18/07/2012 BBC News at One


18/07/2012

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Targeting the heart of power - a suicide bomber in Syria kills the

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defence minister and his deputy - President Assad's brother-in-law.

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The Defence Minister was among those who died when a bodyguard

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reporter to Blue himself up. His deputy, the President's brother-in-

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law also died. Positive signs as the jobless total

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falls again helped by a growing number of people becoming self-

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employed. It is so worth it. When you look around you at the end of

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the day and think, I got myself here.

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Trying to get the economy to grow - ministers say they'll guarantee �50

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billion for investment in infrastructure.

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Get moving - a lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths across

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the world as smoking. And texting overtakes talking as

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the young drive a change in the way we communicate.

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On BBC London: Nine days to go and warnings to motorists that the

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Olympics will disrupt motorists outside the capital.

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And the father of a man crushed to death in a cement mixer says he's

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no nearer the truth of his son's death. And is preparing to sue

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Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. A suicide bomber

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in Syria has struck close to the heart of power killing the defence

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minister and his deputy - who was President Assad's brother-in-law.

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They're the most senior government officials to be killed in the

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Syrian civil war as rebels try to oust President Assad. There are

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reports that the bomber was the defence minister's bodyguard. The

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bomb went off at the National Security Building in Damascus where

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cabinet ministers and senior security officials were meeting,

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during a fourth day of fighting in the capital. Our Middle East

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correspondent Jim Muir reports from neighbouring Lebanon.

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A blow at the very heart of the Syrian regime. Confirmation the

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defence minister, Daoud Rajiha was caught in an explosion by the

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suicide bomber. So was his deputy, Assef Shawkat, he is President

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Assad's brother in law. Both in the inner circle of power. The attack

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came as the fires were getting closer to the centre of power.

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Activist said this blazing army barracks is helping guard the

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presidential palace just below. Clashes and skirmishing have

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continued in several parts of the city, mainly in the south-west and

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north-east of the centre. Activists say Government forces have used

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tanks and artillery while rebel fighters are likely armed but hard

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to winkle out. The Syrian state media have played down the fighting

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in the capital, but television showed these pictures of troops on

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the corners of deserted streets of Midan near the city centre. The

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clashes in Damascus hat -- started on Sunday spreading to Midan. They

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later broke out on the other side of the city. Residents say some of

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the affected districts have been surrounded by troops and tanks.

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Media in Qaboun is showing residential houses and then

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shooting everything, every moving thing. People are trying to run a

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wave. Now the interest is especially towards the south and

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towards the Damascus of birds and they are closed. After that saved a

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dozen people have been killed in the city so far and many wounded.

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Treating them in such conditions is clearly hard. Despite the

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Government crackdown, defines continues both in Damascus and in

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the outlying countryside where some of the approach roads to the

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capital were blocked. The rebels are sensing victory. The news of

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the deaths at the core of the regime will give them heart. The

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battle is heating up but still may have a long way to run.

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And Jim joins me from Beirut The number of unemployed people fell by

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65,000 between March and May to nearly 2.6 million - the lowest for

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almost a year. How much of a blow will this be to the Assad regime?

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If you ask them to name one a double macro outsiders, Assef

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Shawkat is always one of the top names people come up with. It is a

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significant blow. The defence minister, very senior figures. It

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is hard to imagine apart from getting President Assad himself,

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being able to hit more important than these at the heart of the

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regime will stop whether it is a death blow, we will have to wait

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and see. The Defence Ministry has said this will only redouble its

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determination to root out what it is calling terrorists who are

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backed by foreign powers carrying out their plots. We can expect some

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severe reprisals on the ground and a further crackdown as the fighting

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moves closer to the centre of the capital. There is still a long way

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to go before we can say the regime is in danger of toppling.

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The number of people out of work fell by 65,000 between March and

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May, to 2.6 million. The number of people in work increased to just

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under 30 million - the highest figure for almost four years. But

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the Office for National Statistics said the number claiming

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Jobseeker's Allowance increased last month to 1.6 million. John

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Moylan reports. This lady is one of the growing

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ranks of the self employed. She was an out of work architecture

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graduate before she decided to turn her hobby of drawing and

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illustrating into a full-time job. It is hard work, but it is worth it.

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When you can look around you at the end of the day and think, you're

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only here because of your own hard work and everything around you, you

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have created, is a fantastic feeling. For the 4th month in a row

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unemployment has fallen. What looked like a blip seem to be

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turning into a trend. What is happening in the labour market has

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perplexed many economists given Britain is still in a double-dip

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recession. One employment up by 180,000 in the last three months

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when the country is in a recession. It does not happen. Either the doom

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and gloom on the data has been overdone and we will seek a

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pleasant surprise and GDP gets revised up. Or we will get a nasty

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surprise and this latest data is too good to be truthful stock

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unemployment remains at historically high levels. For those

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looking for work, like these people at a Wolverhampton, getting on the

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jobs ladder is not easy. It is hard to, not a lot on offer and a lot of

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it is just work experience. I have a lot of work experience now and I

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don't know what else to do. needed job because I have a lot of

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things to pay for. I am looking for something in waitressing, retail,

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something to get the money in, basically. There are more people in

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work and vacancies are rising, too. This morning employment minister

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was visiting his postal firm which intends to recruit 20,000 staff in

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the coming years. There is a long way to go, I make no bones about

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the challenge we face. Unemployment in this country is still too high

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and we need to create economic growth to support businesses as

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they develop, expand and create jobs. Of course we have to do more

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of that. But at least things are moving in the right direction.

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Olympics might be playing a part. The unemployment picture is mixed

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across the UK but the biggest fall in recent months was in London.

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Up to �50 billion is to be given to privately-funded infrastructure

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projects by the Government. Ministers say that guaranteeing

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loans to contractors will help work to start on many important energy

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and transport schemes. Labour said it doubted whether the assistance

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would speed-up any projects in the next year. Our political

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correspondent Chris Mason reports. Building up the economy is the

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biggest challenge for the Government. The latest idea the

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Chancellor and his deputy are looking at involves trying to help

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up to �40 billion worth of building projects get going. They are not

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offering loans, but guaranteeing banks won't be out of pocket if a

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project fails. Because the banking system is still recovering, it is

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not always easy to get financing. We can use the low interest rates,

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we have secured for the country and taxpayers, to help secure lower

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interest rates for people who want to go ahead with construction

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projects. Building new hospitals, constructing new roads and much

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needed new flood defences are all potentially in line for Government

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support. But to qualify, projects would have to meet strict criteria.

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They would have to start within a year. They would have to be

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financially credible and be good value for the taxpayer. Businesses

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across the country will welcome the fact the Government is putting the

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strength of the balance sheet of the Government, not taxpayers'

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money, but their ability to guarantee projects to get some big

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infrastructure projects moving. building projects don't happen in

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reality this quickly. They take time to have a long term, economic

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impact. I fear this plan is too little, too late. The

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infrastructure projects it hopes to fund won't be coming on stream this

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several months, if not years and the scheme is not the size to make

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the significant difference we need. For both the Chancellor at Number

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11 Downing Street and the Prime Minister next door, they are a work

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economy getting back on its feet again is crucial to whether they

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still live here after the next elections. After a rough couple of

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months for the coalition, they want to be seen to be doing something

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that will help. It won't be easy. Our economics editor Stephanie

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Flanders is here. Will this extra money make a difference? A lot of

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people thought it would be a good idea. It is not spending any money,

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but the idea that Government can lend its credibility in the

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financial markets to these projects to get them moving, I think people

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thought it was worth exploring. But concern about the detail, whether

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it can deliver. The Government has announced this type of project in

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the past but has not been able to deliver. The Treasury won't want to

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give these guarantees away lightly, so they will have to show they are

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a strong project. For one reason or another, in needs a bit of a push.

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People in the industry say it does not describe a lot of big projects

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out there. Unemployment figures have gone down again, is this a

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blip, or is this turning into a trend going the right way? There

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has been a trend throughout the last few years. Although we feel

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the unemployment figures are too high, they have not risen as high

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and not risen as much as people would have expected given the time

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the economy is going through. It has been encouraging for a while,

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and to see these figures at a time when the economy is officially flat,

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it is encouraging. But ministers are right to be cautious. London

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has played a big part, may be something to do with the Olympic

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hirings. In the next few months, if you look at how weak earnings are,

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it is not a strong labour market, people are still finding it tough.

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Lack of exercise is causing as many deaths around the world as smoking

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according to research published in the medical journal The Lancet. In

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a series of studies to coincide with the Olympics, scientists say

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inactivity is causing five million deaths a year globally, with the UK

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recording some of the lowest levels of exercise. Our medical

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correspondent Fergus Walsh has the details.

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Exercise is the miracle medicine that can benefit every part of the

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body, but that message just isn't getting through, according to an

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international team of researchers writing in the Lancet journal. They

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estimate that worldwide, one in 10 deaths from heart disease, diabetes

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and breast and bowel cancer is the result of inactivity. Because it is

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such a common risk factor for many of the chronic diseases we suffer

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from, on balance if we are physically inactive the risk of

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premature mortality is probably comparable to that of smoking.

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Adults are meant to do 2.5 hours of moderate aerobic activity every

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week, like cycling or walking. But two out of three in the UK do not

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manage that. Theresa Alchin has her health back on track now she is

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more active. But there so they tree lifestyle led her to develop Tyke

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two diabetes. It was a shock. But I had some fantastic medical advice

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from my doctor and nurse which said you have to put together a

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programme to work with this disease, which is going to be with you for

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the rest of your life. With the Olympics just days away and

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athletes arriving all of the time, most of the world will be spending

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hours in front of the television watching a lead sport. Researchers

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say we cannot all be champions, but we can extend our lives if we

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choose to be more active. Police have charged Hans Kristian

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Rausing, one of the heirs to the Tetra Pak drinks carton fortune,

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with delaying the burial of his wife, Eva. Her body was found at

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their home in London last week. Mr Rausing, 49, will appear in court

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in around an hour's time. Daniela Hans Rausing is due to be brought

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here from hospital, where he has been since the discovery of his

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wife's body. We understand that because of that on going hospital

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treatment, the court staff one today's first hearing dealt with as

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soon as possible and as quickly as possible. It is due to start at 2pm,

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and that is when Hans Rausing will hear the charge that he prevented

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the decent and lawful burial of his wife's body. He is one of the heirs

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to the Tetrapak empire, but the life of both he and his wife have

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been blighted by drug addiction. Hans Rausing was arrested on 9th

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July by police in south London on suspicion of driving under the

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influence of drugs or alcohol. It was during the subsequent search of

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the couple's luxury home in Chelsea that the body of Eva Rausing was

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discovered. But at this stage it is still not known how long her body

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had been there, know exactly how she died. The editor of the

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Mauritian Sunday Times has been arrested, after the paper published

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photographs of the body of a woman who was murdered while on honeymoon

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there. Michaela McAreavey, who was from County Tyrone in Northern

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Ireland, was strangled in the room of the luxury Legends Hotel in

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January last year. Last week, two hotel workers were recruited for

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murder. The body of an RAF pilot has been recovered from the site of

:16:10.:16:14.

a Tornado jet crashed in the Moray Firth. Flight-Lieutenant Adams

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Sanders, who was 27, had been missing since his plane was

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involved in a head-on collision during a training exercise on July

:16:22.:16:25.

3rd. Squadron Leader Samuel Bailey remains missing. The Daily Mail and

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the Mirror have been found guilty of contempt of court for publishing

:16:29.:16:34.

articles which allowed the Serial Killer Levi Bellfield to avoid a

:16:34.:16:37.

jury verdict on a charge of attempting to kidnap an 11-year-old

:16:37.:16:41.

girl. The papers ran the story after he was found guilty of

:16:41.:16:45.

murdering Milly Dowler, but the same jury was due to return

:16:45.:16:50.

verdicts on the separate charge the next day. The former Marcus Pode

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boss Max Mosley has told the Leveson Inquiry that a new press

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regulator should be able to stop papers publishing stories and

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should have the power to levy fines worth millions of pounds. He's been

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campaigning for new press rules since the news of the World

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published a story about his personal life. This report contains

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flash photography. Max Mosley was the motorsport boss whose sex life

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make the papers. A court ruled there wasn't a NATFHE theme to an

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orgy, reported on the front page of the News of the World, and that his

:17:22.:17:26.

privacy had been invaded. But no court ruling in the world could

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wipe the knowledge of his most personal details from the public

:17:29.:17:34.

mind. And debate, he came to the Leveson Inquiry but a plan for a

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new press tribunal that would be able to issue injunctions to stop

:17:38.:17:43.

papers publishing stories like that one. We absolutely have to have a

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procedure where if somebody has got no money and knows that a story is

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coming out that is a clear breach of privacy, that they should be

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able to go somewhere and get someone to tell the newspaper not

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to print it. Seeking the tribunal's held wouldn't cost money and it

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would be able to find the papers of to 10 % of their parent company's

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turnover. Max Mosley tried and failed to get the European Court of

:18:09.:18:12.

Human Rights to force journalists to warn people before making

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allegations about them. The plans he presented to the inquiry today,

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he said papers could, in very rare cases, ask the tribunal for

:18:20.:18:25.

permission not to give a warning. He said that would... Avoid the

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situation where entire decisions are taken by the editor. Some of

:18:29.:18:34.

his life can be ruined instantly. At the heart of this there is a

:18:34.:18:38.

decision to be made between the right to publish and the right to

:18:38.:18:41.

privacy. If journalists don't have to tell people before they write

:18:41.:18:46.

stories about them, there's a risk of bad reporting. If they have to

:18:46.:18:51.

tell, almost everybody, there's a risk that investigative journalists

:18:51.:18:56.

are stopped from exposing bad people. Max Mosley's campaign for

:18:56.:18:59.

changes to the way the press works has outlived the News of the World

:19:00.:19:04.

itself. If he has persuaded Lord Justice Leveson today, he might yet

:19:04.:19:12.

be able to chalk up another successful day before a judge. Our

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top story... A suicide bomber in Syria kills two of the most senior

:19:17.:19:22.

members of the Assad regime inside the national security building.

:19:22.:19:27.

Join me at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, where Team USA makes its

:19:27.:19:33.

final Olympic preparations. Later on BBC London. Another Olympic row.

:19:33.:19:36.

This time it's over whether cyclists can use the Olympic Lanes,

:19:36.:19:39.

although Transport for London insist most lanes can be used. And

:19:39.:19:49.
:19:49.:19:52.

will the rain ever end? We have the Texting is now the most popular way

:19:52.:19:56.

for adults in the UK to keep in touch with the average person

:19:57.:20:00.

sending 200 texts a month. And, according to the latest figures,

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the boom in texting means we are spending less time talking on the

:20:04.:20:11.

phone for the first time. Saturday, get, just let me check in

:20:11.:20:16.

my Filofax. It used to be good to talk. Now it seems it is better to

:20:16.:20:22.

text. And here is the modern face of communications in one family.

:20:22.:20:27.

Amelia is on a tablet computer in the kitchen. Elsewhere, her mum is

:20:27.:20:31.

on her phone, checking e-mails. Next door, Charlie is on the

:20:31.:20:35.

computer playing a gay man chatting on-line. While in the sitting room,

:20:35.:20:43.

we find Dad on his home watching TV. So how do they keep in touch?

:20:43.:20:46.

tend to use Facebook and Skype because they are free. No matter

:20:46.:20:51.

where someone is, I can talk to them pretty much any time. I do

:20:51.:20:55.

prefer to speak to people in person but increasingly I find myself

:20:55.:21:02.

texting or e-mailing. You see! That is the way the world is. The Ofcom

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report also shows that having bigger, better television's means

:21:05.:21:09.

families are spending more time together in the living room. So we

:21:09.:21:13.

are still watching a lot of television, on average about four

:21:13.:21:16.

hours a day. But just about everything else about the way we

:21:16.:21:21.

communicate has changed. Texting has more than doubled over the last

:21:21.:21:27.

four years. We now send 50 a week on average. Four in 10 of us alone

:21:27.:21:31.

a smartphone, but we are not using them to make calls but as internet

:21:31.:21:35.

devices. That means the amount of data we send up the mobile networks

:21:35.:21:39.

has more than doubled over the last 18 months. Ever since we started

:21:39.:21:42.

using mobile phones, we've been spending more and more time talking

:21:42.:21:47.

on them. Now that has dipped for the first time. 20 years ago, you

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would walk past a bus stop and people would have been chatting

:21:50.:21:54.

away to each other. 10 years ago, they would have still been talking,

:21:54.:21:58.

but it was on their mobile phones. Today, you walk past the same bus

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stop and everyone has got their heads down, looking at their

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smartphone devices and tapping away at their screens. Whatever the

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technology, it seems we are all communicating more, it's just that

:22:11.:22:18.

we keep finding new ways to stay in touch. Road safety campaigners say

:22:18.:22:21.

action must be taken to reverse an increase in the number of people

:22:21.:22:25.

dying on the roads. Last year, the total number killed increased for

:22:25.:22:31.

the first time in eight years. It is something that nearly all of us

:22:31.:22:36.

do in one way or another. Using the roads. The perception is that if

:22:36.:22:40.

you are careful it is generally safe. But the number of people who

:22:40.:22:44.

died on roads in England, Scotland and Wales last year went up. It is

:22:44.:22:50.

the first increase since 2003. And a cross-party group of MPs says the

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government must do something about it. The government should show more

:22:53.:22:58.

leadership, local authorities are losing their funding and losing

:22:58.:23:01.

their road safety officers. There should be a review of driver

:23:01.:23:05.

training, better designed roads, looking again at cycle lanes and

:23:05.:23:10.

stopping a lot of young lives so soon after people have passed their

:23:10.:23:18.

test. In 2011, 883 drivers or passengers in cars were killed. 453

:23:18.:23:24.

pedestrians died. And 469 cyclists and motorcyclists lost their lives.

:23:24.:23:30.

The overall total is a 3% increase on the previous year. Doncaster, in

:23:30.:23:34.

South Yorkshire, is highlighted in today's report for being an area

:23:34.:23:38.

where there's been no improvement in road casualty rates for over a

:23:38.:23:42.

decade. Nicky Webber was knocked down here when she was a child and

:23:42.:23:46.

is now a road-safety campaigner. She says educating young people is

:23:46.:23:56.

the key. Kids have got to learn that cars her to -- heard, but they

:23:56.:24:01.

also kill. When you are in a car or when you are driving the car, you

:24:01.:24:07.

are in control of a machine. government says it is disappointed

:24:07.:24:11.

that the number of road deaths has risen, but points out that the

:24:11.:24:15.

figures are still some of the lowest since records began. It says

:24:15.:24:19.

it is spending money on targeting the most dangerous drivers and

:24:19.:24:23.

cracking down on drug-driving and the use of mobile phones behind the

:24:23.:24:30.

wheel. But the committee looking at fatality rates say it is shocking

:24:30.:24:34.

that road accidents are the main cause of death among young adults.

:24:34.:24:41.

And more must be done to address the issue. Britain's Bradley

:24:41.:24:44.

Wiggins has embarked on a brutal mountain test to keep his yellow

:24:45.:24:48.

jersey in the Tour de France. The Ryder resumed the race this morning

:24:48.:24:51.

with a lead of two minutes and five seconds, but he faces his toughest

:24:51.:24:55.

challenge yet as the tour goes through the Pyrenees. Meanwhile,

:24:55.:25:00.

one of the big names in cycling, Frank Schleck, of Luxembourg, has

:25:00.:25:06.

withdrawn from the race after failing a doping test. Before the

:25:06.:25:09.

Cycling even got under way today, the Tour de France hit a pothole.

:25:09.:25:14.

Frank Schleck, here seen on the right of the podium, has tested

:25:14.:25:18.

positive for a banned substance and quit this year's race. He claims he

:25:18.:25:24.

may have been poisoned. The bad day was about to become even worse.

:25:24.:25:28.

Only a short distance into today's stage, Chris Homer disappeared over

:25:28.:25:33.

the edge of the road - a reminder of one of the perils of this savage

:25:33.:25:36.

event. Add to that today they heat, that climbs and the distance, in

:25:36.:25:40.

this case through the Pyrenees. At the front of the peloton, the main

:25:40.:25:45.

group of riders, the impasse of black-clad group of Team Sky riders,

:25:45.:25:50.

escorting the man in yellow, their team-mate, Bradley Wiggins. The

:25:50.:25:54.

ascents are exhausting, be descents, they can be terrifying. The writers

:25:54.:25:58.

hitting speeds that even a camera bikes struggle to reach. There is

:25:58.:26:02.

still a long way to go in today's stage, but the prospect of

:26:02.:26:07.

Britain's first Tour de France winner remains on course. The

:26:07.:26:10.

United States athletics team is training for the Olympics in

:26:10.:26:13.

Birmingham today. Some of the country's most successful track and

:26:13.:26:23.

field stars are also helping local school children to get into sport.

:26:23.:26:28.

Team USA has well and truly landed in the city this morning. In spite

:26:28.:26:33.

of a soggy British summer's day, they were given a warm Birmingham

:26:33.:26:39.

welcome this morning. America's track and field stars are used to

:26:39.:26:43.

the big stage, but this one was a unique opportunity, for them and

:26:43.:26:48.

their hosts at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium we want to ask

:26:48.:26:52.

you a few questions. Hurdler Michael Tinsley was happy to share

:26:52.:26:57.

his Olympic dream in a field filled with local schoolchildren. When I

:26:57.:27:01.

was a young kid, I used to come to events like this and see basketball

:27:01.:27:05.

players, football players and athletes in America. They would

:27:05.:27:09.

come and speak to the kids, and I wanted to do things like that once

:27:09.:27:12.

I got to a platform where Wright could. It's great because you want

:27:12.:27:17.

the kids to stay healthy and get out and live an active life. This

:27:17.:27:20.

was one Sportsday the weather was never going to spoil. Elite

:27:20.:27:24.

athletes and their trainers on hand to guide and inspire. I felt

:27:24.:27:30.

amazing because I've never seen an athlete in real life. It was really

:27:30.:27:35.

great. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He was our age ones,

:27:35.:27:40.

so knowing that he was once our age and he had a dream and is living

:27:40.:27:44.

his dream and doing what he was inspired to do, that gives us faith

:27:44.:27:49.

that we can grow up and do what we want to do as well. The stadium's

:27:49.:27:52.

upgrade plans to Diamond Standard were brought forward so that Team

:27:53.:27:57.

USA could enjoy them. With only a few days left, the athletes seemed

:27:57.:28:02.

happy to take time out from their gruelling preparation... But not

:28:02.:28:08.

for long. These top-notch facilities at Alexander Stadium

:28:08.:28:13.

will continued to attract world- class athletes to Birmingham long

:28:13.:28:16.

after the London Games, but today was all about giving the Olympians

:28:16.:28:22.

a chance to spread some of that excitement well beyond the capital.

:28:22.:28:31.

A day on day improvement for the next few days. Yes, there will be a

:28:31.:28:36.

glimmer of sunshine at the end of this forecast. But for today,

:28:36.:28:41.

another warning for yet more rain, and amber warning through central

:28:41.:28:47.

areas of Scotland. The rain has been relentless through the morning.

:28:47.:28:51.

Further south, the band of rain moving through south-east England.

:28:51.:28:55.

Hot on its heels are some really heavy and already thundery showers.

:28:55.:28:58.

We focus on the rain across Scotland, it's set in earlier this

:28:59.:29:03.

morning and will be there through the day. 30-40 mm of rain falling

:29:03.:29:08.

easily, very widely. We could see up to 80 mm, that is just over

:29:08.:29:13.

three inches. Saturated ground with the persistent rain, it's worth

:29:13.:29:16.

checking the website for any flood warnings through the day. The far

:29:16.:29:20.

north of Scotland will be dry, but with the cloud and rain across the

:29:21.:29:25.

bulk of Scotland it is a cool afternoon. Eastern Scotland

:29:25.:29:28.

sticking with the best of any sunshine. But watch out for those

:29:28.:29:32.

heavy shell was driving in. South- east England and many southern

:29:32.:29:35.

counties of England are much cooler than yesterday, windier as well

:29:35.:29:39.

with the outbreaks of rain continuing on and off through the

:29:39.:29:44.

afternoon. Misty and murky around the western coasts of Cornwall and

:29:44.:29:48.

the western coast of Wales. For much of Wales it is hit and miss,

:29:48.:29:53.

sunshine and showers, many of them heavy and thundery. Equally, a

:29:53.:29:56.

chance of picking up some heavy downpours across Northern Ireland.

:29:56.:30:00.

These heavy showers with gusty winds continuing through central

:30:00.:30:04.

areas during the evening rush hour and then gradually clearing to the

:30:04.:30:08.

south. Overnight, thankfully the rain relinquishes its grip across

:30:08.:30:12.

Scotland, easing as it pushes into and northern England and North

:30:12.:30:17.

Wales. For the North, by Dawn it is a cooler, drier start. In the south

:30:17.:30:24.

of his eight cloudy and damp start. But things are improving. It is a

:30:24.:30:27.

North westerly flow tomorrow. Sunny spells, still some showers.

:30:27.:30:32.

Tomorrow, showers could be heavy and thundery with light winds. But

:30:32.:30:36.

at least it's a promising start for the start of the Open at Lytham St

:30:36.:30:41.

Annes. The outlook for the next few days is largely dry and bright, the

:30:41.:30:46.

risk of picking up the odd shower. Friday, the shower risk diminishes,

:30:46.:30:50.

sunny spells and showers continued into the weekend. But with high

:30:51.:30:54.

pressure building into the weekend, pushing our weather fronts north,

:30:54.:30:57.

much-needed rain for western Scotland but elsewhere there is

:30:57.:31:05.

some much-needed sunshine to look Our top story. A suicide bomber in

:31:05.:31:10.

Syria kills two of the most senior members of the Assad regime inside

:31:10.:31:14.

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