25/11/2011 BBC News at Six

Heathrow tells passengers to expect delays of up to 12 hours on the day

of the public sector strike next week. The airport asks planes to

arrive half-empty as it warns passengers of the danger of

gridlock. We have worked hard all year to pay for the holiday and to

go and enjoy our snowboarding trip and to spend 12-plus hours in

Heathrow is not the way we planned on starting it. Also tonight:

Undercover in-- inside Syria in the town which has seen the worst

violence so far. �1 billion so tackle youth

unemployment. Where is the money coming from?

Why first-time mothers are a greater risk if they have their

babies at home instead of in hospital.

And she competed in the paralympics paralysed from the waist down. Now

she's aiming for the Olympics after regaining the use of her legs.

Coming up on the news channel, all the sport including Martin

Johnson's robust defence of his team as manager at the rugby World

Cup in the face of critical leaked Good evening, welcome to the BBC

News at Six. Heathrow Airport has warned of gridlock next Wednesday

when immigration officers walk out as part of the public sector strike.

The airport's owner BAA says passengers can expect delays of up

to 12 hours. It's asked airlines flying into Heathrow to reduce by

half the number of people they bring in on Wednesday, and offer

their passengers alternative dates to travel. Other airports will also

be affected. Our transport correspondent Richard Lister

reports. More international passengers fly

into Heathrow than anywhere else, but the airport's warning that next

Wednesday they may face gridlock. Industrial action's caused problems

here before. These planes were grounded during a dispute in March

last year. Heathrow's asking airlines to fly their planes in

half-full during the strike, warning them in a letter that

without further action arriving passengers could face delays of up

to 12 hours, so long that passengers could not be safely

accommodated, and would need to be held on arriving aircraft.

Sarah from Gloucestershire is flying to kol rad do on -- kol rad

do on Wednesday. British Airways have offered to change her flight.

Very angry. We have worked hard all year to pay for the holiday and to

go and enjoy our snowboarding trip and to spend 12-plus hours in

Heathrow is not the way we planned on starting it. But here's what she

is up against. Striking unions represent more than 1800 border

control staff at Heathrow. They say not a single member will turn up

for work on Wednesday. Other civil servants are being brought in but

immigration staffing levels are expected to be less than 50%. And

by 9.00am on Wednesday almost 100 long haul flights and 22,000

passengers will already have landed. The problem for Heathrow is that it

operates at 98% capacity which gives it almost no room for

manoeuvre when trouble strikes. So, even a mod rat disruption can --

moderate disruption can spiral into something worse. The UK Border

Agency had said there were robust contingency plans to replace

striking immigration officers. Today, though, Downing Street

suggested those plans were still a work in progress and that doesn't

reassure British business. If you are having people for 12 hours in

planes, to investors or American business people who are coming here

to do business, you are going to turn Britain into a laughing stock

internationally. Other UK airports are not expected to be as badly hit

but Heathrow is despite to avoid the gridlock caused by last

winter's snow and as the airlines and the Government only can keep

passengers moving. Richard is here now. Clearly

Heathrow's going to be very badly affected. What about transport

overall? Well, something like 288,000 people cross into the UK

every day and Heathrow is going to be the worst affected because of

its capacity problems. Gatwick is warning of the potential for

significant delays, but they think they can cope. The regional

airports, Liverpool, Manchester, have both told us today they think

they'll probably be OK. Stansted, the same. Ferry travellers may face

disruption, particularly those travelling through northern France

which will also be affected by the strike. What we don't know is how

many passengers will change their plans on Wednesday and we don't

know how many people will turn up to staff those immigration desks.

Thank you. Hundreds of thousands of

workplacements are to be created for unemployed young people in a

new Government scheme. Private employers will be offered a subsidy

if they take on an 18-24-year-old for at least six months. The Deputy

Prime Minister said �1 billion will be spent on the project over three

years. But it's unclear where that money will come from. Our political

correspondent Ben Geoghan reports. He is young, he is out of work, and

he is one in more than a million others. He left college two months

ago, he has been working for work ever since. So far, without any

luck. I just feel stuck. I am in the middle, I just feel stuck

basically. I am applying, nobody getting back to me. It feels like

time's flying but it's me standing still. I am really incredibly

grateful to you for getting up so early. Today, Nick Clegg tried to

give more young people a reason to get up early. He announced details

of a so-called youth contract, a scheme to subsidise workplacements

in the private sector. If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 and

out of work and you are feeling lonely and demoralised and cut off

at home, sending out job applications, never getting an

answer, we will under this contract give you the opportunity to learn

or earn. Under the youth contract 250,000 extra work experience

places will be on offer, each lasting up to eight weeks. On top

of that, the wages of 160,000 young people will be subsidised by the

Government for six months. Employers will get over �2,000 for

every person they take on. There will also be money for more young

apprentices and one man who knows a lot about them is warning the

scheme will have to be monitored properly. Every time someone comes

up with new scheme you can start to see how it can be abused, take

someone on for six months, take the money, threw them out. Bring

another one in, take the money. The benefit has to be to the actual

employee. The Government is putting �1 billion into the Youth Contract

which will be paid out over three years. And the hope is it will help

more than 400,000 young people find work. But what Ministers haven't

spelt out today is exactly where that money will come from.

Labour have criticised the Government for axing their jobs

scheme. They're concerned at suggestions this one will be paid

for by freezing some tax credits. We think there should and bigger

scheme that will get more young people back to work but would fund

it by a sensible and fair tax on bankers' bonuses. It should be a

bonus tax paying young people back to work not a squeeze on family tax

credits. Next week the Government will be making more announcements

about how to get the economy moving. Its critics say its policies are

putting jobs at risk. While the uprising continues in

Syria, journalists are banned from reporting there. But the BBC has

managed to get into the country with the Syrian Free Army, the

opposition force made up of soldiers who have defected from the

Government side. Our correspondent Paul Wood and cameraman Fred Scott

report from Homs, the scene of the worst violence of the eight-month

uprising. Syria's border with Lebanon. These

men are taking in guns to support a growing insurgency. The area is

mined and full of Syrian patrols. Hours earlier, a smuggler was

captured here. Each man carries two or three Kalashnikovs for the

fighters inside. Our guides are not paid smugglers,

but supporters of the revolution. The regime's had us under siege for

40 years, he says. We have been starving for 40 years.

In to Homs. The Syrian army is all around.

They'll probably shoot if they spot The people are hemmed in by the

security forces. The fear is sufficient sufficient --

suffocating. But the firepower is no longer all on one side. These

are the men of the Free Syria Army. They don't exactly hold this area,

they just hope to slow up the security forces. Almost from the

beginning it was Syrian Government propaganda that armed groups or

tkpwapbgs as -- gangs as they were called were supporting the

opposition. Now after months of protesters being shot down in the

streets that myth of an armed insurgency has become reality.

GUNFIRE. More join every day. A gun battle

signals another defection. Soldiers are running in, fired on by former

comrades. Five made it out. A 6th did not. We

heard him screaming, he says, we couldn't go back, there were too

many troops chasing us. Another explains that they fled

after being ordered to shoot unarmed protesters. We are all one

people, one blood, we can't just kill them. The rebels believe they

can win, if there's help from outside. They want a no-fly zone

over Syria. Network Rail is to be prosecuted

after a long campaign by the parents of two girls who died on a

level crossing in 2005. Olivia Bazlinton, who was 14, and

Charlotte Thomson, who was 13, were killed as they used a footpath to

cross a railway line to reach a platform at Elsenham in Essex.

Forensic scientists spent two years re-examining thousands of clothes

fibres before bringing two men accused of the murder of Stephen

Lawrence to trial. Prosecuters claim evidence on the clothes of

Gary Dobson and David Norris links them to the killing 18 years ago.

Both men deny murder. There's some flash photography at the start of

this report. Doctor Angela Gallop led the so-

called cold case review of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry in 2007,

the aim to discover if this company, LGC Forensics could find new

evidence on Stephen Lawrence's clothes, stored since his death, or

those seized from the homes of David Norris and Gary Dobson. The

experts started their search with Stephen's black jacket. On it they

found reddy pink fibres from this, his shirt worn underneath. Were any

of those fibres on the suspects' clothing? Samples from Gary

Dobson's jacket were searched. And more red pink fibres were

discovered, one stained with what might have been blood. More flakes

of blood were found in brown paper evidence bags used to store the

exhibits, which triggered another microscopic search of Gary Dobson's

jacket. On the collar a single tiny blood spot was found with an almost

full DNA match to Stephen. The team also found a hair on David Norris

jeans, alleged to match Stephen's. The defence says these findings are

due to contamination over the years. In fact, this afternoon the veteran

barrister Michael Mansfield QC, more used to asking the questions,

was pressed repeatedly about whether he opened a packet

containing Gary Dobson's jacket at the inquest into Stephen Lawrence's

death. No, he said, he almost certainly hadn't. There will be

more evidence next week. Our top story tonight: Heathrow

passengers are told to expect delays of up to 12 hours when

immigration officers go on strike. The airport asks planes to arrive

half-empty as it warns of gridlock. Coming up. Martin Johnson describes

the fallout from the rugby World Cup as one of the worst things he

has experienced in the game. Coming up on BBC News: We are

gearing up for the final race of the season in Brazil as world

champion Sebastian Vettel chases yet more records.

It's been called the most ambitious mission to Mars ever. Tomorrow

afternoon the American space agency NASA will launch a vehicle the size

of a car on a nine-month voyage to the Red Planet. When it arrives the

Curiousity Rover will begin the most extensive search yet for signs

of whether life was or is possible on Mars. Our science correspondent

David Shukman was given special High above Earth, this is what's

meant to happen tomorrow afternoon. The start of the boldest journey to

Mars so far. By next August, a strange craft

should be decepblding to the Martian surface -- descending to

the Martian surface. A Rover, called Curiosity, packed with

instruments. Nothing this big has ever been sent to another planet.

This full-scale replica shows you the size of this mission. It's the

largest machine ever to be sent to the surface of Mars. It's a roving

laboratory. Down below a drill, to get to the Martian surface to look

for clues about possible life. Conditions are extremely hostile on

Mars. The hope is to gather samples from inside the rock and soil. The

aim, to search for evidence about what might have flourished in the

past. Each tiny collection of dust will be dropped into a special

container and will then be analysed inside the Rover. The most detailed

investigation of whether anything could ever have lived here. We are

hoping to figure out whether Mars was ever a habitable planet. We're

going to go and look in one of the ancient environments. At a time

when there was flowing water, and rivers and lakes. And see if it

offered an opportunity for life to take hold and develop. Before any

of that, the Rover must get to Mars safely.

For this mission, they are trying out a new way of landing.

A rocket-powered decent, with the rocket lowered on a tether. It is

highly risky. The man behind Britain's failed mission to Mars

eight years ago is worried again. Hoovering above the site. A car-

sized rover, it is not easy. It is tricky. I shall be nervous. So, a

huge gamble. If it works, we may get a bit closer to knowing if it's

possible that we're not alone. The man chosen to be Egypt's new

Prime Minister says he wants to search the people. Thousands of

protestors are demanding an end to military rule. After Friday prayers,

100,000 Egyptians packed into Tahrir Square. A large counter

demonstration of people who support the Army is taking place in another

major square in the city. First- time mothers who opt for home

births are at greatest risk than those who have hospital births. The

research looked at 65,000 births in England. It found the chance of

harm to the baby is still under 1%. For a second baby, there's no

difference at all. Here's our health correspondent.

The early stages of labour. Zoe was already feeling the pain. During

pregnancy Zoe picked the Ipswich maternity service. It goes out of

its way to offer women a choice. offering women a choice, it allows

them the opportunity to decide how they want to have their baby, that

will benefit the whole experience, not only for the woman and the baby,

but for the family as a whole. looked after Laura for her home-

birth. The second -- for second babies like Cassian home is just as

safe as hospital. For first babies there is a higher risk of

complication. Although it's still very rare for something to go wrong.

Very few babies are born at home. Up to now, we haven't had good

evidence about the safety of home as a place of birth. Now, for the

first time, with this study, we can make direct comparisons with

hospital units. Samantha had her baby in a doctor-run unit in the

hospital. Charlie was born without too much help. Where doctors are in

charge, the chances of a normal birth are reduced. Annette choose a

mid--wife run unit. For low-risk woman this is very safe. This is a

new life coming into the world. You want to make sure they are safe. It

was just more security for the first one because I didn't know

what to expect. Where midwifes are in charge, the rate of emergency

Caesareans falls, so does the cost of giving birth N a doctor-run unit

it is �1,631 on average. Midwife run units it falls to �1,461. At

home, it's just over �1,000. In many areas, women don't have

much choice. We know that in 50% of NHS Trusts

there are no midwife-run units. Only 3% of births are home births.

We, at the NTC, feels this demonstrates women don't have

access to out of hospital options. 20 minutes old. Rubbin has safely

arrived and is in Zoe's arms. Today's research will put other

areas under pressure to offer as much choice.

In Wales, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have agreed a deal over

the Welsh Government's �14.5 bill budget. After weeks of talks a

final vote will take next month. Our correspondent is outside the

Welsh Assembly. Is it a done deal now? It is a done deal. Not really

surprising. Time was running out for the Welsh Labour Government.

They hold 30 of the 60 seats. Enough to form a Government. Not

enough to force through their spending plans. I think it's fair

to say the Welsh Liberal Democrats would have been keen to strike some

sort of deal, perhaps to put distance between themselves and the

UK coalition. It is a matter of months before local elections here

in Wales. What they have got in return for votes, well an extra �20

million spent on poorest students. Not something you would imagine

that Labour would find too difficult to find a deal to help

poorest pupils here. They have agreed an economic stimulus package.

Money we thought would probably be spent there any way. Plaid Cymru

have said they have spent their votes and sold them too cheaply.

They suspect in the morning the Welsh Liberal Democrats leader

might live to regret this deal. Thank you. The former England

manager, Martin Johnson, has described the fall out of the rugby

cup campaign as one of the worst things he has experienced in the

game. He stood down as team manager last week. Today, he launched a

passionate defence of his players. As a player, he was the totem of

English rugby. The first and only man to lead his country to World

Cup glory. As a coach, Martin Johnson was to become the fall guy

for England's dismal World Cup. His reputation has suffered damages by

leaking of reports which revealed his players' thoughts on the

campaign. He has admit it was hurt. It is one of the worst things I

have experienced in the game. I also now, I sit in feed-back

meetings, 90% of the time with the players. You come out sometimes and

you can get contrary arguments. Johnson was also forced to address

the latest revelations, which suggest an unnamed player felt they

were put under player by the RFU to pay off a hotel chamber maid over

an incident which players were subsequently played. She asked for

compensation. The last thing those players needed and the team needed

was for a story to break on the morning of a game. This week's leak

painted a picture of a divided squad, with some players appearing

to care more about money than winning. After unprecedented

upheaval here, the relationship between those who play here and the

RFU appears at breaking-point. There may be a lack of respect or

sense of collaboration between the players and the RFU. It's done

considerable damage. If you like, there's an opportunity

for who ever comes in, be it a care-taker role or going forward,

to try and restore that relationship, because it has beenor

peddos by what is going on. There's no doubt the reigning champions

still have talent. The problem for England is the way they have

behaved and the way hay have been portrayed. Now it's a remarkable

story which has astonished medical experts Monique Van der Vorst has

been paralysed from the waist down for 13 years. Last year she crashed

during training. Soon after the feeling gradually began to return

to her legs. Now she hopes to compete as an able bodied athlete.

Meet Monique Van der Vorst as she once was. A Paralympian. A world

beater at handcycling. Paralysed in both her legs. Now, meet her today.

From the age of 13 her left leg was paralysed after surgery on her foot

went wrong. Three years ago, she also lost the use of her right leg

in a car crash. Then last year, Monique Van der

Vorst had another terrible training accident which put her back in

hospital for a long time. During the months of physiotherapy and

training, she began to get feeling in her legs and then the use of

both of them. Doctors simply can't explain it. I just did it. I just

walked. I did it over and over again until I fell over on the

ground. I could not believe it. think many people cannot believe it.

Can you explain it? No. I have no idea how it happened! I really

don't know. So, you could not use your legs for three years of your

life, both legs and 13 of your life for one leg? Yeah. Now you are

cycling again. Her living room is full of the trophies and medals

from a long career as a disabled athlete. Three World Championships,

eight nationals, and twice a silver medallist at the Beijing

Paralympics. That's all over now. It feels like a new life, a new

chance. I'm very lucky and very happy to do it all again. Now with

my legs. Also, besides the sport, life is easier, walking and it's

feels like a big challenge. I really want to push hard and train

and see where I can get. So, she has lived one Olympic dream. Now

she hopes to power her way to another.

Rio, 2016? I would not bet against Amazing!

The Duchess of Cornwall has visited the set of Strictly Come Dancing,

where she saw rehearsals for tomorrow night's show. The Duchess,

who is a fan, was invited by the judge.

She met the stars and dancers in the show and went on a tour behind

the scenes. Right, let's look at the weather

now. John is here. How are you doing?

John is here. How are you doing? Very well. Good in parts, the

weekend. At time there will be a blow, quite windy. With time the

winds will cause a problem up and down the country. It will be

disturbed. Here is the picture. Rain clouds looming out west. Some

places will turn wet overnight. The skies are clear. The lowest

temperatures will be through this evening, down to three or four

Celsius. One or two places will see a touch of frost. Then the wind

increases, the cloud increases and it turns wet. Notably across

western Scotland. Patchy rain for Northern Ireland and northern

England. Further south it stays largely dry, albeit turning breezy.

The wind is of concern. We have an amber warning in force. With time,

it will kaz disruption. We think across northern parts of the

country. Very windy and very wet again, particularly for western

Scotland. Dribs and drabs elsewhere across the north. Further south, it

stays dry, bright and breezy, with reasonable Sunshine over southern

and eastern England in particular. A mild one, de-- despite the wind.

It is through this evening where we are concerned. The strong winds

will not just be over the hill tops they will bounce into north-east

England. For example t -- the A1 could be badly affected, from frisk

up to Newcastle, into Northumberland. Be aware of that,

if you are on the move through tomorrow evening and into the night

it will be windy. For a time, very wet. Into Sunday morning the worst

of the wind and rain will ease down. Patchy rain reaching the south-east.

That will clear through. Sunday is looking good. A dazzling day.

Chillier. Some of the showers over the north-west will turn wintry.