06/04/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Good Evening. Two important Chinese artefacts worth almost �1.8 million

have been stolen in Durham. They were taken from the university's

Oriental Museum in the city last night. Richard Thomas reports.

This is one of the two artefacts that were taken. A large green jade

bowl, dating from 1769. It has a Chinese poem written inside. A

cream Dehua porcelain sculpture with a white glaze was also stolen.

Both items were from the Qing Dynasty - the last imperial dynasty

in China. And this is where the break-in took place.

The Oriental Museum here in Durham between 10 and 10.40 last night.

The artefacts were being housed in a cabinet in the Malcolm MacDonald

Gallery on the ground floor. Do you think they knew what they were

looking for? It is very early stages and the investigation but

there is a possibility these people had a clear idea what they were

looking for. They have taken the items of more significant value.

�1.8 million is a huge value. are quite distinctive items which

would be of huge value to a collector. We would like to trace

the men who were seen acting suspiciously inside the museum

yesterday. In particular, two males of Afro-Caribbean descent and one

might Mail who were seen to be taking particular interest.

Both pieces are said to be priceless and fine examples from

the period and the university is hoping they'll soon be returned.

The museum will remain closed until further notice while the police

carry out investigations. People in more than 300 homes on

the North York Moors are still without electricity, following this

week's severe weather. 150 engineers are out fixing the faults

for Northern Powergrid. They hope that by midnight, there'll be just

70 customers without power and that all of them will be back on

tomorrow. People off the grid for more than 24 hours will be

compensated. A 19-year-old woman has died after

she was hit by a taxi on Teesside. It happened just before 5am this

morning on the coast road between Redcar and Marske.

The family of a man who's in a coma after being assaulted in York are

being urged to come forward. Stephen Eastwood has been

unconscious in York District Hospital since being found with

serious head injuries. He'd been attacked with a hammer on Lawrence

Street on 27th March. No-one's been to visit him in hospital, and the

police are appealing for help finding his family.

The world's rarest duck has managed to breed successfully in captivity

thanks to the help of a Washington man who spent months hand rearing

ducklings in his hotel room. It was part of a project to save the

species, led by two wildlife trusts. Adele Robinson reports.

This is the man who hatched 23 x and hand-reared the heiress

ducklings and the world. His day job - working at the Washington let

one centre. Two years ago, for two months and one hotel room in

Madagascar, he made history. would wake up in the morning

sometimes and it would be are rattling around of ducklings. You

have half the world's population of endangered noise -- ducks here.

in day out, he monitored the ducklings. The population of the

rheostat in the world more than doubled. At great sense of pride

but also about of comedy at the same time. It was ridiculous, but

we pulled it off. They have been declared extinct twice and we are

about to be again before a small group were found by chance on a

lake. In 2009, own started his work. It was a great privilege.

biggest challenge - with the breed in captivity? Their success story

means the newly hatched ducklings bring the world population to just

60. I guess I am their grandad. Around 45,000 people are expected

to travel through Newcastle International Airport this bank

holiday weekend. It's due to be the busiest weekend of the year so far

with around 410 flights scheduled to arrive and depart over the four

days. Football now, and in League One

there were 1-1 draws for Carlisle United at Wycombe and Hartlepool

United at Colchester. The big game of the day was Newcastle's away

trip to Swansea. Success meant they move up to fifth, just two points

off a Champions League place. Keith Akehurst reports.

Newcastle got off to the best possible start. Yohane Cabaye's

superb pass found Papiss Cisse who scored his eighth goal in eight

games. Swansea had the lion's share of the possession in the first half

but United kept them to the middle of the pitch. Just one shot for Tim

Krul to save from Sigurdsson. The second period was very much like

the first. Swansea piled on the pressure. A poor clearance from

Ryan Taylor, brought another shot from Sigurdsson. But once again

Krul kept the ball out. And then in the 69th minute another Cabaye pass

found Cisse, who somehow makes the almost impossible look easy.

Technique very few players could execute. Then nine minutes before

the end Cisse might have got a hat- trick when he almost capitalised on

a poor back pass. Newcastle win their fourth consecutive match for

the first time since 2006. The final score: Swansea City nil,

Newcastle United two. A Cumbrian tourist attraction is in

line to win the country's Best Tourism Experience award. The Via

Ferrata, a climbing path among the crags at the Honister Slate Mine,

has been shortlisted in the Enjoy England awards. The winner will be

announced next month. Now let's get the weekend weather

Good evening. The Easter weekend on the whole looks to be a fairly

cloudy affair. Most of us will see some rain at times. A lot of cloud

around through the evening and overnight. Poor visibility up in

the high ground. Any breaks in the ground could allow the temperatures

to dip to as well as to Celsius. A bit chilly first thing. A little

bit of brightness here and there with a mostly dry start to the day.

A lot of cloud around through the afternoon in most places should

stay dry through Saturday. As far as temperatures go, on the cool

side. For Easter Sunday itself, rain in the East clears away and