09/09/2011 BBC News at Ten

America warns that Al-Qaeda, although weakened, still poses a

significant terrorist threat around the world.

Ahead of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, New York steps up its

security as it faces a credible threat of a new attack. It is a

continuing reminder of the stakes in our struggle against violent

extremism, no matter who propagates it, no matter where it comes from,

no matter who its targets might be. As Americans reeled from the most

deadly assault on their nation, we hear from the man who had to tell

the President. I whispered into his right beer, a second plane hit the

second tower. America is under attack. -- his beer.

This is the scene at Ground Zero tonight. We'll be assessing the

impact a decade on and how much of a threat still remains.

Also tonight: The IMF tells the world's

struggling economies to act boldy and act now, as leaders meet to

decide next steps. In an exclusive interview, David

Cameron criticises some state schools for coasting and says he

wants Eton to set up a new one. Anti-Gaddafi forces in Libya are

closing in on the regime's last strongholds. We'll have the latest.

And fireworks kick off the Rugby Later on Sportsday, Britain's

number one tennis player, Andy Murray has beaten the number 28 C

de John Isner at the US Open quarter-finals, but it was tough

Good evening. Ten years on from the attacks of September 11th, America

has warned that Al-Qaeda still poses a real and significant threat.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has said the terrorist

organisation is behind what officials are calling a credible

but unconfirmed threat of an attack in New York or Washington to

coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Police in both cities have

stepped up security in response to the warning. Laura Trevelyan

reports from New York. At Ground Zero, America prepares to

mourn its dead. In the footprints of the World Trade Centre's Twin

Towers sits the memorial to the nearly 3000 people who perished on

9/11. The city's reflective mood is now tense. Police are searching

vans for bombs in response to what officials call a credible but

unconfirmed threat. The administration may have weakened

Al-Qaeda's leadership but its ability to inspire others,

regionally and internationally, remains. Al-Qaeda or, again, is

seeking to harm Americans and in particular to target New York and

Washington. This should not surprise any of us. It is a

continuing reminder of the stakes in our struggle against a violent

extremism. Sunday's 10th anniversary of the attacks which

altered America and launched two wars is an emotional time for the

relatives of the dead. Charles Wolfe lost his British wife,

Catherine, in the north tower of the World Trade Center. I miss my

best friend. But after 10 years you continually move on. I say that

they may have gotten my wife but they are not getting the rest of my

life. I said that shortly after 9/11. I refuse to let these

terrorists take over my life in a negative way. Security light today

is part of the rhythm of New York life. Although the fear of another

catastrophic attack has receded slightly, it is still very real.

John remembers seeing the firefighters going to the twin

towers on that day and never return. He believes the nature of the

threat from Al-Qaeda has changed. Franchised and fractured his the

way I think it would be viewed in Washington. But mind you, 10 years

later, we have another threat that is causing the United States to

react. As the City readies itself for Sunday's ritual of remembrance,

New Yorkers are hoping this latest alert comes to nothing. But once

the 10th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone, Al-Qaeda's lurking

threat will remain. Amid the scenes of terror on that

day ten years ago, White House officials struggled to comprehend

the magnitude of what was happening. The President, George Bush, was

visiting a school in Florida when he was given the news by an aide

whispering in his ear. Mark Mardell has been to the school to talk to

those who were there about the terrible events of 9/11.

This looks like some sort of a concerted effort to attack the

World Trade Centre., my God, another plane has just hit. We have

a terrorist act of proportions we cannot imagine. The day when a

murderous assault killed 2753 people, a day when history pivoted

and aid President looked at the world through a different lens.

George W Bush was at a Florida school, listening to seven-year-

olds reading, when his chief of staff told him what had happened.

It could not have been an accident, so I made a decision to pass on two

facts and make one relatively obvious editorial comment. I walked

up to the President and leaned over and whispered, a second plane hit

the second tower, America is under attack. Bush stayed put, a range of

emotions passing across his face. Some said that it was odd that he

did not leave at once. I thought it was right. Number one, he did

nothing to introduce fear to those very young students. They were

second graders. He did nothing to demonstrate fear to the media that

would have translated to the satisfaction of the terrorists

around the world. This is the school where President Bush was

when he heard the news that changed his presidency and changed America.

It also shaped the lives of those seven-year old's he was visiting on

that day. One of them is now 17. remember looking up and seeing the

President's face, his expression changed completely. It was almost a

downtrodden. It was a look of dismay. His sport is wrestling, and

9/11 did not make him want to take revenge, but to study an

international cause to understand America's enemies. It caused me to

become open-minded. It did not change me immediately but over time,

as I began to understand why they attacked us, I gained a new

perspective about the world and all of the points of views. One of the

teachers who was there should mean a corner of the school devoted to

that day. These kids now have a loss of innocence. We were under

attack. We took on a war mode. I did not have to grow up with that.

Why should they have to grow up with that? The President left the

classroom and spoke to the head of the FBI on the phone. His team

boarded Air Force One without knowing their destination. He

wanted to head back to Washington. His chief of staff and others told

him it was too dangerous. After an uncomfortable argument, he gave in.

He phoned world leaders, even telling President Putin that he was

not blaming Russia and it was not a target. The day gave Sheikh Tway

presidency with a new purpose. was going to be about how he

responded to an attack on our homeland. It was a significant day.

It changed my life, America's life, the President's life, and frankly

the world. The President was seized by a new sense of mission that

allow for a few doubts. The lead America, more patriotic and more

fearful, into two foreign wars, still unfinished business today.

We can talk to mark in New York. 10 years on, what is your assessment

of how the attacks have changed America? Well, here at the sight of

those attacks, the fountain of remembrance has only just recently

been turned on. It has taken a long time to turn this scarred into a

memorial. I think equally, America is still absorbing the impact of

what it meant and how he reacted. The sense of unity that welled up

in the country after the attacks, I think, has long dissipated. The

sense of vulnerability is still there. We have been hearing about

the security worries. This is a society that is very much more,

understandably, worried about security. It has really changed in

that wave. The sense of patriotism, a new reverence for the military,

is still there. But whether people feel the wars in Afghanistan and

Iraq were right or wrong, I think people want the troops brought home

and there is no enthusiasm now for reshaping the whole of the world.

And some people are beginning to reflect that whether or not all of

the things that were done had to be done, it has cost America, diverted

America from nation-building at home, as some are putting it.

Financial leaders of the G7 industrialised nations are meeting

in Marseilles tonight to try to reach agreement about how to tackle

the global debt crisis. It comes after the head of the International

Monetary Fund called for world leaders to "act now, act boldly and

act together". Here's Stephanie Flanders.

We keep being told the global economy is in trouble. The last

time we heard that, this lot came to London to fix it. Today, the

head of the International Monetary Fund came to say it was time for

leaders to act again. Given the economic circumstances that we are

facing, countries, and policy makers in those countries around

the world, must act now, must act boldly, and must act together.

was sharing a stage with her friend, the Chancellor, who thinks his

budget cuts are bold enough. So does his boss. These are difficult

times. The Government is focused on taking the right long-term

decisions so we emerge from this with a strong economy and jobs for

our people. So what exactly is the IMF's plan to save the world? In

the UK, she says the Chancellor should let borrowing go up

naturally as a result of slower growth, but she is not yet calling

for a plan B. She does think the Bank of England could inject more

cash into the economy. In Europe, the central bank there may also

need to act, but the key, she said, is for Europe's politicians to

resolve the problems with the euro and to shore up their banks. And

America? There, the head of the IMF said President Obama was right to

want to spend money now to create jobs, but America needed to cut

spending long term. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has

stalled. It will give companies confidence that if they invest and

higher, there will be customers for their products and services. You

should pass this jobs plan right away. The President's $450 billion

stimulus plan seemed to go down well last night. But the markets

fell again today, on fears that the Republicans would never actually

pass it. The value of the euro also fell sharply on the news that a key

figure at the European Central Bank had resigned. All of which gives

the G7 finance ministers plenty to talk about in Marseilles tonight.

The last time everyone was worried about the global economy, policy

makers pulled out all the stops to save it. Now, they all have much

less room for manoeuvre. As well as warning about the state

of the economy, the Prime Minister has accused a number of state

schools in England of "coasting". To drive up results, he revealed

that he wants Eton, where he was a pupil, and other top public schools

to set up their own new academies and free schools. Nick Robinson

spent the day with the Prime Minister and sent this report from

A visit r for six-year-old John who is settling into his new school.

This isn't just his new school though, it is a brand-new free

School of The sort David Cameron wants to spread around the country.

Choice and competition, can, he says, increase standards in all

20,000 English schools even though there are only 24 free schools. And

that's needed in the prosperous suburbs just as much as the poor

inner cities. The truth is this - it is not just

failing schools we need to tackle, it is coasting schools too. The

ones whose results have either flat lined or they haven't improved as

much as they could have done. David Cameron sees himself as

battling an educational establishment which has accepted

poor results. His critics accuse him of pitting one school against

another. If you can get 70% of children to

get five good GCSEs including English and maths in parts of inner

London we should be asking why aren't we doing that everywhere in

parts of the country that are wealthier like Oxfordshire where I

represent? REPORTER: Are you saying that your

own constituents are sometimes getting a worse education, more

complacent schools than the academies the Government is setting

up? The figures speak for themselves. We raise the bar and

increase competition and make sure that schools that aren't doing as

well as they should are turned around.

Are you saying that the school system can operate like a

supermarket? In this sense that if yours is rubbish and the other one

is good, it is going to improve standards, is that your view?

Schools are not supermarkets, schools are places of learning, but

I do believe that choice and competition shouldn't be dirty

words in education, they can help drive up standards.

I can reveal that yesterday representatives of some of

Britain's most exclusive, and best known public schools came to

Downing Street to hear the Prime Minister urge them to set-up new

State schools. I have had the excellent, the best

headteachers of State schools into Number Ten. I have had the private

schools into Number Ten. I have had the universities into Number Ten to

talk about university technical colleges. The truth is the problem

in our country has been not enough good school places so anyone who

can play a role in that private schools included is welcome through

my door to talk about how we drive up standards for all.

Eton College was amongst the schools represented in Downing

Street yesterday. Had has links with -- it has links with local

State schools, but the Prime Minister wants his old school to go

further. Do you want that school with all

its history and privileges to actually set-up a State school?

I think I would like all private schools to engage in this agenda.

To me all private schools have always had a charitable foundation

and it is a great way to help deliver that.

David Cameron says he is planning a revolution in British education and

today it became clear just how radical he wants to be. Ending what

some have called the Berlin Wall between private schools and the

State sector. David Cameron knows he will be accused of helping the

few at the expense of the many. His reply is that the many have been

Coming up on tonight's programme: Could it be an end to ambulance

chasing? A ban on selling crash victims' details to personal injury

lawyers. In Libya, there's growing concern

about the disappearance of thousands of highly sophisticated

missiles and others weapons, that are still being looted from

unguarded compounds in Tripoli. Western nations fear they could

fuel an Iraq-style conflict inside Libya or fall into the hands of

terrorists abroad. Andrew Harding has been to one of the compounds.

In a Tripoli warehouse, an alarming discovery. There is no security at

all here. We just walked in. We have come to see one of Colonel

Gaddafi's secret weapons stores, but the looters have got here first.

This is a very dangerous weapon and it has gone.

This is the surface-to-air missile that Al-Qaeda used in Mombasa to

shoot down an Israeli airline. This exact model.

In the past few days thousands of highly sophisticated weapons have

been stolen from this warehouse. No one knows who has got them or where

they will end up being used. You have to wonder three weeks after

Tripoli fell why no one has taken the trouble to secure weapons like

this. Some of those weapons have been

taken by Libya's rebels, the war isn't over here yet, but there are

reports that others have been offered for sale abroad..

It is a serious problem. The key thing is to try and track them. Try

and bring them under control and to assess as you say the scale of the

problem. Mass prayers in Tripoli today and

growing stability here, but what if things turn sour, the new

authorities are raising to -- racing to find the looted weapons

before they fuel a new insurgency. It is a huge task. They need help.

They need to co-ordinate amongst the factions to stop the spread of

these weapons. Another warehouse, another cache of

weapons, a single guard offering little protection.

Not safe. Never safe. Inside, 100,000 land mines up for

There are reports tonight that anti-Gaddafi forces are making a

push on two of the former Libyan leaders' last strongholds. They're

fighting near Gaddafi's home town of Sirte and have entered the town

of Bani Walid where they are battling to take control. The

National Transitional Council had given the pro-Gaddafi forces there

until tomorrow to surrender. Andrew Harding has just arrived near to

the town of Bani Walid. Andrew, what more can you tell us about

what's happening there? The battle for the town has begun

within the past few hours. At this stage it seems like skirmishing on

the outskirts rather than a full- scale assault. Everyone is saying

there is no going back. Tomorrow is likely to be interesting, perhaps

decisive. So far not many casualties. There could be up to

700 Gaddafi die hard supporters fighting on inside Bani Walid even

when the town falls, the big question is will that have a

domino-effect on the towns under Gaddafi control? The key factor

there maybe the fate of the Colonel himself. Highly he is at large,

while he hasn't been killed or captured he will be a rallying

point and resistance will continue and this long end game will drag on.

Thank you. The leader of the Green Party

accused the Government of launching a repressive crackdown on hes

responsible for last month's rioting in England. In shef shield

Caroline Lucas blamed unrestrained capitalism and a failure to address

unemployment and inequality. The people who took part in the

riots are from our society. They are our neighbours and work

colleagues. We sit next to them on the bus bus. The divisions in

society are of them making. The UK Independence Party claims

Conservative voters have been let down on issues like immigration and

cuts to the armed forces. Speaking at UKIP's annual conference, party

leader Nigel Farage also criticised the Prime Minister for not holding

a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Ieuan Wyn Jones has given his last speech as leader of Plaid Cymru at

the party's annual conference. His party fell to third place in May's

election. He told delegates in Llandudno that the Welsh

nationalists could get a better deal for Wales than the Labour

Government. Labour will try to take us down

some sidings, but they'll hit the buffers. Plaid Plaid has to lead to

get Wales back on track. It won't always be an easy easy journey. At

times it will be a bumpy ride. We will have to stop sometimes as for

now for refuelling, but getting back into the driver's seat, we

must. Insurance companies in England and

Wales are to be banned from selling their customers' personal details

to so-called "ambulance chasing" lawyers. It's thought the practice

has helped push up motor insurance premiums by more than 30% in the

last year alone. The question for drivers now is will premiums come

down as a result? Our UK Affairs Correspondent, Chris Buckler, has

Many firms have discovered there is cash in claims. Some solicitors pay

hundreds of pounds for information about accident victims with

insurance companies among those trading trading details. Some say

it is leading to a compensation culture and higher premiums.

I did pay �2,000. Now I pay �2800. It is annoying.

It is It is double. I never had a a claim in years and it has gone up a

lot. Insurance premiums have gone up 87%

in England and Wales over the last three years. There are a range of

issues that affect how much people pay, but the average premium in

England and Wales is now about �920. However, in Scotland with a law on

referral on fees tiger fees tighter, it is lower. When you have had an

accident you contact your insurance company and maybe a car hire firm.

They sell your details to personal injury for a fee. Those lawyers

then contact you encouraging you to claim compensation.

Phil Riley was in a minor accident. After he contacted his insurance

company, he was bombarded with texts and calls.

I hadn't been injured. They wanted me to say I had been injured so I

would make a claim. It was going to be worth around about �3500.

When you have an accident and it is not your fault... There are many

companies helping people to make claims, but among accident

management firms you will find people who believe the insurance

industry needs to address the issue of referralals.

You can't have it both ways. They want to cut out referralal fees and

at the same time they are the ones who are selling that information

for vast amounts of money. A ban on selling details won't be

in place until next year at the earliest, but the Government

insists in the long-term it is Tennis and Andy Murray has battled

through to the semi-finals of the US Open tonight with a four set

victory over the American John Isner. Murray will face either

defending champion Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick for a place in

Monday's final. The Rugby World Cup has kicked off

in New Zealand with an opening ceremony celebrating the country's

Maori heritage. The hosts faced Tonga in the opening match with

Scotland the first of the home nations due to play in the early

hours of the morning. Tim Franks Few countries approach their rugby

quite so passionately, but New Zealand's is unrequited for 24

years. Expectation is climbing sky ward.

After the anthems, the har the the harka. Then The All Black tide. The

new boys in the New Zealanders slicing open the Tongans for one,

two and three. The second half proved harder work. New Zealand ran

out 41-10 winners, convincing, but not overwhelming. The All Blacks

are the top rated team. The home nations fill rankings five to eight.

But for one veteran, what they lack in style, they make up in grit.

Overall in a World Cup competition when all bets are off, it is not

about scoring four tries and throwing the ball about, it is

about winning games of rugby. When it is World Cup time, it is

attritional and that's when the Northern Hemisphere teams come into

their own. Scotland and England have their

opening games tomorrow. It has been a predictable start, but history

predicts this tournament doesn't follow such an obvious course.