28/03/2014 BBC News at One

have crashed. An Australian Air Force plane has spotted objects in

this area. A ship is being sent to the location. We'll be live in Perth

where the search is being coordinated from. Also this

lunchtime: A BBC investigation into housing benefit changes suggests 6%

of tenants have moved as a result of the so-called 'bedroom tax'.

At the Max Clifford sexual abuse trial, he says his accusers are

"fantasists and opportunists" who may be trying to get compensation.

No longer any lawful impediment, as gay marriage becomes legal in

England and Wales from tomorrow. Can you hear your own voice? Yes.

The magical and moving moment when a woman deaf from birth realised she

could hear for the first time. Later on BBC London: Five years

after the Lakanal tragedy, the high rise homes still at risk from fire.

And the new study into the effects of flooding on our mental health.

Good afternoon. The search for the missing Malaysian plane has moved to

a new part of the Indian Ocean as experts believe it ran out of fuel

earlier than thought. The Australian and Malaysian governments say the

search will now focus on an area 700 miles north-east of the previous

zone. The move is based on further analysis of radar data that showed

the plane was going faster, thus using more fuel. The Beijing-bound

airliner disappeared three weeks ago with 239 people on board. Our

correspondent Jonathan Head is in Perth.

Well, this is another twist in this baffling saga of the airliner. Over

the past week we have watched these surveillance aircraft going out of

this airport, day after day, on very long journeys into remote seas where

the group has scanned and scanned and seeing nothing at all. New

analysis of the limited information they have suggests that all of that

time they might have been looking in the wrong area. With the weather

improving, aircraft were once again in the air from Western Australia.

This time heading to a new search zone. Further analysis of the

limited data they have on flight MH370 has led the Australian

authorities to shift their efforts to an area nearly 700 miles north of

where they had been looking up until now. This continuing analysis

indicates the plane was travelling faster than previously estimated,

resulting in increased usage of fuel and reducing the possible distances

travelled south into the Indian Ocean. The previous estimate was

based on an -- a series of pinging connections with the satellite. The

new estimate, using the speed they think it was travelling when it

changed course, puts it closer to the Australian coast, but the area

is still huge, significantly bigger than Great Britain. And in a hopeful

sign, this New Zealand Orion returned having seen 11 object. The

first sighting by this crew in over a week -- 11 object. Next in, a

giant transport plane carrying a long-range helicopter which will

operate off the deck of an Australian ship from inside the new

search zone. Despite all the planes flying in and out of the air base,

you can't escape the thought that this operation is in effect having

to start all over again, having spent a week looking in an entirely

different part of the Indian Ocean. They will need this, and every other

aircraft, they can get. If they can make the most of the diminishing

time left to them to find traces of the Malaysian airliner. The change

of area underlines just how little we know about this Malaysian

airliner, but this is an optimistic sign that more aircraft are coming

back, and five have returned from their sorties and they have reported

citing an object in the new area, which was more than previously seen.

When the ships can get there and pick those up, we might find some

proper traces of what happened to the airliner. Jonathan, thank you.

And you can also keep up to date with the search on our website. Just

go to BBC.co.uk/missing plane. Figures obtained by the BBC suggest

that a government policy intended to encourage tenants on benefits to

move to more suitable homes is not having the desired effect. But

ministers say the cut in housing benefit, which critics call the

'bedroom tax', is having an impact. Our social affairs correspondent

Michael Buchanan reports. We are all sleeping in his room at

the moment. The problems of living in an overcrowded house. The Smith

family squeeze into a two bed council flat, and the last month has

seen all five of them sleeping in one room as their father was removed

from the other. Not only would the welfare bill be cut, the government

said, but under occupied homes with spare bedrooms would become

available. I feel a bit awkward about the situation because I know

it is not the fault of those people, and they feel they are losing their

homes, but it's not fair for people like us at the moment who have no

chance of getting out of the situation we are in. No bigger

properties have become available for the Smiths or any other families

according to data we have gathered from 80% of councils in Britain who

have housing stock. The information gathered suggests that just 6% of

council tenants affected by the welfare change have moved home.

However, more than one in four affected tenants have fallen into

arrears over the last year. At the same time, councils are sitting on

more than ?30 million worth of emergency funding, given to them by

the government to help tenants cope with the benefit cut. I thought more

people would be able to move and get away from this and more people would

find a way to play. Those are high figures, and as the policy

continues, more people will find themselves falling behind. The

government say the reform of social housing was necessary to bring

fairness into the system. We are working with lots of groups to make

sure that people build the right size properties, because the two

long they hadn't. We are still seeing some housing associations

building three-bedroom accommodation when we just need one and two

bedroom accommodation. Labour say the figures prove the housing

benefit cut is failing to achieve its aims, and have promised to

repeal the policy if they win the next election.

Max Clifford has told a court that claims of sexual or indecent assault

against him have been made by "fantasists" seeking compensation.

Under cross-examination, the publicist again dismissed the

allegations, calling them "a pack of lies". Mr Clifford denies 11 counts

of indecent assault. Our correspondent Richard Lister was in

court. It was the third day for Max

Clifford on the witness stand after two days of being questioned by his

own barrister. But today the exchanges became quite heated at

times, but the prosecution counsel pointing at Mr Clifford accusingly

while he angrily denied allegations. Arriving at court this morning, Max

Clifford knew he would have to answer prosecution questions for the

first time in the trial. Questions the court heard about why some 45

witnesses have made allegations against him. Pressed to give an

explanation, Max Clifford said: Max Clifford said the diaries were

in his office when he was first arrested in December 2012, but

shortly after he said they were put into storage and were not found by

police. They were only introduced as evidence just before the trial

began, but Mr Clifford said he did not know the whereabouts of some

specific diaries covering the period in question. Mr Clifford was asked

about his biography in which he talks about organising sex parties.

Good, honest filth, in his words. He acknowledged in court that he knew

agents at the parties who helped women advance their careers in

exchange for sex. Max Clifford has consistently denied offering to help

women advance their career in exchange for sex, and says he has no

firm memory of any of the women making allegations against him in

the trial. And his evidence is expected to continue on Monday.

The trial of the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who's

accused of murdering his girlfriend, has been adjourned. A court official

has been taken ill. The runner, who denies deliberately shooting his

girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in February last year, had been due to

take the stand. Prosecutors allege that he killed her after an

argument. Thousands of children, some as young

as six, are regularly watching pornography on the internet. The

online video regulator says nearly 500,000 people under the age of 18

accessed adult material in the month of December. But this is only on

home computers and doesn't take into account sexual videos and pictures

viewed on phones and tablets. Our technology correspondent Rory

Cellan-Jones has more. There has long been concerned about

children seeing adult material on the web, but now there is real

evidence. Using the same techniques as those for TV ratings, research

for the online video regulator has shown just how many children are

visiting sites showing pornographic videos. Nearly a quarter of all

Internet users in the UK visited an adult site, but nearly half a

million were under 18 with even primary school children seeing the

material. One website alone was visited by 112,000 boys. There's a

lot of positive content online, but there are other things to consider.

Parents at an Internet safety evening said it was a matter of huge

concern to them. I wasn't aware it was that easy. I thought there might

be a pin number or you had to apply. I didn't know you could just

stumbled across it. As a parent, I feel strongly about looking after my

children, and then somebody just decides to put something on the web.

Clear evidence that children as young as primary school age are

visiting websites offering pornographic videos without any age

control, the problem is that the sites are based outside of the UK,

but the regulator has an idea on how to put pressure on them. Follow the

money. Nearly all of the adult sites without age checks are based outside

of the UK, but the regulator says that cutting off payment services to

them is the answer. Although that would need a change in the law. That

means that the payment industry would have the tools at their

disposal to block the payments to those websites. In the longer term,

that will disrupt the business model of the porn industry. We contacted

the company behind the porn site with the most underage visitors.

They told us that we do not market to children and do not want them

accessing our content. The best solution lies in a multilayered

approach in which the parent assumes the central role. The government

says that parents can now install Internet filters to block access,

but the regulator wants tougher action against the pornography

industry. An inquiry is to be launched into

the sale of 30 million financial products, such as pensions and

endowments, over three decades. The Financial Conduct Authority wants to

ensure that customers are still getting a good deal from their

policies. In his only TV interview, Martin Wheatley, the chief executive

of the Financial Conduct Authority said it was much needed. There are

30 million policies, and ?180 million, we are concerned that

people must get good value from them. Well, with me is our personal

finance correspondent Simon Gompertz. 30 million products, it

sounds massive. This will be a big study, the biggest I can remember

because it goes back so far and applies to so many insurance

policies do so many companies that they could be pensions and

endowments, or savings policies that are called insurance. The worry is

the charges that people have paid on them. Sometimes they paid 5% of the

money when they put it in, and some cannot cash in the policies early

without losing half of the investment they put in will stop so

a big concern there. But speaking to the Financial Conduct Authority it

sounds like it's not a compensation bonanza. It is an early, initial

look. It could be that right now, taking a snapshot of the people

losing out, there might be compensation in future, or it could

be that they will be given the power to switch their savings from one

provider to another at low cost. The time is 1:14pm. Our top story this

lunchtime: The search for the missing Malaysian plane moves to a

different part of the Indian Ocean. And still to come... Searching for

life on Mars. Not on the Red Planet itself but up the A1M in Stevenage.

On BBC London. Essex Speedway Kings begin their season tonight, asking

all of London to back them. And the unsung heroes who finally take

centre stage in a new Oscar-winning documentary. From midnight, same-sex

couples in England and Wales who want to have a wedding, not a civil

partnership, can have one. The Government's controversial

legislation was passed last summer and lots of weddings will be taking

place in the early hours of the morning. But it seems not everyone

is happy. A poll for BBC Radio 5 Live reveals that one in five of us

would turn down an invitation to a gay wedding. Our religious affairs

correspondent Robert Pigott reports. I, Bernardo, take you, John, to be

my wedded husband. Final preparations for a moment of

history. John and Bernardo will be among the first gay Britons to tie

the knot just after midnight. They say this simple act will have

far-reaching complications, not just for them but the gay people

throughout England and Wales. It's moving from the fringe right into

the centre of society with everybody else. It's quite surprising that

we've made that journey in such a relatively short space of time.

Since 2005, gay couples have been able to enter civil partnerships,

which provide the same legal rights as marriage. But for many, the

distinction between this modern arrangement and the centuries-old

tradition of marriage have left their relationship is looking

second-class. For them, only full, visible equality will do. But most

religious groups say that equality is coming to higher cost. They claim

gay will undermine the family as a building block of society. In a

catholic understanding, marriage is the union of a man and a woman. That

is special and different because it's the only institution when you

live in the form of children can come without anyone else being

involved. So it's really important we respect the value of something

unique and special. That's not to discriminate, it's just a recognise

the difference. It's an issue that arouses strong feelings. 22% of

respondents to a BBC poll said they would not attend the same-sex

ceremony. However, other studies suggest that support for Same Sex

Marriage Bill increased, from 49% in 2007, to 59% in 2012. I think it's

fantastic. The world needs to progress and move forward with the

times. To live together like that. Man and woman. Everyone has got to

live. There's no problem in it all. Each to their own. John and Bernardo

say extending marriage to gay couples will revitalise it. You

could say that we are changing the institution of marriage and moving

forward, we are actually improving it. Weddings have dwindled in

Britain, but the symbolism of marriage remains powerful. Tonight,

gay Britons will celebrate their new status as married couples and the

quality they've dreamt of for decades. A male nurse has been

arrested again in connection with the poisoning of patients at

Stockport's Stepping Hill Hospital. Victorino Chua, who's 48, was

arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder, 18 counts of

causing grievous bodily harm and poisoning offences at the hospital.

The authorities in America say they expect the number of fatalities from

in Saturday's mudslide in Washington state to rise substantially. 16

bodies have been recovered and another nine have been found. 90

people remain missing after the 200ft wall of mud hit the town of

Oso, north of Seattle. From there, our correspondent David Willis sent

this report. As the painstaking search continued, telephone calls to

the emergency services were released revealing the panic as the mudslide

tour these homes apart. Hundreds of trees have fallen outside of my

house. It sounded like an earthquake was happening. Are there any

injuries? Yes, there are people yelling for help. Amongst the

rubble, rescuers have found the body of a four -month-old girl, whose

grandmother also died in the disaster. The search operation is

taking its toll on volunteers. They've recovered more bodies than

the figures indicate, but those bodies have yet to be formally

identified. In the next few days, the death toll is expected to rise

significantly. Comforted by her British friend Heather Rogers,

Nicole Ribeiro told me four of her loved ones are missing. Both her

parents, her 19-year-old daughter, Delaney, and Delaney's Beyonce,

Alan. In other countries and places where there have been tragic

mudslides and lives lost, many times bodies are not recovered and then

those areas are claimed as a memorial ground. I have a feeling

that may be the case in this situation, and I'm OK with that. For

me, I don't need a body to know... To get closure? No, I don't. And

what I want to say about Delaney. She was beautiful. I'm honoured to

be her mother. I will miss her very much. I'm going to do everything in

my power to help as many people as possible in honour of her and Alan

and my mum and dad. The tragic story of this tight-knit community is

slowly starting to unfold and the grieving has barely begun. David

Willetts, BBC News, Washington state. In the first recorded case of

its kind, two people have contracted tuberculosis from a pet cat. 39

people were offered screening for TB last March when nine cats in

Berkshire and Hampshire were found to be infected. Public Health

England says the risk from cats is very low, but any owners of pets

with the disease should see a doctor. Our correspondent Sophie

Hutchinson has more. But thousands of years these furry friends have

brought companionship to people's homes. But last year a small number

of cats brought something less welcome. This is one of the nine

cats known to have been infected with TB, and who passed the disease

on to two people in what is believed to be the first cat to human

transmission ever recorded. It is quite alarming, I agree. But put it

into context. We've got a small number of cases in TB in cats, and

this is the first time transmission has been documented. The risk

remains very low. As I say, there is no indication that it is increasing

in cats. The same strain of TB has been found in other people, but the

disease is not active in them. TB can be transmitted from animals to

people by breathing in or ingesting bacteria, or through contact with

open wounds. All the cats were infected with bovine TB, which comes

from cattle. They lived within a three-mile radius of each other, but

it's thought that badgers may be behind the outbreak. Experts insist

it is important to be vigilant about the health of your pet. I think

people have become a little bit complacent about thinking about cats

and dogs and their health. Because they usually are so healthy and

we're not thinking about infectious diseases. But we have a cat or a dog

with a skin lesion that won't heal or a persistent cough, we must take

them to the vet to have a look at. The vet needs to be thinking that TB

might be a possibility. The identities of the people infected

have not been released, but they are said to be responding well to

treatment. No further cases have been reported. Health experts are,

however, stressing that bovine TB is extremely rare and the risk posed by

cats is minimal. Sophie Hutchinson, BBC News. It was the moment Joanne

Milne thought she would never experience. After being locked in a

world of silence for 40 years she heard a voice for the first time.

The experience of hearing something as simple as a nurse reading out the

days of the week to test her implants reduced her to tears of

joy. Our correspondent Danny Savage has been to meet her. I will say the

days of the week again. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... For

the first time in her life, Joanne Milne has just heard something. Deaf

since birth, medics have switched on the cochlear implants which have

been put in her ears. And for the first time in 39 years, she can hear

people speaking to her. It sounds very high. It will. This incredible

moment was filmed by her mum, who was expecting her to laugh rather

than cry. That video was taken on Monday, five days on and Jo is back

at home in Gateshead getting used to a world of sound. It's all right,

it's a big, big, life changing day-to-day. I couldn't describe what

was going through my head. It was the most emotional experience I've

ever experienced. The impact of sound going through my body... That

moment of being able to hear for the first time. That will stay with me

for the rest of my life. I can't stop crying. And it's the simple

things in life which most of us take for granted that she now wants to

hear. I've heard the birds, running water... When I first did it I

thought... I tried it about ten times because I had to hear it again

and again. It's what people take for granted, switching on the light. To

me it was just amazing. May, June, July. Jo is 40 this summer and for

her, life is literally beginning again. December. Danny Savage, BBC

News, Gateshead. Scientists have recreated a little piece of Mars in

Hertfordshire. One of the companies involved in Europe's next mission to

the Red Planet, Airbus Defence and Space, has built a facility that

will be used to design and test a Martian rover. It'll be sent to Mars

in four years to search for life. Our science correspondent Pallab

Ghosh has been to Stevenage to see it. It's Mars but not as we know

it. It looks like a film set but it's actually a laboratory, to test

out technologies for Europe's next mission to Mars. This is an exact

replica of the Martian surface. Everything from the sand to the size

of the rocks to the rough terrrain is exactly the same as it is on

Mars. And it's going to be used to design the next generation of

Martian rover. The prototype creeps across the surface to avoid damaging

itself. But by speeding up the footage, engineers can study the

weaknesses in the wheels and suspension. This terrain is quite

complex to simulate on a computer, you can't build up a simulation

environment of it. So we actually need the physical interactions of

this rover with a real environment. NASA's Curiosity rover is currently

on Mars. The European rover will be able to see better than Curiosity.

What we are going to do is have it at about the height of the human

above the surface. Its camera, called Pancam, is being built in

Surrey. It will have small, coloured filters that will be used to find

out what the rocks are made of. Curiosity at the moment can see a

very small region, something like this. Pancam will be able to see a

much larger region, outlined in red there. We can also zoom in and look

at the blue section here in great detail, it's a high-resolution

camera. With that, we'll be looking for where to drill to look for signs

of life. The European mission is purpose-built to search for life. It

will drill deep into the Martian surface, analyse the samples in an

on-board laboratory. I think the probability of detecting life,

ancient life on Mars is very good. We do know that Mars and Earth were

very similar in the early history. So we would expect to find life on

Mars. Four billion years ago, Mars looked like this, similar to Earth.

With thick atmosphere and running water. So there's a real possibility

that there was once life on the Red Planet. If there was, there's a good

chance that Europe's rover will find evidence of it in just a few years

time. Pallab Ghosh, BBC News, Stevenage. Three Sumatran tiger cubs

born at London zoo have made their first public appearance. The

seven-week-old cubs joined their mother when she ventured outside to

stretch her legs a little earlier this week. The Cubs won't be named

until the keepers can determine if they are boys or girls.

This afternoon is going to be the last chance to catch some big

thunderstorms. They will develop across the Midlands, Wales and North

West England through this afternoon. Across the British Isles

at the moment we have fairly extensive cloud cover. Look

enviously over towards France, where they have clear, blue skies. This

sunshine will be wafting towards the British Isles through this weekend.

We have got some pretty decent weather coming up this weekend with

some sunshine. Turning much warmer for most but not all. More details

on that of a second. For Wales and south-west England, we are going to

see the thunderstorms breaking out this afternoon, hailstorms mixed in

as well. Towards East Anglia and South East England, the skies will

brighten up with hazy sunshine in the afternoon. Shower was breaking

out across the North Midlands, drifting into the north-west.

Otherwise, northern England and Northern Ireland will stay rather

cloudy today. A few showers for parts of southern Scotland. Writer

spells to the north and west. Tonight, further pulses of rain

coming up across western England and Wales. Misty over some of the hills.

The driest and clearest weather towards East Anglia and south-east

England as we go on through the night. Expect quite a slow start to

the day on Saturday with quite a lot of cloud around. Outbreaks of rain

on and off during the day in Northern Ireland. But behind this

weather front, that's where we see the sunshine being pulled in across

England and Wales. The winds dragging in milder air from the near

continent, the temperatures are set to rise. I is potentially reaching

around 19 or even 20 Celsius. It will feel beautiful in the sunshine.

But the sunshine and warm weather isn't for everyone. Across the North

East of Scotland and the north-eastern coast of England, we

will be stuck under a layer of thick, low cloud. It could bring

some rain but it will certainly dampen the temperatures. It could be

occasional breaks in that cloud but a disappointing field to the weather

here. Sunday, a similar picture. Rain at times for Northern Ireland.

Plenty of sunshine across England and Wales. Western and southern

Scotland also seeing sunny skies. Again, it's the north-east corner

that misses out on the sunshine. It will be cool with temperatures up to

eight degrees. Highs in the sunshine getting into the low 20s.

A reminder of our top story. The hunt for the missing Malaysian plane

moves to a new part of the Indian Ocean. Search planes have spotted

multiple objects including this one in the