the weather is. Dry conditions with sunshine.

:30:16.:30:19.

Overnight, a band of rain will be slow moving across the North of

:30:20.:30:23.

England. We could see an inch of rain. South-west England, further

:30:24.:30:32.

thunderstorms. Maybe some snow over higher ground. On Friday, a cloudy

:30:33.:30:37.

start. Bright smiles and scattered showers. The showers will form

:30:38.:30:43.

across western areas of England and Wales, turning warmer across the

:30:44.:30:47.

south-east of England with more sunshine. Temperatures reaching 15

:30:48.:30:54.

degrees. This weekend, an area of low pressure will move winds over

:30:55.:31:02.

the British Isles. They will bring in milder air. Temperatures will

:31:03.:31:09.

rise. Up to around 20 degrees probably across the eastern side of

:31:10.:31:14.

England. But across the north-east of England, and Scotland, a

:31:15.:31:23.

combination of low cloud, drizzle and missed practice over the coast.

:31:24.:31:29.

It will be quite cold, around seven degrees. You can check out the

:31:30.:31:34.

weather where you live on our website.

:31:35.:31:37.

Now, a reminder of our top story this lunchtime.

:31:38.:31:45.

The energy companies face official investigation into claims millions

:31:46.:31:47.

of consumers have paid too much for their gas and electricity.

:31:48.:31:50.

That's all from us. Now, on BBC One, it's

:31:51.:31:51.

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