THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON FRIDAY 1ST DECEMBER

[LEMBEDL|mms://wm-002.cafe24.com/mydisc/bbc/morning_news-061201.mp3|280|65|N|M]

It's eight o'clock on Friday the first of December.

Drivers could have to pay to use Britain's roads -- if the government acts on a new report looking into ways of reducing congestion and pollution.

Ministers are allowing trials of genetically-modified potatoes in Cambridgeshire and Derbyshire.

The Conservatives are warning that twenty-nine A&E departments could be closed as a result of government reforms.

And England's batsmen have recovered from an early scare on the first day of the second Ashes Test.

ROADS

A report commissioned by the Treasury says charging for driving on Britain's roads will be essential for cutting congestion and funding better public transport. The former chief executive of British Airways, Sir Rod Eddington, argues that the overall impact of road charges could benefit the economy by twenty-eight-billion pounds a year. As well as advocating improvements to the road and rail network, he also backs an expansion of several airports. Our Business Editor, Robert Peston, has seen the report:

PESTON: Rod Eddington advice to the government on how to improve transport in the UK is very much the work of a businessman. This former BA chief executive's approach is to ask what kind of returns are generated by different kinds of transport investments. He says, for example, that unless we tackle congestion, it will cost an extra twenty-two-billion pounds in wasted time for all of us by 2025, so he advocates charging at up to eighty pence per kilometre each time we use a busy road - what's called "road pricing". He identifies three investment priorities: he wants spending to be directed at congested and growing city areas; on links between important urban centres; and on important international gateways, such as airports. He also says that, in transport, small improvements to existing road and rail generate by far the biggest returns. Oh - and he's a fan of charging users of cars, planes and trains for their relative emissions of carbon, or their relative contributions to climate change. Or, to put it another way, Eddington implies that we've all got to pay more to get around, though he thinks the eventual benefits will far outweigh the costs.

RADIATION

A post mortem examination will be carried out today on the body of the former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko, who was contaminated by a large dose of the radioactive isotope, polonium-210. Three pathologists wearing protective clothing will try to establish when he was poisoned and how the substance entered his system. Three British Airways planes were grounded because traces of radioactivity were found on board -- although one has now been cleared to return to service. Professor Nick Priest, of Middlesex University - who's worked with polonium-210 - told us there was very little risk to the public:

PRIEST: I don't think it's reasonable or right to be scared. If you've got a thousand-million units of radioactivity in a vial, and you open that vial and you pour it onto food, or something like this, it's inevitable that some radioactivity will transfer to surfaces around, and you can go back and you can detect it later. It doesn't necessarily mean that there's any hazard associated with it.

GM POTATO

The government has decided to allow the planting of genetically modified potatoes at two sites in Cambridgeshire and Derbyshire. The trial will allow scientists to study the yield and environmental impact of the plants. They have been modified to include a gene from a wild species of potato which should make them resistant to blight. Our Rural Affairs Correspondent, Tom Heap, reports:

HEAP: This will be the first GM crop to be planted outside the lab for the last three years in the UK. Similar scientific tests are already under way in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, but the company, BASF, wants to be sure their GM potato variety is resistant to blight under the growing conditions in this country. The potatoes will not enter the human or animal food chain. Potato blight triggered the Irish famine of the mid-nineteenth century, and still costs the industry seventy-million pounds in fungicidal sprays and lost crop. Some environmental groups are worried about GM contamination in the soil. The British Potato Council are also against the planting, fearing the damage to consumer confidence could outweigh savings in production costs.

PAEDOPHILES

The Home Office is asking for views on the introduction of compulsory lie detector tests for sex offenders, after the success of a pilot scheme in England. Three-hundred-and-fifty offenders took part -- with most of them disclosing information which helped probation staff improve the monitoring of their behaviour in the community. Ministers are also considering whether or not to tell the public about the location of bail hostels in their area where paedophiles are staying.

A&E

The Conservatives are claiming that twenty-nine accident and emergency departments across England could close if the government goes ahead with planned changes. The shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, says the policy is being driven by the need to save money. The government insists its plans will bring A&E services up-to-date and improve patient safety. Here's our Health Correspondent, Adam Brimelow:

BRIMELOW: The re-organisation of hospitals across England is gathering pace, provoking huge petitions and protests. These have often centred on proposed changes to accident and emergency services. The government wants these concentrated in big regional centres, offering specialised round-the-clock care, leaving local hospitals, walk-in centres and paramedics to deal with more straightforward cases. In his letter to the NHS chief executive, Andrew Lansley questions the evidence for this -- warning that what is specialised care today will be routine in years to come. The Conservatives have compiled a list of hospitals where they say A&E services are under threat. They say seven out of ten trusts proposing downgrades were in deficit last year, and they conclude that the process is being financially driven.

AIDS

The former US president, Bill Clinton, has said he believes that India has become the epicentre of the global epidemic of Aids and HIV -- and he describes the challenges the country is facing as "breathtaking". Almost six-million Indians are HIV positive -- the highest number of infections in any nation. Our correspondent, Damian Grammaticas, reports from the Indian capital, Delhi:

GRAMMATICAS: In terms of sheer numbers, India is now facing the most severe HIV/Aids burden of any country. The United Nations believes five-point-seven-million Indians are HIV-positive. The country's surpassed even South Africa for numbers living with the virus. Speaking to the BBC on World Aids Day, the former US president, Bill Clinton, said India is the new epicentre of global infection. But Mr Clinton said that if India really works at HIV/Aids prevention, it still has time to limit its impact:

CLINTON: I think they can be ahead of it in a couple of years, if they really work at it. But because when you got a billion people, and they are as disparate as the Indians are - disparate languages, different living conditions, different income and education levels - the education challenge, and the challenge to overcome the stigma of discrimination is just breathtaking.

GRAMMATICAS: India's problem is that HIV is already spreading out from high-risk groups like prostitutes. Migrant workers, who travel from remote villages looking for work in the cities, are spreading the virus to every corner of the country.

TYPHOON

At least a hundred-and-forty people have been killed in landslides caused by a typhoon in the Philippines. Mud and rocks buried seven villages close to Mount Mayon -- an active volcano two-hundred miles south of the capital, Manila. Rescue officials say power and communications in the area have been cut, and the number of casualties is likely to rise.

CHRISTMAS

Local councils are being warned against minimising the religious significance of Christmas, because it could lead to a backlash against Muslims. The advice comes in a letter written by the Christian-Muslim Forum -- a group set up by Tony Blair and the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year. It says secularising Christmas -- by using names such as "winterval" -- foists on Muslims an agenda they do not hold. The Bishop of Bolton, the Right Reverend David Gillett -- who heads the forum -- told us there was need to encourage a proper understanding of the issue:

GILLETT: I just heard only yesterday that a big commercial concern has asked its staff, for instance, not to wish people a "Merry Christmas", but simply "Season's Greetings", because it may offend people. I mean, I think when you talk to people of other religious communities, that's not what they're asking for at all, and they feel the backlash comes to them for perhaps a misunderstanding of what multiculturalism's all about. Perhaps also, of course, it's some of the secularist agenda that's invading this argument as well.

CRICKET

England's cricketers have made a solid start to the second Ashes Test against Australia. After winning the toss -- and choosing to bat -- England lost two wickets before lunch. But they've played solidly since then -- as Peter Baxter reports now from the Adelaide Oval:

BAXTER: Yes, England haven't dominated the day, but they probably had the better of it, at 266 for 3, thanks to two century partnerships which both featured Paul Collingwood, who is 98-not out at the close of play. Those stands followed a disappointing morning session for England, which saw both openers out to Stuart Clark, with 45 runs on the board; Strauss for 14, and Cook for 27. But Bell and Collingwood steered the innings successfully and patiently through the afternoon. A quarter of an hour after tea, though, Bell hooked at Lee, who took the skied catch, and after a stand of 113, Bell was out for 60. Pietersen joined Collingwood, and has enjoyed punishing Warne, hitting him for one long 6. He's 60-not out, but all England's hopes will be that Collingwood can get those two runs to his 100 in the morning, when England resume at 266 for 3.

SMOKING BAN

The ban on smoking in enclosed public places in England will come into force on July the 1st next year. It'll cover pubs, restaurants, private clubs, offices and factories. England will be the last part of the United Kingdom to bring in a ban; similar legislation is already in place in Scotland, and will start in Northern Ireland and Wales next April.

MOBILES

A survey suggests more than a third of motorists still use a hand held mobile phone while driving -- even though the practice was banned three years ago. The road safety charity, BRAKE, says many drivers flout the law because they believe there's little chance they'll be caught.