:00:03. > :00:09.Italy condemns as inexplicable Britain's decision not to give
:00:09. > :00:11.advanced warning of the failed hostage rescue. Briton Chris
:00:11. > :00:15.McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara were both killed when
:00:15. > :00:19.special forces tried to free them in Nigeria. New pictures have
:00:19. > :00:26.emerged of the house where the men were kept and evidence of the
:00:26. > :00:30.battle to free them. The Foreign Secretary tries to defuse the row.
:00:30. > :00:34.We were able to inform the Italian government as the operation got
:00:34. > :00:37.under way, but not to do more than that.
:00:37. > :00:39.And tonight, Mr Hague and the Italian Foreign Minister have met
:00:39. > :00:43.to discuss the operation. Also in the programme:
:00:43. > :00:46.Greece is set to receive its second bail out as private investors agree
:00:46. > :00:54.to bear massive losses. The MP Eric Joyce pleads guilty to
:00:54. > :00:57.assaulting four politicians in a Commons bar. It is a matter of
:00:57. > :01:01.considerable personal shame what happened a couple of weeks ago. I
:01:02. > :01:05.have been duly punished today. I have been lucky to avoid prison.
:01:05. > :01:07.The widows of Osama Bin Laden arrested in Pakistan - the Taliban
:01:07. > :01:10.threatens new attacks unless they're released.
:01:11. > :01:13.Players at Rangers Football Club agree to pay cuts of up to 75% to
:01:13. > :01:23.save the club. And Rebecca Adlington qualifies for
:01:23. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :01:34.2012 - will she repeat her two And coming up in Sportsday, joy and
:01:34. > :01:44.pain Ford Jessica Ennis. She thought she had won pentathlon gold
:01:44. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :01:54.at the World Indoor Athletics Good evening.
:01:54. > :01:57.The Italian president has condemned as inexplicable Britain's failure
:01:57. > :02:01.to inform his country before it launched a rescue attempt that led
:02:01. > :02:04.to the deaths of two men being held hostage in Nigeria. David Cameron
:02:04. > :02:06.authorised the raid by British special forces and Nigerian troops
:02:06. > :02:09.yesterday after receiving intelligence that Chris McManus,
:02:09. > :02:15.from Oldham, and Italian Franco Lamolinara were in imminent and
:02:15. > :02:19.grave danger. This evening the Foreign Secretary and his Italian
:02:19. > :02:29.counterpart met and held talks about the operation. Our security
:02:29. > :02:29.
:02:29. > :02:34.correspondent Gordon Corera reports. The bullet holes are evidence of a
:02:34. > :02:39.fierce and bloody battle. A battle that took place in this residential
:02:39. > :02:45.compound in north-west Nigeria, as British and Nigerian forces tried
:02:45. > :02:50.and failed to rescue two hostages. Chris McManus, from Oldham, and
:02:50. > :02:55.Italian Franco Lamolinara had been held for 10 months by a violent Al-
:02:55. > :03:01.Qaeda link to sell. Italy's president today it asked why his
:03:01. > :03:04.government had not been consulted before the raid.
:03:04. > :03:08.TRANSLATION: The behaviour of the British Government in not informing
:03:08. > :03:13.Italy is inexplicable. Political and diplomatic clarification is
:03:13. > :03:17.necessary. Britain's Foreign Secretary was in Copenhagen and
:03:17. > :03:22.tried to provide clarification. had to make a decision very quickly
:03:22. > :03:27.to go ahead with this operation. We had very limited time. That
:03:27. > :03:29.constrained how much we were able to consult others. We were able to
:03:29. > :03:35.inform the Italian government as the operation got under way, but
:03:35. > :03:40.not to do more than that. So, why did it happen so quickly? The
:03:40. > :03:43.Nigerians confirmed the hostages' location after arresting a suspect
:03:44. > :03:47.two days ago. But then came fears that the kidnappers had been
:03:47. > :03:51.alerted to a possible rescue, with intelligence that this left the
:03:51. > :03:55.hostages in danger of being moved or killed. Under pressure, the
:03:55. > :03:58.Prime Minister authorised the raid yesterday morning and then informed
:03:58. > :04:03.the Italians. The British Special Boat Service went in first in a
:04:03. > :04:07.daylight raid, killing one gunman as they entered. But they found the
:04:07. > :04:13.hostages had already been murdered by the time they reached them.
:04:13. > :04:17.was a fleeting opportunity to extract two people whose lives were
:04:17. > :04:23.very much at risk anyway. We have been tracking this since May of
:04:23. > :04:28.last year. Some outstanding intelligence work identified their
:04:28. > :04:32.location and the opportunity had to be grabbed them and there. Today,
:04:32. > :04:37.Chris McManus' former colleagues paid tribute to the 28-year-old
:04:37. > :04:42.from Oldham. My reaction was devastation. Chris was a really
:04:42. > :04:46.good individual, a good team player. We are distraught that this has
:04:46. > :04:50.happened at this stage. Chris McManus' family have said they
:04:50. > :04:54.believe everything that could be done had been done, but the tragic
:04:54. > :05:00.death of the two hostages has led to questions in Italy about whether
:05:00. > :05:04.it had to end this way. Gordon is with me. How serious is
:05:04. > :05:07.this row with the Italians? William Hague met with his Italian
:05:07. > :05:11.counterpart at a summit in Copenhagen tonight. They issued a
:05:11. > :05:14.joint statement, urging the sharing of information about what had
:05:14. > :05:19.happened and committing themselves to the fight against terrorism.
:05:19. > :05:23.That is a sign that they want to calm the waters. There was
:05:23. > :05:26.certainly anger in Rome. The media talk about a slap in the face and
:05:26. > :05:31.speculated as to whether Britain had not told Italy because of fears
:05:31. > :05:35.it might be soft on kidnappers and more willing to pay ransom and --
:05:35. > :05:37.are more willing to pay ransom than to undertake risky missions.
:05:37. > :05:41.British officials have indicated that was not the case and they had
:05:41. > :05:45.to make a snap decision to launch the rescue mission under fears that
:05:45. > :05:48.they knew the net was closing in. They also said that they had
:05:48. > :05:51.consultation with the Italians in the run-up and it was clear that a
:05:51. > :05:54.rescue mission was a possibility. If the mission had ended in success
:05:54. > :05:58.I do not think they would be questions about when the Italians
:05:58. > :06:02.had been informed. But it tragically ended in failure.
:06:02. > :06:06.However, I think both governments were now be seeking to calm the
:06:06. > :06:09.waters around this. Greece looks certain to receive its
:06:09. > :06:12.second enormous bail out, after a decision by private investors to
:06:12. > :06:16.accept losses of more than half the value of their holdings of Greek
:06:16. > :06:20.government debt. The deal, the biggest of its kind in decades, was
:06:20. > :06:23.greeted enthusiastically by European governments. But in a
:06:23. > :06:32.fresh development tonight, the investors' losses have triggered a
:06:32. > :06:36.multi-billion euro insurance payout, as Hugh Pym reports.
:06:36. > :06:39.It is an important step for Greece, although it is not the end of a
:06:39. > :06:42.saga that has seen riots on the streets and fraught negotiations
:06:42. > :06:47.with Europe's political leaders. Private investors will see the
:06:47. > :06:53.value of their holdings of great debt slashed in a planned process
:06:53. > :06:59.unprecedented in modern times. -- Greek debt. The deal with investors
:06:59. > :07:02.wipes out a chunk of that government's debt burden.
:07:03. > :07:06.TRANSLATION: This agreement we have reached with the private sector is
:07:06. > :07:14.excellent. It is an historic day for Greece, for the Greek
:07:14. > :07:18.parliament, for the Greek people and for the national economy.
:07:18. > :07:22.how far does the deal with private creditors go to help Greece to
:07:23. > :07:26.balance its books? Private institutions and individuals hold
:07:26. > :07:32.206 billion euros of the debt. They have agree to take losses which
:07:32. > :07:37.will cut that to 101 billion. That leaves 162 billion euros of other
:07:37. > :07:44.debt held by European authorities and the IMF. And total Greek debt
:07:44. > :07:48.is still projected to be at least 120% of GDP by 2020. And with that
:07:48. > :07:52.burden hanging over a weakening Greek economy, some experts think
:07:53. > :07:56.the country will struggle to pay back the loans. At the moment,
:07:56. > :08:00.economic output increase is in freefall. They have been in
:08:00. > :08:04.recession for four years and they will be for at least another year
:08:04. > :08:09.or two. This is why Greece needs investment, structural reforms, to
:08:09. > :08:16.really get economic output going. Without that, you are unable to pay
:08:16. > :08:20.back any amount of debt. The German Finance Minister was urging caution.
:08:20. > :08:22.Wolfgang Schaeuble has said that Greece had a clear opportunity to
:08:23. > :08:27.recover but it would be a big mistake to give the impression that
:08:27. > :08:32.the crisis had been resolved. One part of the Greek DEC drama is
:08:32. > :08:35.being played out that officers in the City of London. -- debt drama.
:08:35. > :08:39.There has been a meeting today to try to work out whether insurance
:08:39. > :08:43.payouts will have to be made, with investors who have lost money on
:08:43. > :08:47.Greek debt able to claim back from other financial institutions. They
:08:47. > :08:52.have decided those payouts will have to be made, although possibly
:08:52. > :08:55.totalling only a few billion euros. Another reminder that the Greek
:08:55. > :08:59.financial crisis is not over yet, although a significant milestone
:08:59. > :09:02.was passed today. The latest employment figures from
:09:02. > :09:06.the United States show that nearly 250,000 jobs were created in
:09:06. > :09:09.February. Employment has now been rising for six months. President
:09:09. > :09:12.Obama said today the economy was "getting stronger". But the
:09:12. > :09:18.unemployment rate remains unchanged at just over 8%, with more people
:09:18. > :09:21.registering to find work. The MP Eric Joyce says he was lucky
:09:21. > :09:25.to escape jail after pleading guilty to assaulting four
:09:25. > :09:28.politicians in a bar at the House of Commons. A court heard how the
:09:28. > :09:32.member for Falkirk head-butted a Tory MP, attacked two Conservative
:09:32. > :09:36.district councillors and then turned on a Labour MP. He's been
:09:36. > :09:43.banned from entering a pub but he can still enter the House of
:09:43. > :09:46.Commons. Here's our Political Correspondent Ben Wright.
:09:46. > :09:51.Politics and drink can be a combustible combination. This was
:09:51. > :09:54.Eric Joyce heading into court, the MP and former Army major who set
:09:54. > :09:57.upon drinkers in a House of Commons bar last month. He pleaded guilty
:09:57. > :10:02.to four charges of assault in a late-night brawl that witnesses
:10:02. > :10:06.said was like a scene from the Wild West. The court heard accounts of
:10:06. > :10:10.flying fists, upturned tables and chaos. Eric Joyce had been drinking
:10:10. > :10:13.and looked possessed and completely out of it, according to one witness.
:10:13. > :10:17.After shouting, there are too many Tories in this bar, the former
:10:17. > :10:22.Labour MP told police officers that he head-butted someone. If people
:10:22. > :10:27.said I was Hammad, that was probably true, he said. He shouted
:10:27. > :10:35.at police, you can't touch me, I Eminem P. Stuart Andrew is the
:10:35. > :10:38.Conservative Member of Parliament he head-butted. -- I am an MP.
:10:38. > :10:43.is a matter of considerable personal shame what happened a
:10:43. > :10:47.couple of weeks ago. I have been duly punished today. I have been
:10:47. > :10:52.lucky to avoid prison. He was spared a custodial sentence but
:10:52. > :10:57.given a 12 month community order and fined �3,000. He told the
:10:57. > :11:00.magistrate he would draw a line under his drinking. Drink was an
:11:00. > :11:03.aggravated -- an aggravating factor. That is something I have to deal
:11:03. > :11:09.with personally. Not everyone who drinks gets involved in fights,
:11:09. > :11:12.certainly not when they are my age. It was clearly a combination of
:11:12. > :11:16.alcohol and a tendency towards being physically aggressive that I
:11:16. > :11:20.have to deal with as well. Eric Joyce has also been banned from
:11:20. > :11:23.bars and pubs for three months. Although there are plenty of
:11:23. > :11:29.watering holes in parliament, heavy boozing by politicians has dropped
:11:29. > :11:33.away in recent years. The MP who was head-butted by Eric Joyce said
:11:33. > :11:36.the case raises the issue of how well the Commons looks after MPs in
:11:36. > :11:40.difficulty. Eric Joyce will not contest the next election and
:11:40. > :11:43.Labour sources say he will soon be expelled from the party.
:11:43. > :11:47.The Department for Work and Pensions says it's investigating a
:11:47. > :11:50.new allegation of fraud at the welfare to work company A4e. Last
:11:50. > :11:53.month, the boss of A4e, Emma Harrison, stepped down as the
:11:53. > :11:56.Government's "family champion" after it was revealed that police
:11:56. > :11:59.were investigating allegations against former employees. The
:11:59. > :12:07.company handles millions of pounds' worth of Government contracts for
:12:07. > :12:10.schemes to help people back into work.
:12:10. > :12:14.Britain's three biggest banks have revealed exactly how much they are
:12:14. > :12:18.paying senior staff in salaries, bonuses and other incentives. The
:12:18. > :12:23.chief executive of Barclays earned �6.3 million last year, but two
:12:23. > :12:26.others at the bank actually got more. The Royal Bank of Scotland
:12:26. > :12:36.and Lloyds, largely owned by taxpayers, also disclosed their top
:12:36. > :12:40.
:12:40. > :12:45.The high-rolling, big paying City of London. Today, we found out the
:12:45. > :12:54.level of the awards which were paid to top executives. All paid less
:12:54. > :12:59.than last year, but they were substantial sums. The American Bob
:12:59. > :13:04.Diamond, at Barclays, is receiving rewards of �6.3 million in total.
:13:04. > :13:06.One of his senior colleagues, who has not been named, is getting more.
:13:06. > :13:13.Over at the World Bank of Scotland, Over at the World Bank of Scotland,
:13:13. > :13:23.the rewards of the chief executive, Stephen Hester, are... That's
:13:23. > :13:27.
:13:27. > :13:33.somewhat less than his colleague. As for Lloyds, its chief executive,
:13:33. > :13:37.Antonio Horta Osorio, has a package worth... He waved his bonus after
:13:37. > :13:42.taking time off for extreme exhaustion. Of the three banks,
:13:42. > :13:47.Barclays was the most generous payer, with seven executives
:13:47. > :13:53.receiving �5 million or more. At Royal Bank of Scotland, only one
:13:53. > :13:58.banker earned anywhere close to that for 2011, Ellen Alemany. But
:13:58. > :14:01.eight of its bankers earned more than �2 million each. The Treasury
:14:01. > :14:03.says it shows that RBS is responding to government pressure,
:14:04. > :14:08.but the pay is controversial but the pay is controversial
:14:08. > :14:14.because RBS is 82% owned by taxpayers. The Chancellor and the
:14:14. > :14:18.Prime Minister have given various promises that they would curb
:14:18. > :14:22.excess and use their power as a shareholder in RBS to make sure
:14:22. > :14:29.that responsibility is being exercised. People will be entitled
:14:29. > :14:34.to question that today. Stephen Hester waved his �1 million bonus
:14:34. > :14:38.in January, under extreme pressure from politicians and the media. One
:14:38. > :14:43.influential City figure, who created a large financial firm,
:14:43. > :14:48.warns that the British economy would be damaged if people like
:14:48. > :14:53.Stephen heft there were driven to work abroad. -- people like Stephen
:14:53. > :14:58.Hester. We have to ask ourselves whether we really do want great
:14:58. > :15:05.international banks and financial companies headquartering themselves
:15:05. > :15:10.in London, making a �63 billion a year contribution to the
:15:10. > :15:15.Exchequer's income, or whether we would like to kill the golden goose
:15:15. > :15:20.and chase them all out. The bank of Scotland was today found guilty by
:15:20. > :15:24.the Financial Services Authority of taking crazy risks in the period up
:15:24. > :15:29.to 2008, before it was bought by Lloyds, which will reinforce the
:15:29. > :15:37.views of those who say that the pay-off bankers rose to much in the
:15:37. > :15:45.boom years. Coming up tonight - how life has changed for the children
:15:45. > :15:49.of the Japanese tsunami, living with the daily danger of radiation.
:15:50. > :15:53.In Pakistan, Taliban militants are threatening to carry out new
:15:53. > :15:56.attacks if the three widows of Osama Bin Laden are not released by
:15:56. > :16:00.the authorities. The country's Interior Minister has told the BBC
:16:00. > :16:04.that the women will be put on trial in the next few days, and could
:16:04. > :16:08.face up to a year in prison for entering the country illegally.
:16:08. > :16:12.They were taken into custody, with nine of their children, when the
:16:12. > :16:18.Al-Qaeda leader's compound was stormed last year, and are now
:16:18. > :16:25.under house arrest in Islamabad. From there, Orla Guerin reports.
:16:25. > :16:32.Than we went in search of Bin Laden's widows. There is
:16:32. > :16:37.speculation that this house is where they are awaiting trial. This
:16:37. > :16:41.is the youngest, born in Yemen, and injured in the raid which killed
:16:41. > :16:46.Bin Laden last May. Since then, she and the other wives have been kept
:16:46. > :16:50.well away from the media. The house is just up ahead. Local people say
:16:50. > :16:53.there has been heavy security in the area for the past week or so.
:16:53. > :16:58.They say they have never seen anything like it. When they asked
:16:58. > :17:05.what was going on, they were told some VIP needs protection. They say
:17:05. > :17:11.they have not seen anybody come out of the house since then. We are
:17:11. > :17:17.from BBC TV, we wanted to speak to the family inside the house. It is
:17:17. > :17:21.not allowed? If they are here, visitors are not welcome, but
:17:21. > :17:31.Pakistan's Interior Minister told us they have plenty of home
:17:31. > :17:32.
:17:33. > :17:39.comforts. The house is like a five- star hotel. There is proper bedding,
:17:39. > :17:44.a kitchen, food, I even allow them TV. I got a TV screen for the kids,
:17:44. > :17:47.I also sent some games for them. is a far cry from the spot and
:17:47. > :17:52.compound where the world's most wanted spent his final days, and
:17:53. > :17:57.where he was becoming delusional. That's the claim made by a retired
:17:57. > :18:04.Pakistani brigadier was given where access to the compound, and, he
:18:04. > :18:07.claims, to transcripts from the interrogations of the wives.
:18:07. > :18:12.Apparently he was suffering from some degenerative disease. It was
:18:12. > :18:16.physically debilitating, and mentally, he was becoming
:18:16. > :18:21.prematurely senile. He was obviously not capable of running
:18:21. > :18:26.Al-Qaeda any more. He was more of a hindrance than help to anybody.
:18:26. > :18:33.compound has been demolished, but many questions remain. The
:18:33. > :18:41.Brigadier Hi! Bin Laden was in the country since 2002. He also says
:18:41. > :18:46.Pakistan's official investigation will be a whitewash. Players at
:18:46. > :18:50.Rangers football club have agreed a pay cut of up to 75% to try to save
:18:50. > :18:52.the club from administration. The administrators said this major
:18:52. > :18:58.sacrifice by the players would prevent substantial job losses
:18:58. > :19:02.amongst other staff. James Cook is at Ibrox. Does this safeguard the
:19:02. > :19:07.future of the club? It simply buys them time, rather than securing its
:19:07. > :19:11.future. The administrators said they needed to save �1 million a
:19:11. > :19:15.month, simply to keep the club going until the end of the season.
:19:15. > :19:21.Tonight they announced that they had reached that target, after the
:19:21. > :19:24.players agreed to these wage cuts, which, as you say, are up to 75%
:19:24. > :19:28.for the highest earning stars, although they will still be on
:19:28. > :19:36.substantial sums of money. It took a week of negotiation to reach this
:19:36. > :19:40.deal, but the administrators admit Beatty's only a short-term solution.
:19:40. > :19:43.-- it is only a short-term solution. This has saved the jobs of other
:19:43. > :19:47.people at the club, and we recognise the football staff are
:19:47. > :19:50.paying a heavy price for the greater good. It is to the eternal
:19:50. > :19:54.credit of the players and the management that they have sought to
:19:54. > :19:58.find a solution which helps protect the fabric of the club. Interested
:19:58. > :20:04.bidders now have until next Friday to come up with their offers for
:20:04. > :20:07.the club, and prove they are serious about those of us. Tonight,
:20:07. > :20:12.a consortia it said it was interested in bidding for the club,
:20:12. > :20:16.but only, it said, if it could be agreed that it would not go into
:20:16. > :20:24.liquidation, and that a deal could be struck with the creditors, not
:20:24. > :20:28.least the taxman, and it has to be said, that is a pretty big if. One
:20:28. > :20:31.year after the tsunami struck Japan, new documents suggest its
:20:31. > :20:35.government knew that the Fukushima nuclear power plant was facing
:20:35. > :20:39.meltdown just hours after it was hit by the flood wave. Ministers
:20:39. > :20:44.feared it would be worse than the Chernobyl disaster, and the scale
:20:44. > :20:48.of the crisis was kept secret for months. So far it has cost Japan
:20:48. > :20:53.$130 billion. Radiation is still preventing 100,000 people from
:20:53. > :20:57.returning home. Our correspondent Damien Grammaticas has been back to
:20:57. > :21:02.see how life has changed in two communities close to Fukushima. You
:21:02. > :21:08.cannot see it, but absorbed by the trees, the radiation threat is all
:21:08. > :21:14.around us. So, from this point on, everybody had to evacuate. Nobody,
:21:14. > :21:21.says the professor, from this point on. One year ago, this place was
:21:21. > :21:25.home to 6,000 people. Today, it is too radioactive to live here. Now,
:21:25. > :21:29.Japan's government wants to clean up not just this place, but several
:21:29. > :21:35.thousand square kilometres of contaminated land all around Iitate.
:21:35. > :21:38.Nothing like it has been done before, not even like that -- not
:21:38. > :21:41.even in the Chernobyl disaster. Nobody really knows whether a place
:21:41. > :21:46.like this can be made fit for humans to live in again. The
:21:46. > :21:50.professor is trying to workout how to find and remove all the caesium
:21:50. > :21:54.which was spewed out by the disaster, and spread over an area
:21:54. > :21:59.several times the size of Greater London. Its radiation will last
:22:00. > :22:03.longer than a human lifetime. TRANSLATION: The Government says it
:22:03. > :22:09.will decontaminate everywhere, but it is a huge area, I don't think
:22:09. > :22:14.they can do it. It will cost a colossal amount. Fukushima's
:22:14. > :22:24.reactors are still fragile, so many people are fearful to live in the
:22:24. > :22:25.
:22:25. > :22:33.shadow of the nuclear plant. Just 15 miles from it, the new Ikea
:22:33. > :22:38.stews and zone extends. -- of the nuclear exclusion zone extends.
:22:38. > :22:44.Five centimetres of soil is being removed. More radioactive particles
:22:44. > :22:48.keep falling from the trees. At the Haramachi Saiidi nursery school,
:22:48. > :22:53.they now take radiation readings every day, and then claim the
:22:53. > :22:59.playground, before the children are allowed out to play, all wearing
:22:59. > :23:03.masks. The school is one of the few places that has been completely
:23:03. > :23:07.decontaminated. A counter installed in the playground shows radiation a
:23:08. > :23:12.little above normal, but within safe limits.
:23:12. > :23:16.TRANSLATION: They have cleaned up our Nursery and playground, that's
:23:16. > :23:21.all. We cannot even take the children out of the front gate. Our
:23:21. > :23:24.life is limited to these tiny spaces. So, even when levels are
:23:25. > :23:32.low, many parents will not bring their children back here. Living
:23:32. > :23:36.with radiation is a risk they do not want to take. Newsnight will be
:23:36. > :23:41.discussing the future of nuclear power one year on from Fukushima at
:23:41. > :23:45.10:30pm on BBC Two. Rebecca Adlington became a household name
:23:45. > :23:49.when she won two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics four years ago.
:23:49. > :23:52.Tonight she has qualified to compete in London this summer for
:23:52. > :24:00.both of arrogance. But there's a whole host of other British
:24:00. > :24:06.swimmers also pushing for Olympic glory. -- both of her events. Our
:24:06. > :24:10.correspondent reports from the aquatic Centre, in Stratford. She
:24:10. > :24:14.makes it all looks so simple. Once again, Rebecca Addington left her
:24:14. > :24:20.rivals trailing in her wake she qualified with ease for her second
:24:20. > :24:25.event at London 2012, the 800m freestyle. So pleased, my goal was
:24:25. > :24:30.to qualify for the two events. I did not have any targets, time wise.
:24:30. > :24:36.To get those two times, I am so pleased. Just knowing that I'm
:24:36. > :24:41.going to be Games, it is the best feeling in the world. Rebecca
:24:41. > :24:44.Adlington was one of the stars of Beijing. I'm sure she will be in
:24:44. > :24:51.London, too. But when it comes to potential British swimming
:24:51. > :24:55.medallists, these days, she is far from alone. It has been an
:24:55. > :24:59.outstanding week for a number of our top competitors. One after the
:24:59. > :25:05.other they have showed their Olympic potential. Hannah Miley, 21
:25:05. > :25:10.years old, winner here in the 400m individual medley, a silver
:25:10. > :25:18.medallist at the World Championships last year. Liam
:25:18. > :25:26.Tancock, 26, one of the world's finest backstrokers. Already, world
:25:26. > :25:31.champion, now aiming to be Olympic champion. 20-year-old Ellen Gandy,
:25:31. > :25:36.impressive winner of the 200m butterfly. A silver medallist at
:25:36. > :25:41.the World Championships. And she in particular has a real chance of
:25:41. > :25:44.becoming one of the stars of Team GB this summer. Any medal would be
:25:44. > :25:47.brilliant, but a gold medal would be the best thing. I always had
:25:47. > :25:52.dreams that maybe the Queen would present the medals at the Olympics.
:25:52. > :25:57.It would be great. Earning a place on top of the podium will be far
:25:57. > :26:01.harder for our swimmers this summer, but there's real optimism that this
:26:01. > :26:05.will be their year. British swimming is in a fantastic place,
:26:05. > :26:09.probably the best it has been in for a long time. Particularly the
:26:09. > :26:13.women's team, we have had four ladies going for two spots in many