:00:03. > :00:10.America warns that Al-Qaeda, although weakened, still poses a
:00:10. > :00:13.significant terrorist threat around the world.
:00:13. > :00:23.Ahead of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, New York steps up its
:00:23. > :00:23.
:00:23. > :00:28.security as it faces a credible threat of a new attack. It is a
:00:28. > :00:32.continuing reminder of the stakes in our struggle against violent
:00:33. > :00:37.extremism, no matter who propagates it, no matter where it comes from,
:00:38. > :00:41.no matter who its targets might be. As Americans reeled from the most
:00:41. > :00:51.deadly assault on their nation, we hear from the man who had to tell
:00:51. > :00:56.the President. I whispered into his right beer, a second plane hit the
:00:56. > :01:01.second tower. America is under attack. -- his beer.
:01:01. > :01:04.This is the scene at Ground Zero tonight. We'll be assessing the
:01:04. > :01:06.impact a decade on and how much of a threat still remains.
:01:06. > :01:09.Also tonight: The IMF tells the world's
:01:10. > :01:12.struggling economies to act boldy and act now, as leaders meet to
:01:12. > :01:15.decide next steps. In an exclusive interview, David
:01:15. > :01:21.Cameron criticises some state schools for coasting and says he
:01:21. > :01:27.wants Eton to set up a new one. Anti-Gaddafi forces in Libya are
:01:27. > :01:37.closing in on the regime's last strongholds. We'll have the latest.
:01:37. > :01:38.
:01:39. > :01:44.And fireworks kick off the Rugby Later on Sportsday, Britain's
:01:44. > :01:47.number one tennis player, Andy Murray has beaten the number 28 C
:01:47. > :01:57.de John Isner at the US Open quarter-finals, but it was tough
:01:57. > :02:04.
:02:05. > :02:09.Good evening. Ten years on from the attacks of September 11th, America
:02:09. > :02:12.has warned that Al-Qaeda still poses a real and significant threat.
:02:12. > :02:15.The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has said the terrorist
:02:15. > :02:18.organisation is behind what officials are calling a credible
:02:18. > :02:23.but unconfirmed threat of an attack in New York or Washington to
:02:23. > :02:26.coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Police in both cities have
:02:26. > :02:36.stepped up security in response to the warning. Laura Trevelyan
:02:36. > :02:37.
:02:37. > :02:42.reports from New York. At Ground Zero, America prepares to
:02:42. > :02:46.mourn its dead. In the footprints of the World Trade Centre's Twin
:02:46. > :02:53.Towers sits the memorial to the nearly 3000 people who perished on
:02:53. > :02:57.9/11. The city's reflective mood is now tense. Police are searching
:02:57. > :03:00.vans for bombs in response to what officials call a credible but
:03:00. > :03:04.unconfirmed threat. The administration may have weakened
:03:04. > :03:10.Al-Qaeda's leadership but its ability to inspire others,
:03:10. > :03:14.regionally and internationally, remains. Al-Qaeda or, again, is
:03:14. > :03:20.seeking to harm Americans and in particular to target New York and
:03:20. > :03:25.Washington. This should not surprise any of us. It is a
:03:25. > :03:29.continuing reminder of the stakes in our struggle against a violent
:03:29. > :03:33.extremism. Sunday's 10th anniversary of the attacks which
:03:33. > :03:37.altered America and launched two wars is an emotional time for the
:03:37. > :03:43.relatives of the dead. Charles Wolfe lost his British wife,
:03:43. > :03:47.Catherine, in the north tower of the World Trade Center. I miss my
:03:47. > :03:51.best friend. But after 10 years you continually move on. I say that
:03:51. > :03:56.they may have gotten my wife but they are not getting the rest of my
:03:56. > :04:01.life. I said that shortly after 9/11. I refuse to let these
:04:01. > :04:06.terrorists take over my life in a negative way. Security light today
:04:06. > :04:12.is part of the rhythm of New York life. Although the fear of another
:04:12. > :04:15.catastrophic attack has receded slightly, it is still very real.
:04:15. > :04:18.John remembers seeing the firefighters going to the twin
:04:18. > :04:22.towers on that day and never return. He believes the nature of the
:04:22. > :04:27.threat from Al-Qaeda has changed. Franchised and fractured his the
:04:27. > :04:32.way I think it would be viewed in Washington. But mind you, 10 years
:04:32. > :04:37.later, we have another threat that is causing the United States to
:04:37. > :04:43.react. As the City readies itself for Sunday's ritual of remembrance,
:04:43. > :04:47.New Yorkers are hoping this latest alert comes to nothing. But once
:04:47. > :04:50.the 10th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone, Al-Qaeda's lurking
:04:50. > :04:53.threat will remain. Amid the scenes of terror on that
:04:53. > :04:56.day ten years ago, White House officials struggled to comprehend
:04:56. > :05:00.the magnitude of what was happening. The President, George Bush, was
:05:00. > :05:04.visiting a school in Florida when he was given the news by an aide
:05:04. > :05:13.whispering in his ear. Mark Mardell has been to the school to talk to
:05:13. > :05:18.those who were there about the terrible events of 9/11.
:05:18. > :05:24.This looks like some sort of a concerted effort to attack the
:05:24. > :05:29.World Trade Centre., my God, another plane has just hit. We have
:05:29. > :05:35.a terrorist act of proportions we cannot imagine. The day when a
:05:35. > :05:39.murderous assault killed 2753 people, a day when history pivoted
:05:39. > :05:44.and aid President looked at the world through a different lens.
:05:44. > :05:48.George W Bush was at a Florida school, listening to seven-year-
:05:48. > :05:53.olds reading, when his chief of staff told him what had happened.
:05:53. > :05:57.It could not have been an accident, so I made a decision to pass on two
:05:57. > :06:03.facts and make one relatively obvious editorial comment. I walked
:06:03. > :06:11.up to the President and leaned over and whispered, a second plane hit
:06:11. > :06:14.the second tower, America is under attack. Bush stayed put, a range of
:06:14. > :06:19.emotions passing across his face. Some said that it was odd that he
:06:19. > :06:23.did not leave at once. I thought it was right. Number one, he did
:06:23. > :06:26.nothing to introduce fear to those very young students. They were
:06:26. > :06:30.second graders. He did nothing to demonstrate fear to the media that
:06:30. > :06:33.would have translated to the satisfaction of the terrorists
:06:34. > :06:37.around the world. This is the school where President Bush was
:06:37. > :06:41.when he heard the news that changed his presidency and changed America.
:06:41. > :06:48.It also shaped the lives of those seven-year old's he was visiting on
:06:48. > :06:54.that day. One of them is now 17. remember looking up and seeing the
:06:54. > :07:00.President's face, his expression changed completely. It was almost a
:07:00. > :07:04.downtrodden. It was a look of dismay. His sport is wrestling, and
:07:04. > :07:08.9/11 did not make him want to take revenge, but to study an
:07:08. > :07:12.international cause to understand America's enemies. It caused me to
:07:12. > :07:17.become open-minded. It did not change me immediately but over time,
:07:17. > :07:20.as I began to understand why they attacked us, I gained a new
:07:20. > :07:24.perspective about the world and all of the points of views. One of the
:07:24. > :07:32.teachers who was there should mean a corner of the school devoted to
:07:32. > :07:37.that day. These kids now have a loss of innocence. We were under
:07:37. > :07:41.attack. We took on a war mode. I did not have to grow up with that.
:07:41. > :07:46.Why should they have to grow up with that? The President left the
:07:46. > :07:49.classroom and spoke to the head of the FBI on the phone. His team
:07:49. > :07:52.boarded Air Force One without knowing their destination. He
:07:52. > :07:57.wanted to head back to Washington. His chief of staff and others told
:07:57. > :08:01.him it was too dangerous. After an uncomfortable argument, he gave in.
:08:01. > :08:05.He phoned world leaders, even telling President Putin that he was
:08:05. > :08:09.not blaming Russia and it was not a target. The day gave Sheikh Tway
:08:09. > :08:15.presidency with a new purpose. was going to be about how he
:08:15. > :08:20.responded to an attack on our homeland. It was a significant day.
:08:20. > :08:25.It changed my life, America's life, the President's life, and frankly
:08:25. > :08:28.the world. The President was seized by a new sense of mission that
:08:28. > :08:33.allow for a few doubts. The lead America, more patriotic and more
:08:33. > :08:38.fearful, into two foreign wars, still unfinished business today.
:08:38. > :08:43.We can talk to mark in New York. 10 years on, what is your assessment
:08:43. > :08:46.of how the attacks have changed America? Well, here at the sight of
:08:46. > :08:52.those attacks, the fountain of remembrance has only just recently
:08:52. > :08:56.been turned on. It has taken a long time to turn this scarred into a
:08:56. > :09:01.memorial. I think equally, America is still absorbing the impact of
:09:01. > :09:06.what it meant and how he reacted. The sense of unity that welled up
:09:06. > :09:09.in the country after the attacks, I think, has long dissipated. The
:09:09. > :09:13.sense of vulnerability is still there. We have been hearing about
:09:13. > :09:18.the security worries. This is a society that is very much more,
:09:18. > :09:22.understandably, worried about security. It has really changed in
:09:22. > :09:26.that wave. The sense of patriotism, a new reverence for the military,
:09:26. > :09:29.is still there. But whether people feel the wars in Afghanistan and
:09:29. > :09:34.Iraq were right or wrong, I think people want the troops brought home
:09:34. > :09:37.and there is no enthusiasm now for reshaping the whole of the world.
:09:37. > :09:41.And some people are beginning to reflect that whether or not all of
:09:41. > :09:47.the things that were done had to be done, it has cost America, diverted
:09:47. > :09:49.America from nation-building at home, as some are putting it.
:09:49. > :09:53.Financial leaders of the G7 industrialised nations are meeting
:09:53. > :09:57.in Marseilles tonight to try to reach agreement about how to tackle
:09:57. > :10:00.the global debt crisis. It comes after the head of the International
:10:00. > :10:08.Monetary Fund called for world leaders to "act now, act boldly and
:10:08. > :10:11.act together". Here's Stephanie Flanders.
:10:11. > :10:17.We keep being told the global economy is in trouble. The last
:10:17. > :10:20.time we heard that, this lot came to London to fix it. Today, the
:10:20. > :10:24.head of the International Monetary Fund came to say it was time for
:10:24. > :10:29.leaders to act again. Given the economic circumstances that we are
:10:29. > :10:36.facing, countries, and policy makers in those countries around
:10:36. > :10:39.the world, must act now, must act boldly, and must act together.
:10:39. > :10:45.was sharing a stage with her friend, the Chancellor, who thinks his
:10:45. > :10:49.budget cuts are bold enough. So does his boss. These are difficult
:10:49. > :10:52.times. The Government is focused on taking the right long-term
:10:52. > :10:58.decisions so we emerge from this with a strong economy and jobs for
:10:58. > :11:01.our people. So what exactly is the IMF's plan to save the world? In
:11:01. > :11:05.the UK, she says the Chancellor should let borrowing go up
:11:05. > :11:09.naturally as a result of slower growth, but she is not yet calling
:11:09. > :11:13.for a plan B. She does think the Bank of England could inject more
:11:13. > :11:17.cash into the economy. In Europe, the central bank there may also
:11:17. > :11:22.need to act, but the key, she said, is for Europe's politicians to
:11:22. > :11:26.resolve the problems with the euro and to shore up their banks. And
:11:26. > :11:31.America? There, the head of the IMF said President Obama was right to
:11:31. > :11:35.want to spend money now to create jobs, but America needed to cut
:11:35. > :11:39.spending long term. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has
:11:39. > :11:43.stalled. It will give companies confidence that if they invest and
:11:43. > :11:52.higher, there will be customers for their products and services. You
:11:52. > :11:58.should pass this jobs plan right away. The President's $450 billion
:11:58. > :12:01.stimulus plan seemed to go down well last night. But the markets
:12:01. > :12:06.fell again today, on fears that the Republicans would never actually
:12:06. > :12:11.pass it. The value of the euro also fell sharply on the news that a key
:12:11. > :12:15.figure at the European Central Bank had resigned. All of which gives
:12:15. > :12:20.the G7 finance ministers plenty to talk about in Marseilles tonight.
:12:20. > :12:24.The last time everyone was worried about the global economy, policy
:12:24. > :12:30.makers pulled out all the stops to save it. Now, they all have much
:12:30. > :12:33.less room for manoeuvre. As well as warning about the state
:12:33. > :12:37.of the economy, the Prime Minister has accused a number of state
:12:37. > :12:41.schools in England of "coasting". To drive up results, he revealed
:12:41. > :12:44.that he wants Eton, where he was a pupil, and other top public schools
:12:44. > :12:48.to set up their own new academies and free schools. Nick Robinson
:12:48. > :12:56.spent the day with the Prime Minister and sent this report from
:12:56. > :12:59.A visit r for six-year-old John who is settling into his new school.
:12:59. > :13:04.This isn't just his new school though, it is a brand-new free
:13:04. > :13:08.School of The sort David Cameron wants to spread around the country.
:13:08. > :13:12.Choice and competition, can, he says, increase standards in all
:13:12. > :13:17.20,000 English schools even though there are only 24 free schools. And
:13:17. > :13:21.that's needed in the prosperous suburbs just as much as the poor
:13:21. > :13:27.inner cities. The truth is this - it is not just
:13:27. > :13:30.failing schools we need to tackle, it is coasting schools too. The
:13:30. > :13:36.ones whose results have either flat lined or they haven't improved as
:13:36. > :13:40.much as they could have done. David Cameron sees himself as
:13:40. > :13:44.battling an educational establishment which has accepted
:13:44. > :13:49.poor results. His critics accuse him of pitting one school against
:13:49. > :13:54.another. If you can get 70% of children to
:13:54. > :13:58.get five good GCSEs including English and maths in parts of inner
:13:58. > :14:01.London we should be asking why aren't we doing that everywhere in
:14:01. > :14:04.parts of the country that are wealthier like Oxfordshire where I
:14:04. > :14:07.represent? REPORTER: Are you saying that your
:14:07. > :14:09.own constituents are sometimes getting a worse education, more
:14:09. > :14:13.complacent schools than the academies the Government is setting
:14:13. > :14:16.up? The figures speak for themselves. We raise the bar and
:14:16. > :14:19.increase competition and make sure that schools that aren't doing as
:14:19. > :14:23.well as they should are turned around.
:14:23. > :14:28.Are you saying that the school system can operate like a
:14:28. > :14:32.supermarket? In this sense that if yours is rubbish and the other one
:14:32. > :14:36.is good, it is going to improve standards, is that your view?
:14:36. > :14:40.Schools are not supermarkets, schools are places of learning, but
:14:40. > :14:42.I do believe that choice and competition shouldn't be dirty
:14:43. > :14:45.words in education, they can help drive up standards.
:14:45. > :14:49.I can reveal that yesterday representatives of some of
:14:49. > :14:53.Britain's most exclusive, and best known public schools came to
:14:53. > :14:57.Downing Street to hear the Prime Minister urge them to set-up new
:14:57. > :14:59.State schools. I have had the excellent, the best
:14:59. > :15:02.headteachers of State schools into Number Ten. I have had the private
:15:02. > :15:07.schools into Number Ten. I have had the universities into Number Ten to
:15:07. > :15:11.talk about university technical colleges. The truth is the problem
:15:11. > :15:14.in our country has been not enough good school places so anyone who
:15:14. > :15:19.can play a role in that private schools included is welcome through
:15:19. > :15:21.my door to talk about how we drive up standards for all.
:15:21. > :15:26.Eton College was amongst the schools represented in Downing
:15:26. > :15:30.Street yesterday. Had has links with -- it has links with local
:15:30. > :15:32.State schools, but the Prime Minister wants his old school to go
:15:32. > :15:35.further. Do you want that school with all
:15:35. > :15:39.its history and privileges to actually set-up a State school?
:15:39. > :15:44.I think I would like all private schools to engage in this agenda.
:15:44. > :15:46.To me all private schools have always had a charitable foundation
:15:46. > :15:51.and it is a great way to help deliver that.
:15:51. > :15:56.David Cameron says he is planning a revolution in British education and
:15:56. > :16:02.today it became clear just how radical he wants to be. Ending what
:16:02. > :16:07.some have called the Berlin Wall between private schools and the
:16:07. > :16:15.State sector. David Cameron knows he will be accused of helping the
:16:15. > :16:21.few at the expense of the many. His reply is that the many have been
:16:21. > :16:24.Coming up on tonight's programme: Could it be an end to ambulance
:16:24. > :16:32.chasing? A ban on selling crash victims' details to personal injury
:16:32. > :16:34.lawyers. In Libya, there's growing concern
:16:34. > :16:37.about the disappearance of thousands of highly sophisticated
:16:37. > :16:41.missiles and others weapons, that are still being looted from
:16:41. > :16:44.unguarded compounds in Tripoli. Western nations fear they could
:16:44. > :16:54.fuel an Iraq-style conflict inside Libya or fall into the hands of
:16:54. > :16:59.terrorists abroad. Andrew Harding has been to one of the compounds.
:16:59. > :17:03.In a Tripoli warehouse, an alarming discovery. There is no security at
:17:03. > :17:07.all here. We just walked in. We have come to see one of Colonel
:17:07. > :17:15.Gaddafi's secret weapons stores, but the looters have got here first.
:17:15. > :17:20.This is a very dangerous weapon and it has gone.
:17:20. > :17:23.This is the surface-to-air missile that Al-Qaeda used in Mombasa to
:17:23. > :17:28.shoot down an Israeli airline. This exact model.
:17:28. > :17:33.In the past few days thousands of highly sophisticated weapons have
:17:33. > :17:37.been stolen from this warehouse. No one knows who has got them or where
:17:37. > :17:42.they will end up being used. You have to wonder three weeks after
:17:42. > :17:49.Tripoli fell why no one has taken the trouble to secure weapons like
:17:49. > :17:53.this. Some of those weapons have been
:17:53. > :17:59.taken by Libya's rebels, the war isn't over here yet, but there are
:17:59. > :18:04.reports that others have been offered for sale abroad..
:18:04. > :18:08.It is a serious problem. The key thing is to try and track them. Try
:18:08. > :18:14.and bring them under control and to assess as you say the scale of the
:18:14. > :18:18.problem. Mass prayers in Tripoli today and
:18:18. > :18:23.growing stability here, but what if things turn sour, the new
:18:23. > :18:28.authorities are raising to -- racing to find the looted weapons
:18:28. > :18:34.before they fuel a new insurgency. It is a huge task. They need help.
:18:34. > :18:40.They need to co-ordinate amongst the factions to stop the spread of
:18:40. > :18:45.these weapons. Another warehouse, another cache of
:18:45. > :18:51.weapons, a single guard offering little protection.
:18:51. > :18:58.Not safe. Never safe. Inside, 100,000 land mines up for
:18:58. > :19:03.There are reports tonight that anti-Gaddafi forces are making a
:19:03. > :19:06.push on two of the former Libyan leaders' last strongholds. They're
:19:06. > :19:09.fighting near Gaddafi's home town of Sirte and have entered the town
:19:09. > :19:11.of Bani Walid where they are battling to take control. The
:19:11. > :19:14.National Transitional Council had given the pro-Gaddafi forces there
:19:14. > :19:18.until tomorrow to surrender. Andrew Harding has just arrived near to
:19:18. > :19:24.the town of Bani Walid. Andrew, what more can you tell us about
:19:24. > :19:31.what's happening there? The battle for the town has begun
:19:31. > :19:34.within the past few hours. At this stage it seems like skirmishing on
:19:34. > :19:37.the outskirts rather than a full- scale assault. Everyone is saying
:19:38. > :19:41.there is no going back. Tomorrow is likely to be interesting, perhaps
:19:41. > :19:47.decisive. So far not many casualties. There could be up to
:19:47. > :19:52.700 Gaddafi die hard supporters fighting on inside Bani Walid even
:19:52. > :19:56.when the town falls, the big question is will that have a
:19:56. > :20:00.domino-effect on the towns under Gaddafi control? The key factor
:20:00. > :20:06.there maybe the fate of the Colonel himself. Highly he is at large,
:20:06. > :20:10.while he hasn't been killed or captured he will be a rallying
:20:10. > :20:15.point and resistance will continue and this long end game will drag on.
:20:15. > :20:19.Thank you. The leader of the Green Party
:20:19. > :20:24.accused the Government of launching a repressive crackdown on hes
:20:24. > :20:29.responsible for last month's rioting in England. In shef shield
:20:29. > :20:39.Caroline Lucas blamed unrestrained capitalism and a failure to address
:20:39. > :20:40.
:20:40. > :20:42.unemployment and inequality. The people who took part in the
:20:42. > :20:52.riots are from our society. They are our neighbours and work
:20:52. > :20:53.
:20:53. > :21:03.colleagues. We sit next to them on the bus bus. The divisions in
:21:03. > :21:08.
:21:08. > :21:11.society are of them making. The UK Independence Party claims
:21:11. > :21:14.Conservative voters have been let down on issues like immigration and
:21:14. > :21:16.cuts to the armed forces. Speaking at UKIP's annual conference, party
:21:16. > :21:19.leader Nigel Farage also criticised the Prime Minister for not holding
:21:19. > :21:22.a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.
:21:22. > :21:25.Ieuan Wyn Jones has given his last speech as leader of Plaid Cymru at
:21:25. > :21:27.the party's annual conference. His party fell to third place in May's
:21:27. > :21:30.election. He told delegates in Llandudno that the Welsh
:21:30. > :21:32.nationalists could get a better deal for Wales than the Labour
:21:32. > :21:35.Government. Labour will try to take us down
:21:35. > :21:42.some sidings, but they'll hit the buffers. Plaid Plaid has to lead to
:21:42. > :21:47.get Wales back on track. It won't always be an easy easy journey. At
:21:47. > :21:51.times it will be a bumpy ride. We will have to stop sometimes as for
:21:51. > :21:53.now for refuelling, but getting back into the driver's seat, we
:21:53. > :21:56.must. Insurance companies in England and
:21:56. > :21:59.Wales are to be banned from selling their customers' personal details
:21:59. > :22:03.to so-called "ambulance chasing" lawyers. It's thought the practice
:22:03. > :22:07.has helped push up motor insurance premiums by more than 30% in the
:22:07. > :22:10.last year alone. The question for drivers now is will premiums come
:22:10. > :22:18.down as a result? Our UK Affairs Correspondent, Chris Buckler, has
:22:18. > :22:22.Many firms have discovered there is cash in claims. Some solicitors pay
:22:22. > :22:25.hundreds of pounds for information about accident victims with
:22:25. > :22:32.insurance companies among those trading trading details. Some say
:22:32. > :22:37.it is leading to a compensation culture and higher premiums.
:22:37. > :22:42.I did pay �2,000. Now I pay �2800. It is annoying.
:22:42. > :22:45.It is It is double. I never had a a claim in years and it has gone up a
:22:45. > :22:49.lot. Insurance premiums have gone up 87%
:22:49. > :22:52.in England and Wales over the last three years. There are a range of
:22:52. > :22:59.issues that affect how much people pay, but the average premium in
:22:59. > :23:07.England and Wales is now about �920. However, in Scotland with a law on
:23:07. > :23:13.referral on fees tiger fees tighter, it is lower. When you have had an
:23:13. > :23:18.accident you contact your insurance company and maybe a car hire firm.
:23:18. > :23:22.They sell your details to personal injury for a fee. Those lawyers
:23:23. > :23:27.then contact you encouraging you to claim compensation.
:23:27. > :23:31.Phil Riley was in a minor accident. After he contacted his insurance
:23:31. > :23:35.company, he was bombarded with texts and calls.
:23:35. > :23:40.I hadn't been injured. They wanted me to say I had been injured so I
:23:40. > :23:44.would make a claim. It was going to be worth around about �3500.
:23:44. > :23:47.When you have an accident and it is not your fault... There are many
:23:47. > :23:50.companies helping people to make claims, but among accident
:23:50. > :23:53.management firms you will find people who believe the insurance
:23:53. > :23:57.industry needs to address the issue of referralals.
:23:57. > :24:01.You can't have it both ways. They want to cut out referralal fees and
:24:01. > :24:05.at the same time they are the ones who are selling that information
:24:05. > :24:08.for vast amounts of money. A ban on selling details won't be
:24:08. > :24:17.in place until next year at the earliest, but the Government
:24:17. > :24:20.insists in the long-term it is Tennis and Andy Murray has battled
:24:20. > :24:25.through to the semi-finals of the US Open tonight with a four set
:24:25. > :24:28.victory over the American John Isner. Murray will face either
:24:28. > :24:32.defending champion Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick for a place in
:24:32. > :24:34.Monday's final. The Rugby World Cup has kicked off
:24:34. > :24:38.in New Zealand with an opening ceremony celebrating the country's
:24:38. > :24:42.Maori heritage. The hosts faced Tonga in the opening match with
:24:42. > :24:52.Scotland the first of the home nations due to play in the early
:24:52. > :24:52.
:24:52. > :25:01.hours of the morning. Tim Franks Few countries approach their rugby
:25:01. > :25:06.quite so passionately, but New Zealand's is unrequited for 24
:25:06. > :25:16.years. Expectation is climbing sky ward.
:25:16. > :25:21.
:25:21. > :25:28.After the anthems, the har the the harka. Then The All Black tide. The
:25:28. > :25:36.new boys in the New Zealanders slicing open the Tongans for one,
:25:36. > :25:41.two and three. The second half proved harder work. New Zealand ran
:25:41. > :25:46.out 41-10 winners, convincing, but not overwhelming. The All Blacks
:25:46. > :25:51.are the top rated team. The home nations fill rankings five to eight.
:25:51. > :25:55.But for one veteran, what they lack in style, they make up in grit.
:25:55. > :25:57.Overall in a World Cup competition when all bets are off, it is not
:25:57. > :26:03.about scoring four tries and throwing the ball about, it is
:26:03. > :26:06.about winning games of rugby. When it is World Cup time, it is
:26:06. > :26:09.attritional and that's when the Northern Hemisphere teams come into
:26:09. > :26:14.their own. Scotland and England have their
:26:14. > :26:19.opening games tomorrow. It has been a predictable start, but history
:26:19. > :26:22.predicts this tournament doesn't follow such an obvious course.