THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON WEDNESDAY 6TH DECEMBER

It's eight o'clock on Wednesday 6th December.

More money for schools and higher green taxes are likely to feature in the chancellor's pre-Budget report.

A leak in Washington says the Iraq Study Group stops short of recommending a timetable for military withdrawal -- but does say that American troops should switch from combat to support roles.

Channel Four is putting its programmes for sale on the internet.

BUDGET

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, is expected to announced a multi-billion-pound spending programme for schools in England, when he delivers his tenth pre-Budget report at lunchtime. He's likely to say the economy has been growing more quickly than he anticipated -- and to announce plans for new environmental taxes. Here's our Economics Editor, Evan Davis:

DAVIS: Things are going pretty well for the chancellor as he delivers what must be his last pre-Budget report. As usual, he can crow a bit about how fast the economy is growing; and, on top of that, this time round he can at last say government borrowing is more or less where he thought it would be - in contrast to the last eight Budgets and pre-Budgets, where he's had to admit borrowing has been higher than expected. With that relatively benign backdrop, the chancellor could comfortably cancel today's statement, and leave all his big decisions to the real Budget next year. But he won't. He'll use his speech to highlight his commitment to education and skills. In his last Budget, he announced a big investment programme in school buildings, and he'll say more about that today. And we've been promised a pre-Budget with a green tinge. Watch for higher air passenger duty and fuel tax.

IRAQ

An advisory panel set up by President Bush to look at American policy in Iraq is recommending significant changes. Details of the cross-party panel's report have been leaked ahead of its publication today. It says the US must not make open-ended commitments to keep large numbers of troops in Iraq -- and the Baghdad government should accelerate the process of resuming responsibility for the country's security. From Washington, here's our correspondent, James Westhead:

WESTHEAD: Excerpts of the hundred-and-forty-two-page report obtained by a US TV network confirm what many expected. The Iraq Study Group makes seventy-nine recommendations it says could give Iraq an opportunity for a better future. It calls for a new diplomatic offensive by the Bush administration to help build stability, warning it can't succeed in the Middle East unless it deals with other issues like the Israeli-Arab conflict. It's also expected to recommend direct talks with Iran and Syria, something President Bush has resisted. On the military front, the report says the primary mission of US troops must change - from combat into supporting the Iraqi army. It warns while the Iraqi government will need help for some time to come, the US must not make open-ended commitments to keeping large numbers of troops there. It's expected to recommend a phased withdrawal instead.

ITV

The cable operator, ntl, has abandoned its attempt to buy ITV. A four-point-seven-billion pound bid was rejected last month. Sky has since bought eighteen per cent of ITV, and ntl has told the stock market it won't be making a fresh offer.

PAEDOPHILE

An inquiry in Brighton into how a registered sex offender was able to repeatedly rape a young girl has concluded that the attacks could have been prevented. Kevin Hazelwood had been under probation and police supervision. He was jailed indefinitely for the assaults. They began after his release from a prison term for downloading indecent images of children. Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw:

SHAW: Kevin Hazelwood raped the girl over a three-and-a-half year period, after befriending her mother and winning her trust. The report said procedures designed to supervise Hazelwood "failed" to protect the girl, who was five when the abuse started. The inquiry identified a "gap" in the system between monitoring a sex offender's behaviour and looking after the welfare of individual children within their immediate family. In Hazelwood's case, the agencies didn't assess properly the risk he posed to those among his extended family, friends and the wider community. The report points out, however, that Hazelwood was a "devious and manipulative" man who managed to convince the victim's parents that, in spite of his criminal record, he was not a risk.

BETHLEHEM

The head of the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales are joining forces to support the people of Bethlehem who they say are suffering severe hardships because of Israeli security measures. Dr Rowan Williams and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor will lead a pre-Christmas pilgrimage to the town to show solidarity with the Christian communities there.

RWANDA

A furious row between France and Rwanda over responsibility for the 1994 genocide is overshadowing a visit to Britain by the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. In an interview for the Today programme, Mr Kagame repeats his accusation that French forces were directly involved in the genocide. Our Diplomatic Correspondent, James Robbins, reports:

ROBBINS: In April 1994, Rwanda's then president was killed when his plane was blown out of the sky. The event triggered a genocide, many say long-planned by his Hutu supporters. Between eight-hundred-thousand and a million people were massacred. Last month, a French judge investigating the deaths of the French air crew accused today's Rwandan president, Kagame, of involvement in the attack on the plane. Mr Kagame has told this programme he had nothing to do with the destruction of the plane; instead, he accuses French soldiers of joining in the genocide:

KAGAME: French soldiers manned road blocks and were identifying the people by their ethnic groups and if there were people who were found to be Tutsis, they would be put aside for harassment or for imprisonment or even torture - later on leading to their deaths.

ROBBINS: Yesterday, President Kagame met Tony Blair. Today, he has meetings at the Foreign Office -- all aimed, says a spokesman, at reconciling the people of Rwanda.

And you can hear the full interview with President Kagame just after eight-thirty.

FIJI

Fiji's new military rulers have appointed a caretaker prime minister a day after seizing power. The country's police chief has been sacked for refusing to take orders. From Suva, Phil Mercer reports:

MERCER: Fiji's caretaker prime minister is a military doctor with no political experience. Jona Baravilalala Senilagakali will head an interim government when it's eventually formed. The army seems to have run into problems recruiting members of the new administration. In a remarkable statement, the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, said anyone who was interested in joining the interim government should apply for a position. Fiji's armed forces have continued to tighten their grip on the country. A day after the elected leadership was thrown out of office, a state of emergency has been declared. The ousted prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, has been flown out of Suva to his village on a remote island.

TSUNAMI

The burial has been taking place in Thailand of the last unidentified victims of the tsunami which struck south-east Asia almost two years ago. One-hundred-and-twenty-five bodies are being interred at a cemetery specially built for the victims. Our correspondent, Jonathan Head, was at the ceremony, in the town of Kowlak, and sent this report:

HEAD: This was a very simple ceremony, starting with prayers by members of the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities. No-one knows what faith these last one-hundred-and-twenty-five victims followed, although it's thought most are probably illegal Burmese workers whose families have been unable to come to Thailand. The ceremony took place at the centre in Kowlak, where, at one time, forensic scientists from more than thirty countries worked to identify the thousands of bodies left behind by the tsunami. Today, the centre is quiet. The foreign police have left, and the Thai authorities have begun burying the few hundred victims for whom they have no information.

BIOMETRIC

The most advanced passenger screening equipment in the world has gone on trial at Heathrow Airport. Some passengers are being given the option of bypassing long queues if they're prepared to have their fingerprints, face and eyes biometrically scanned.

RETIRE

The High Court is to hear a challenge against new age discrimination laws, which could force the government to scrap the mandatory retirement age of sixty-five. The challenge has been brought by the organisation Heyday -- backed by Age Concern -- representing people who've retired, or are planning for their retirements. Here's our Labour Affairs Correspondent, Stephen Cape:

CAPE: The government brought in the legislation to outlaw age discrimination last October. But it'll be argued in the High Court that the regulation fails to protect people over sixty-five who still want to work. At that age, employers can insist that a person must retire. The organisation, Heyday, which represents older people, believes that the law contravenes the European Equal Treatment Directive by not giving pensioners the right to choose. The government maintains that it has fully and properly implemented the rules. It has already promised to review the mandatory retirement age in five years.

C4

Channel Four is selling its programmes on the internet from today. Viewers can catch up with most of its schedule for up to thirty days after transmission, or choose programmes from the archives. Charges begin at ninety-nine-pence a time. Here's our Media Correspondent, Torin Douglas:

DOUGLAS: More and more viewers are watching video on-line, and media groups are racing to meet the demand. This week, BT launched a broadband TV service, and today Channel Four is claiming a world first for a major broadcaster in offering all its home-grown programmes to viewers on demand. Its service is available on cable and personal computers, onto which viewers can download all its programmes made in this country and a few imported shows, such as Desperate Housewives. It will cost ninety-nine-pence or one-ninety-nine per programme, but early next year the channel will offer monthly subscriptions. Downloading still takes a while - up to one-and-half times the length of the programme - but Channel Four believes that, in time, this will change the way we watch television.