THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON WEDNESDAY THE 20TH DECEMBER

It's eight o'clock on Wednesday December the twentieth.

The headlines:

Tony Blair says the world must wake up to the threat posed by Iran.

Opposition politicians have expressed concern over reports that a man wanted for questioning about the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky has fled the country by wearing a veil.

The European Commission is planning to put a price on greenhouse gases produced by planes.

BLAIR

Tony Blair has called on moderate Muslim states to form a new alliance against Iran and challenge its influence. In a speech to business leaders in Dubai this morning, the Prime Minister identified Tehran as the main stumbling block to peace in the region. He said the international community needed the "open and clear backing" of moderate countries to "pin-back" Iran. Our Political Correspondent, James Landale, is travelling with the Prime Minister and has sent this report:

LANDALE: On the last day of his tour of the Middle East, Tony Blair said that Iran was a strategic threat to the whole region. It was trying, he said, to undermine democratic governments in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Therefore, the international community must empower what he called moderate and modernising Muslim governments to form alliances so they could pin back Iran across the region.

BLAIR: We must recognise the strategic challenge the government of Iran poses. Not its people, possibly not all of its ruling elements, but those presently in charge of its policy.

LANDALE: He said this was part of a monumental global struggle between democracy and extremism and he urged the world to wake up to the threat. It was not too late, he said, but it was urgent.

IRAQ

The Iraqi vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi, has said Mr Blair was "brainwashed" by President Bush over setting a timetable for withdrawing American-led forces from Iraq. In a speech in New York, he said that when he'd met Mr Blair in Baghdad a few months ago, he believed he'd secured his support for a date. The prime minister, he went on, had promised to raise the issue with Mr Bush in Washington a few days later. But Mr Hashemi said Mr Blair's position changed after his meeting with Mr Bush:

HASHEMI: In was observing the joint press conference that he made with President Bush after his visit and I saw himself talking about something quite different, which gave me an impression that he raised the subject with President Bush and eventually he just changed his mind.

IPSWICH

Police investigating the murders of five women in Suffolk are continuing their questioning of two men. Last night a magistrate gave detectives another thirty -six hours to hold one of the men -- Tom Stevens. Later today inquests will open into the deaths of four of the victims, who were all prostitutes. From Ipswich, Our Correspondent, John Andrew:

ANDREW: This will be the third say that police have questioned Tom Stephens, a supermarket worker and former special constable, who knew all the five victims. If magistrates give police another extension they can hold him until Friday before charging or releasing him. The second suspect, truckdriver Steve Wright, was arrested yesterday in his flat on the edge of the town's red light district. Police and forensic teams have been examining his home and a blue Mondeo car towed away from outside. Today, will also see inquests opened and adjourned on four of the murdered women, Tanya Nichol, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell. An inquest on the fifth Gemma Adams was opened last week.

SEARCH

Police searching for a man wanted for questioning about the murder of Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky are considering the theory that he could have fled the country dressed as a Muslim woman and wearing a veil. The man is Mustaf Jamma -- the older brother of Yusuf Jamma, who was found guilty of PC Beshenivsky's murder this week. It's understood that police think it's only one of a number of ways that he might have left the country, probably for his native Somalia. The Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said the idea that under any circumstances people could be let through passport control wearing a veil was barely credible. Speaking on this programme, the Liberal Democrats' Home Affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg, expressed surprise that existing powers were not used by airport staff and said urgent clarification was needed:

CLEGG: It beggars belief, I just don't think anybody including, I should think, any sound thinking members of our Muslim communities -- would think that it's right that there isn't a visual facial check when someone presents their passport when leaving the country in one of our airports. Of course what is so dispiriting about this is that we learn -- if the newspaper reports are true -- that there are powers under the Immigration Act 1971 for immigration officials to demand a visual facial check, but they're clearly not done."

EMISSIONS 1

The European Commission is expected to announce that it wants airlines and airports to buy permits for the greenhouse gas emissions they produce. It proposes to extend a European Union emissions trading scheme to cover aviation for the first time. But environmentalists say this will have little effect. Here's our Transport Correspondent, Tom Symonds.

SYMONDS: Aviation produces less than five percent of Europe's current carbon emissions, but it is expected to rise sharply as flight numbers increase. The European commissions answer is emissions trading, airlines must have a permit for each tonne of carbon they produce, some they will get for free some they will have to buy. The idea is that polluting will have a price and airlines will try to avoid paying it by investing in newer and more efficient aircraft and engines which produce less carbon. The commission wants the scheme to cover all flights from Europe to anywhere in the world, but the US is opposing the plan and a compromise is likely under which on flight in Europe would be covered. Either way environmentalist say, only a wider range of taxes on air travel will make a real difference to climate change.

EMISSIONS 2

The Green MEP, Caroline Lucas, told us the scheme would make little difference to the demand for air travel -- and needed to be more far-reaching:

LUCAS: Aviation isn't only responsible for carbon dioxide, it's responsible for other gaseous emissions -- nitrogen oxides and condensations trails -- which are between two and four times more damaging to the environment than the CO2 alone. And one of the concerns we've got about the emissions trading scheme is that if it only covers the carbon dioxide effects of aviation, then essentially these other impacts will be allowed to continue unchecked."

BUNGS

The findings of a major inquiry into claims of corruption in football are due to be published this afternoon. It's been carried out by Lord Stevens, who used to head the Metropolitan Police, and a team from his company, Quest. They examined whether more than three-hundred-and-sixty transfer deals in the Premiership were conducted according to the rules. The report's likely to be critical of the way the Football Association has enforced its own regulations. Here's our Sports News Correspondent, Gordon Farquhar:

FARQUAR: Against a background of persistent allegations of wrongdoing and claims of a culture of back-handers within the game, the Premier League asked Lord Stevens to examine all transfers involving its clubs over a two year period to January of this year. Quest produced an interim report in October, and asked for more time to look into thirty-nine transfers involving eight clubs. Lord Steven's final report is expected to raise serious concerns about some of those remaining deals, but will only name names if there's sufficient evidence to bring charges. He'll also make recommendations as to how football could do better. The Football Association, who regulate transfers and the activities of agents, are bracing themselves for criticism, but will argue they've now made changes that'll make their policing of the game more effective.

MENTAL HEALTH

Inspectors say private providers of mental healthcare are failing to meet a relatively high number of standards. The assessment comes from the Healthcare Commission which is launching a website with details of how independent hospitals in England are performing. Here's our Health Correspondent, Jane Dreaper.

DREAPER: The new Healthcare Commission website will enable patients to check independent hospitals, private mental health services, and treatment centres carrying out procedures such as hip operations. It contains information about more than four-hundred establishments. Most of the general hospitals are meeting many of the standards -- but inspectors say there's room for improvement, even among the bigger hospital groups, on areas such as record keeping and infection control. The picture is worse among independent units for mentally ill people. Most of these patients are having their care paid for by the NHS. One-in-five of the providers failed to ensure their premises were safe and appropriate. The Healthcare Commission plans to expand the website to include clinics carrying out abortions and businesses performing cosmetic laser procedures.

SHOPPING

Latest figures on High Street retailing show a sharp drop compared with this time last year. Higher energy bills and a rise in interest rates are thought to have played a part -- but the increase in shopping online is likely to be a significant factor, as our Business Reporter, Nick Cosgrove, explains:

COSGRAVE: The number of people going into the shops in the week to last Sunday fell by nine-percent, compared with the same period last year. That's according to, FootFall, the biggest customer counting organisation the UK. The figures sound like bad news and probably reflect some belt-tightening, but it's not all 'doom and gloom' down at the shops. The FootFall figures don't include internet shopping, certain to be higher this year than last. They also don't take into account the amount we are spending on non-food items in supermarkets. The likes of Tesco and ASDA have made huge strides recently in selling us items like clothing and DVDs alongside our groceries. What's more there is still a full weekend of Christmas shopping left, all the evidence shows a growing trend of consumers especially male ones tending to leave buying gifts to very last minute.

LIMPETS

A study suggests that limpets, barnacles and other sea creatures are moving along coastlines and seabeds at a surprising rate, as they try to avoid rising sea temperatures caused by global warming. Researchers at the Environment Agency have found the purple acorn barnacle, for example, has extended its range almost a hundred miles since the mid-eighties, from the Isle of Wight to Kent.