:00:50. > :00:53.Also tonight: A frantic scramble for university
:00:53. > :00:57.places ahead of the rise in tuition fees.
:00:57. > :01:01.It is a useless system. I should have known that a lot of
:01:02. > :01:06.people have planned this year and done something about it.
:01:06. > :01:10.Libya's rebels edge closer to the capital, we report from the front
:01:10. > :01:13.line. These guys are in control of the
:01:13. > :01:18.street. The rebels in control of the town, that means that Tripoli
:01:18. > :01:23.is cut off from the outside world. Global markets slump again, the Dow
:01:23. > :01:28.Jones is down and the FTSE reports its biggest fall in throw years.
:01:28. > :01:37.Why part of England's most successful club is being sold
:01:37. > :01:47.abroad to pay its debts. I'm her with Sports Day. Tottenham
:01:47. > :01:59.
:01:59. > :02:06.enjoy their night out at Tynecastle. Good evening. For the first time,
:02:06. > :02:10.America, France, Germany Britain and the EU have called on Syria's
:02:10. > :02:15.President Bashar al-Assad barb to call down.
:02:15. > :02:18.America has also announced it is imposing more sanctions on Damascus,
:02:18. > :02:22.the news came as the United Nations said that it believed that more
:02:22. > :02:32.than 2,000 people have been killed since the violence began five
:02:32. > :02:32.
:02:32. > :02:39.months ago. The martyr's blood will not go to
:02:39. > :02:45.waste, the crowd chants. This video taken in Homs today, shows one of
:02:45. > :02:49.the latest funerals of the civilians killed against this
:02:49. > :02:55.regime over the past five months. Finally, the Obama administration
:02:55. > :02:59.is calling directly for him to go. The transition into democracy has
:02:59. > :03:04.begun. It is time for Assad to get out of the way. It is up to the
:03:04. > :03:08.Syrian people to choose their own leaders, in a democratic system,
:03:08. > :03:14.based on the rule of law and dedicated to protecting the rights
:03:14. > :03:17.of all citizens, regardless of ethnicicity, religion, sector
:03:17. > :03:21.gender. For months, Washington resisted
:03:21. > :03:28.spelling this out, fearing that President Bashar al-Assad could
:03:28. > :03:32.cling on, but now that the rest of the Arab world openly condemns his
:03:33. > :03:38.regime, this is the next part of the uprising.
:03:38. > :03:44.Today, Europe's leaders coordinated that I new tauing talk with
:03:44. > :03:54.Washington. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, telling President
:03:54. > :03:58.
:03:58. > :04:02.The United Nations now believes that over 2,000 people have been
:04:03. > :04:08.killed in the uprising. It judges that the regime's actions may
:04:08. > :04:15.amount to crimes against humanity. That is partly as regime violence
:04:15. > :04:18.is used against protest wherever it has spread and it is spreading,
:04:18. > :04:22.bringing public rejection close to the centres of power. President
:04:22. > :04:27.Obama is now introducing new, stronger sanctions against Syria,
:04:27. > :04:31.at the risk of hurting ordinary Syrians. So American investment is
:04:31. > :04:35.banned, no more exports or imports of oil and gas, something that
:04:35. > :04:40.Europe too will consider, but Washington is not expecting
:04:40. > :04:44.immediate ruments. In Syria -- immediate results.
:04:44. > :04:48.In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad still has the loyalty of the
:04:48. > :04:52.security services. He maid be morally wounded but it will take
:04:52. > :04:57.time from a political stand point that he is over.
:04:57. > :05:03.So, as Syrians cry out to the world for help, President Assad is under
:05:03. > :05:08.new pressure, but so far, the regime has always judged that its
:05:08. > :05:11.survival is paramount, whatever the cost.
:05:12. > :05:17.Our correspondent Adam Brookes is in Washington for us now. So,
:05:17. > :05:22.finally, international pressure, is it going to have any effect? Well,
:05:22. > :05:27.Sophie, nobody in Washington is pretending that demanding President
:05:27. > :05:31.Bashar al-Assad depart will make it so, but it has been said that the
:05:31. > :05:35.Americans believe that President Bashar al-Assad is finished as the
:05:35. > :05:38.political balance inside Syria has shifted against him and outside of
:05:38. > :05:44.Syria in the international community it has too. So, the
:05:44. > :05:48.Americans are hoping they are not acting alone. They are coordinating
:05:48. > :05:53.carefully with other countries, expecting Europe a and other
:05:53. > :05:57.powerful players like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to bring on more
:05:57. > :06:04.sanctions. They are signalling clearly, that
:06:04. > :06:09.they expect Europe to put a stop to help. The Americans are saying that
:06:09. > :06:13.they see this as a process, possibly a protracted one, but one
:06:13. > :06:18.that will not end in military action. This is not Libya, these
:06:18. > :06:23.officials were saying, that military action is not on the cards.
:06:23. > :06:28.Tens of thousands of students have been scrambling to get a university
:06:28. > :06:33.place after a record year of A level passes in England and Wales
:06:33. > :06:36.and Wales and Northern Ireland. There is an intense battle as the
:06:37. > :06:42.students try to get to university before the increase in the tuition
:06:42. > :06:46.fees next year. At one point, there were 400 students per second
:06:46. > :06:52.phoning the UCAS system in the hope of finding a place.
:06:52. > :06:57.Did you get?! How did they do that! Not delighted by the results, but
:06:57. > :07:06.by the fact that they are through to university clearing. It helps
:07:06. > :07:12.the people to find places in the universities. The phonelines were
:07:12. > :07:18.recording 400 calls a second. I apoll guise to anyone who has had
:07:18. > :07:23.added anxiety. This is a tough day. UCAS is 100% dedicated to providing
:07:23. > :07:27.the service to apgants and universities and colleges.
:07:27. > :07:30.This young man is now in the clearing system. He spent a
:07:30. > :07:35.frustrating morning struggling to get advice.
:07:35. > :07:37.It is a useless system. They should have known that a lot of people are
:07:37. > :07:42.applying this year and done something about it.
:07:42. > :07:46.Here at the University of West London they have taken twice as
:07:46. > :07:51.many calls as last year, but there are only a quarter of the number of
:07:51. > :07:55.places. That picture is the same nationally, with more pupils
:07:55. > :08:01.eligible for clearing but with fewer vacancies. Tens of thousands
:08:01. > :08:08.could fail to fulfil their dream of going to university. This year,
:08:08. > :08:12.there has been a record 673,000 applications, with the numbers of
:08:12. > :08:18.clearing standing at 192,000. Defered applications, those wishing
:08:18. > :08:23.to take a gap year are down by 37%. Elizabeth at kin is a grade A
:08:23. > :08:27.student, but she is scrapping the gap year she wanted because of the
:08:27. > :08:31.tuition fees rise. I wanted time to work to make money
:08:31. > :08:34.for university, but when I found out about the fees changing we were
:08:34. > :08:37.not sure if it was worth having a gap year.
:08:37. > :08:43.I am not sure how it works but it doesn't sound like the best
:08:43. > :08:48.situation. Rose Dyson in Cardiff has decided
:08:48. > :08:52.on an apprentice scheme and training to be a plumber.
:08:52. > :08:58.The unifees, the payment, the food, that is another one, the food. I
:08:58. > :09:06.don't think that I could afford it all. I need help from my mum and
:09:06. > :09:13.parents, they are not around for me. I would rather have my own money.
:09:13. > :09:18.This young man was finally accepted into clearing and offered a
:09:18. > :09:23.different University of His choice, but there is uncertainty still for
:09:23. > :09:28.thousands of others. In Libya, rebel fighters say that
:09:28. > :09:32.they have taken control of an oil refinery in an important town of
:09:32. > :09:36.Zawiya, but Colonel Gaddafi's regime claim it is is still in
:09:36. > :09:43.government hands. The rebels are continuing it their advance in
:09:43. > :09:47.Tripoli, saying that they occupy the town of Gharyan, 50 miles south
:09:47. > :09:52.of the capital. From Libya's western mountains we
:09:52. > :09:56.push towards the coast, not sure what we will find last week this
:09:56. > :10:02.road was controlled by Colonel Gaddafi's forces, now we pass bands
:10:02. > :10:08.of rebel fighters, flicking the victory sign. As we entire into
:10:08. > :10:14.Zawiya, one of Colonel Gaddafi's tanks is abandoned.
:10:14. > :10:18.On street coners groups of rebel fighters are in control and
:10:18. > :10:24.euphoric. Is it near the end now? Yes. Yes.
:10:24. > :10:31.Why? Because we know that. This is Zawiya. These are strong people. It
:10:31. > :10:37.is close to Tripoli. He knows. We are on the edge of the city of
:10:37. > :10:41.Zawiya, the western edge. Behind me, the ridge there is the highway
:10:41. > :10:47.between Tripoli and the Tunisian border. The guys here are in
:10:47. > :10:50.control of the streets, the rebels in control of the highway, that
:10:50. > :10:54.means that Tripoli is cut off from the outside world. There is smoke
:10:54. > :10:58.from a rocket that landed here ten minutes ago. We were told that this
:10:58. > :11:02.place is safe, but clearly it is still under attack from Colonel
:11:02. > :11:06.Gaddafi's forces. The battle is for control of this
:11:06. > :11:12.vital highway. This was Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's last link to the
:11:12. > :11:17.outside world. Six weeks ago I drove down here on my way to
:11:17. > :11:23.Tripoli, then it was crammed with cars and lorries, ladened with food
:11:23. > :11:29.and supplies, but look at it now. On the edge of Zawiya, a group of
:11:29. > :11:33.rebels take me to their latest prize, the city's oil refinery.
:11:33. > :11:36.They grove Colonel Gaddafi's last troops out of here yesterday. In
:11:37. > :11:42.Tripoli there is a desperate shortage of fuel, now it will be
:11:42. > :11:47.worse. In Zawiya's city centre this
:11:47. > :11:50.afternoon, intense street fighting continued. Colonel Gaddafi knows he
:11:51. > :11:54.cannot afford to lose this vital town. The rebels know if they can
:11:54. > :12:00.hold on here, they will have Colonel Gaddafi cut off and
:12:00. > :12:06.surrounded. The funerals have been held for the
:12:06. > :12:11.three men knocked down and killed during last week's riots in
:12:11. > :12:15.Birmingham. Haroon Jahan, Abdul Musavir and Shazad Ali were killed
:12:15. > :12:18.twiel protecting their property from the looters. 20,000 people
:12:18. > :12:21.lined the streets to pay their respects.
:12:21. > :12:27.Prince Harry was the latest member of the Royal Family to witness for
:12:27. > :12:32.himself the damage caused by last week's riots. He visited Salford
:12:32. > :12:37.where he meat merge workers and local people. In London, the police
:12:37. > :12:43.have released CCTV pictures of the looting of a shop in Clapham
:12:43. > :12:47.junction it shows a picture of a man who is attacked with a fire-
:12:47. > :12:51.extinguisher before the looters enter into the shop. The detectives
:12:51. > :12:57.are trying to trace the victim or anyone who saw the incident.
:12:57. > :13:02.It's been a turbulent day on the markets. The FTSE recording its
:13:02. > :13:07.biggest fall since November, 2008, it ended the day down to 4.5 Mersey.
:13:07. > :13:17.In America, the Dow Jones fell by more than 3.5%. Robert Peston is
:13:17. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:24.here, is this down to fears of Investors have been shunning
:13:24. > :13:30.anything seen as risky. Wherever you went, you saw falls of between
:13:30. > :13:36.four and 6% in share prices. But at the same time, the price of
:13:36. > :13:46.investments perceived as safes such as gold has gone well over $1,800
:13:46. > :13:48.
:13:48. > :13:53.an ounce. We have not seen that level since the 1950s. What does it
:13:53. > :13:57.mean when investors do not want to take risks? As you said, they fear
:13:57. > :14:02.that the world is heading back to recession and they fear that the
:14:02. > :14:05.banking system is fragile again. Investors are not always right, but
:14:05. > :14:09.the lesson of history is that it is foolish to ignore what they are
:14:09. > :14:12.saying about those risks. Coming up on tonight's programme: 20 years
:14:12. > :14:22.since the Moscow coup which nearly toppled him, we hear from Mikhail
:14:22. > :14:25.Gorbachev about the end of the Israel says an air strike on the
:14:25. > :14:29.Gaza Strip has killed the militants who were behind a series of attacks
:14:29. > :14:32.near the southern city of Eilat. Eight Israelis died when gunmen
:14:33. > :14:37.opened fire on vehicles, including two buses. The Israeli military
:14:37. > :14:40.said its soldiers killed seven of the attackers. It claims they had
:14:40. > :14:50.crossed from Egypt, having travelled south from the Gaza Strip.
:14:50. > :14:53.
:14:53. > :14:58.Hours later, Israel retaliated with an air strike on the town of Rafah.
:14:58. > :15:01.This was the most deadly attacking side Israel since 2008. Worryingly
:15:02. > :15:06.for the Israelis, the casualties were inflicted by gunmen who seemed
:15:07. > :15:11.to have come out of Egypt's Sinai desert, which has been increasingly
:15:11. > :15:16.lawless since the revolution. A bus was attacked first by well-armed
:15:16. > :15:24.and seemingly well organised gunmen. Other attacks hit a private car and
:15:24. > :15:28.a military patrol. It went on for much of the afternoon. Ehud Barak,
:15:28. > :15:32.Israel's Defence Minister, said Egypt's hold on the Sinai desert
:15:32. > :15:35.was weakening. After the ambulances had passed, the generals with them
:15:35. > :15:40.were told more shooting was happening and abruptly ended the
:15:40. > :15:44.news conference. As Israeli troops conducted a manhunt along the
:15:44. > :15:47.border, the government here said it would retaliate against gunmen it
:15:47. > :15:52.said were Palestinians who had travelled through the Sinai desert
:15:52. > :15:57.from Gaza. An air strike in Rafah in Gaza killed a small boy and five
:15:57. > :16:00.members of an armed group, the Popular Resistance Committee,
:16:00. > :16:06.including its top two commanders. The group denied it carried out the
:16:06. > :16:11.attack, but promised what it called double revenge. Israel's Prime
:16:11. > :16:14.Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on TV. He said Israel would react
:16:14. > :16:19.immediately and with force if its citizens were hurt, and said people
:16:19. > :16:26.who gave the orders to kill Israelis were "no longer among the
:16:26. > :16:30.living". The Israelis have had a sharp reminder that their enemies
:16:30. > :16:35.can take advantage of the confusion caused by the seismic changes going
:16:35. > :16:40.on in the Arab world. Political tensions were already rising ahead
:16:40. > :16:44.of a Palestinian plan next month to ask the UN for membership and
:16:44. > :16:49.recognition of their independence and borders. But before any of that,
:16:49. > :16:52.there is now a strong chance of more violence in and around Gaza.
:16:52. > :16:54.One of Britain's most successful software companies, Autonomy, could
:16:54. > :16:59.be bought by the American technology firm Hewlett Packard for
:16:59. > :17:02.�6 billion. If the deal goes through, HP's takeover is likely to
:17:02. > :17:07.be controversial in the wake of other foreign purchases of British
:17:08. > :17:10.companies such as Kraft's takeover of Cadbury last year. Autonomy's
:17:10. > :17:16.software searches data in e-mails and documents, and is used by
:17:16. > :17:19.companies around the world. Two teenagers have been arrested on
:17:19. > :17:23.suspicion of murdering a 14-year- old boy who died in a pool of blood
:17:23. > :17:26.near a playground. Leroy James was found slumped against a park wall
:17:26. > :17:32.after the incident in Enfield, in north London, yesterday as young
:17:32. > :17:34.children played nearby. The former Soviet President,
:17:34. > :17:37.Mikhail Gorbachev, has accused Vladimir Putin of castrating
:17:37. > :17:42.Russia's electoral system, and said he should not stand in next year's
:17:42. > :17:46.presidential elections. Mr Gorbachev's comments come on the
:17:46. > :17:49.eve of the 20th anniversary of the Moscow coup which led to the
:17:49. > :17:59.collapse of the Soviet Union. Our diplomatic correspondent met up
:17:59. > :18:02.
:18:02. > :18:05.with the former President. At a private dinner in Moscow, the
:18:05. > :18:13.former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev mulls over what happened
:18:13. > :18:17.20 years ago with old colleagues. It all snowballed, he says,
:18:17. > :18:26.starting from my opponents' anger at the elections I brought in, and
:18:26. > :18:31.that led to the coup against me. A dramatic showdown in the heart of
:18:31. > :18:36.Moscow, with the future of the world at stake. I witnessed at
:18:36. > :18:41.first hand as BBC Moscow correspondent. It was here exactly
:18:41. > :18:45.20 years ago in central Moscow that the two leaders made their move on
:18:45. > :18:49.the orders of the vice-president, the KGB chief and others, tanks
:18:49. > :18:54.rolled down this central thoroughfare towards the Kremlin,
:18:54. > :18:59.past astonished shoppers. The two leaders are said Gorbachev was too
:18:59. > :19:03.sick to rule, and they were taking over power. It looked like a
:19:03. > :19:07.classic Soviet military crackdown to roll back Gorbachev's
:19:07. > :19:14.perestroika reforms and reimpose hardline control over the whole
:19:14. > :19:20.country. Quarter of was on holiday by the Black Sea when he refused to
:19:20. > :19:24.join the coup plotters, he found himself under house arrest.
:19:24. > :19:27.TRANSLATION: They surrounded us with the cars down by the seashore
:19:27. > :19:35.and everywhere. At the entrance, they parked cars
:19:35. > :19:40.so nobody could drive past. They would not let anyone through.
:19:40. > :19:45.in Moscow, the Russian peasant Boris Yeltsin declared the coup
:19:45. > :19:51.illegal and urged people to protest against it. He also sought help
:19:51. > :19:56.from outside, fearing he would get arrested. We managed to get through
:19:56. > :20:00.to him on the telephone, and he said, I am in the White House, the
:20:00. > :20:04.Russian White House. And the Communists are coming to get me. I
:20:04. > :20:11.have about 20 minutes. Will you tell people what is happening? And
:20:11. > :20:17.I did. In Moscow, crowds flocked to protect Russia's fledgling
:20:17. > :20:21.democracy. The two leaders panicked, and their plot crumbled. But in its
:20:21. > :20:29.aftermath, the Soviet Union soon collapsed and swept Gorbachev from
:20:29. > :20:37.office. Today in Berlin, Gorbachev is greeted as a hero for helping
:20:37. > :20:42.end the Cold War. He visits regularly, a chance for me to catch
:20:42. > :20:48.up with him. The old Communist leaders of the Soviet empire
:20:48. > :20:53.emblazoned on the mural on the Berlin Wall. But Gorbachev's
:20:53. > :20:59.concern is Russia's current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He likens
:20:59. > :21:03.his rule to the stagnant days of Brezhnev.
:21:03. > :21:07.TRANSLATION: Put-in and his team offer stability, but stability
:21:07. > :21:10.kills development and results in stagnation.
:21:10. > :21:16.The electoral system we had was nothing remarkable, but they have
:21:16. > :21:21.simply castrated it. I apologise for my choice of words, but they
:21:21. > :21:24.really have circumcised it. With less than a year to go before the
:21:24. > :21:30.new Russian elections, Gorbachev says Putin should not stand again
:21:30. > :21:33.as President. He says Russia needs to get back on the path to
:21:33. > :21:36.democracy, and putting is not the leader to do it.
:21:36. > :21:40.Heavy rain has caused flash flooding along the south coast of
:21:40. > :21:44.England today. Portland in Dorset was hardest hit as a month's worth
:21:44. > :21:46.of rain fell in just nine hours. In Bournemouth, there was chaos as
:21:46. > :21:51.roads became submerged under several feet of water and the
:21:51. > :21:55.central pleasure gardens were transformed into a lake. Its speed
:21:55. > :22:00.even caught the emergency services off guard. The waters had such
:22:00. > :22:03.force, they burst a gas pipe and tore up the surface of some roads.
:22:03. > :22:07.Rain also affected the first day's play in the fourth Test between
:22:07. > :22:10.England and India at The Oval. Having won the toss and elected to
:22:10. > :22:16.bat, England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook took the home
:22:16. > :22:20.team to 75 without loss at lunch. After that, the rain started to
:22:21. > :22:25.fall and play was eventually abandoned for the day.
:22:25. > :22:28.It's the most famous football club in the world. But now the owners of
:22:28. > :22:31.Manchester United are having to sell part of the club abroad in
:22:31. > :22:34.order to pay off some of their mounting debts. The Glazer family,
:22:34. > :22:39.who took control six years ago, hope to clear much of their �500
:22:39. > :22:49.million debt by floating on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The deal
:22:49. > :22:49.
:22:49. > :22:53.could be completed by the end of the year.
:22:53. > :22:58.Champions on the pitch again last season, Manchester United have
:22:58. > :23:02.three years led the way when it comes to generating cash. Despite
:23:02. > :23:06.all that success, the club's American owners, the Glazer family,
:23:06. > :23:12.remain unpopular with fans after borrowing hundreds of millions of
:23:12. > :23:18.pounds to purchase the team in 2005. Now they have come up with a new
:23:18. > :23:23.plan to start paying off those loans. Manchester United are the
:23:23. > :23:27.richest sports team in the world, with an estimated valuation of just
:23:27. > :23:32.over �1 billion. But United have debts of �500 million, which
:23:32. > :23:36.incurred huge annual interest payments of �45 million. The
:23:36. > :23:40.Glazers believe the club are worth even more money, and hope that by
:23:40. > :23:46.selling off a large stake, they could raise as much as �600 million
:23:46. > :23:50.to reduce debts and make it even harder for their rivals to keep up.
:23:50. > :23:57.It is here in Singapore that United hope to raise that money, by
:23:57. > :24:01.selling around a quarter of the club's shares on the stock market.
:24:01. > :24:05.With 192 million fans based in Asia, they hope to exploit the popularity
:24:05. > :24:13.of their brand. Supporters this evening welcomed the opportunity to
:24:13. > :24:20.invest. It is a way for Singapore United fans to put money where
:24:20. > :24:25.their parties, which is to own part of the club, to know that part of
:24:25. > :24:30.the money goes to purchase the Rooneys of the future. The Glazers
:24:30. > :24:35.have always said Manchester United are not for sale. But their
:24:35. > :24:40.decision to float the club in Singapore will inevitably raise
:24:40. > :24:44.questions over their long-term commitment. Critics are also asking
:24:44. > :24:47.how the Glazers intend to spend all the money raised by the share issue.
:24:47. > :24:52.The fans will be disappointed that the club has not chosen to list
:24:52. > :24:55.here in the UK. They will be sceptical of the Glazers'
:24:55. > :25:00.motivations until they see the details. It was business as usual
:25:00. > :25:05.on the pitch for United's stars last weekend. The question now is,
:25:05. > :25:07.will the owners' latest financial plan help remove the doubts over