0:00:07 > 0:00:09Good evening. for the news where you are.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Voters in Birmingham could be asked to provide proof of ID before
0:00:12 > 0:00:15being allowed to cast their ballots, as part of efforts to
0:00:15 > 0:00:17curb electoral fraud.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20The idea is to be piloted in a number of local authorities
0:00:20 > 0:00:22during the local elections in 2018.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27Peter Plisner reports.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Once dubbed worse than a banana republic, election fraud and
0:00:30 > 0:00:33vote rigging in Birmingham rocked the political world a decade ago.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Now, the Government is taking action and
0:00:36 > 0:00:40wants to pilot the idea of ID cards in polling stations.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44I think that would be best, actually, ID cards, yeah.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Everyone's supposed to have an ID card that you can
0:00:46 > 0:00:47present it somewhere.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53If I don't have an ID and just go vote, yeah, who knows who I am?
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Past issues mean that Birmingham's on a list of areas
0:00:55 > 0:00:57the Electoral Commission has identified in a report
0:00:57 > 0:01:00as being most at risk of allegations of electoral fraud and,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02along with several other authorities,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05it's to be invited to take part in pilot schemes announced today.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08The report doesn't just talk about ID cards
0:01:08 > 0:01:13in polling stations, it also suggests greater powers to deal with
0:01:13 > 0:01:15intimidation and unwanted behaviour.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And it talks about banning the handling of completed postal ballots
0:01:19 > 0:01:21by political campaigners, one of the issues here
0:01:21 > 0:01:25in Aston back in 2004.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28But this Birmingham MP and former member of the Commons Home Affairs
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Select Committee is concerned that if ID cards are needed, some voters
0:01:31 > 0:01:37could find themselves excluded.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41There are elderly people in this country who've never had a passport,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44they may end up losing their right to vote.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45There will be young people
0:01:45 > 0:01:48who haven't got a passport or haven't yet got a driving licence.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Birmingham City Council said today that it hadn't seen
0:01:50 > 0:01:52any details of the proposed pilot and,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54if it was to be involved,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56it would only happen after full discussions
0:01:56 > 0:01:59between all relevant parties.
0:01:59 > 0:02:06Peter Pilsner, BBC Midlands Today, in Birmingham.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09A man has been killed in a drive-by shooting in West Bromwich.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11It happened on Dartmouth Street around 2.30 this afternoon.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15The victim was sitting in a car when he was shot in the head.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20The road remains closed while the police investigate the murder.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Scientists in Birmingham are researching a new way
0:02:22 > 0:02:24to treat type one diabetes.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27They're being funded by an American charity to investigate a way
0:02:27 > 0:02:31of reducing the number of injections people have to have every day.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36Here's our science correspondent, David Gregory-Kumar.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Could a gel like this one day drastically reduce the number
0:02:40 > 0:02:44of insulin injections needed by people with Type 1 diabetes?
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Well, it's the starting point for a new research project
0:02:47 > 0:02:50at the University of Birmingham.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Smart insulin that responds to glucose levels in the blood.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57This would mean that you could inject yourself
0:02:57 > 0:03:02with our smart delivery system once a day or once a
0:03:02 > 0:03:05week, and not have to check your own blood glucose level because our
0:03:05 > 0:03:07system would deliver insulin when it's needed.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10This gel breaks down in the presence of glucose.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13In theory, then releasing the insulin stored inside it.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17What's clever is, the gel's not affected by other
0:03:17 > 0:03:20sugars, only glucose.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Let's put this new gel to the test.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26We have two samples of the gel.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28One is inside ordinary water, and one is sitting in a glucose
0:03:28 > 0:03:31solution.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Let's leave them for a few minutes and see what happens.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36It's tricky to see but on the left, in the water,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38the gel is still there.
0:03:38 > 0:03:48But in the glucose solution the gel has totally dissolved.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51This is radical research in its early stages.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53After a few years' research in this chemistry lab,
0:03:53 > 0:03:55things move to a biology lab, then finally in around ten
0:03:55 > 0:03:57years' time clinical trials if all goes well.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59David Gregory Kumar, BBC Midlands Today, Birmingham.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Two football results to bring you.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04And in the Premier League, a tough night for Stoke,
0:04:04 > 0:04:05beaten 4-1 by Liverpool.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08In the Championship, Birmingham lost 1-0 at Derby.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09And one rugby result today.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11In the Premiership, Gloucester were narrowly beaten
0:04:11 > 0:04:1528-24 at Harlequins.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17And that's all from me.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19I'll leave you with the weather from Shefali.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Goodnight.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Hello and good evening.
0:04:24 > 0:04:25A beautiful winter's day today - crisp, cold and
0:04:26 > 0:04:29sunny, but with high pressure, we will see fog
0:04:29 > 0:04:31developing overnight,
0:04:31 > 0:04:39as well as frost.
0:04:39 > 0:04:45There is a warning from midnight tonight till midday
0:04:45 > 0:04:47tomorrow for more fog to arrive later on,
0:04:47 > 0:04:48and it could be dense in
0:04:48 > 0:04:50places, causing travel disruption in the morning.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52We have a widespread frost tonight, with temperatures
0:04:52 > 0:04:54dropping as low as minus four Celsius.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57That will greet us for the start of the day tomorrow, as well
0:04:57 > 0:04:59as the fog, then sunny spells.
0:04:59 > 0:04:59The national forecast is next.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I'll leave you with the outlook for the
0:05:01 > 0:05:03next week.