:00:07. > :00:13.A new crisis at the Co-op as former City minister Lord Myners quits the
:00:14. > :00:19.board, a board he wanted to scrap. It's another significant blow for
:00:20. > :00:22.the business. It lost its chief executive last month and is facing
:00:23. > :00:25.losses of up to ?2 billion. We'll be getting analysis from our business
:00:26. > :00:28.editor. Also this lunchtime... At his murder trial, Oscar Pistorius is
:00:29. > :00:37.accused of only being concerned about himself. I had to go to
:00:38. > :00:44.training, she knew I had to go to lunch. It's all about Mr Pistorius.
:00:45. > :00:48.New research suggests hundreds of millions of pounds may have been
:00:49. > :00:53.wasted on a drug for flu that works no better than paracetamol. Nearly
:00:54. > :01:01.30,000 people died in England in 2010 because of long-term exposure
:01:02. > :01:04.to air pollution. And the Royal ascent that never quite got off the
:01:05. > :01:07.ground. On BBC London. London City Airport
:01:08. > :01:11.to close to make way for new homes according to a think tank. And how a
:01:12. > :01:12.pilot using traceable liquid is the Met's latest tool to tackle
:01:13. > :01:40.burglaries. Good afternoon, and welcome to the
:01:41. > :01:43.BBC's News at One. The troubles of the Co-op Group deepened today after
:01:44. > :01:46.the resignation of one of its board members, the former Labour City
:01:47. > :01:49.Minister, Lord Myners. He was in charge of a review that was due to
:01:50. > :01:51.recommend wide-ranging changes, including replacement of the Board.
:01:52. > :01:54.But even before the report was finished, some parts of the group
:01:55. > :01:57.said they would reject his proposals. It's just the latest in a
:01:58. > :02:00.litany of problems to hit the business, which is facing losses of
:02:01. > :02:07.up to ?2 billion. Here's our chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym.
:02:08. > :02:10.These are troubled times at the Co-op. Attempts to provide a more
:02:11. > :02:14.commercial edge and streamline the board have hit a brick wall. Last
:02:15. > :02:18.month, the chief executive walked out over a row over his pay packet,
:02:19. > :02:22.and now a senior independent director has quit. The former Labour
:02:23. > :02:26.Minister Lord Myners was brought into carry out a review. He has now
:02:27. > :02:30.gone, after his reform proposals were opposed by some in the Co-op
:02:31. > :02:34.movement. In a video for Co-op members last month he had an
:02:35. > :02:40.uncompromising message. At the moment, if you ask the question, are
:02:41. > :02:46.we truly democratic? No. We led by a board that is fit for purpose? No.
:02:47. > :02:50.Do we enjoy the full and undoubted support without any hesitation from
:02:51. > :02:57.our bankers? No. Some outsiders agree with Lord Myners that the
:02:58. > :03:01.Co-op asked to change. It's very important that the Co-op understands
:03:02. > :03:05.that the old way is over, finished and gone and someone has to grab it,
:03:06. > :03:12.take it forward, communicate and deliver. The Co-op, owned by its
:03:13. > :03:16.members, has a complex structure with independent regional societies
:03:17. > :03:22.electing some directors. Some say Lord Myners' plans went too far. It
:03:23. > :03:25.seems they do not enjoy the support of the vast majority of elected
:03:26. > :03:31.members. Lord Myners knows this very well. It certainly doesn't enjoy the
:03:32. > :03:35.support of all of the independent societies. Many of the Co-op's
:03:36. > :03:39.problems stem from the banking subsidiary. It needed funding to
:03:40. > :03:43.plug a hole in its balance sheet. Outside investors have to be brought
:03:44. > :03:46.in the Co-op has lost overall control of the bank. Embarrassing
:03:47. > :03:50.revelations about the personal life of the former chairman, the reverend
:03:51. > :03:55.Paul Flowers, raised questions about the lack of experience of those in
:03:56. > :03:58.charge the bank. The Co-op has a long established presence of
:03:59. > :04:02.Britain's high street, but there are now a whole range of questions over
:04:03. > :04:05.its future, including how it governs itself, where sources of finance for
:04:06. > :04:12.investment might come from and how it might look to customers in years
:04:13. > :04:16.to come. Results from the bank tomorrow and the group next week are
:04:17. > :04:19.expected to reveal big losses. Another reminder of the scale of the
:04:20. > :04:26.challenge facing those still at the helm of the Co-op. Let's speak to
:04:27. > :04:29.our business editor, Kamal Ahmed. It's a business that seems to lurch
:04:30. > :04:35.from crisis to crisis. A huge concern if you work there, but what
:04:36. > :04:38.about everybody else? It's quite easy to view the Co-op as a homespun
:04:39. > :04:43.charity vistas, a sort of Miss Marple of the high street, but this
:04:44. > :04:51.is a very big British business. It has 8 million members, 2800 retail
:04:52. > :04:55.shops. It has Britain's biggest funerals business and its third
:04:56. > :04:59.largest pharmacy. It also has a 30% stake in Co-op Bank, which has 4.7
:05:00. > :05:05.million customers. So this is important. What is going on here is
:05:06. > :05:08.a power battle. To put it simply, on the one side you have the
:05:09. > :05:12.traditionalists. These are the people who think that's what the
:05:13. > :05:17.Co-op is really about, feel they've got their Co-op DNA. The notion of a
:05:18. > :05:27.cooperative society in them. And then the modernisers, of which Lord
:05:28. > :05:30.Myners is probably one of the leaders. He thinks that the Co-op to
:05:31. > :05:32.survive, and it's got a lot of problems, needs to completely change
:05:33. > :05:34.the way it is governed. That is the big problem, the big battle. With
:05:35. > :05:37.Lord Myners' departure last night, it looks like those traditional
:05:38. > :05:43.members are fighting back and are probably now in the ascendancy.
:05:44. > :05:47.Marks and Spencer has revealed that its general merchandise sales fell
:05:48. > :05:50.for the fourth quarter, down 0.6%. But like-for-like clothing sales
:05:51. > :06:03.were up 0.6%. M also reported a small rise in food sales. Oscar
:06:04. > :06:06.Pistorius has been accused of bullying his girlfriend, Reeva
:06:07. > :06:09.Steenkamp, before her death. The South African athlete has been
:06:10. > :06:11.undergoing some tough cross examination at his trial for
:06:12. > :06:15.murdering the model on St Valentine's Day last year. Let's
:06:16. > :06:17.cross to Pretoria and our correspondent Andrew Harding, who's
:06:18. > :06:24.been watching the morning's proceedings.
:06:25. > :06:28.Yes, for the first time this week, no tears in court this morning from
:06:29. > :06:34.Oscar Pistorius. But his character and credibility once again came
:06:35. > :06:38.under withering criticism from the prosecutor who was cross-examining
:06:39. > :06:44.him. Repeatedly accusing the athlete of lying about his evidence to the
:06:45. > :06:46.court will stop and, as usual, there were no pictures of Pistorius
:06:47. > :06:53.broadcast as he gave evidence this morning. Jacket on and heading back
:06:54. > :06:56.into court for a second gruelling day of cross-examination. Oscar
:06:57. > :07:03.Pistorius calls this the fight for his life. The prosecutor's first
:07:04. > :07:09.topic, the athlete's relationship with Reeva Steenkamp. Those angry
:07:10. > :07:15.texts she sent him, and his excuses. I had to go to training, I had to go
:07:16. > :07:19.to lunch. It is about you. The prosecutor said it was clear from
:07:20. > :07:25.the texts that Pistorius was deeply self-centred. Your life is just
:07:26. > :07:29.about you, what is important to Oscar. Oscar shouldn't get into
:07:30. > :07:34.trouble, this shouldn't get into the media. You are very concerned about
:07:35. > :07:38.what is good for Oscar. Bent to the incident when Pistorius fired a
:07:39. > :07:41.friend's gun under a table in a crowded restaurant. The athlete told
:07:42. > :07:46.the court, my finger was not on the trigger. He was called a liar. I
:07:47. > :07:52.must accept that in your version the gun went off by itself. He gave you
:07:53. > :07:57.a bun, it went off by itself. I don't recall how the fire Ron went
:07:58. > :08:01.off, I know my finger was not on the trigger. The prosecutor suggested
:08:02. > :08:05.there was a pattern, that Pistorius did not want to accept the blame for
:08:06. > :08:08.anything. He linked it to the athlete's suggestion that he'd shot
:08:09. > :08:15.through a toilet door, killing Reeva Steenkamp, accidentally. It's the
:08:16. > :08:19.strangest day today, you just don't take responsibility for anything,
:08:20. > :08:24.you just don't do anything wrong. You are lying. The prosecutor sought
:08:25. > :08:28.to show Pistorius was often reckless with guns, asking him why he would
:08:29. > :08:34.carry a loaded pistol to a boating party. You can't conceal a fire Ron
:08:35. > :08:40.in shorts without a shirt so that nobody can see it. I can't say I was
:08:41. > :08:45.wearing a shirt, I can't remember. I wasn't there, I'm testing you. It's
:08:46. > :08:52.your version, do tell the court, I took my gun to get together on a
:08:53. > :08:57.boat. A bruising morning for the athlete and the cross-examination
:08:58. > :09:00.continues. And remember those two witnesses, former friends of
:09:01. > :09:06.Pistorius, who said he'd fired a pistol through a car sunroof. Today,
:09:07. > :09:10.the athlete accused both of them of fabricating evidence. The prosecutor
:09:11. > :09:14.then moved onto the key incident in this trial, those four bullets that
:09:15. > :09:19.Pistorius fired through his toilet door, killing Reeva Steenkamp.
:09:20. > :09:26.Again, pressuring the athlete to admit it wasn't something he'd done
:09:27. > :09:29.accidentally. There'll be updates on the trial throughout the day on the
:09:30. > :09:32.BBC News Channel. Plus a special programme each evening with the key
:09:33. > :09:39.moments of the day. That's at 7.30pm on the BBC News Channel. The Office
:09:40. > :09:43.for National Statistics says it underestimated the net flow of
:09:44. > :09:48.migrants into the UK between 2001 and 2011 by 346000. It says a
:09:49. > :09:52.substantial number of citizens arriving in Britain from the eight
:09:53. > :09:59.countries that joined the European Union in 2004, including Poland,
:10:00. > :10:01.were missed in official figures. Australian search teams have
:10:02. > :10:04.discovered more signals in the area where they think Malaysian Airlines
:10:05. > :10:07.flight MH370 may have been lost. Officials say they could be from a
:10:08. > :10:10."man-made source". An Australian vessel picked up four acoustic
:10:11. > :10:13.signals in the area, twice over the weekend and twice on Tuesday. The
:10:14. > :10:22.flight vanished 33 days ago with 239 people on board. Back in 2006, at
:10:23. > :10:25.the height of the concerns over an outbreak of bird-flu, a drug called
:10:26. > :10:28.Tamiflu seemed to offer the best hope of preventing the spread of the
:10:29. > :10:33.disease. Hundreds of millions of pounds was spent on stockpiling the
:10:34. > :10:36.drug here in the UK. But now a review has concluded it was a waste
:10:37. > :10:41.of money because it may be no more effective at fighting flu than
:10:42. > :10:51.paracetamol. Here's our medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh. Huge
:10:52. > :10:56.stocks of Tamiflu were distributed during the swine flu pandemic of
:10:57. > :11:00.2009. It's an anti-Bible and should ease symptoms. But researchers, who
:11:01. > :11:04.spent five years fighting to get access to all the data from clinical
:11:05. > :11:10.trials, say the drugs don't work. Or at least not very well. The Cochrane
:11:11. > :11:14.Collaboration, a global health care research network, say the drugs
:11:15. > :11:19.shorten symptoms by half a day, it may be no better than paracetamol.
:11:20. > :11:25.They say there's no good evidence it reduces hospital admissions or
:11:26. > :11:28.complications, and it the risk of nausea, vomiting and other
:11:29. > :11:33.side-effects. What is more worrying, we don't have the clear benefits,
:11:34. > :11:36.which compensation reduction, any harms have been accentuated, and
:11:37. > :11:40.this is in otherwise healthy people. Start to use that in elderly
:11:41. > :11:45.people, children, this is deeply worrying. But this detailed review
:11:46. > :11:51.is at odds with a recent study from Nottingham University, funded by the
:11:52. > :11:53.manufacturers, Roche, which looked at 30,000 hospital admissions
:11:54. > :12:00.worldwide, and found that early use of the drug halved the risk of
:12:01. > :12:04.death. Roche says no wonder The Who, US and health bodies all recommend
:12:05. > :12:08.Tamiflu. There's a clear consensus across all of those people, and that
:12:09. > :12:12.is a significant body of expertise that have looked at our data and
:12:13. > :12:16.share the same position that we do, that Tamiflu is a very useful
:12:17. > :12:20.medicine for what is a serious respiratory infection that can lead
:12:21. > :12:24.to death in some instances. This drug has been a blockbuster which
:12:25. > :12:28.has made billions, but for critics it symbolises a culture of secrecy
:12:29. > :12:32.within the pharmaceutical industry. With some companies cherry picking
:12:33. > :12:37.the data they release from clinical trials that shows their products in
:12:38. > :12:42.the best light. The Health Secretary said suggestions that drug companies
:12:43. > :12:45.withheld data is worrying. The Government has to decide by the end
:12:46. > :12:54.of the year whether to renew its stockpile of Tamiflu. Fergus Walsh,
:12:55. > :12:57.BBC News. Long term exposure to air pollution led to around 25,000
:12:58. > :12:59.deaths in England in 2010, and local authorities need to do more to
:13:00. > :13:02.protect people. That's according to the latest figures from Public
:13:03. > :13:07.Health England. Let's speak to our environment analyst, Roger Harrabin.
:13:08. > :13:11.That's a very striking figure. It is. We can't say for certain that
:13:12. > :13:15.the figure is accurate. It's an estimate, because people don't
:13:16. > :13:19.instantly die of air pollution. This is where air pollution is associated
:13:20. > :13:21.with hastening death from heart problems or lung problems,
:13:22. > :13:25.particularly striking in London where one in 12 deaths are
:13:26. > :13:29.associated with air pollution. Much less bad in northern Scotland and
:13:30. > :13:32.Northern Ireland. The interesting thing about these figures is they
:13:33. > :13:43.should be going down. Air pollution is supposed to be improving in the
:13:44. > :13:46.UK it's not, because the government is failing to implement an EU
:13:47. > :13:48.directive on this and campaign groups for people with heart and
:13:49. > :13:50.lung problems are extremely unhappy about that. Schools in Wales are
:13:51. > :13:54.struggling to improve and suffer from a lack of a long-term vision.
:13:55. > :13:57.That's the findings of a review into the Welsh education system, carried
:13:58. > :13:59.out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. But it
:14:00. > :14:01.did praise "positive" learning conditions, as our Wales
:14:02. > :14:08.correspondent, Hywel Griffith, now reports. Right, if you could all
:14:09. > :14:13.face before a second, we are going to start on this worksheet. Learning
:14:14. > :14:17.to get results. These pupils in Port Talbot are revising for their GCSE
:14:18. > :14:21.exams in the summer. Their school has a good record. But to many
:14:22. > :14:26.others in Wales are making -- failing to make the grade. The last
:14:27. > :14:33.set of international tests for 15-year-old ranked Wales as 43rd out
:14:34. > :14:38.of 65 countries in maths, 41st for reading and 36 for science. Making
:14:39. > :14:42.it the worst performing part of the UK and trailing well behind
:14:43. > :14:47.countries like Poland and Slovenia. The body which once the tests says
:14:48. > :14:51.it is an education system that is trying to improve but doesn't have a
:14:52. > :14:56.clear direction. We believe you need to have a longer term vision of what
:14:57. > :15:01.the Welsh learners should be learning, who they should be and
:15:02. > :15:05.what Wales wants out of their students. It's a question some
:15:06. > :15:09.teachers have been left asking, too. A decade after scrapping SAT tests,
:15:10. > :15:13.the Welsh Government has brought in new tests on numeracy and literacy,
:15:14. > :15:21.creating confusion in some classrooms. I feel worried for some
:15:22. > :15:25.pupils who are in school currently because they, too, must be asking,
:15:26. > :15:31.what do you want from us? What are the output is you want for us in
:15:32. > :15:35.terms of success? The Labour government in Wales says its
:15:36. > :15:40.education plan is clear. So what is it? What is your long-term vision?
:15:41. > :15:48.Excellence. In an international context. What does it mean for a
:15:49. > :15:55.pupil or their parent? What it means in simple terms is that Welsh
:15:56. > :16:00.people, young people in Wales can expect the very best in terms of
:16:01. > :16:03.their educational experience. And in an international context, they will
:16:04. > :16:06.have a passport to success, whether that's true qualifications or the
:16:07. > :16:11.wider skills they need. That could take them wherever they need to go.
:16:12. > :16:17.Where Welsh schools have been told to go is into the top 20 countries
:16:18. > :16:28.internationally by 2015. An ambition that will test the whole system. Our
:16:29. > :16:31.top story this lunchtime. The former city Minister Lord Myners has quit
:16:32. > :16:35.the board of the Co-op Group over objections to his planned changes.
:16:36. > :16:39.And still to come, why the government is giving a ?10 million
:16:40. > :16:45.loan to help ease the closure of two of the UK's deep coal mines.
:16:46. > :16:49.Later on BBC London, the capital's businesses say they are feeling
:16:50. > :16:53.confident, so why are they finding it so hard to recruit staff? If you
:16:54. > :16:57.think original artwork is out of your league, think again. You too
:16:58. > :17:05.could own a Banksy, but you will have to share it.
:17:06. > :17:11.The parents of two sisters who died in the Hillsborough disaster have
:17:12. > :17:15.been trying to put into words their loss at the inquest into their
:17:16. > :17:18.deaths. Clever and Jenni Hicks said their daughters, Sarah and
:17:19. > :17:23.Victoria, had been too bright, beautiful innocent young women, who
:17:24. > :17:29.had lived together and died together -- clever. Judith Moritz has been at
:17:30. > :17:32.the inquest in Warrington. The court has been continuing the
:17:33. > :17:36.process of hearing statements from the families of all of those who
:17:37. > :17:41.died at Hillsborough and of the 96, who were killed, seven were women.
:17:42. > :17:48.Two of those word teenage sisters, Sarah and Victoria Hicks.
:17:49. > :17:51.The 96. It is the number and collective name of all those who
:17:52. > :17:55.died at Hillsborough. But the families of every one of the
:17:56. > :17:59.disaster's victims have been telling their individual stories to the
:18:00. > :18:05.court. Today, the jury heard about sisters Sarah and Victoria Hicks.
:18:06. > :18:11.Ricky, on the left, was 15. Sarah, on the right, 19. If she had lived,
:18:12. > :18:14.today would have been her 44th birthday. The girls went to the
:18:15. > :18:19.match that day with their parents. Today, their father told the jury
:18:20. > :18:24.that Hillsborough had caused the end of his marriage to their mother,
:18:25. > :18:30.Jenny. They both came to court to speak about the loss of the two
:18:31. > :18:34.girls. It is an opportunity to let the court know what lovely people my
:18:35. > :18:39.daughters were. That is the way I am looking at it. I am proud and
:18:40. > :18:42.privileged to speak, to be given the opportunity to speak about them
:18:43. > :18:48.today. I have written difficult things, political stuff, clever,
:18:49. > :18:53.technical things, but to try to encapsulate two people in this case
:18:54. > :18:58.on a couple of sides of a four, for it to project that person, is
:18:59. > :19:02.extremely difficult to do. Trevor Hicks told the jury, it is not that
:19:03. > :19:07.losing two is twice as bad, it is that you lose everything. The
:19:08. > :19:11.present, the future and any purpose. The most difficult thing for me is
:19:12. > :19:15.the sheer waste of Sarah and Vicky's lives. Jenny described her
:19:16. > :19:19.daughters as two bright, beautiful innocent young women. I left you as
:19:20. > :19:24.you went into a football ground, she said, and a few hours later you were
:19:25. > :19:28.dead. Trevor Hicks spoke to reporters after the end of the last
:19:29. > :19:31.Hillsborough inquests in 1991. He and Jenny have campaigned on behalf
:19:32. > :19:36.of those bereaved for many years. But today, they spoke about how
:19:37. > :19:40.Hillsborough destroyed their own family.
:19:41. > :19:45.The inquests have adjourned for the day and they will not be sitting
:19:46. > :19:49.next week because on Tuesday, instead of coming here to court, the
:19:50. > :19:54.survivors and the bereaved of Hillsborough will be going to a
:19:55. > :20:02.service at Anfield, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Britain's
:20:03. > :20:07.worst sporting disaster. Two of UK's deep coal mines are to
:20:08. > :20:12.get ?10 million to help them close. The mines, owned by UK Coal, are due
:20:13. > :20:16.to shut in the next 18 months with the loss of around 1300 months jobs,
:20:17. > :20:20.but the government says it will load the money because it would cost the
:20:21. > :20:25.taxpayer more if they went into insolvency now. Let's speak to our
:20:26. > :20:29.correspondent Phil Bodmer, who is outside Kellingley Colliery in North
:20:30. > :20:33.Yorkshire. NUM officials and UK Coal bosses
:20:34. > :20:35.have been locked in talks at Kellingley, discussing this loan
:20:36. > :20:39.offer from the government. The Energy Secretary Michael Fallon says
:20:40. > :20:43.it is a good offer and if the unions don't accept it then this pit and
:20:44. > :20:47.Thoresby in Nottinghamshire could become insolvent as early as next
:20:48. > :20:50.week. That would the results in the loss of several thousand jobs. The
:20:51. > :20:56.union says it is unhappy. They wanted more time and money to make
:20:57. > :21:01.this colliery and Thoresby a going concern. However, UK Coal say if
:21:02. > :21:05.they don't accept it then up to 2000 jobs could be at risk. The union
:21:06. > :21:10.says we are likely to be burning coal for the next decade, much of
:21:11. > :21:14.that coal is imported from Columbia and Russia. They say we should be
:21:15. > :21:18.burning coal which come -- can be mined here in Kellingley and
:21:19. > :21:24.Thoresby, transported to power stations more cheaply. The
:21:25. > :21:27.discussions are ongoing. Most students in England will still
:21:28. > :21:31.be paying back loans from the university days in their 40s and 50s
:21:32. > :21:35.and many will never clear the debt. That is according to research by the
:21:36. > :21:38.Institute of fiscal studies which suggests graduate on lower salaries
:21:39. > :21:42.will pay back less than they would have been expected to while higher
:21:43. > :21:46.earners will end up paying more. Luke Walton reports.
:21:47. > :21:51.Study at university has long been a chance to expand your mind and your
:21:52. > :21:55.ambitions but today's report says students in England will pay the
:21:56. > :21:58.price long after graduation. Its figures suggest the average student
:21:59. > :22:02.will pay back nearly twice as much because of changes to student loans
:22:03. > :22:06.and higher tuition fees. And though lower paid graduates will pay less,
:22:07. > :22:12.the burden on those on middle and higher incomes will increase and
:22:13. > :22:15.continue until they are 50. Universities insist a degree still
:22:16. > :22:18.represents a good investment, one that leads to higher incomes in the
:22:19. > :22:22.future. But for the current generation of students there is
:22:23. > :22:27.another, less positive legacy, in the shape of a debt that can last 30
:22:28. > :22:31.years. Today's students will be paying back less in their 20s but
:22:32. > :22:34.more in their 40s, when they have significant family bill pressures on
:22:35. > :22:39.the irony is the government probably won't get around half the loans it
:22:40. > :22:44.has paid out so there is a double debt trap in the system. Do students
:22:45. > :22:51.think it is money well spent? It is an intimidating amount, but we are
:22:52. > :22:54.stuck with it. It is a lot of money but I would rather have a degree and
:22:55. > :22:59.better prospects of a job afterwards. Ministers insist their
:23:00. > :23:01.report -- their reforms were necessary to make higher education
:23:02. > :23:07.more financially viable. This system is leading to savings for the
:23:08. > :23:11.taxpayer, savings and public expenditure. It is bringing more
:23:12. > :23:16.money into our universities so that the teaching experience of a student
:23:17. > :23:21.at university is better. There is more resource behind him or her at
:23:22. > :23:25.university. The picture is different elsewhere in the UK. Welsh and
:23:26. > :23:29.Northern Irish students pay less for tuition. Scottish students don't pay
:23:30. > :23:34.for it at all if a study in their own country. In England, the numbers
:23:35. > :23:37.going to university and stayed buoyant despite much higher fees but
:23:38. > :23:42.there are questions about the policy's long-term cost.
:23:43. > :23:46.It is the biggest democratic election the world has ever seen
:23:47. > :23:51.up-to-date, is crucial day innings day where 814 million people are
:23:52. > :23:55.eligible to vote. Polling is taking place across 14 states including the
:23:56. > :24:01.capital Delhi. We won't know the result until May the 16th. Let's
:24:02. > :24:06.cross to Delhi and Jon Sopel. Yes, the figures are eye-popping,
:24:07. > :24:11.aren't they? 91 constituencies are voting today. Over 100 million
:24:12. > :24:16.people are eligible to vote. The polling stations here in Delhi are
:24:17. > :24:21.open for another five minutes and already the turnout is significantly
:24:22. > :24:26.up on 2009. That is seen to be good news for the challenger, the BJP led
:24:27. > :24:28.by Narendra Modi. Let's get this report from our Delhi correspondent,
:24:29. > :24:32.Andrew North. The quiet dignity of democracy in
:24:33. > :24:38.action. From here in North Delhi to southern India, millions of voters
:24:39. > :24:42.are going to the polls. Many bringing their families as the
:24:43. > :24:44.voting means a public holiday. Before casting their ballots
:24:45. > :24:51.everyone has their finger marked with ink to prevent fraud. This
:24:52. > :24:57.electrician came to vote early, bringing his six-month-old grandson
:24:58. > :25:01.to the polling station. Like many other Muslims living in this part of
:25:02. > :25:09.Delhi, he said he was staying loyal to the ruling Congress party.
:25:10. > :25:14.TRANSLATION: I have always voted for the Congress and the Gandhi family.
:25:15. > :25:17.Inflation is an issue for us but it's not the fault of the Congress
:25:18. > :25:24.party. But others said it was time for change and were backing the
:25:25. > :25:27.opposition BJP candidate. TRANSLATION: Narendra Modi has clean
:25:28. > :25:31.politics. People say all sorts of things in elections and they say
:25:32. > :25:37.he's against Muslims, but I say he should get a chance. We should see
:25:38. > :25:39.how he performs. As well as in Delhi, voters are casting ballots in
:25:40. > :25:44.nearly a fifth of India's parliamentary seats in this latest
:25:45. > :25:48.round of voting. But it will be another month before the world's
:25:49. > :25:51.biggest election is over. There's been a steady flow of voters
:25:52. > :25:54.arriving at this polling station in Delhi'S old city on what is the
:25:55. > :25:58.biggest day so far in India's marathon elections. Voters have been
:25:59. > :26:01.saying issues like corruption and inflation are deciding their votes
:26:02. > :26:16.but others are talking about old loyalties. We won't know the result
:26:17. > :26:20.until the middle of May. Every newspaper has this this
:26:21. > :26:25.morning. Front page advert of Narendra Modi for the BJP, him on
:26:26. > :26:29.page three, him on page five, him on the back pages of the newspapers.
:26:30. > :26:36.The BJP clearly have the money. They also think they have got the
:26:37. > :26:39.momentum. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
:26:40. > :26:43.have been paying their respects to New Zealand's warded. They were
:26:44. > :26:47.visiting the town of Glenn on South Island and later toured a museum of
:26:48. > :26:51.World War I memorabilia owned by the Lord Of The Rings film director
:26:52. > :26:54.Peter Jackson. Here is our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell at
:26:55. > :26:58.the start of his report does contain some flash photography.
:26:59. > :27:01.They are taking on a greater share of the workload of William's
:27:02. > :27:06.grandmother now, particularly the long haul journeys like this one to
:27:07. > :27:10.New Zealand. So for William and Catherine, their state receptions in
:27:11. > :27:14.their honour, speeches to be made and jokes about George. He is a
:27:15. > :27:17.Bonnie Langford and you will be pleased to know he is currently
:27:18. > :27:25.preparing for life as a prop forward. -- he is a bonny lad. This
:27:26. > :27:33.couple's first public engagement of the visit had been to pay tribute to
:27:34. > :27:37.New Zealand's warded. The country placed itself immediately up
:27:38. > :27:41.Britain's side in 1914, 17,000 New Zealanders were killed in the First
:27:42. > :27:44.World War. In denim on the South Island, William and Catherine
:27:45. > :27:50.stepped forward together to place a wreath at the town's War Memorial --
:27:51. > :27:56.in denim. They met veterans. William top one group, Catherine another.
:27:57. > :28:02.Men with their memories of war, recalled slowly, listened to
:28:03. > :28:06.carefully. Hands were clasped and -- clasped and confidence is shared.
:28:07. > :28:10.Then to the crowds, predominantly women, frequently mothers who had
:28:11. > :28:13.brought their babies. A chance for Catherine to show off sharp and
:28:14. > :28:18.communication skills and to be reminded that babies don't
:28:19. > :28:24.necessarily regard reading the Duchess of the moment not to be
:28:25. > :28:28.sneezed at. There is a serious point of course amid all the royal visit
:28:29. > :28:33.frivolity. Does New Zealand want to keep Britain's kings or queens as
:28:34. > :28:37.their head of state? New Zealand has certainly flirted with the idea of
:28:38. > :28:42.moving on from the monarchy in the past, but when you come out into
:28:43. > :28:48.small, rural communities like this, support for the monarchy is still
:28:49. > :28:52.strong. I think Will and Kate will be wonderful to be the king and
:28:53. > :28:56.queen. It will be lovely. Can you imagine a King George of New
:28:57. > :29:03.Zealand? Absolutely, why not? Absolutely. He and his son represent
:29:04. > :29:07.the long-term future of the monarchy and at the moment there is no real
:29:08. > :29:13.evidence that New Zealand is pressing for change.
:29:14. > :29:20.Time for a look at the weather with Phil Avery.
:29:21. > :29:25.Good afternoon. This was the scene recently, I believe that is Muswell
:29:26. > :29:28.Hill in north London. The blossom is out here. Over the next few days it
:29:29. > :29:32.will feel like spring for many others. Dry and bright, mild days
:29:33. > :29:38.but some chilly nights starting as early as tonight. There is an if and
:29:39. > :29:42.but, in the form of this old weather front. It has been a bother for
:29:43. > :29:46.Northern Ireland and so too for southern parts of Scotland and the
:29:47. > :29:50.other side of the Solway. We will come back to that because we are not
:29:51. > :29:55.done with it even though it looks as if it is fading away. To the north
:29:56. > :29:59.of that the skies are brighter, but there are some sharp showers
:30:00. > :30:02.rattling in on a noticeable west to south-westerly breeze across the top
:30:03. > :30:07.end of Scotland. Some of those are getting down to the central belt.
:30:08. > :30:11.That front, we will come back to that in a second, then further
:30:12. > :30:15.south, it is dry and fine for the most part but the cloud, rather like
:30:16. > :30:19.yesterday, is beginning to show signs of developing across the South
:30:20. > :30:24.West and Wales. It may be this becomes the focus for warm or two
:30:25. > :30:30.showers. Overnight that front will reinvigorate itself for a time,
:30:31. > :30:35.before it fades as it drifts towards the south. Behind it the skies were
:30:36. > :30:40.clear. Those are the towns and city temperatures. In the countryside,
:30:41. > :30:44.well, much cooler. In fact, there may be pockets of frost around. Bear
:30:45. > :30:49.that in mind. A little bit of missed as well. The last of the weather
:30:50. > :30:52.front takes its time to get away from the south-east and you might
:30:53. > :30:57.find a spot of drizzle on that. We will thicken up the cloud of --
:30:58. > :31:02.across the North of Scotland again. In between, a lot of dry weather
:31:03. > :31:07.around and you, if any, showers to report. That weather front becomes
:31:08. > :31:10.on Friday and into Saturday more of a player for a greater part of
:31:11. > :31:15.Scotland and Northern Ireland. Notice the number of isobars, it is
:31:16. > :31:18.going to be quite breezy. This puts me in mind of the process we have
:31:19. > :31:22.just gone through of the front eventually getting down towards the
:31:23. > :31:28.Solway, through Northern Ireland too. A lot of dry weather ahead of
:31:29. > :31:31.it. That will be the forecast for Sunday's London Marathon, a chilly
:31:32. > :31:36.start and don't be on the course too long because beyond 2pm it could get
:31:37. > :31:39.warmer, possibly 16 Celsius. A lot of dry weather across the British
:31:40. > :31:45.Isles on Sunday except perhaps the far north of Scotland with more
:31:46. > :31:49.cloud, wind and rain there. The top story. The former city
:31:50. > :31:50.Minister Lord Myners has quit the board of the Co-op Group Robert
:31:51. > :31:53.objections to his