27/12/2013 BBC News at One


27/12/2013

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More weather misery as winter storms cause fresh disruption for large

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parts of the UK. There are problems on the roads and railways -

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thousands of homes are still without power.

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A huge explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut kills five people

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including the former Finance Minister.

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And in sport - finally, a good day for England in the fourth Ashes test

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in Melbourne. Good afternoon. Powerful gales and

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heavy rain have returned to the UK, causing further disruption. Around

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15,000 homes are without power across England, Wales and Northern

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Ireland. Rail services have been disrupted and many roads are closed.

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The Met Office is warning of gusts up to 80mph in north Wales and

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northern England. And there are still more than 50 flood warnings

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across the country. Judith Moritz is in Blackpool for us now. Yes, they

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are used to a recent Blackpool, you can see the Scots just behind me

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there, they are specially made to withstand high winds -- the

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sculptures. They have needed to be today will, with peak winds reaching

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80 mph. Even here where I am standing, we have had to find a

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sheltered spot to broadcast from, that was measured at 40 mph.

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Blackpool's seafront is often bracing in winter, this morning it

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was being buffeted by particularly high winds. The Gaels sliced across

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the sea, having been forecast to reach speeds of up to 80 mph across

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the coast of the Northwest. High winds have brought power lines

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down. In Northern Ireland, 20,000 homes had to be reconnected

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overnight and this house in County Down caught fire when an electricity

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pole fell on the roof. Unfortunately, for a lot of people

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Christmas has in effect been cancelled. Engineers, people working

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in our network companies, have been working around the clock since

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Monday. They are part of the local communities they serve, so they are

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their own neighbours may want to get people back on as soon as they can.

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On the rail network there has been disruption and delay across several

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lines. Some passengers at Victoria Station were in for a long wait.

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There is not even a seat here, so standing for three hours is bad. I

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have been here since seven, couldn't get a train, had to get a coach. The

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only one I could get was seven in the morning to meet these are 12, so

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I have been here five hours. It wasn't just the railways, the roads

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in the south of England still bear the marks of the Christmas floods,

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and that's the bad weather moves north, the authorities are keeping a

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close eye on the changing situation. Previous experience has taught us

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that it is important to have cruise on stand-by when we have the high

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winds, there are going to be a number of trees falling over

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particularly with the ground being as sudden as it is, so it is

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important to get the road reopened as quickly as practical. The

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holidays have been a wash-out for this family in Surrey. Their home

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flooded on Christmas Day and now they are spending the end of the

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year dealing with the damage. The worst of the weather has now moved

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the North of England and Scotland, and his later, but for some, this

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will be a Christmas they would rather forget. -- and will ease

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later. As we speak, there are still 7000 houses without power in Cumbria

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and here in neighbouring Lancashire, as you can see it is still a

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question of battening down the hatches. As we've been hearing,

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strong winds and flooding have caused major disruption on the

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transport system today. Roads have been closed and railways are

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operating reduced services. The East Coast Mainline, Virgin Trains, South

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Eastern and Arriva services have all been affected as Network Rail check

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routes for fallen trees. Jane Francis Kelly is at Victoria Station

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in London for us now. Well, it's been a very frustrating day for some

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travellers here at Victoria. Passengers have been looking at rows

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of screens on which they asked seeing cancelled and delayed trains,

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and that is because South-eastern Trains were told to cancel their

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services until noon. The man in charge of the smooth running of the

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network is here. Give us an idea of what's happening in the rest of the

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country. We have a mixed picture, some places are running city well,

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the Midlands, the North, Scotland are in good shape, but the problem

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we have got now is flooding from all the rain we have had. It was

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difficult getting everybody where they wanted to be on Christmas Eve.

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We have now spent 48 hours clearing up the remains of the trees, a lot

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of landslips, mudslides, and on top of that we have the weekend of

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Christmas engineering works which kicked in on Christmas Eve so places

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like the Tory today, we have landslips in Kent, Sussex towards

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Dorking, we have a big one on the main line out of Waterloo on the

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line down to Portsmouth. So what passengers are facing today is some

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destruction anywhere because of engineering works, they would have

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been bussed substitutions... What about Scotland and Wales? We have

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some flooding, in the far north we have clear that out, there is a lot

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of wind up there, we're robbers with the trees and the overhead wires

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between Preston and Glasgow. Was it a mistake to tell South-eastern

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Trains to cancel? It's what we have done, I have explained before, this

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is what we do when we have big storms. It would be stupid to get

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the emergency services to come and rescue when everybody is so

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stretched. What we did again last night and last weekend, what I did

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with the previous dorm is to stop, check the network is safe before we

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let people run. -- the previous dorm. We have been told that train

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services in Northern Ireland are running smoothly but check before

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you travel. A former Lebanese Cabinet Minister

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is among at least five people who have been killed in a huge explosion

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in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The explosion is said to have taken

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place in the city centre, near government offices and the

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parliament building. Mohammed Chatah was a leading aide to the former

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Prime Minister, Saad Hariri. Our Correspondent Kim Ghattas is in

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Beirut, at the scene of the explosion. The Lebanese people were

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trying to enjoy the festive season, the holiday season. Thousands, if

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not hundreds of thousands of Lebanese across the country were

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enjoying this holiday period, thousands of people flying in from

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around the world to be with their family here in Beirut. A lot of them

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celebrating here in this glitzy part of town, where you have French

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restraints and designer boutiques. But it was all brought to a very

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abrupt and violent end earlier this morning. Horrorstruck the heart of

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Beirut at 9:30am this morning as people drove to work over the copy

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by the sea. The beautifully rebuilt centre of town, the scene of

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devastation for the first time in years. TRANSLATION: We were inside

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and felt glass breaking and coming in. Then we heard the sound, an

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explosion happened. We waited until it was over and then we went out and

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saw this. TRANSLATION: I think all this terrorism is damaging the

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country and the people. What more can we say? . Help this country.

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Pataki was this man -- the target was this man, Mohammed Chatah,

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soft-spoken and a voice of moderation in a polarised country.

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Crucially, he was a key adviser to Saad Hariri, the leader of the

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political bloc opposed to Styria's government and its ally here in

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Lebanon, Hezbollah. Saad Hariri is already -- has already indirectly

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accused Hezbollah of being behind the killing. Lebanon is living

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through crises, all compounded the war next door in Syria. There has

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been no Cabinet here in Beirut for nine months already. Hezbollah, a

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Shia group from Lebanon, is fighting alongside President Assad's forces

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in Syria, and in the hometown of Mohammed Chatah, cine militants

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regularly cross into Syria to support the rebels there. Hezbollah

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has also paid the price of its role in Syria, with suicide bombings

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targeting areas where it operates in southern Beirut. Lebanon is facing

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multiple crises, it is a complex country and it is still haunted by a

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long series of unresolved assassinations. But increasingly,

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with every bit of violence and every assassination here, there is a sense

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that the crisis in Lebanon is tied to the war in Syria and Lebanon's

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fate is increasingly tied to the outcome of the conflict across the

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board. The inquest into the death of a

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British doctor who died in prison in Syria has been opened and adjourned.

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Walthamstow Coroner's Court in north London heard that the Syrian

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authorities believe that Abbas Khan killed himself. His family insist he

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was murdered. The police are investigating the

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death of a man at a house in Nottingham. A woman was taken to

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hospital with what are described as potentially life-threatening

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injuries. Two children were also found at the property in Bircotes

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but they were uninjured. Police are still at the scene and are

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investigating the circumstances of the man's death.

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Five British Greenpeace activists and one Canadian have left Russia,

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after being freed from prison as part of an amnesty by President

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Putin. They were among 30 people arrested during a protest about oil

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drilling in the Arctic. Our World Affairs Correspondent Rajesh

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Mirchandani reports. Along but welcome journey begins the

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these Greenpeace activists, five per and and one Canadian flew out of St

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Petersburg earlier today. Freed after a Russian government amnesty

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saw charges against them dropped stop most were relieved but still

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defined. To receive amnesty is strange because we are being

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forgiven for crime we didn't commit but I'm happy this is over and we

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can move on with our lives now. But Russia sees it differently. Industry

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Matic encounter in September, its authority surrounded and fired near

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a Greenpeace vessel in Arctic waters. The protesters want to stop

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drilling in the Arctic. 30 were arrested, including Kieron Bryan

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here. They were charged with hooliganism, which could have meant

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several years behind ours. With the accused said the prison they will

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help was like a concentration camp. A few days ago, except pieces were

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granted after Russia's parliament approves an amnesty bill. That move

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also bought freedom from members of the punk band Pussy Riot, jailed for

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singing protest songs in the Cathedral and for the tycoon could a

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costly, who spent ten years in prison on tax evasion charges.

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President Putin's decision to ease off on his opponents comes just

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weeks before Russia hosts the Winter Olympics. But now, the anxious

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relatives like this one, family reunions are all that matter. I

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think we're going to open a few beers and really enjoy the fact that

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he is back, almost for Christmas. We're properly going to have another

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Christmas day and enjoy the fact he's around again. Today, the

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British government welcome to the protesters's return but said it

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still has concerns about Russia's legal system.

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Cricket, and England are in a good position after the second day of the

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fourth Ashes test in Melbourne. After being all out for 255,

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England's bowlers got them back into the game, restricting Australia to

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164 for nine at the close. Our Chief Sports Correspondent Dan Roan

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reports. Generation has passed since

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Australia's greatest fast bowler struck fear into English hearts, but

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the first hour of day two, it felt like the MCG had gone back in time.

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Mitchell Johnson evokes memories of Dennis Lily in the face and in pace.

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Once again at his vicious best. Tim Bresnan didn't know what hit him. --

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hopes hinge on Kevin Pietersen but having daily added to his overnight

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67, four hours of maturity undone in a moment of madness. With cricket

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resembling a blood sport, Johnson went hunting again. Stuart Broad's

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scalp insured as defining series. England were all out for 255. That

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seemed inadequate but England's bowlers had other ideas as Shane

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Watson fell before lunch. Suddenly Australia knew they were in a fight.

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Rogers was felled by Stuart Broad and the hosts were 62 -- 62-3.

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Rogers propped up the innings with a dog of 50 but England have

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remembered how they used to win Ashes series. The tourists took

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control. Brad Haddin has been a thorn in England's side, again

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threatening to rescue his team but he could do nothing about the late

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flurry of wickets. Australia, 164 - nine at the end. England had fought

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that, if only the series were still alive. We were really hungry to get

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something out of this tour. I thought we chased everything, I

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thought Cook sets in good fields, it was a complete performance. After

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England's best day on tour, they may have the chance to seal would be a

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morale boosting consolation win. The Ashes are long gone, of course, but

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this still felt like an important first stage in England's road to

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recovery. There'll be more news from

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