Browse content similar to 02/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Hello, welcome to Midlands Today with Suzanne Virdee and Nick Owen. | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
The headlines tonight: Eight children left orphaned. Shock | :00:09. | :00:18. | |
at the death of a Birmingham couple on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He was an | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
excellent example for our community in the way he dealt with his family, | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
the way he treated his sons and daughters. | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
He's just won a major music award but now this pop star is facing | :00:28. | :00:29. | |
deportation for living here illegally. | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
Cracking what will be the world's largest market. The battle to boost | :00:32. | :00:37. | |
exports to China. And race goers at Warwick on the | :00:37. | :00:44. | |
controversy over whipping that's splitting the sport. If the rules | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
don't change, it spoils the race. They used the whip far too much. | :00:49. | :00:59. | |
:00:59. | :01:02. | ||
Good evening and welcome to Wednesday's Midlands Today from the | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
BBC. Tonight: Tributes pour in to a couple killed | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
in a fire on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Dawud Burbank and his wife Khalida | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
Dost from Birmingham leave eight children. Their two eldest sons | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
were with them at the time. The couple died when the bus they were | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
in caught fire travelling from Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia. Mr | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
Burbank was a highly respected translator of Muslim religious | :01:25. | :01:32. | |
texts as Joanne Writtle reports. A coach load of pilgrims headed off | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
on their own spiritual journey to Mecca from Small Heath in | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
Birmingham this afternoon. Before they set off, they gave their | :01:39. | :01:47. | |
reaction to the deaths of Dawud Burbank and his wife Khalida Dost. | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
I am really sad about it and I hope and pray for the best for the | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
family. Among Dawud Burbank's closest friends, a head teacher at | :01:54. | :02:00. | |
a school next to the Salafi Mosque in Small Heath. I saw one of his | :02:00. | :02:07. | |
son's last night. They were very, very noble, calm, collected. I am | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
sure inside they are being torn apart. Learned and respected, Dawud | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
Burbank had translated many Islamic books from Arabic into English. The | :02:17. | :02:22. | |
book store here in Birmingham has many of his translations on the | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
shelves. The director of the local mosque and Islamic Centre told me | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
the funerals had already taken place in Mecca. He explained that | :02:29. | :02:31. | |
Dawud Burbank's deeply religious beliefs meant there were unlikely | :02:31. | :02:39. | |
to be family photographs of him. is not that a person and box on a | :02:39. | :02:44. | |
pilgrimage for dying but it is about worship. In the process, in | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
the endeavour of performing that pilgrimage, if one is to die, that | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
is considered a noble death. The Haj. A spiritual journey to Mecca | :02:53. | :02:55. | |
every adult Muslim's expected to complete at least once. Dawud | :02:55. | :03:02. | |
Burbank and his wife were with the eldest two of their eight children. | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
Dawud Burbank converted to the Islamic faith over 20 years ago. It | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
was on board a bus leaving the airport in Jeddah their trip ended | :03:12. | :03:20. | |
in tragedy. Brief details of the accident came in last night. The | :03:20. | :03:22. | |
couple were killed, apparently when a fire broke out. Other pilgrims | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
from Birmingham scrambling to escape the flames. There were | :03:28. | :03:35. | |
rumours it was an explosion. When I spoke to the chief in Saudi Arabia, | :03:35. | :03:42. | |
he denied it was an explosion. He said it was an accident. The engine | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
was overheated and it caused -- it caught fire. The couple have been | :03:48. | :03:58. | |
:03:58. | :04:03. | ||
buried near the Mecca. Schoolchildren give us their | :04:03. | :04:10. | |
versions of William Shakespeare. An Indian pop singer who's just won | :04:10. | :04:12. | |
a major music award is facing deportation for living here | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
illegally. Garry Sandhu has been in Birmingham for 10 years and is a | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
rising star in the Asian music industry. But he's been detained by | :04:18. | :04:26. | |
the UK Border Agency and could made to leave the UK at any moment. | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
Here's Bob Hockenhull. Until last week, Garry Sandhu was a | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
singer whose star was on the rise. In October he was named Best | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
Newcomer and Best Male Act at the Brit Asia Awards. But now he's in | :04:35. | :04:45. | |
:04:45. | :04:55. | ||
the custody of the UK Border Agency. Mr Sandhu has been living in | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
Handsworth in Birmingham for 10 years. This councillor from | :04:58. | :05:05. | |
Coventry wanted to book him for a concert in the city next year. | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
what I understand is that he has outstayed his welcome on a visa. I | :05:10. | :05:16. | |
think thousands of Britons up and down this country have welcomed | :05:16. | :05:18. | |
Garry Sandhu to their hearts and homes as well. His fans include | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
this 17-year-old musician from Edgbaston. He recently recorded a | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
video with Mr Sandhu and was shocked to find out he's been | :05:23. | :05:30. | |
detained. I just thought there were rumours on the internet and | :05:30. | :05:36. | |
children shouting, just making up stuff. I am sure he would be back | :05:36. | :05:42. | |
doing what he loves, and his fans would be backing him 100%. But this | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
barrister specialising in immigration says the law is clear. | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
If you what the subject of that decision, it is important for you | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
to leave the country voluntarily rather than be deported because | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
should to be deported, then you will be banned from coming back | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
into the country for 10 years. Sandhu says he's the victim of | :06:04. | :06:06. | |
false accusations. Rumours have been flying around the internet | :06:07. | :06:09. | |
claiming he's been released. But the Home Office insists he's still | :06:09. | :06:15. | |
in custody. 1,500 jobs could go at Sandwell | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
Council over the next four years, as it tries to cut its budget by | :06:18. | :06:22. | |
�70 million. Around 500 staff have already been made redundant this | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
year. It's now expected that a further thousand could go at the | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
Labour-run council. A woman's been charged with failing | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
to disclose information under the Terrorism Act. 22-year-old Salma | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
Kabal from Birmingham was arrested in September as part of an | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
operation by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit. She'll | :06:39. | :06:42. | |
appear in court later this month. Seven men have already been charged | :06:42. | :06:52. | |
in connection with the investigation. The Government will | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
ignore Labour's idea of an alternative route for the multi- | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
million pound higher speeds to project. Labour suggested a writ | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
including Heathrow Airport and would run in parts alongside the | :07:04. | :07:07. | |
M40 through Warwickshire. This afternoon, Transport Minister | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
Theresa Villiers accused the Labour Party of game-playing safe their | :07:11. | :07:14. | |
proposal had come too late to be considered. | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
Some analysts believe China will overtake the USA as the world's | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
largest economy as early as 2016, which explains the increasing | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
urgency to break into Chinese markets. As a country, we export | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
more to Spain than China and our exports to the Irish Republic are | :07:26. | :07:36. | |
:07:36. | :07:42. | ||
double those to the world's most populous country. We report how we | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
are responding to the challenge. Good result this to the Chinese? | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
This firm in Kidderminster is breaking into the lucrative Chinese | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
recycling market. They recycle 100,000 tonnes of material a year. | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
They already export us more about that to China but they hoped to | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
send a lot more. The plastic waste is bailed up at Lawrence for | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
cycling. It is shipped to China where they turn it into plastic | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
granules to make new products. have got a huge manufacturing base | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
so they need the raw products we recycle to be manufactured back | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
into products we will buy back in the UK. It is a closed loop in | :08:20. | :08:26. | |
reciting. How about electronics? A bit like selling coals to | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
Newcastle? They are doing it here at this company, where they make | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
specialist part, shrink equipment. 10 years ago, China account of the | :08:33. | :08:40. | |
2% of their sales. Today, it is 20%. 10 years ago, America was clearly | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
the Raj just growth market for us and we were market leaders there. - | :08:44. | :08:49. | |
- clearly the largest growth market. The shift has gone to China. That | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
is the single most important market. Gathering in Worcester for a | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
conference this evening to promote trade with China, business leaders | :08:57. | :09:03. | |
and a representative of the Chinese embassy. I think there are a lot of | :09:03. | :09:10. | |
chances for people in Worcester that may go to China to do some | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
business. There is a lot of chance. We have got quite a unique event | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
tonight in that this because we have got will provide both a | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
Chinese perspective and a UK business perspective. That is in | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
terms of how we overcome some of the barriers to trade successfully | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
with China. The message to firms it is clear. The prospect of China | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
becoming the world's biggest economy is a business opportunity | :09:37. | :09:47. | |
:09:47. | :09:49. | ||
not to be wasted. It is fair to say our exports are warped by imports. | :09:49. | :09:56. | |
So there must be real scope to do something, isn't there? Yes. 2015, | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
at the estimated 15 cities in China will have populations of more than | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
25 million. London only has 7 million. Growth in exports from the | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
UK to China is currently 40% although it comes from a very low | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
base. UK exports to China are worth �8 billion, and, of course, the | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
West Midlands is getting go at share. Yes, those figures are | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
frightening. In addition to those companies in the report, what other | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
companies are doing well? Jaguar Land Rover with 15% of everything | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
that has made in West Midlands plants goes to China, and that | :10:32. | :10:37. | |
number is rising fast which is why the company wants a factory there. | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
It is in detailed talks with a Chinese car manufacturer although | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
they will be not be making that many cars. JCB is the other firm | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
dibbing well. They have already got up factory in Trina, five years ago | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
they built it. They are doing very well. What are the Chinese | :10:53. | :10:56. | |
consumers looking for? What do we need to offer them? What reporters | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
bought in China is made in China, but they do like high-value | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
products like fashion items, premium products, like Jaguar Land | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
Rover products, and, of course, especially the loot of products. We | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
are also exporting expertise. A good example is at Longbridge, the | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
old car factory, where the trainees have set up a design centre. There | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
is a similar one in Leamington. They're working with a variety of | :11:24. | :11:34. | |
Chinese firms. Andy Newman reports now on how companies in | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
Worcestershire are responding to the challenge. | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
It's exactly a year since the public inquiry began into standards | :11:44. | :11:47. | |
of care at Stafford Hospital. Now a series of roadshows are touring the | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
country to try to ensure the failings don't happen again. Today | :11:50. | :11:52. | |
the roadshow reached Stafford. Our Staffordshire reporter Liz Copper | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
looks at the impact the inquiry's had and what the future might hold | :11:56. | :11:58. | |
for the town's hospital. What happened here ensured the | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
county town of Stafford became the focus of national attention. The | :12:01. | :12:03. | |
failings at its hospital still preoccupy families who live here. | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
We depend on the local hospital. It is somewhere we go to drink most of | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
our lives so we want an efficient place. I am going into hospital for | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
not a serious operation in the next week, and I am not going into | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
Stafford. I don't feel... They have convinced me they've got it right | :12:18. | :12:24. | |
yet. I feel, you know, get it resolved and then move on. But what | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
will the future be as the hospital and its staff do move on? It's | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
likely it'll be smaller and there'll be fewer beds. It's all | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
part of the Government's plans for changes in the NHS as a whole. | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
need to understand the size that Staffords needs to be. We need to | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
really put some investment and some time and effort into building the | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
community of the structure, so, some of the people that currently | :12:48. | :12:56. | |
work in Stafford may well be working in the community. The A&E | :12:56. | :13:03. | |
department is also under scrutiny. The inquiry has already heard | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
evidence of what went wrong in the past. Now it's because his vocation | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
-- is shifting to the future. Trammel is canvassing the views of | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
those working inside and outside the NHS. Could the world of | :13:16. | :13:18. | |
retailing help reshape the NHS? The John Lewis Partnership appeared | :13:18. | :13:24. | |
before the inquiry advising on, amongst other things, customer care. | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
We talked to other organisations out of prison sector to look for | :13:28. | :13:34. | |
new ideas, new stimulus as to how we can translate back into our | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
world in retail and see if we can create new solutions to great | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
service. So I am an advocate of doing that in our world, so I hope | :13:42. | :13:47. | |
I will be able to support the inquiry in this same way. It'll be | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
next year before the people of Stafford learn the inquiry's | :13:50. | :13:52. | |
recommendations. But they will have repercussions for the entire health | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
service. Still much more to come in | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
tonight's programme, including the ex-soldier facing his toughest | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
challenge - skiing to the North Pole and then doing the same at the | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
South Pole. But no Arctic snow or temperatures here. Quite the | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
opposite. It's mild, it's windy and be warned, there's more heavy rain | :14:09. | :14:19. | |
:14:19. | :14:21. | ||
It's the largest youth drama festivals in the UK, introducing | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
thousands of young people to our greatest writer and Warwickshire's | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
most famous son, William Shakespeare. This week, | :14:28. | :14:30. | |
schoolchildren from across the region have been performing their | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
own interpretations of his works at Birmingham's Old Rep Theatre. | :14:34. | :14:44. | |
Here's our Arts Reporter Satnam Rana. Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art | :14:44. | :14:46. | |
thou Romeo? Final rehearsals for the | :14:46. | :14:48. | |
Shakespeare Schools Festival ahead of tonight's performance of Romeo | :14:48. | :14:55. | |
and Juliet for students at Birmingham's Stockland Green School. | :14:55. | :15:02. | |
We had got children -- teachers to help us, to modernise it. Yes, it | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
was hard at first, but I went over the lines, and watched Romeo and | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
Juliet and I came to terms with his language. The student have been | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
treading the boards since January and all this week The Old Rep | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
Theatre in Birmingham will have four performances per night open to | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
the public. These are not the only young people taking part in this | :15:22. | :15:29. | |
year's festival. Across the region, 40 schools have taken to the stage, | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
with over 1,200 schoolchildren performing the Bard's words. From | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
Warwickshire to Worcestershire, Herefordshire to Shropshire and | :15:36. | :15:39. | |
here in the West Midlands, professional theatres have been | :15:39. | :15:43. | |
hosting condensed versions of Shakespeare's famous plays. For | :15:43. | :15:45. | |
students taking part in the Shakespeare School Festival, it's | :15:45. | :15:51. | |
been both a challenge and a triumph. This is a chance for them to grasp | :15:51. | :15:53. | |
their cultural heritage and understand something they don't | :15:53. | :16:03. | |
often get a chance to engage with in a school curriculum. Here, with | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
a kiss, I die. This festival proves that Shakespeare isn't just a | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
playwright of the past but one who appeals to present generations with | :16:10. | :16:19. | |
their own take on how to act out his words. | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
Time for a winter's tale. The sport. That gag was much ado about | :16:24. | :16:26. | |
nothing! Coventry City fans are feeling | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
pretty unhappy right now. Some of them staged a protest outside the | :16:31. | :16:33. | |
London headquarters of the club's owners before last night's game | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
against Millwall. After the match, the Sky Blues manager Andy Thorn | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
said he's sick of hearing excuses from the players as the club | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
plunged deeper into relegation trouble. Coventry were beaten 3-0. | :16:42. | :16:45. | |
And they're now four points adrift of safety near the foot of the | :16:45. | :16:51. | |
Championship table. Thorn described their second half performance as | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
unacceptable and amateurish. The Birmingham City manager Chris | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
Hughton says the board is keeping him fully informed about the club's | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
financial pressures. The parent company has delayed publication of | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
its annual reports but investors are being warned about a | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
substantial loss last year. Blues are preparing for tomorrow night's | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
Europa League tie against Bruges at St Andrews and the manager says | :17:12. | :17:20. | |
it's not a distraction. Because there are so many games, | :17:20. | :17:28. | |
your concentration has to be a mark. -- has to be on that. Things out of | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
prison control or away from the football pitch, you cannot concern | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
yourself so much because there is a big enough job going on on the | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
football pitch and dealing with these games. You can hear the match | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
commentary on BBC WM tomorrow evening. A couple of hours earlier, | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
step's trip to Tel Aviv is also live on BBC Stoke. | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
Now, the new jump season got underway at Warwick Racecourse this | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
afternoon. But there's a big row between the jockeys, and the | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
sport's governing body. It's all to do with new rules governing the use | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
of the whip. Jump racing fans have waited all | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
summer to enjoy this Wednesday at Warwick. The first meeting of the | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
season. Seven races over hurdles and fences. 50 horses of mixed | :18:12. | :18:15. | |
ability. And none of them expecting to receive more than eight strokes | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
of the whip. If they get one over the eight, their jockeys are | :18:19. | :18:27. | |
guaranteed a five day ban. The jockeys believe the new rules are | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
too strict and the penalties to severe. They are angry and | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
threatened to strike if they cannot reach a compromise with the British | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
resourcing -- British Horseracing Association. Andrew Thornton is one | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
of many top jockeys who are furious. He believes 8 strokes per race is | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
not enough. He says jockeys are being punished too harshly for | :18:47. | :18:49. | |
accidentally miscounting. And in any case, Andrew tells me, the | :18:49. | :18:52. | |
current whips covered in foam don't hurt the horses, they just sting to | :18:52. | :18:59. | |
keep them focused on the job in hand. You can do that. It is a | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
sting, but as you can see, it doesn't mark. We have loved horses | :19:04. | :19:08. | |
all our lives. We don't want to beat forces. That is not our | :19:08. | :19:14. | |
passion. It is to run -- it is to win races, make it a competitive | :19:14. | :19:21. | |
sport and for everybody to endure it. -- and for everybody to enjoy. | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
In a statement, the BHA said the situation is best served by | :19:24. | :19:26. | |
maintaining dialogue behind closed doors rather than playing the whole | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
thing out in the media. But today's punters at Warwick had plenty of | :19:30. | :19:32. | |
opinions. I think the jockeys are run a very difficult situation. If | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
they use the whip, they will be accused of cruelty that don't know | :19:35. | :19:40. | |
any better. If they don't use it, they will be accused of not trying. | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
The jockeys are threatened strike action. It would be bad for racing | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
if they do. Andrew Thornton rode two winners at Warwick this | :19:47. | :19:50. | |
afternoon, and used his whip sparingly. Well within the rules. | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
He says all his fellow jockeys are hoping to resolve their dispute | :19:53. | :19:55. | |
with horse racing bosses by dialogue, without the need to | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
strike. Ian, this subject's sparked quite a | :20:00. | :20:09. | |
reaction. We have some e-mails from you. Ian Rubery says: "From now on, | :20:09. | :20:11. | |
whips should be used for safety purposes only, e.g. Steering." He | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
goes onto say, "Misuse of the whip should result in outright | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
disqualification." Johnnie Walker says, "No, whips do not have a | :20:17. | :20:19. | |
place in horse racing today. Greyhounds, racing pigeons and also | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
for that matter Formula 1 seem to excite people enough without any | :20:22. | :20:26. | |
cruelty." Amy Louise Swatman says, "The whip should be banned in horse | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
racing. The poor horses are already running as fast as they can and do | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
not deserve to be beaten for their efforts!!" It seems the majority of | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
people who've emailed want an outright ban. That's not even on | :20:37. | :20:43. | |
the cards, is it? No. It is not an option and it | :20:43. | :20:46. | |
would create a bigger outcry amongst the jockeys if it were to | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
come into force because the jockeys are adamant they believe the whip | :20:49. | :20:54. | |
is a vital safety tool to keep the balls on the straight and narrow in | :20:54. | :21:01. | |
the heat of a race to make sure it is safe -- to keep the horse. It is | :21:01. | :21:04. | |
a very heated debate added his son to -- it is going to run a little | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
bit longer. We will have more on it tomorrow. | :21:07. | :21:09. | |
Now to one man's incredible challenge. Skiing across the South | :21:09. | :21:14. | |
Pole and then the North Pole, alone and without back-up. To date, no- | :21:14. | :21:17. | |
one's ever achieved it. Next week, though, Coventry explorer Mark Wood | :21:17. | :21:21. | |
will set off on the first leg of an epic journey, as Sarah Falkland | :21:21. | :21:31. | |
:21:31. | :21:33. | ||
We are heading to our first bit of ice trouble. | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
With 25 expeditions already under his belt, Mark Wood is used to | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
inhospitable places. But nothing as bad as this. The South Pole, the | :21:42. | :21:44. | |
coldest place on the planet, where average temperatures are around | :21:44. | :21:54. | |
:21:54. | :21:55. | ||
minus 50 Celsius. It is the North- South solo expedition... The former | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
soldier and firefighter is going to ski the 680 miles across it. Then, | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
within a few weeks, tackle the 700 miles of ice across the North Pole. | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
The added interest is polar bears. Large icebergs. There'll be the | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
usual dangers but the extreme solitude and tiredness could be his | :22:10. | :22:17. | |
worst enemies. My biggest fear as a solo expedition is finding a wrist | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
-- a reason to give him, to have that moment where it is... I have | :22:21. | :22:28. | |
been on my own, I find it really tough. The trip to actually being | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
alone and travelling so far is to create things in your mind, if you | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
like. I will be thinking about home, about redecorating the house, about | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
the next expedition. About how I am going to change my life when I get | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
back, how I am going to make a difference. All these wonderful | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
things. You think about everything. You create a whole Disney World in | :22:50. | :22:53. | |
your head. Personal ambition aside, his big motivations are | :22:53. | :22:55. | |
highlighting climate change and educating young people. His epic | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
journey will be followed by schools across the Midlands, including | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
youngsters at his old school Finham Park in Coventry, who'll be Skyping | :23:01. | :23:10. | |
with him. If he can do this, he will be famous. It is a main job. | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
Mike in expedition history. It is really, really gonna be good. | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
would never do it because it is scary. If he's to survive, Mark | :23:19. | :23:22. | |
will have to drag more than his body weight in food. He leaves for | :23:22. | :23:32. | |
South America and the South Pole Incredible, isn't it? | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
And to see more of the sort of hostile territory that Mark will be | :23:35. | :23:37. | |
facing, why not take a look at David Attenborough's stunning | :23:38. | :23:47. | |
It's on BBC One at 9 pm tonight. It is sensational. | :23:47. | :23:55. | |
We have got quite mild weather, haven't we? | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
Yes, the cloud and rain are stacking up, poised to come through. | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
It is being generated by this rather intense area of low pressure | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
currently to the West and sitting out of the Atlantic. As well as the | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
rain, we will have stronger winds, and also milder air. That changes | :24:11. | :24:16. | |
by the weekend. The first batch of rain comes through tonight. It is | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
going to be mild. We have got some dribs and drabs across us but it | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
starts to pick up and beef up through the middle part of the | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
night into the small hours of tomorrow morning. You can see some | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
bright colours developing in the central part. The Met Office has | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
issued a yellow alert for up to 12 mm out of the some of the biggest | :24:37. | :24:43. | |
bursts. The temperatures, a mild night. It is still quite breezy as | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
the rain comes the rain. It is quite gusty through the day | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
tomorrow although the rain dies away by the morning, and leaving us | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
with a brief dry period with quite a lot of cloud tomorrow. The next | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
area of rain spills up from the South during the latter part of the | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
day which is going to be fairly light initially. It is through | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
tomorrow evening and tomorrow night that it turns heavier. Tomorrow is | :25:06. | :25:13. | |
a mild day with highs of 16. That is above average. Tomorrow evening, | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
this rain becomes heavier. There is a yellow alert issued from the Met | :25:18. | :25:23. | |
Office. It clears up, quite a mild night. Friday morning, some | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
sunshine, followed by some heavy showers. | :25:26. | :25:33. | |
A look at tonight's main headlines: Tributes have been paid to a couple | :25:33. | :25:43. | |
:25:43. | :25:43. | ||
who died on a pilgrimage to Mecca. And more on that story about the | :25:44. | :25:46. | |
deaths of a couple from Birmingham on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Our | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
reporter Giles Latcham is with a travel agent in Birmingham who | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
organises similar visits. Giles. They have sent about 350 people to | :25:54. | :26:00. | |
make it. This isn't the first incident, as it? There was another | :26:00. | :26:07. | |
one before. Another bus was coming to Mecca. That caught fire as well. | :26:07. | :26:14. | |
I believe two people died, which is on the website. You have been there | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
personally. What would you say to people having second thoughts? What | :26:19. | :26:26. | |
is safety like? Well, actually, the Saudi government, they tried to do | :26:26. | :26:32. | |
their best to control the things, but when there are approximately 3 | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
million people, these types of things, these unpredictable things | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
do happen. It is a very wealthy kingdom, we are entitled to expect | :26:40. | :26:45. | |
high standards of safety, aren't we? They are trying their level | :26:45. | :26:50. | |
best and investing money to improve things. So I have seen a lot of | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
changes. I went this year and last year as well, so I have seen a lot | :26:55. | :27:00. | |
of things improved. Thank you very much for talking to us. This is a | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
community in mourning for the loss of Dawud Burbank and his wife. The | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
investigation into what happened continues. We have heard in the -- | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
we have heard that temperatures reached 44 sources in Saudi Arabia | :27:14. | :27:20. | |
yesterday and the engine overheated. A very sad note on which to close | :27:20. | :27:25. | |
the programme. Tomorrow, we will find out which of our region's | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
politicians might be made redundant as the government moves to cut the | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
number of MPs at Westminster. We will be meeting the 15-year-old | :27:33. | :27:36. |