:00:11. > :00:14.Tackling child abias. The Government unveils a national
:00:14. > :00:18.database for children who visit hospitals.
:00:18. > :00:23.All children in England will have details logged to help doctors spot
:00:23. > :00:27.the early signs of abuse. The growing north/south divide in
:00:27. > :00:30.Britain's house prices. Parts of the south-east prosper as prices in
:00:30. > :00:36.Scotland and Northern Ireland falter.
:00:36. > :00:46.At least six die as blizzards sweep across parts of the United States.
:00:46. > :00:53.
:00:53. > :01:00.After a year of unprecedented sales, which gadgets will we take to next?
:01:00. > :01:04.Good afternoon. All children who visit A&E
:01:04. > :01:07.Departments in hospital or see their doctor out-of-hours are to be
:01:07. > :01:12.entered on to a national database to help authorities tackle child
:01:12. > :01:17.abuse. It is hoped that the system, to be introduced in all hospitals
:01:17. > :01:22.in England by 2015, will allow professionals to spot the early
:01:22. > :01:26.signs of neglect and abuse. Luke Walton has this report. A&E
:01:26. > :01:32.Departments like this one in East London see thousands of children
:01:32. > :01:37.every year. Their injuries are often conspicuous, but the abuse
:01:37. > :01:40.that sometimes lie behind them can be less obvious. When it comes to
:01:40. > :01:45.spotting it, the staff need all the help that they can get.
:01:45. > :01:49.For every child who has died, had an inquiry, when you look back
:01:49. > :01:54.through, there are lots of attendances, but no-one had the
:01:54. > :01:58.whole picture. We want to give each doctor that sees them the whole
:01:58. > :02:02.picture. The staff will be able to see on
:02:02. > :02:07.hospital computer if children are on at-risk register, are in local
:02:07. > :02:13.authority care or have been freak want visitors to other A&Es.
:02:13. > :02:16.It will be rolled out Nashally in 2015.
:02:16. > :02:20.The children who are most at-risk of abuse tend to have devious
:02:20. > :02:24.parents who may well take them to different settings in different
:02:24. > :02:29.parts of the country. This allows us to have a record of when and
:02:29. > :02:33.where children have attended A&E Department settings.
:02:33. > :02:37.Calls for greater co-ordination between the agencies involved in
:02:37. > :02:41.caring for children, go back to the death of Victoria Climbie more than
:02:42. > :02:45.a decade ago, but there have been delays in coming up with a solution.
:02:46. > :02:49.Campaigners say that it is vital that the promises of today are
:02:49. > :02:55.followed by delivery. It is people that keep children
:02:55. > :02:58.safe, not systems and databases. We are concerned that the training of
:02:58. > :03:02.health professionals in child protection is patchy. We hope that
:03:02. > :03:06.the Department of Health will look at this to ensure that alongside
:03:06. > :03:10.the announcement, improvements in training can be made.
:03:10. > :03:16.This announcement will be closely scrutinised by Labour it criticised
:03:16. > :03:22.a decision by the coalition to halt the implementation of a bigger data
:03:22. > :03:25.because to tackle child abuse. Amid complaints that it was intrusive.
:03:25. > :03:31.Weather the new approach will finally fill the gap remain as
:03:31. > :03:35.point of contention. Well, our correspondent joins us
:03:35. > :03:40.here now, Philippa, how will the system work? It is a way of
:03:40. > :03:46.spotting children that are frequently using urb Gent care.
:03:46. > :03:51.Presenting with what you would call suspicious injuries, bruising, bite
:03:51. > :03:55.marks, scratching and burns. The evidence is that parents and carers
:03:55. > :03:59.who abuse go to great lengths to cover their tracks. So the idea is
:03:59. > :04:03.that even if children come in miles away or months after the last
:04:03. > :04:05.admission, that they will be spotted. There are concerns about
:04:05. > :04:09.intrusion on parents.and bureaucracy, the Department of
:04:09. > :04:13.Health is stressing that it is not more red tape. We log children who
:04:13. > :04:17.come in. That this is it a way of putting all of the information
:04:17. > :04:23.together. Also it is about clinical judgment, whether you are talking
:04:23. > :04:27.about a child who has fallen out of a tree and keeps doing it, or likes
:04:27. > :04:31.to fight or whether they are a victim of abuse, but this is a
:04:31. > :04:37.national system that has been recommended since twouds when
:04:37. > :04:40.Victoria Climbie died. She was seen by dozens of doctors, nurses and
:04:40. > :04:44.nobody spotted that she was basically being tortured to death.
:04:44. > :04:50.Thank you very much. It appear as flat year for house
:04:50. > :04:56.prices in 2012 is mask aggroing north/south divide. The figures
:04:56. > :05:00.from the Halifax show that the biggest falls in property values
:05:00. > :05:07.were in Craigavon in Northern Ireland and in Scotland and in
:05:07. > :05:13.lajshire. The biggest house prices were in Rochester, Basingstoke and
:05:13. > :05:18.the Southend area. There is a price rise of up to
:05:18. > :05:24.almost 15%. Emma, what is driving the house prices where you are?
:05:24. > :05:29.Well, it may look pretty in this area today, but this seaside town
:05:29. > :05:33.has seen the biggest house price increases than anywhere in the UK,
:05:33. > :05:38.according to the Halifax. There are a few simple reasons. There are
:05:38. > :05:42.good schools and a decent commute to London, proving more affordable
:05:42. > :05:48.for families looking to move from the capital. That is the theme in
:05:48. > :05:51.the report. That the top performers have been London commuter towns in
:05:51. > :05:56.the south-east, where on the whole the economy has been buoyant. What
:05:56. > :06:00.has been driving it is what is happening in London itself, a
:06:01. > :06:04.housing market all on its own, where the prices continue to defy
:06:04. > :06:08.gravity with lots of foreign buyers that is producing a ripple effect
:06:08. > :06:12.where the house buyers and families are looking further afield.
:06:12. > :06:17.Beyond the south-east, though, it is a different picture, isn't it?
:06:18. > :06:23.Yes, we did get more evidence of the north/south divide when it
:06:23. > :06:29.comes to property. The vast majority of the worst fer formers
:06:29. > :06:34.in terms of price rises have been outside of the south-east. Another
:06:34. > :06:38.survey shows there is an average of �100,000 different between the
:06:38. > :06:42.average property in the north and in the south, but the overall
:06:42. > :06:45.national picture has not changed that much throughout the year. A
:06:45. > :06:48.fairly stagnant market with little movement in prices or in sales.
:06:48. > :06:54.That is looking set to continue in 2013.
:06:54. > :06:59.Emma, thank you very much. The former American President,
:06:59. > :07:02.George Bsuh Senior, who has been in hospital for treatment for
:07:02. > :07:07.bronchitis has moved to intensive care. He has been in hospital since
:07:07. > :07:10.the end of November. It is thought that he developed complications,
:07:10. > :07:15.but is decide be talking to family and doctors.
:07:16. > :07:21.President Obama has cut short his Christmas holiday in Hawaii in an
:07:21. > :07:26.effort to agreement on the budget for the dead line for what is known
:07:26. > :07:31.as the fiscal cliff approaches to the end of the year.
:07:31. > :07:36.There are feers that the US economy could fall -- there are fears that
:07:36. > :07:40.the US comi could fall back into a recession.
:07:40. > :07:46.A severe storm that whipped up tornadoes in the United States has
:07:46. > :07:49.brought heavy snow to the midwest. At least six people have died and
:07:49. > :07:54.thousands more are without electricity. Hundreds of flights
:07:54. > :08:01.have been cancelled as the extreme weather moves to the north-east.
:08:01. > :08:03.When the snow came it came fast. Within a couple of hours, about 30
:08:03. > :08:08.centimetres had fallen on Indianapolis.
:08:08. > :08:13.It is basically a white-out. You looked out the window, you could
:08:14. > :08:19.hardly see outside. You could not even see the cars out to the front.
:08:19. > :08:24.A massive winter storm, dropping record amounts of snow from
:08:24. > :08:28.Arkansas to the midwest, up to Illinois and Indiana. A single
:08:28. > :08:31.weather system, but more than just the snow. Tornado systems were
:08:31. > :08:35.ripping through towns with little or no warning.
:08:35. > :08:39.We were sitting in the livingroom, doing Christmas with the family.
:08:39. > :08:44.Then the sirens went off. Then we heard what sounded like a freight
:08:44. > :08:49.train coming through. We grabbed the women and the children. We ran
:08:49. > :08:53.to the bathroom, threw them in the tub and we stood watch over
:08:53. > :08:58.eeverybody. Property damage, power cuts and
:08:58. > :09:03.hundreds of flights cancelled too. We are from Dallas. That is where
:09:03. > :09:07.it was pretty bad. The ice was on the roads. They did have the sand
:09:07. > :09:09.infrastructures out. The sand trucks came out. It was not too bad
:09:10. > :09:14.in the morning, but we were kind of concerned.
:09:14. > :09:18.In parts of the country, the clean- up operation is under way. The
:09:18. > :09:27.impact of this storm is still being felt. It is predicted that there is
:09:27. > :09:31.more bad weather on its way. The car manufacture, Toyota has
:09:31. > :09:35.agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle hundreds of lawsuits from
:09:35. > :09:42.vehicle owners in America. It follows a problem with floor mats
:09:42. > :09:47.that became trapped under neath the accelerator pedals on a number of
:09:47. > :09:51.models. Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles.
:09:51. > :09:56.Officials in China are investigating how a shark tank
:09:56. > :10:02.exploded in a shopping centre. The aquarium burst with no warning last
:10:02. > :10:05.week, but the CCTV pictures have been just made public. 16 people
:10:05. > :10:10.were injured and three sharks died in the incident.
:10:10. > :10:14.Here a Government minister is urging well-off pensioners who do
:10:14. > :10:20.not need their winter fuel payment to give the money to charity. Nick
:10:20. > :10:23.Hurd said he could congratulate any pensioner who chose to donate their
:10:23. > :10:28.allowance. Let's go to Westminster. Chris, why
:10:28. > :10:33.is the minister saying this? On the face of it it sounds odd, doesn't
:10:33. > :10:36.it? A minister suggesting that money should be given away at a
:10:36. > :10:39.time when twhr is not a lot of money in the Westminster pot and
:10:39. > :10:43.the Government is handing money out to all pensioners. The winter fuel
:10:43. > :10:51.payment payment is available to anyone who can access the state
:10:51. > :10:57.pension it is worth �200 a year if you are in your 60s or 70s, �300 if
:10:57. > :11:01.you are in your eighties or older. The Government will not get rid of
:11:02. > :11:08.the benefits it was in the book of promises signed up to a couple of
:11:08. > :11:12.years ago. So if you are a pensioner on modest means, a
:11:12. > :11:16.millionaire footballer, or an actress, you get it the Government
:11:16. > :11:19.is to stick with the current plan, but you can give the money away if
:11:19. > :11:24.you like. I suspect soon that the benefits could disappear the other
:11:24. > :11:28.side of the election. Now with more than 90% of adults
:11:28. > :11:35.owning a mobile phone and half of us using gadgets on social media
:11:35. > :11:43.sites it is clear we are becoming a nation increasing -- increasingly
:11:43. > :11:47.obsessed with technology, but which gadgets made the headlines in 2012?
:11:47. > :11:52.We have been having a look. Everywhere you look you will find
:11:52. > :11:56.screens, big and small, not just in the BBC's newsroom, but in people's
:11:56. > :12:04.hands it has been the year of the touch screen device. With a couple
:12:04. > :12:10.of helpers I've been looking back. Paul is a technology analyst, Keza
:12:10. > :12:13.reviews video games for a living. We look back on a year when the Web
:12:13. > :12:18.went mobile and more and more people started to use tablets and
:12:18. > :12:23.smart phones and the battle between the technology giants grew fiercer.
:12:23. > :12:28.Now I want you turning on the tablets. Tablets, smart phones and
:12:28. > :12:33.e-reader arrived in all sorts of sizes and flavours, giving the
:12:33. > :12:37.consumers more choice. The only really good tablet the
:12:37. > :12:43.only good e-reader was the tablet, but this year it is different.
:12:43. > :12:47.There is the Google Nexus tablet. That runs on android. This one, the
:12:47. > :12:50.Kindle Fire HD. This is a lot of people moving into the Apple's
:12:50. > :12:55.space. When it comes to smart phones and
:12:55. > :13:00.tablets it is not hardware that people are buying but fashion?
:13:00. > :13:04.Reare looking to a content to get on to the devices. It is about the
:13:04. > :13:10.apps that they buy, the music that they download on to it or transfer
:13:10. > :13:15.to other devices that they have got. Now the gaming. Two new consoles,
:13:15. > :13:20.the Wii U and the Sony Vita arrived, but gaming is changing.
:13:20. > :13:24.A really interesting year for video games, we can play games on smart
:13:24. > :13:28.phones, tablets, on any device that you have. People are not moving
:13:28. > :13:31.away from consoles, many play games on those, but lots of other people
:13:31. > :13:37.are joining in on smart phones and tablets.
:13:37. > :13:43.So, what is next? Paul points to the 3D printer.
:13:43. > :13:49.Now they are about �1,000, but each year they will be chaefer and what
:13:49. > :13:53.they make is more sew fist cased. There is the Raspberry Pi, it could
:13:53. > :13:59.revolutionise how people think about computing. P is a bit like
:13:59. > :14:04.the Spectrum from the eighties. I love technology, it is so ek
:14:04. > :14:09.sesible. It is no longer a nerdy thing. It is something that