02/05/2014 BBC News at Ten


02/05/2014

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A fatal fire in Ukraine - police say at least 30 are dead. It follows a

:00:10.:00:17.

day of fierce fighting. The blaze started during clashes in

:00:18.:00:19.

Odessa between pro-Russian activists and government supporters. It's the

:00:20.:00:27.

worst violence to break out in the southern port of Odessa since

:00:28.:00:29.

Ukraine's President Yanukovych was ousted in February. It's the

:00:30.:00:33.

deadliest day since the revolution in February. We'll be asking how

:00:34.:00:36.

Russia might respond to this latest escalation.

:00:37.:00:38.

Also tonight: One last moment in the spotlight - the publicist Max

:00:39.:00:41.

Clifford is jailed for eight years for sexual assault in the 1970s and

:00:42.:00:43.

80s. Police in Northern Ireland are given

:00:44.:01:01.

And the biggest ever survey of our health and lifestyles, to try to

:01:02.:01:04.

help future generations. In Sportsday, Eden Hazard's

:01:05.:01:11.

commitment to Chelsea is questioned by manager Jose Mourinho after he

:01:12.:01:13.

criticised Mourinho's footballing tactics.

:01:14.:01:38.

Good evening. It's been a day of deadly violence

:01:39.:01:44.

in Ukraine. It began in the early hours of this morning when the

:01:45.:01:46.

Ukrainian government launched an offensive to retake a city in

:01:47.:01:49.

eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists. It's ended

:01:50.:01:52.

this evening with the deaths of at least 30 pro-Russian activists who

:01:53.:01:55.

died when a building caught fire in the southern Ukrainian port of

:01:56.:02:00.

Odessa. Ukraine has accused Russia of backing the insurgents who have

:02:01.:02:02.

seized government buildings in more than a dozen eastern cities. But

:02:03.:02:07.

tonight the focus moved to Odessa, as our special correspondent Fergal

:02:08.:02:08.

Keane reports. Odessa's day of tragedy began with

:02:09.:02:24.

protest. Rival groups of demonstrators converged on the city

:02:25.:02:31.

centre. These pro-Ukrainians hurling missiles at the police, and beyond

:02:32.:02:36.

them, a pro-Russian group. From early, there were injuries and

:02:37.:02:41.

death, four people apparently killed by gunfire from the pro-Russian

:02:42.:02:47.

side. Then, disaster. The pro-Russians retreated to this

:02:48.:02:51.

building. Dozens were killed when it was set on fire. Their pro-Ukrainian

:02:52.:02:57.

enemies are being blamed. It came on a day when the state tried to

:02:58.:03:02.

reimpose its will hear in the rebellious east. 400 miles from

:03:03.:03:06.

Odessa in Sloviansk, the militants were waiting and well prepared for a

:03:07.:03:11.

government attack. Here, petrol bombs being prepared and a promise

:03:12.:03:14.

of fire down the road any soldiers might come. I don't want a

:03:15.:03:20.

dictatorship to control my country, this man said. And this was their

:03:21.:03:28.

answer to the government offensive. Missiles that bound helicopters. --

:03:29.:03:38.

brought down helicopters. Instruments of state power brought

:03:39.:03:41.

crashing to the ground. Two pilots killed. Here, a wounded crew member

:03:42.:03:47.

is helped by the rebels who captured him. It was an image that seemed to

:03:48.:03:52.

define a day in which the government yet again struggled in the face of

:03:53.:03:58.

determined opposition. But it was on this bridge that we found the army

:03:59.:04:01.

being confronted by its own citizens. Helicopters deployed

:04:02.:04:06.

troops onto this strategic crossing six miles from Sloviansk. But the

:04:07.:04:23.

people refused to let them cross. Fascists, she cried. Locals said

:04:24.:04:28.

this elderly man was injured by an advancing vehicle. But as the

:04:29.:04:32.

stalemate hardened on the bridge, we found a mood of defiance. I am

:04:33.:04:45.

prepared to take the gun, if need, for my land. You understand me? The

:04:46.:04:52.

soldiers were nervous, far from Kiev and the government that is giving

:04:53.:04:55.

them orders. You don't seem to control very much here. What is

:04:56.:05:00.

happening? Pointing to the protesters, you told us, they are

:05:01.:05:06.

for Putin. The atmosphere on the bridge remains tense. There is no

:05:07.:05:09.

obvious appetite for confrontation on the part of the troops but there

:05:10.:05:14.

is a great deal of anger among the pro-Russian demonstrators. Neither

:05:15.:05:16.

side knows where this military escalation is leading.

:05:17.:05:20.

Let's speak to Daniel Sandford who's in Russia. The question has to be

:05:21.:05:33.

what Russia's response might be. Well, the news from Odessa came too

:05:34.:05:38.

late for an official response from the Kremlin that we have had a

:05:39.:05:41.

statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry saying the government in

:05:42.:05:44.

Kiev bears criminal responsibility for the deaths in Odessa, and saying

:05:45.:05:48.

that the government in Kiev has been working with far right protesters in

:05:49.:05:55.

a campaign of terror against those people campaigning for

:05:56.:05:58.

federalisation in the Ukraine. A very strong statement from the

:05:59.:06:01.

Russian Foreign Ministry, and the events in Odessa fit the Kremlin

:06:02.:06:05.

narrative of Ukraine stepping into chaos and civil war, in which

:06:06.:06:10.

Russian speakers are at risk. What will the Kremlin do about it? We

:06:11.:06:15.

know there are tens of thousands of Russian troops camped on the

:06:16.:06:19.

Ukrainian border. It has never been clear whether they are there as a

:06:20.:06:22.

signal, or whether there was any intention of using them. But

:06:23.:06:28.

certainly, military advisers in Kiev and Washington and Brussels will be

:06:29.:06:31.

watching very, very carefully what Russia's next move will be.

:06:32.:06:34.

The celebrity publicist Max Clifford is spending his first night in jail

:06:35.:06:37.

after being sentenced to eight years in prison for a string of indecent

:06:38.:06:40.

assaults against young girls and women in the 1970s and 80s. The

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judge told Max Clifford that his position in the entertainment world

:06:45.:06:47.

had meant that both he and his victims had thought he was

:06:48.:06:51.

untouchable. Our home affairs correspondent June Kelly reports on

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a very public downfall. Her report contains flash photography.

:06:56.:07:06.

He arrived at court to face the usual media scrum, but today he knew

:07:07.:07:10.

that while he was walking in, he wouldn't be walking out. Max

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Clifford's career has been built on the media. Knowing he would be out

:07:15.:07:18.

of the spotlight for some time, he posed for the cameras for almost

:07:19.:07:24.

five minutes. No real comment apart from, it wasn't the best day of his

:07:25.:07:28.

life. No apology to his victims, but there was a smile. The court was

:07:29.:07:34.

full. And at the side of the dock, watching Max Bash Micro Max

:07:35.:07:38.

Clifford, some of the women he had abused and assaulted, who cannot be

:07:39.:07:42.

identified. They were in tears as the eight-year sentence was handed

:07:43.:07:47.

down. Judge Anthony Leonard said of his offences, the reason they were

:07:48.:07:49.

not brought to light sooner is because of your dominant character

:07:50.:07:52.

and your position in the world of entertainment, which meant that your

:07:53.:07:57.

victims thought you were untouchable, something I judge that

:07:58.:08:02.

you, too, believed and traded upon. One of his youngest victims was 15,

:08:03.:08:07.

a child when he groomed and abused her. I became very fearful of men

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and had some difficult relationships because of that. I didn't really

:08:12.:08:18.

trust anybody. When I was seeing him on television speaking to millions

:08:19.:08:20.

of people, telling them he was innocent, I did think, no one is

:08:21.:08:28.

going to believe me. Max Clifford was the Wizard of public relations,

:08:29.:08:33.

exposing other people's sex secrets, like an affair with England manager

:08:34.:08:38.

Sven Goran Eriksson. And a relationship with David Mellor,

:08:39.:08:43.

which ended his ministerial career. When the Jimmy Savile scandal blew

:08:44.:08:48.

up, the third claimed celebrities were approaching him, fearful for

:08:49.:08:53.

their reputations. -- Clifford claimed. They say, you are in the

:08:54.:08:58.

middle of the media world, so if you suddenly hear our names, would you

:08:59.:09:02.

be kind enough to let us know. Weeks later, he was arrested. It is not

:09:03.:09:08.

fun being accused of being a fantasist Ashgrove fantasist... Even

:09:09.:09:13.

during his trial, he played for the cameras. In sentencing, the judge

:09:14.:09:17.

condemned this performance for trivialising events. Tonight,

:09:18.:09:22.

Scotland Yard released his mugshot. He is the first person to be

:09:23.:09:27.

convicted under Operation Yewtree, the police investigation into

:09:28.:09:31.

historical sex offences. There is a clear message that nobody is immune,

:09:32.:09:35.

nobody is above the law. It does not matter when things happen, we will

:09:36.:09:38.

prosecute when we have evidence to do so. The man used to travelling in

:09:39.:09:45.

his Bentley left court in a prison van. Max Clifford, protector and

:09:46.:09:49.

destroyer of reputations, brought down by a group of women he once

:09:50.:09:54.

controlled. They took control and refused to remain silent.

:09:55.:09:56.

And we can speak to June Kelly now at Wandsworth Prison where Max

:09:57.:09:59.

Clifford is spending his first night behind bars. It has now emerged that

:10:00.:10:06.

since the trial other women have come forward. That is right. We

:10:07.:10:12.

understand that a number of new complainants have come forward, and

:10:13.:10:15.

police and prosecutors are now considering those complaints. Max

:10:16.:10:20.

Clifford was sentenced under penalties and legislation which were

:10:21.:10:24.

in force at the time of his offences. Under current legislation

:10:25.:10:28.

and guidelines, he would have faced a far harsher jail term. And today

:10:29.:10:33.

the judge maximised the sentence he was able to impose. Also under

:10:34.:10:39.

current legislation, some of these offences would now be classed as

:10:40.:10:44.

rape. So tonight, Max Clifford, PR consultant, Max Clifford convicted

:10:45.:10:51.

sex offender. At the age of 71 he is preparing to spend the first of very

:10:52.:10:54.

many nights in prison. Police in Northern Ireland have been

:10:55.:10:57.

given another 48 hours to question the Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams,

:10:58.:11:00.

in connection with one of the most notorious murders during the

:11:01.:11:03.

Troubles. Jean McConville, a mother of ten, was shot by the IRA in 1972.

:11:04.:11:08.

Mr Adams, who denies any involvement, voluntarily presented

:11:09.:11:10.

himself for questioning in Antrim on Wednesday. Our Ireland correspondent

:11:11.:11:23.

Chris Buckler reports. A new mural in west Belfast paints

:11:24.:11:28.

Gerry Adams as a peacemaker and visionary. But to detectives he is a

:11:29.:11:32.

suspect in a murder case. As they were given an extra 48 hours to

:11:33.:11:37.

question him there was a one-man protest outside Antrim Police

:11:38.:11:40.

Station. A court has given detectives the right to keep Gerry

:11:41.:11:43.

Adams behind these gates until Sunday night to question him about

:11:44.:11:48.

the killing four decades ago. People like me are left living the life we

:11:49.:11:51.

live because we cannot move on because of what happened. Helen

:11:52.:11:58.

McKendry is just one of Jean McConville's ten children. She is

:11:59.:12:01.

pictured with her mother in the only photograph that still exists of a

:12:02.:12:06.

woman murdered by the IRA, a widow dragged out of her home and killed

:12:07.:12:09.

in secret, leaving her family without a parent. Gerry Adams has

:12:10.:12:15.

always denied being involved in the murder but Mrs McKendry has been

:12:16.:12:20.

vocal in her belief that he was. If he comes on the television the

:12:21.:12:23.

grandchildren say, there is the bad man. What I feel about him, he is

:12:24.:12:30.

now a top politician and he thinks he is God, really, untouchable. But

:12:31.:12:37.

if I don't get, if he is not charged today with the murder of my mother I

:12:38.:12:43.

am hoping to take civil action. Gerry Adams' arrest has made

:12:44.:12:47.

international headlines. In his years as a politician he shared the

:12:48.:12:51.

spotlight with world leaders. Among the allegations he is being

:12:52.:12:55.

questioned about our claims by the late IRA commander Brendan Hughes,

:12:56.:12:59.

recorded by researchers from Boston College. There is only one man who

:13:00.:13:04.

gave the order for that woman to be executed. That man is now the head

:13:05.:13:10.

of Sinn Fein. The Prime Minister and I appreciate the sensitivity and

:13:11.:13:14.

seriousness of the situation, which is why he was engaging with the

:13:15.:13:19.

first and Deputy First Minister. But nothing can ease Sinn Fein's anger,

:13:20.:13:23.

directed squarely at the police, a point they made tonight. Are you

:13:24.:13:29.

thinking of withdrawing support for the Police Service of Northern

:13:30.:13:32.

Ireland? There is growing anger with every hour that Gerry Adams spends

:13:33.:13:36.

in there. There was an extension today, which was uncalled for. The

:13:37.:13:43.

decision to arrest a leading politician was always going to be

:13:44.:13:46.

controversial, particularly in Northern Ireland, where the

:13:47.:13:49.

relationship between police and politics has a long, difficult and

:13:50.:13:54.

sometimes fraught history. But detectives say they have a duty to

:13:55.:13:57.

investigate all murders, including past crimes that can't be forgotten.

:13:58.:14:03.

The part-time judge and barrister Constance Briscoe has been jailed

:14:04.:14:05.

for 16 months for perverting the course of justice. She was told at

:14:06.:14:09.

her trial that her actions struck at the heart of the criminal-justice

:14:10.:14:12.

system. She was found guilty of lying to police over her part in a

:14:13.:14:15.

speeding-offence cover-up by former MP Chris Huhne and his then wife,

:14:16.:14:20.

Vicky Pryce. The American firm Pfizer has tried

:14:21.:14:23.

to create one of the world's biggest companies by making another

:14:24.:14:26.

multi-billion pound bid for the British pharmaceutical firm

:14:27.:14:30.

AstraZeneca. It's been rejected for now, but critics fear that if Pfizer

:14:31.:14:33.

is ultimately successful, it could mean big job cuts in the UK and dent

:14:34.:14:36.

the influence of Britain's science sector. Our business editor, Kamal

:14:37.:14:39.

Ahmed, reports. It's more combat than courtship -

:14:40.:14:47.

two giants circling each other, wondering who'll end up the winner.

:14:48.:14:52.

Today Pfizer was rebuffed for a second time, but many predict it

:14:53.:14:57.

will be back with another offer. With investment in scientific

:14:58.:14:59.

research and thousands of jobs at stake, this is far more than a

:15:00.:15:05.

simple business deal. My job is to protect the United Kingdom's

:15:06.:15:08.

interests. I want to see see great science here in Britain, I want to

:15:09.:15:11.

see great medicines delivered, I want to see great jobs in these

:15:12.:15:16.

industries here in Britain. And that is why we have sought and received

:15:17.:15:19.

robust assurances from Pfizer, were a deal to go ahead.

:15:20.:15:26.

The two firms dominate the drugs industry. Pfizer employs 70,000

:15:27.:15:29.

people around the world, including 2,00 in the UK. -- 2500. It had

:15:30.:15:38.

sales of nearly ?31 billion last year. AstraZeneca employs over

:15:39.:15:41.

50,000 people, including 6,700 in the UK. It had sales of ?15 billion

:15:42.:15:52.

last year. Together, they would become the biggest drugs company in

:15:53.:15:54.

the world. I'm here at AstraZeneca's

:15:55.:15:56.

headquarters in London. They occupy the top three floors of this

:15:57.:15:58.

building. These two businesses manufacture billions of pounds'

:15:59.:16:01.

worth of drugs for millions of patients every year, everything from

:16:02.:16:03.

headache tablets to cancer treatment. AstraZeneca alone

:16:04.:16:06.

accounts for nearly 2% of all the goods exported from the UK. That's

:16:07.:16:11.

why this deal is so important politically. Critics say that

:16:12.:16:16.

Pfizer's previous takeover deals have led to cost-cutting. What we've

:16:17.:16:21.

got here is a British company which has been turned around, got good

:16:22.:16:24.

pipelines of drugs coming along, and an attempted takeover by a company

:16:25.:16:27.

which is notorious for having takeovers and then stripping out the

:16:28.:16:29.

R, asset-stripping the intellectual property. I have to say

:16:30.:16:39.

I'm totally opposed to that. It was only last week that the

:16:40.:16:42.

Chancellor was in Cambridge, where AstraZeneca plans to build its new

:16:43.:16:48.

headquarters. He was speaking about the importance of science research

:16:49.:16:52.

to the UK. The Treasury says it wants to make any pledges binding if

:16:53.:16:56.

Pfizer is successful in this battle of the giants.

:16:57.:16:57.

Kamal Ahmed, BBC News. The United Nations is warning that

:16:58.:17:05.

the conflict in South Sudan could spiral into genocide. Thousands of

:17:06.:17:09.

people have died since the ethnic violence first erupted last year.

:17:10.:17:13.

Now the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has arrived in the country to

:17:14.:17:17.

try to broker a peace deal. South Sudan is the world's newest country,

:17:18.:17:22.

it won independence three years ago. Fighting broke out in December

:17:23.:17:24.

between troops backing President Kiir and soldiers loyal to his

:17:25.:17:30.

sacked deputy Riek Matchar. Since the conflict began, more than a

:17:31.:17:33.

million people have fled their homes. Our correspondent Alastair

:17:34.:17:36.

Leithead is in the capital, Juba. A warning - his report contains some

:17:37.:17:38.

disturbing images. There's anger and there is tension

:17:39.:17:48.

in South Sudan. Tempers are short inside the United Nations camp in

:17:49.:17:52.

Juba. 20,000 people have been living on top of each other for months in

:17:53.:17:58.

appalling conditions. Everyone here is from the same Nuer tribe. You can

:17:59.:18:02.

tell by the markings on their foreheads, marks they fear could get

:18:03.:18:08.

them killed. John was an engineer with the electricity ministry. Now

:18:09.:18:13.

he sells phone cards. He hasn't left the camp since December, when a

:18:14.:18:16.

political row reopened an historical tribal rift and sparked civil war.

:18:17.:18:23.

He is afraid to leave. I cannot go home, because there is bad security

:18:24.:18:27.

there outside. When I'm going outside, those who are working

:18:28.:18:30.

there, they will kill me. The government will kill me. You are

:18:31.:18:41.

sure? I am sure, because I am Nuer. Because you are Nuer. Because I have

:18:42.:18:44.

this mark, they will see me outside, they will catch me and then they

:18:45.:18:47.

will kill me. These people are Dinka, killed when

:18:48.:18:50.

Nuer rebels retook Bentiu town from government troops. Hundreds were

:18:51.:18:53.

killed in the street, hospital, a church and a mosque. And the UN camp

:18:54.:18:59.

in Bor is now a fortress after an armed Dinka mob bent on revenge

:19:00.:19:02.

forced their way in past peacekeepers and killed 46 people,

:19:03.:19:08.

half of them children. I think, from all the monitoring we

:19:09.:19:11.

have done, that crimes against humanity are being committed here.

:19:12.:19:19.

This is one half of South Sudan's problem, Riek Machar, a Nuer, the

:19:20.:19:22.

former vice president and the rebel leader. She warned him he would be

:19:23.:19:31.

held accountable for atrocities. Today the US Secretary of State,

:19:32.:19:34.

John Kerry, stepped into the crisis, adding his voice to the chorus of

:19:35.:19:39.

international outcry. He met President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, the

:19:40.:19:42.

other half of the problem, who finally agreed to direct talks in

:19:43.:19:44.

Ethiopia, setting up a possible face-to-face meeting.

:19:45.:19:50.

If both sides do not take steps in order to reduce or end the violence,

:19:51.:19:53.

they literally put the entire country in danger.

:19:54.:20:01.

Tens of thousands of people are trapped in these camps all around

:20:02.:20:04.

the country in dreadful conditions. Well over a million people have now

:20:05.:20:08.

been displaced by the fighting in South Sudan. This international

:20:09.:20:11.

effort from the UN, from the US, this weekend from the regional heads

:20:12.:20:14.

of state, is designed to try to break this cycle of violence and

:20:15.:20:17.

revenge killing, to bring a cease-fire and try to get a lasting

:20:18.:20:22.

peace. But that still seems a long way off.

:20:23.:20:25.

Alastair Leithead, BBC News, in Juba.

:20:26.:20:29.

A landslide in a remote area of northeastern Afghanistan has killed

:20:30.:20:32.

at least 350 people and left more than 2,000 missing. Much of the

:20:33.:20:36.

Badakhshan region has been hit by days of torrential rain. The UN is

:20:37.:20:41.

working with authorities in the area to try to rescue people still

:20:42.:20:44.

trapped, and the governor has appealed for shovels to help dig

:20:45.:20:53.

through the mass of mud. The teenager charged with the murder

:20:54.:20:57.

of the teacher Ann Maguire has appeared by video link at Leeds

:20:58.:21:00.

Crown Court. The 15-year-old is accused of stabbing her to death in

:21:01.:21:04.

a classroom on Monday morning. He can't be named because of his age,

:21:05.:21:08.

but he will face trial in November. David Cameron has launched the

:21:09.:21:09.

Conservatives' local-election campaign emphasising what he called

:21:10.:21:12.

the great British recovery, which he said would be put at risk by voting

:21:13.:21:16.

for other parties. With the European elections at the same time, he used

:21:17.:21:19.

the launch to re-affirm the Tories' commitment to offering an in-out

:21:20.:21:22.

referendum of EU membership. Our deputy political editor, James

:21:23.:21:29.

Landale, reports. David Cameron says that a great

:21:30.:21:34.

British revival is taking place. In warehouses like this up and down the

:21:35.:21:37.

country, there are new jobs and investment that he says only the

:21:38.:21:40.

Conservatives would protect in these elections, along with the promise of

:21:41.:21:43.

lower council taxes and, yes, a referendum on Europe. Whatever it

:21:44.:21:48.

takes, I will deliver that in-out referendum. Labour won't, UKIP

:21:49.:21:56.

can't, I will. I would not be Prime Minister of a government unless we

:21:57.:21:59.

could carry out our pledge of an in- out referendum.

:22:00.:22:06.

UKIP, he said, was all talk, no delivery. And then there's UKIP.

:22:07.:22:12.

Frankly, I don't need to discredit UKIP, they've done a good enough job

:22:13.:22:16.

themselves over the last few weeks. It was a message that some of the

:22:17.:22:20.

workers he met here liked - but not all. I don't trust them at all. Just

:22:21.:22:25.

him or them? The Conservatives. Em, I... I'm going to wait and see, see

:22:26.:22:38.

if he does deliver what he says. I thought it was quite positive.

:22:39.:22:46.

With being an apprentice with JCB, I felt the benefits of having more

:22:47.:22:48.

jobs and job securities. And at a theme park just down the

:22:49.:22:52.

road, there was some support for the Conservatives, but also doubt about

:22:53.:22:55.

just which they were heading. David Cameron is promising a referendum,

:22:56.:22:58.

an in-out referendum. Do you trust him to deliver on that? I'm going to

:22:59.:23:01.

say no. Why not? Historical reasons, that these things haven't

:23:02.:23:04.

materialised. And that is why you are going to vote UKIP? I'm going to

:23:05.:23:06.

vote UKIP. David Cameron has promised a

:23:07.:23:09.

referendum on Europe, do you trust him to deliver on that? Hopefully, I

:23:10.:23:13.

mean, if he sticks to what he says, then... Do you think he will stick

:23:14.:23:16.

to what he says? I would like to think so.

:23:17.:23:21.

I think he needs to come out with some definite policies. I don't

:23:22.:23:24.

think a referendum is really going to satisfy the public, to be honest.

:23:25.:23:30.

For many years, the Tories have said their poll ratings will rise once

:23:31.:23:33.

the economy recovers. Well, it hasn't happened yet. Many voters

:23:34.:23:37.

still seem cautious, and they don't want to be taken for a ride.

:23:38.:23:42.

James Landale, BBC News, Staffordshire.

:23:43.:23:49.

And you can find details about the election campaigns of other

:23:50.:23:52.

political parties, together with a detailed guide to the BBC's election

:23:53.:23:54.

coverage, if you go to bbc.co.uk/news.

:23:55.:23:59.

It's the world's biggest body-scanning project. Scientists

:24:00.:24:04.

are trying to find out why some people get sick while others live to

:24:05.:24:07.

a healthy old age. It's part of UK Biobank, which is examining how our

:24:08.:24:10.

health is affected by lifestyle, environment and genes. 100,000

:24:11.:24:13.

volunteers will undergo detailed scans. The volunteers have been

:24:14.:24:18.

chosen from half a million adults who've already supplied their DNA.

:24:19.:24:22.

Among the diseases being studied are cancer, heart disease and dementia.

:24:23.:24:26.

Our medical correspondent Fergus Walsh was the first person to be

:24:27.:24:34.

scanned and has this report. OK, just keep nice and still

:24:35.:24:37.

again... Heart, brain, bones, even fat content. Every part of the body

:24:38.:24:40.

will be imaged for this ambitious project. I'm the first of 100,000

:24:41.:24:43.

people who'll be invited to undergo the tests. The MRI scans will yield

:24:44.:24:50.

a huge amount of data - the goal is clear. We will understand better the

:24:51.:24:58.

causes of a wide range of different diseases. The brain scans may well

:24:59.:25:03.

help us to understand the causes of dementia and other types of

:25:04.:25:06.

cognitive decline. Biobank scientists are analysing DNA

:25:07.:25:09.

from all the volunteers and will compare this with information

:25:10.:25:11.

supplied on diet, fitness, health records and cognitive tests. The DNA

:25:12.:25:21.

is stored in this freezer, in trays at minus 80 degrees. It's the

:25:22.:25:27.

combination of this huge genetic database together with lifestyle and

:25:28.:25:29.

medical information that makes UK Biobank such a powerful resource.

:25:30.:25:37.

Anne Johnson hopes the research will help explain why she got Alzheimer's

:25:38.:25:44.

disease at just 52. My father had this before me, and his lifestyle,

:25:45.:25:47.

like mine, was nothing wrong with it, so I can't identify what caused

:25:48.:25:51.

it for him or me. So we need to identify if there's any common

:25:52.:25:54.

denominators there which give us a clue as to what may be the cause of

:25:55.:25:56.

this. The scanning project is not a health

:25:57.:26:07.

check, volunteers won't see their scans. But if a potentially serious

:26:08.:26:10.

problem like a tumour is spotted, that will be fed back.

:26:11.:26:16.

You can see the fluid filled spaces...

:26:17.:26:20.

It could mean early diagnosis but also cause alarm. Some tumours are

:26:21.:26:24.

not amenable to treatment, and so somebody has to live with the

:26:25.:26:27.

knowledge that they have something that nothing can be done about. And

:26:28.:26:31.

that can just create worry and have a negative impact on travel and life

:26:32.:26:36.

insurance. UK Biobank is an example of

:26:37.:26:40.

altruism. Volunteers know it's not their health, but that of future

:26:41.:26:43.

generations, that will benefit from this ground-breaking project.

:26:44.:26:49.

Fergus Walsh, BBC News. That's all from us, don't forget - a

:26:50.:26:53.

first look at the papers over on the BBC News Channel, but now on BBC

:26:54.:26:57.

One, it's time for the news where you are.

:26:58.:27:01.

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