THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON THURSDAY 30TH NOVEMBER

It's eight o'clock on Thursday the 30th of November.

British Airways is getting in touch with more than thirty-thousand passengers after traces of radiation were found on two of its planes.

Tony Blair wants to double the number of city academy schools -- and make big changes to A-levels¹.

President Bush has warned that any partition of Iraq would lead to more communal violence.

Gordon Brown and his wife, Sarah, have said they're optimistic medical advances will help their younger son -- who has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

RADIATION

Two British Airways planes are undergoing further detailed examination after radioactive traces were found on board by scientists investigating the death of the former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko. A third BA plane -- currently in Moscow -- will be flown back to Britain for tests. Scotland Yard hasn't said why it became interested in the planes -- which were used on flights to the Russian capital and other European cities over a five-week period. But detectives are known to be tracing the movements of those who associated with Mr Litvinenko. Our Security Correspondent, Gordon Corera, reports:

CORERA: According to British Airways, the three planes were involved in nearly fifty flights between London and Moscow during the affected period - more than to any other destination. The first flight was on October the 25th - a full week before Mr Litvinenko's poisoning. It is possible that the traces come from the individuals who met Mr Litvinenko on November the 1st, the day he fell ill, and who then travelled back to Moscow. If they were found to come from any time before he became ill, or from the travel of other individuals, it could be highly significant for the investigation. Up to thirty-three-thousand people flew on the three planes over the period, but BA and public health officials say the risk to the travelling public is low. The home secretary is expected to make a statement in the Commons later today.

SCHOOLS

There is to be a big expansion of the number of secondary schools in England which are independent of local authorities and which receive funding from the private sector. In a speech in Birmingham later, Tony Blair will say he is doubling the target for the number of city academies; more trust schools will also be established. And there are to be significant changes to exams, including A-levels -- as our Education Correspondent, Mike Baker, reports:

BAKER: Ten years since telling the Labour Party conference that his priorities in government would be "education, education, education" , Mr Blair is keen to embed his school reforms as a key legacy of his premiership. Until now, the government had planned two-hundred city academies by the end of the decade. Now Mr Blair wants to open four-hundred of the independent, business and charity-sponsored schools. He also wants to ensure the new trust schools, also run with external partners, will be in the pipeline before he leaves Downing Street. He'll say he expects to have one-hundred schools working towards trust status by the Spring. He'll announce a number of new trust partners, including big organisations like Unilever and the Co-operative Group. In a further surprise move, I understand Mr Blair is likely to announce reforms to A-levels, to ensure they offer a greater challenge to the brightest students, and he's expected to surprise schools by announcing funding to encourage the take-up of the post-sixteen exam, the International Baccalaureate, in the state sector.

BUSH

President Bush has been meeting the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki in the Jordanian capital, Amman -- to discuss the escalating violence in Iraq. At a news conference within the past few minutes, Mr Bush praised Mr Maliki as a strong leader, and said America would support him in his mission to maintain a stable and democratic Iraq. President Bush told journalists that America's goal in the country was to support Iraq's bid for peace -- and he said Mr Maliki agreed how that could best be achieved:

BUSH: We agreed on the importance of speeding up the training of Iraqi security forces. Our goal is to ensure that the prime minister has more capable forces under his control, so his government can fight the terrorists and the death squads, and provide security and stability in his country.

BROWN

The chancellor, Gordon Brown, has been receiving messages of support after announcing that his four-month-old son has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Mr Brown and his wife, Sarah, were told in the summer that Fraser might have the inherited condition. They say they're optimistic that advances in medicine will keep him healthy. Ed Owen is a board member of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and a former government adviser. His four-year-old daughter has the disease. He told us new treatments were raising life expectancy:

OWEN: I think that babies and young children at the moment, as with my daughter, can hopefully expect to live perhaps into their forties and beyond. And what is extremely optimistic is the very good news that's coming from the research into finding a cure, which is a gene therapy cure, which I think people are very optimistic could bring results in the next few years.

SCIENCE

Scientists are being urged to become more involved in public debates about their research -- or risk "sleepwalking into a future shaped by extremists". The warning is being made by the president of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, Lord Rees. He will be speaking at a ceremony to mark the presentation of the society's most prestigious award - the Copley Medal - to Professor Stephen Hawking. Lord Rees told us he wanted colleagues to play a more active role in discussions on issues such as climate change, nuclear power and stem cell research:

REES: The scientists should make clear exactly what the benefits are, exactly what's involved in the experiments, and they should engage with the public. And, indeed, I think, in the UK, we have a good record, because we have a good system of regulation for stem cells, because the scientists engaged with parliamentarians and journalists early on, and that led to a regulation system which is frankly a good deal better than they have in the United States. That's a model, I think, of how we should conduct these other debates.

You can hear an interview with Stephen Hawking after this bulletin.

HARMONDSWORTH

A hundred-and-fifty illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers are being released on bail, because of yesterday's disturbance at the Harmondsworth detention centre near Heathrow Airport. The Home Office says the trouble -- which affected all four wings -- has now been contained. A statement on what happened is due to be made later. Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw:

SHAW: The disturbance at Harmondsworth, which holds about five-hundred immigration detainees, was the last thing the Home Office needed. There's simply not enough room in other removal centres or prisons to accommodate all those who've been displaced. Releasing failed asylum seekers and over-stayers on strict bail conditions was the only option, though officials say no foreign prisoners will be let out. The disruption at Harmondsworth triggered Operation Tornado, in which prison officers from elsewhere were bussed in to restore order. But that has added to the strains on the prison system at a time when there are more than eighty-thousand inmates, with some being held in police cells.

FIRE

Firefighters were called to another immigration detention centre in south Yorkshire last night. They spent two-and-a-half hours tackling the fire at Lindholme, near Doncaster. A Home Office spokeswoman said there had been no loss of accommodation.

RAIDS

Hundreds of police officers have raided homes across London as part of an operation targeting domestic abuse and racist and homophobic offences. A number of men have been arrested. Scotland Yard said the aim was "to put the fear back on to offenders" -- and encourage victims to come forward.

LENDING

Doorstep lending companies which charge high rates of interest are to face tough new rules from the Competition Commission. After a two-year inquiry, the commission has concluded that firms must do more to make the cost of loans clear -- but it's decided against putting a cap on the rates of interest which can be charged. Our Business Correspondent, Nils Blythe, reports:

BLYTHE: Doorstep lenders specialise in making small loans, usually to low income customers. The rates of interest are very high, and had been cause for the Competition Commission to put a cap on the interest charged. The commission has decided not to, partly for fear that too many restrictions would drive the regulated lenders out of business, and leave the field open to unregulated loan sharks. But the commission has finally concluded that there must be very clear information for customers, and the lenders must share credit reference information to try and make the industry more competitive. One company, Provident Financial, currently has over half the market. Most of the measures will be in force within a year.

RESTAURANTS

A report says children's menus at some of Britain's best-known high street restaurants are not meeting the minimum nutritional standards expected in school dinners. The research -- commissioned by the Soil Association -- analysed the contents of meals in ten national restaurant chains, and discovered unacceptably high levels of fat, sugar and salt.

SOUTH UIST

The islanders of South Uist will take control of their land today in what is the biggest community buy-out in Scotland to date. They've succeeded in raising four-and-a-half-million pounds to purchase more than ninety-thousand acres in the Western Isles. It's the latest in a string of such projects in the Highlands and Islands -- as our Scotland Correspondent, Colin Blane, reports:

BLANE: For more than forty years, the South Uist estate has been owned by a sporting syndicate. But, from today, the land will belong to the people who live on it. The islanders took their appeal for funds to Scots in London and expatriates abroad. The largest donations came from the Lottery Fund and public bodies. It's the latest in series of buy-outs in recent years. Estates in Gigha, Knoydart, Eigg, Assynt and North Harris have all been taken into community ownership. In total, three-quarters-of-a-million acres - an area larger than Northern Ireland - are already in the hands of local people, or are heading that way. Sparsely-populated communities see the buy-outs as a chance for economic revival.