19/08/2014 BBC News at One

Despite falls in the cost of clothing, another big rise in

house prices and in rail fares puts more strain on household budgets.

We'll speak to our business editor about

the wider economic implications. Also this lunchtime:

Iraqi security forces launch a military operation to try to retake

the city of Tikrit, currently in the hands of Islamic State militants.

Not in crisis - the Justice Secretary tells the BBC

that prisons in England and Wales are coping under stress.

Shots are fired at police, as unrest continues in Missouri over

the shooting dead by police of an unarmed black teenager.

A species at tipping point - new warnings that the African

elephant could become extinct within a century.

And at the end of the bulletin I'll have a joke for you -

it's up to you whether you think it deserves to be called

the best one-liner of the year. On BBC London, a gang wearing

burgers who staged a heist at Selfridge's are jailed.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

Figures out today show how house prices

and rail fares are still putting a strain on people's pockets.

Despite a fall in the rate of inflation from 1.9 to 1.6%,

UK house prices hit a record high in the 12 months to June.

And on the trains, rail passengers in England face

a rise in average ticket prices of 3.5% in the new year.

Our transport correspondent Richard Westcott will have more on

that shortly, and we'll also talk to our business editor, Kamal Ahmed.

But first our personal finance correspondent

Simon Gompertz has been to the Cotswolds to report on how it's

not just London where properties are becoming unaffordable.

Stow on the Wold, chocolate box town in the Cotswolds, not quite London

prices but for the pay you get here homes or even harder to afford. A

three-bedroom house can cost half ?1 million because so many want a

country hideaway. That leaves workers like Becky, soon to get

married, struggling to buy or rent. She has lost hope of finding a small

home in her own town. It makes me feel bad because I don't want to

live in my parents' pockets and I want to start on my own. It makes me

feel awful because I want to afford stuff. Affordability has as much to

do with pay as the cost of the home you are buying, here second home

buyers and those retiring have pushed prices up way above what many

people working in the Cotswolds can manage. Whilst the typical London

home cost ten times the average annual wage, there are other areas

in England which are even more unaffordable including

Stratford-upon-Avon, and here in the Cotswolds warily standard home is 19

times the average local wage. There are new homes nearby, but they are

mostly expensive too. This is on the market 389,000 950, four bedrooms.

The can -- local earnings are maybe ?19,000 per year, house prices start

at 200,000 so it is one hell of a jump. Talk of London houses coming

off the boil could have an impact here but it would take a big move to

bring towns like this within the reach of local buyers.

are becoming unaffordable. A significant part of many people's

budgets is taken up with transport costs and today's inflation news

will mean no let-up in the increasing cost of rail travel.

Fares are linked to August's inflation figure

and only intervention from the Chancellor will stop them going up

in England by an average of 3.5%. It is the one thing you can rely on

with the railways, the annual fare rise. Almost every year for a decade

the Government has put up ticket prices by more than inflation and it

is happening again next year with no end in sight. I would like to see

the long-term aspiration of fares going up by no more than inflation

every year but we are at a time of investing ?40 billion in the

railway. The biggest investment since Victorian times. From January

the rise for regulated fares including season tickets will be

inflation plus 1%, an average of 3.5%, but some tickets could rise by

as much as 5.5%, as long as the rail company cuts a single ticket price

elsewhere. If it were to be any more expensive it would be quite

crippling. I wouldn't be able to afford it myself if it wasn't for my

company paying it for me. So, where does your money go? For every pound

spent, around 26p goes on things like this, new stations. 25p goes on

staff, 22p goes on maintaining the trains and track. Take out money for

fuel and interest payments, it leaves 3p in the pound as the annual

profit. Labour would also increase fares but they would like -- abolish

the Flex system and bring in the legal right to the lowest fare. They

would also look back at what they were paying in 2010 when David

Cameron came to power, in Swindon ?6,500 for a season ticket, this

year ?8,000, and they will be counting the cost of the Government.

The level in Wales has not been set yet and there is no planned rise in

Northern Ireland. There is one glimmer of hope, the Government has

a track record of putting the rise at the last minute, and with an

election looming that could happen again.

in England by an average of 3.5%. Let's crunch some numbers now with

our Business Editor Kamal Ahmed. What are the broader implications of

this news? There are some glimmers of good news. There is a lot of

upward pressure on rail prices, house prices are still increasing

rapidly, but looking at some of the other staples that make up everyday

life, clothing prices are coming down, food prices are coming down.

The reason for a lot of this is because the UK economy is doing very

well, our currency is powerful, that means imports coming into this

country like clothing and food are cheaper, which is being fed through

to consumers because there is a battle on the high street for the

money we may have. The other important issue is wage inflation is

also very depressed. The key issue for all these facts and figures is

what does it mean for interest rates? I think that today's figures,

saying that prices are coming down, means any interest rate rise has

probably been pushed slightly further into the future. Next year

or this year? The consensus is for next year and I see that being

pushed out further, given the results today, which still show that

despite growth coming back to the UK, we have not gone back to that

disease of the 1970s which was rampant inflation. In a funny way,

despite housing and rail, we are in a pretty benign environment.

our Business Editor Kamal Ahmed. Iraqi forces have launched

an attack to try and retake the city of Tikrit, currently in the

hands of Islamic State militants. The city, 95 miles north of Baghdad,

is the former hometown of Saddam Hussein.

At the same time, the UN refugee agency has launched a major aid

operation in northern Iraq to help the half a million people who've

been displaced by the fighting. The fighters of what is now called

Islamic State rushing headlong towards Tikrit in June, the Iraqi

security forces had collapsed in the face of the militants' brutal

advance. So they swept into Tikrit, the birthplace of the former

dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi military is now attempting to drive

them out, they are already meeting stiff resistance. Buoyed by

intensified US air strikes around the Mosul Dam in the last few days,

Iraqi and Kurdish forces have retaken that vital installation.

President Obama called it a major step. Iraqi and Kurdish forces

performed with courage and determination so this operation

demonstrates that they are capable of working together and taking the

fight to ISIS. But for those forces, taking further towns will be more of

a challenge. While the boots on the ground continue to be ruled out, how

much more military support are the Americans and others prepared to

give them? In January militants seized the sound -- the town of

Fallujah, but then their advance to Tikrit took the Iraqi government and

much of the outside world by surprise. A sudden threat to Irbil

galvanised America into action. The humanitarian crisis and the threat

from Sunni militants are far from over.

been displaced by the fighting. The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling

has admitted that prisons in England and Wales are facing problems with

violence, suicide and staff shortages, although he denies that

the system is in crisis. The latest statistics show serious

assaults in prisons are at record levels and the number

of suicides is up. The Prison Reform Trust says

the Government is engaged in crisis management.

Sima Kotecha reports. Former prisoners have told the BBC

that jail is like a gladiator school, you have to fight to

survive. The report today into this prison in London paint a similar

picture of life for young inmates. There were more than 250 fights and

assaults last year in the jail. In the previous six months, 120

incidents had broken out. This comes after recent figures from the

Ministry of Justice show an increase in assaults within the prison

population from just over 14,000 last year to more than 15,000 this

year. Many would argue the thousands of young people inside Britain's

jails deserve to be there as part of their punishment, but if

rehabilitation is also important, the fear is the current environment

could lead to them becoming more dangerous criminals. Penal reform

campaigners say ministers are airbrushing away the problem. It

certainly feels very bad indeed. You have large prisons like Wandsworth,

built to hold 963 men, currently holding one -- 1000 600 or more and

it gives you an idea of the scale of overcrowding. The Government says

overcrowding is at the lowest level in ten years. The Justice Secretary

insists jails are not deteriorating. We have a prison state where

violence today is at a lower level than it was five years ago. We have

challenges from an increased population that was not expected, we

are recruiting more stuff but I am clear there is not a crisis in our

prisons. But critics argue that are bursting prison population and fewer

staff means the challenge of rehabilitating young, vulnerable and

often violent offenders is arguably tougher than ever.

Sima Kotecha reports. In the US State of Missouri, police

say they came under heavy gunfire and arrested more than 30 people

after another night of violent protests in the town of Ferguson.

The officer in charge says criminals have now infiltrated the protesters

and are intent on violence. 10 days ago an unarmed teenager,

18-year-old Michael Brown, was shot dead by a white police officer.

From Ferguson, Rajini Vaidyanathan reports.

Another night of drama on the streets of Ferguson. What began as a

peaceful protest soon turned ugly. Officers fired tear gas and stun

grenades to disperse the crowds. Demonstrators said they were moved

on and denied the chance to protest. Police say they were attacked with

rocks and bottles. Protesters don't clash with police, they don't throw

Molotov cocktails. It is criminals who throw Molotov cocktails and fire

shots which endangers lives and property. And officers say these

violent protesters are not just from Missouri, with some travelling from

as far as New York and California. The addition of America's reserve

force, the National Guard, to help restore calm has failed to quell

tensions. Many people in this small community say they will continue to

protest until justice is served. They want justice for Michael

Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was shot dead by a white police

officer just over a week ago. A postmortem conducted by his family

showed he had been shot six times, twice in the head. Just what

happened is the subject of two separate investigations. FBI

officers have been sent to speak to witnesses, many of whom don't trust

the local police. Events in Ferguson have raised questions across America

about the relationship many communities have with law

enforcement. People say they want their voices to be heard, police say

the best way for that is for protesters to gather during the day,

avoiding what they describe as a dangerous dynamic in the night.

Our top story this lunchtime: The annual rate of UK inflation fell

more than expected in July with cheaper clothes, footwear,

food and non-alcoholic drinks. And still to come:

Iceland warns of a possible volcanic eruption, raising concern over

a knock-on effect on Europe's aviation industry.

Coming up on BBC London: Sego top of the league. And Arsenal

begin their Champions League campaign -- Chelsea go top of the

league. If I asked you what image comes to

mind at the mention of the word Africa, chances are an

elephant would be there somewhere. Well, now a new study suggests

the number of Africa's elephants has declined to a critical point.

It says around 35,000 elephants are killed for their ivory each year,

and that if the rate of poaching doesn't slow down, the species could

be wiped out in a century. Our science correspondent

Rebecca Morelle reports. A giant that once thrived across

Africa, but today elephants are in crisis. New research suggests they

could vanish from the continent forever. The problem starts here. A

trail of blood leading to a scene that has become all too common. The

animal tasks have been hacked off and the bodies left to rot. Poaching

has soared in recent years, fuelled by a rapid growing black market in

Asia. The demand is so high that a kilogram of ivory is now worth

thousands of pounds. The latest figures show that the illegal ivory

trade is having on the devastating impact on Africa's elephants. -- a

devastating impact. Since 2010, an average of 34,000 elephants have

been killed annually, that means every year 7% of the entire elephant

population of Africa is being wiped out, and more animals are now dying

and being born. At Knowsley Safari Park, they say the situation in

Africa is critical. The fear is that one day the only place left to see

these animals could be in captivity. Elephants are a keystone species, so

without these a lot of animals will be effected within the greater

ecosystem. They provide for parts or small animals, they knock food down

for small animals. So not only will elephants be affected, a lot of

other animals in the same ecosystem will be affected as well.

Conservationists say urgent action is needed. Some ivory stockpiles are

being destroyed in an effort to curb the demand. But there are also calls

for greater protection for the animals on the ground and tougher

penalties for poachers. If nothing is done and the slaughter does not

stop, scientists believe that African elephants could become exist

-- extinct in 100 years. The trial of four people accused

of taking part in a dating agency conspiracy and money

laundering scam has begun today. They're accused

of creating a false profile on the dating website match.com,

and then asking women to hand over significant amounts

of cash to men they met online. Two others have pleaded guilty.

Duncan Kennedy is at Winchester Crown court for us now.

Duncan. The prosecution described this as a

cynical ploy by the gang to exploit the emotions and finances of these

women who, as you say, were all members of the online dating agency

match.com. What the prosecution say is that the gang created fake

profiles and people to attract these women online and even gave them

names like James Richards, who described himself online as being

attractive. People like James Richards, who did not exist in

reality, send messages to the women saying things like, seriously,

honey, I love you. I feel a complete person with you. I love your eyes

and lips and you make me feel loved. And the prosecution say the idea was

to entice these women. Eventually these men started asking the women

for money to pay legal fees in India to release ?100 million worth of

inheritance they said they were owed. Many of these women, not all

of them, started handing over money ranging from ?700 in one case to

?174,000 in another case. In all, the prosecution say the total was a

quarter of ?1 million handed over by the women to the gang. One woman

became suspicious when she received the same loving e-mail twice, and

she rode back to the person saying, I wonder how many hard to have

broken -- wrote back. Four people are on trial, including one woman.

Two others have pleaded guilty, and the four people on trial denied

charges of conspiracy and money-laundering and the whole trial

is expected to last between three and four weeks.

A ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza has

been extended for another 24 hours. The announcement was made less than

an hour before the previous, five-day truce was due to expire.

Egyptian mediators in Cairo said talks on a long-term

arrangement would continue. Three doctors who contracted the

Ebola virus while working in Liberia are said to be showing remarkable

signs of improvement after being given the experimental drug ZMapp.

The World Health Organisation says more than 1,200 people in

West Africa have died from Ebola since the outbreak began.

The risk of an eruption at Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano has

increased, after a series of earthquakes in the region.

The risk level to the aviation industry has been raised to orange,

the second-highest level. The eruption of

Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010 shut down much of Europe's

airspace for six days, affecting more than 10 million people.

Sophie Hutchinson has more. Scientists from the Icelandic Met

Office at the Bardarbunga volcano. The volcano's risk of eruption has

been raised to Orange, the second-highest level. Deep

underground, the Earth is moving and over the past few days there has

been a sharp increase in volcanic activity, described as an intense

earthquake swarm. There is no clear evidence that it is moving upwards.

It is at a depth of five or ten kilometres, however, in the course

of these events we cannot exclude the fact that an eruption might take

place in the near future. This is the reason for concern. Back in

2010, the volcano Eyjafjallajokull exploded, producing a vast ash

cloud. It shut down European airspace for six days, grounding

flights and affecting an estimated 10 million travellers. It is thought

it won't happen again, and the evidence from the current volcano is

that the molten magma is moving underground in directions away from

its centre. With the holiday season at its peak, so far, that is good

news for travellers. Sophie Hutchinson, BBC News. Which country

has the most theatre-goers in the world, and it is China, with a 380

million audience, and with its new wealth, China has been building

theatres across the mushrooming cities, but it's hard to producing

enough great shows to fill them and China is looking abroad and its

National Theatre has just begun a landmark collaboration with the

British National Theatre to produce a Chinese version of Warhorse. We

have been taking a look behind-the-scenes for the rehearsals

on the show in Beijing. This is Joey, the hero of the famous

National Theatre hit show, War Horse. He has been brought to light

by three Chinese puppeteers. 15 have been recruited, and the show does

not go into the theatres for another year as it has to be translated and

the actors who play the humans have to be trained, but the puppetry is

the big challenge here. China has shadow puppetry, but it has never

had this kind of huge, complex puppet to work with, and it has got

to be brought to life in both mind and body. Getting inside the head of

a horse as well as the body of a horse is hugely challenging, so

these puppeteers have just been recruited and have spent two weeks

in a stables near Beijing feeding horses, grooming horses, washing

horses and breathing every breath with the horses so they can

understand how every move and every reaction to a scare or something

that is fun. We have a team from the National Theatre from London here.

Tommy is in charge of this, and Sean and Sam. They are here to work with

the Chinese puppeteers. Because they have been here doing this job for

seven years since it first premiered back in London in 2007. It will take

a whole year of hard work for all of these Chinese puppeteers to get

fully into their role, and to get the stage show ready for China. And

those enormous audiences, the biggest theatre audiences in the

world here in China. Here in this Beijing rehearsal room it is the

year of the warhorse. The world's greatest comics have

all specialised in the one liner. Here's just some of them.

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'd be glad to make

an exception" from Groucho Marx. Or how about Tommy Cooper:

"I'm on a whisky diet, I've lost three days already".

Or WC Fields, "Start every day with a smile and get it over with."

They probably delivered them better than me, but one man who can deliver

a one liner is the comedian Tim Vine who's just won the prize for the

best joke at this year's Edinburgh Festival and I've been speaking to

him about his award-winning gag. Before we do anything, we should

hear the joke in full. From me? I have decided to sell my Hoover,

well, it's just collecting dust. That's it. Were you surprised to win

the award for that? How dare you? I spotted your tone. I am always

surprised by most things, and it's unfortunate I'm doing short jokes

appear, and this particular award is really for jokes that can be written

down in a shortfall. As a result, there is only a small group of us

doing these jokes, for obvious reasons -- short form. What makes a

one-liner work? Well, it has to be one line and it has to be funny.

That might be where I fell down with this one. If you are saying that

one... I do like my stuff, but when you do a joke on one other person,

it feels a bit odd. What were some of the other jokes that caught your

eye? What made you laugh? Like most people I tend to laugh generally

with friends when I am messing about. Just stupid stuff makes me

laugh. No, I will skip that. Different stuff, really. You won the

award in 2010. Remember the joke that joke that one that? Yes, I do.

I have been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I tell you what, never

again. It's the telling it to one person that is the problem.

Thankfully I have slightly more than one person in my audience, but it is

hard. Maybe you are one of those silent laugh is. I can't see you.

That is exactly what I was doing. How do you get these jokes together?

Do you have a moment of inspiration and make yourself laugh travelling

on the train? Or do you work for hours at these things? A bit of

both. Sometimes you make yourself laugh, and sometimes you have to sit

at a table and try and come up with something. Another one of my jokes,

I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger eating a chocolate egg, and I said I bet I

know what your favourite Christian festival is, and he said, you have

do love Easter, baby. But the laughter track on Easter -- later,

baby. Tell it to the other guy. That was the award-winning Tim Vine, and

Darren has a one-liner for me. Who is the best person to add up in

hot weather? A summer. Remember when we had one of those. When the sun

comes out today, it feels OK. It is mid-August. We have the showers

developing a little more widely and we have a cool breeze as well. This

is the satellite picture from earlier. We had the satellite

picture this morning with the sunshine, and now we have seen cloud

and showers spilling into the Midlands, towards the south-east. A

bit like we had yesterday. Later this afternoon across the South

West, sunny spells and maybe a few showers dotted about. Not many

showers hitting the south coast, but not as warm as yesterday. We get the

showers later in the afternoon. A scattering of showers across the

Midlands. We get the showers later in the north-east, perhaps. With the

wind direction, it is north-westerly, and a lot of shelter

from the high ground, but central belts have seen very few showers and

more in the way of sunshine. Sunshine to come in Northern

Ireland, just a few showers, and only 15 degrees, but it should feel

better in Wales and the north-west of England where we will see more

sunshine as the move away. Into the evening, a scattering of showers,

heavier ones for eastern England, especially the north-east and

south-east Scotland. Those are pushed away, then it should be dry

and the winds will drop out, so temperatures will fall sharply. In

rural areas, three or 4 degrees possibly. Even across parts of

England and Wales, so cold and last night. But again, when the sun comes

out tomorrow it won't feel too bad. The winds will be lighter tomorrow

and we will see cloud bubbling up again and a few showers. Probably

not as many as today but the temperatures are still

disappointingly low for the time of year. 15 in Glasgow, 19 in London,

and somewhat weather in the north-west, probably towards the end

of the day. That comes courtesy of the area of low pressure spilling

southwards, so tomorrow night the lowest temperatures will be across

more southern parts of the UK, but not a bad day on Thursday. Sunny

spells, one or two showers. Northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland,

a lot of cloud, a lot of showers and some will be heavy. Westerly winds

on Thursday for a while, but we ended the week with more of a

northerly wind dragging down the chilly air, bringing this a mixture

of sunshine and showers but the beginning of the weekend looks

rather more promising. Ending on an upbeat note.

Now a reminder of our top story this lunchtime.

The annual rate of UK inflation fell more than expected in July with

cheaper clothes, footwear, food and non-alcoholic drinks.

That's all from