27/08/2012 BBC News at Six

Two children aged five and two have died and their father is messing

after a canoe capsizes in the Scottish Highlands. The two boys

are named as Jamie and Ewen Beaton. The search for their father has

been scaled down - he is presumed dead. Syrian rebels claim they have

shot down an army helicopter in Damascus. Scientists say more

Arctic ice has melted this summer than at any time since satellite

records began. Essex on alert, but was there ever a lion on the lose

A very good afternoon to you. A man is missing, feared dead, after an

accident on a Highland sea loch. Ewen Beaton was on a day trip with

his two sons T canoe they were in, with three other people capsized

near Loch Gairloch yesterday. Our correspondent is at the scene for

us. This was a terrible tragedy, involving two fathers who decided

yesterday afternoon to head out into the wear behind me here with

their children. It was a decision which led to disaster.

For hours, they scoured the sea and the shore line, but to no avail.

32-year-old Ewen Beaton is now presumed drowned. His young sons,

Ewen, aged five and Jamie, two, are also dead. The unfolding tragedy

was recorded on camera by tourists on the beach. We saw them recover

one of the casualties from the water. Then there was an ambulance

helicopter turned up. The boat kept searching. There was another pick-

up, when somebody was brought ashore. The accident has shocked

holidaymakers and locals here. An eight-year-old girl and her father

survived, swimming hundreds of metres to raise the alarm, but the

girl's five-year-old sister was taken to hospital in a serious

condition. What went wrong is not yet clear. It was a beautiful sunny

summer's afternoon. The loch was flat calm, visibility was clear. A

great day - it just ended with tragic consequences. The two

families had been out in an open can any Diane canoe like this. The

children were living life jackets, their fathers were not. It hasn't

got any inher rant buoyensy of its own. It is quite an unstable craft.

They are quite - if you get a few people in them, it can be dangerous.

Tonight, the Beaton family released a statement, saying they were

utterly devastated by the loss of their beautiful little boys. They

thanked rescuers for trying to find their adoring father, Ewen, but

they know he will not now be found alive.

That search has been scaled back this evening. The search for Ewen

Beaton now reduced to shore-line patrols to find his body. His wife

is being comforted by members of her family at home. Really, what

comfort can anyone give her this evening?

17 people have been killed in a Taliban-controlled area of

Afghanistan. It is thought they may have been targeted because they

were at a party. Our correspondent is in Kabul for us now. What more

do we know about all this? We know these 17 civilians, including two

women, either had their throats cut or were beheaded by local Taliban

commanders. It may be because they were singing and dancing, they were

at a party and the Taliban believe they should be punished for that.

Or according to local officials it may be because rival Taliban

commanders were in dispute over the affections of the two women. The

reason it has taken so long to hear about this, despite the fact there

are thousands of Marines in this area, this is Taliban-controlled

territory. And there is news of yet another

incident involving NATO troops being attacked by an Afghan

soldier?. That is right, in the east of the country, not far from

where I am now. It is called green on blue incidences, an Afghan

soldier killed two NATO soldiers. He was subsequently killed. We saw

ten Afghan national soldiers killed when their checkpoint was overrun

by 200 overrunning that checkpoint. It gives you an idea of the

ferocity of this continuing war. Thank you.

Scientists say more sea ice in the Arctic has melted this summer than

at any time since satellite records began more than 30 years ago. It is

believed greenhouse gases from pollution are mainly to blame. It

may provide an opportunity for gas, gas and mineral exploitation.

The Arctic. It is warming much faster than the rest of the planet.

That is thanks to the melting of the ice on the sea. Ice reflects

heat, so every bit that disappears allows the sun to heat the dark

ocean beneath it. From 1979, NASA's satellite have tracked the

shrinking of Arctic ice. It fluctuates from year to year. This

year's ice will be the smallest yet. Every year the ice grows during the

winter and shrinks back in the summer. That is a natural cycle

that goes on all the time. It is just in recent years we have seen

the summer minimum is getting smaller and smaller.

So what has caused the rapid warming? A recent paper from

Reading university suggest that 30% is due to the natural cycle

repeating every 65-80 years. It has been in a warm phase since the

1970s. The same paper calculates that human activity has caused 70%

of the warming. Pollution from our cars, our homes and our factories.

Some scientists believe that an ice-free Arctic in summer is only a

matter of time. I think the next two or three years will see a

further collapse. We will then encounter an Arctic Ocean without

any ice in it during the summer months. Some would benefit from a

melting ocean like shipping, for instance. Oil and gas firms

battling with environmentalists like Gazprom did with Greenpeace

today hope to exploit the Arctic's mineral resources too. Warming

would bring trouble, roads based on permanently frozen ground are

crumbling, as was shownen the BBC's World's Most Dangerous Roads.

Methane, a greenhouse gas could be permanently released and that would

over-heat the world nor. It is all a big accidental experiment with

the planet. Opposition forces in Syria say they

have shot down a helicopter as it attacks rebel fighters in Damascus.

State television has confirmed that a helicopter did crash near a

mosque, but did not give any more details.

A dramatic development in the battle for Damascus. A military

helicopter burst into flames and fell out of the sky. Rebels say it

had fired on their neighbourhood and claimed to shoot it down. State

television confirms only it had crashed. It was a huge morale boost

for the opposition in this uneven war. Unverified footage appears to

show the smouldering wreck yaedge. There's no sign of the -- wreckage,

there's no sign of the pilot. Fighting has been going on for a

more than week. These pictures are said to show a fire, ignited by

random shelling to. The north, the city of Aleppo, is the other main

battle ground. The conflict here has ground into a bloody impasse.

These images appear to show a guerrilla fighter using small arms

to attack the military. Activists claim he hit an approaching

armoured vehicle. Near Aleppo n the town of Ma'arra, rebels take a

break from the war. They are angry about being left on their own to

face a far superior army. The commander said the world needs to

wake up. I have seen horrible things. I am not talking to the

people inside Syria. I am addressing the world. Can you not

see the shelling, the destruction, the children being slaughtered - is

this not enough proof for the world? The least the world can do

is provide us with some safe havens. Back in Aleppo no-one is safe and

will not be for some time. In order to win the war t regime needs to

win here and in Damascus. Labour has joined Sir Richard

Branson in calling for the Government to delay the signing of

a new contract to run the West Coast Main Line until MPs can

scrutinise the deal. Virgin Trains lost the franchise to FirstGroup.

He has practiced at celebrating success. Now Richard Branson is

fighting a defeat. The Government is poised to sign a contract with

FirstGroup, allowing it to take over the West Coast Main Line. At

the moment, it is run by Virgin Trains. Richard Branson is lobbying

hard for a last-minute re-think. We're not letting this drop because

we is spent 15 years creating what we believe to be the best train

network in the UK. We don't want to see that ruined. FirstGroup's

critics fear the company will not be able to afford the �5.5 billion

it offered in its successful bid. In a statement the chief executive

said its bid was the best deal for 140,000 people have signed an on-

line petition asking the Government to think again. Labour wants MPs to

have a say before the contract is signed. This is a deal that's going

to last not for the next Parliament but for the next three Parliaments.

It seems that if the Secretary of State signs it in the recess,

having announced knit the recess, MPs and they -- announced it in the

recess and means MPs will not have a chance to debate it. The lawyers

spent the weekend working out how to challenge the bidding process.

Time is running out. The Government insist the bid was done fairly and

the Secretary of State for Transport shows no sign of changing

The final Paralympic cauldron has been lit in Cardiff. They have

already been lit in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The

planes will be brought together tomorrow, head of the Torch Relay

for the opening ceremony. Dwindling congregations in

Methodist churches across Wales are transforming the landscape as more

and more church buildings close. Chapels in Wales are being lost at

the rate of one a week. Church leaders fear that hundreds more are

likely to follow. Robert Piggott reports from Pembrokeshire, where

in the last 12 months almost half of Methodist chapels have closed.

After almost 200 years of worship on this spot, Hill Mountain Chapel,

near Haverfordwest, is closing. Facing the final Hennes with a lump

in their throat, but know that with a maid -- register of only four

members, the end had to come. sad to see it closing. But if it's

got too close, it's got too close. Wales is littered with abandoned

troubles. They are too costly for dwindling congregations to maintain.

Of the 6500 built, more than half have closed. Those who still go to

the Troubles blamed the demise of a culture which encourages

individualism and the pursuit of personal wealth -- wealth, and

scorns religion as unsophisticated and irrational. Almost half of

Methodist chapels in Pembrokeshire have closed in the last 12 months.

The Church says freeing itself of expensive buildings will help it

take Christianity into the wider community. Were think, although it

is very sad that some are closing, it is also very exciting. It is

liberating the people to do what the Church should be doing. Ethel

Chapple has just five that Sunday morning service. In the long term,

they could be fighting a losing battle to keep it open. Wales was

built on a culture that included non-conformity. That means the

spirit of the nation, in many ways, is gone. Wales will be in no way

distinctive. It will have lost its hope, it will have lost its way.

Hill Mountain, people talk by the door like any other Sunday. Except

Golf, and European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal has

announced his team for the competition this year. Nicolas

Colsaerts from Belgium and Englishmen Ian Poulter were named

as the wild-card picks in the team of 12, which includes Rory McIlroy

and Luke Donald. There will compete against United States in Chicago

next month. Police in Essex have called off a

search for a lion near Clacton-on- Sea. At one point, armed officers

and helicopters were deployed and people were told to stay in their

homes after a member of the public claimed to have seen that the

creature in a field. It is here that you would expect to

see lions in Essex, safely in captivity in Colchester Zoo. Just a

few miles away last night, armed police were on alert. Several

people reported seeing what they thought was a lion, lurking in a

field. Today, one of them told us what he had seen. We saw a large

cat. It was looking at a tree, we thought it was going to go up. It

did not, it turned, it sacked. I believe it could hear us from the

other side of the field. -- it sat down. It just sat there looking at

us. It was very impressive. It was a nice sight to see. In the local

area, some were sceptical. Others were understandably worried.

think it is quite concerning. If it is true, there is a large cat out

there, then it is quite a worrying thing. We do have a lot of fields

around, so there are plenty of places for the animal to hide.

sighting happened in a field near St Osyth. Experts were drafted in

on the basis of photographs that were taken, evidence that was far

from conclusive. It's a picture of a blurry, sandy coloured animal at

a distance. I was not prepared to say what it could be. This

afternoon, the search was called off. For a while, imaginations have