:00:11. > :00:16.Virgin derailed - Richard Branson loses his train franchise and calls
:00:16. > :00:23.the bidding process "insane". 15 years since Virgin Rail began,
:00:23. > :00:28.Richard Branson says he may turn his back on the railways altogether.
:00:28. > :00:32.It costs a lot of money to make these bids. If they stick with the
:00:32. > :00:35.same rules, we're definitely out of Britain's rail network.
:00:35. > :00:39.FirstGroup win the bid for the West Coast Main Line, paying �5.5
:00:39. > :00:44.billion. But there are concerns about whether the price is too high
:00:44. > :00:47.to make the new rail service viable. Also tonight: The Duke of Edinburgh
:00:47. > :00:51.is forced to leave Balmoral to stay in hospital, with another bladder
:00:51. > :00:59.infection. Three British banks are ordered to appear before an inquiry
:00:59. > :01:02.in the United States into the rigging of key interest rates. In
:01:02. > :01:05.Syria, the government is accused of launching an airstrike on its own
:01:05. > :01:08.people, wounding dozens of civilians. The England cricketer
:01:08. > :01:16.Kevin Pietersen is dropped from the team as his apology falls on deaf
:01:16. > :01:19.And coming up in Sportsday on the News Channel: Fergie gets his man.
:01:19. > :01:29.Personal terms and medical to be sorted, but Robin Van Persie's on
:01:29. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:44.Good evening. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains has lost its bid to
:01:44. > :01:47.continue running the West Coast rail line. The franchise will go
:01:47. > :01:53.instead to Britain's largest train operator, FirstGroup, to run the
:01:53. > :01:56.line which links London, the West Midlands and Scotland. Sir Richard
:01:56. > :02:00.attacked the bidding process as "insane" and says he may now turn
:02:00. > :02:03.his back on the railways altogether. And there are questions tonight as
:02:03. > :02:05.to whether the high price paid by FirstGroup may lead to higher fares
:02:06. > :02:14.and cuts in services. Here's our Transport Correspondent, Richard
:02:14. > :02:20.Westcott. His report contains flash photography. He is the man who
:02:20. > :02:22.could get Prime Ministers along to a simple train launch. After a
:02:22. > :02:27.decade-and-a-half, Sir Richard Branson is off the railways.
:02:27. > :02:31.Speaking at home in the Caribbean, he says he's reached the end of the
:02:31. > :02:34.line. If the rules stay the same we are almost definitely out of the
:02:34. > :02:40.rail business. I mean we bid twice for the East Coast mainline before.
:02:40. > :02:45.It costs a lot of money and, although we would dearly love to
:02:45. > :02:51.run it, you know, if the rules are as they are, I don't think we'll
:02:51. > :02:54.waste our money bidding again. It's all a long way from the smiles
:02:54. > :03:01.of 1997 when Virgin became one of the first new private train
:03:01. > :03:05.companies. 15 years ago the champagne was
:03:05. > :03:10.flowing here on platform 7 at Euston, but now the party is over
:03:10. > :03:14.for Virgin Trains. It's a big blow for Sir Richard Branson. It's a big
:03:14. > :03:18.worry for his staff. But what will this mean for the millions of
:03:18. > :03:22.passengers that catch these trains every year? The new owner,
:03:22. > :03:26.FirstGroup, will add 12,000 extra seats to ease congestion. New
:03:26. > :03:29.direct service also link London to Blackpool, Telford, Shrewsbury and
:03:29. > :03:34.Bolton and some ticket prices will be cut, although season tickets
:03:34. > :03:39.will go up, the same as everywhere else.
:03:39. > :03:43.FirstGroup's paying the Government �5.5 billion for this franchise,
:03:43. > :03:47.arguing that there's plenty of spare capacity to attract millions
:03:47. > :03:52.more passengers on to the line. It's much better value for money
:03:52. > :03:56.than getting in your car, paying the insurance costs and paying for
:03:56. > :04:00.higher petrol. That's a medal shift that has been going on, it seems
:04:00. > :04:03.undeniable. We think this will continue, especially on this line,
:04:03. > :04:07.if we put compelling products in front of the public. But Virgin
:04:07. > :04:14.says the company has got its sums wrong and will struggle to make
:04:14. > :04:17.money.Agists agree it's a risk. -- analysts agree it's a risk.
:04:17. > :04:20.very interesting that FirstGroup are bidding on the basis of having
:04:20. > :04:23.found new capacity that Virgin didn't think was there. FirstGroup
:04:23. > :04:28.are making a legal commitment to deliver. They must have done their
:04:28. > :04:30.due diligence carefully. So, one can only assume the Government have
:04:30. > :04:34.satisfied themselves that capacity is in fact there.
:04:34. > :04:39.So what do we know about the winner? Well FirstGroup started out
:04:39. > :04:42.in a bus depot in Aberdeen, but it's grown into the largest
:04:42. > :04:47.privately-owned public transport company in the world. It's
:04:47. > :04:50.currently nursing a �1.8 billion debt, though, which is forcing it
:04:50. > :04:53.to sell off parts of its bus business.
:04:53. > :04:57.Big rail bids have gone wrong before. The last two companies
:04:57. > :04:59.running the East Coast mainline pulled out of the deal because they
:04:59. > :05:05.couldn't make the payment. The Government will be desperate to
:05:05. > :05:09.avoid that happening again. Richard is with me in the studio.
:05:09. > :05:13.So there are concerns about this FirstGroup. Was the price they paid
:05:13. > :05:18.too high to be sustainable? Let me put it like this, FirstGroup, to
:05:18. > :05:21.make this pay have,to grow this business by 10% a year every year,
:05:21. > :05:26.for 14 years, that's starting with an economy that's from the and with
:05:26. > :05:30.fares going up. So businessically if they cannot attract millions of
:05:30. > :05:36.extra customers ton their trains in the next few years they could
:05:36. > :05:39.struggle to make the payments. -- so business basically if they can
:05:39. > :05:44.cannot attract millions of extra customers to their trains. They
:05:44. > :05:46.will have to pay back fines of they give up on the contract early. The
:05:46. > :05:50.second one concerns future franchises. They already hold four.
:05:50. > :05:55.But they will be going for a lot more in the near future. It is boom
:05:55. > :05:59.time for the railways, a lot of lucrative franchises are up for
:05:59. > :06:05.grabs in the neex few years. They are going to want to gith for those.
:06:05. > :06:08.That puts them under pressure to get this right. -- they want to bit
:06:08. > :06:12.for those. The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to hospital today with
:06:12. > :06:15.a recurrence of the bladder infection he had earlier the summer.
:06:15. > :06:21.Buckingham Palace says he is likely to remain in hospital for a few
:06:21. > :06:31.days. He was taken by ambulance from Balmoral, to the Aberdeen
:06:31. > :06:32.
:06:32. > :06:35.Royal Infirmary. He seemed it make a full recovery
:06:35. > :06:41.from the problems he had at the Diamond Jubilee. This was him last
:06:41. > :06:44.week at a garden party at Balmoral, alert, chagt and joking with scores
:06:44. > :06:49.of guests. Yet earlier this afternoon, doctors at the royal
:06:49. > :06:53.estate became concerned. He was taken by am blns to Aberdeen Royal
:06:53. > :06:56.Infirmary where medical staff diagnosed a bladder infection. --
:06:56. > :07:01.by ambulance. He will remain in hospital for several days for
:07:01. > :07:04.investigation and treatment. This latest problem is a repeat of the
:07:04. > :07:09.condition which afflicted the Duke at the beginning of June. On that
:07:09. > :07:13.occasion, after a long, damp afternoon watching the Thames
:07:13. > :07:15.jubilee pageant, he was admitted to hospital. He left then after five
:07:16. > :07:19.nights. A very much serious situation arose two days before
:07:19. > :07:22.Christmas last year when the Duke suffered a blocked coronary artery
:07:22. > :07:26.and was taken by helicopter to Papworth Hospital near came brik.
:07:26. > :07:31.On that occasion the Queen and other members of the family went to
:07:31. > :07:35.his bedside the next day. It had been an extremely anxious moment
:07:35. > :07:39.but after a few days, the Duke left hospital to recuperate. Since then
:07:39. > :07:42.he has remained remarkably active for a man of 91, accompanied the
:07:42. > :07:45.Queen to most of the Diamond Jubilee events. He was with her for
:07:45. > :07:49.the opening of the Olympics and then went with Princess Anne it
:07:49. > :07:53.watch his granddaughter, Zara Phillips taking part in the Olympic
:07:53. > :07:56.three-day event. For the past few days he has been
:07:56. > :08:00.at the annual yachting regatta at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. This
:08:00. > :08:05.photograph of him was taken this morning, shortly before he returned
:08:05. > :08:07.to Balmoral. For the Duke this latest problem, while it may be
:08:07. > :08:11.uncomfortable, certainly isn't critical, provided of course that
:08:11. > :08:15.the infection is treated quickly. But after three admissions to
:08:15. > :08:20.hospital now in nine months, his family, his doctors and officials
:08:20. > :08:24.here at the Palace, will be keener than ever that he take greater care
:08:24. > :08:30.of himself. He said himself "it's time to slow down", so far, though,
:08:30. > :08:33.there has been little evidence of Three British banks have been
:08:33. > :08:36.ordered to assist an inquiry in the United States investigating the
:08:36. > :08:40.rigging of the key interest rate at which banks lend to each othe,
:08:40. > :08:44.known as Libor. HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, are among
:08:44. > :08:49.seven banks being investigated. In June, Barclays was fined �290
:08:49. > :08:55.million for trying to manipulate the rate. Let's talk to our
:08:55. > :08:59.correspondent Michelle Fleury in New York. What is the significance
:08:59. > :09:02.of this development? Well so far we are seeing that seven banks have
:09:02. > :09:05.been asked to turnover more information. Essentially the key
:09:05. > :09:09.thing with a subpoena is that it is a request for information by an
:09:09. > :09:14.authority, and failure to provide it involves a penalty. The
:09:14. > :09:19.authorities in this particular case are the Attorney-Generals from New
:09:19. > :09:22.York and Connecticut. Apparently they made the requests for
:09:22. > :09:25.information between May and July but they have only now become
:09:25. > :09:30.public. What is interesting about that time is that you may recall
:09:30. > :09:33.back in July, Bob Diamond, the former Chief Executive of Barclays
:09:33. > :09:36.told MPs that other banks may be involved in the manipulation of
:09:36. > :09:41.Libor. That of course is the key rate that banks use to determine
:09:41. > :09:45.what rate to lend to each other it. Also play ascii roll on the
:09:45. > :09:48.international financial markets which is why US regulators and
:09:48. > :09:51.Attorney-Generals are paying close attention, requesting more
:09:51. > :09:54.information. Of course we will have to see, when they go through this
:09:54. > :09:57.information, what comes up and whether they find any evidence of
:09:57. > :10:02.wrong-doing. Thank you. Unemployment has dropped
:10:02. > :10:05.to its lowest level for a year. The number of people out of work fell
:10:05. > :10:08.by 46,000 between April and June and now stands at just over 2.5
:10:08. > :10:17.million. But no-one is quite clear why, particularly given that the
:10:17. > :10:22.economy is still struggling. Britain's jobs numbers are a puzzle
:10:22. > :10:27.that keeps getting harder to solve. Why? Because the number of people
:10:28. > :10:33.in work rose by over 200,000 in the three months to June, three months
:10:33. > :10:36.when our national output is supposed to have fallen by 0.7%.
:10:36. > :10:40.Of course it is good news if there are more people in work and it is
:10:40. > :10:44.good news that unemployment has fallen again as well, by 46,000.
:10:44. > :10:48.But it's not necessarily good news for us, or for the Chancellor, if
:10:48. > :10:52.we are needing more people, as a country, to make less stuff. That's
:10:52. > :10:58.one of the worrying explanations for today's news. But there are
:10:58. > :11:01.plenty more. One is that there is a lot of hidden unemployment or
:11:01. > :11:06.underemployment lurking behind the statistics.
:11:06. > :11:08.Jackie Connell is a nurse who was made redundant last year. She has
:11:09. > :11:14.to register herself as self- employed to get any work at all but
:11:14. > :11:18.it is a few hours a week, at best. I do feel that I'm a hidden figure.
:11:18. > :11:24.I'm not unemployed but I'm not employed. I'm self-employed but I'm
:11:24. > :11:28.in the a entrepreneur, setting up my own business -- I'm not an
:11:28. > :11:32.entrepreneur. Making a lot of money. I'm doing casual work. The number
:11:32. > :11:38.of people in work has risen by more than 500,000 in the past two years,
:11:38. > :11:43.well over half of that rise, 278,000 is among the self-employed.
:11:43. > :11:46.Another possibility: the economy is stronger than the official numbers
:11:46. > :11:50.suggest. Recent figures on construction and manufacturing have
:11:50. > :11:56.been better than expected. Meaning the overall growth numbers may well
:11:56. > :12:00.be revised up. Though the economy would still be flat, we couldn't
:12:00. > :12:03.explain why employment is going up. Or maybe there is no puzzle?
:12:03. > :12:06.Britain's workers are just producing less. Certainly we have
:12:06. > :12:10.seen low levels of investment which may mean the capital stock, the
:12:10. > :12:15.stuff people are working with has become a bit clapped out. But the
:12:15. > :12:18.real point I think is that it could well be just a low-level of demand
:12:18. > :12:22.and that firms are just hoarding people, they are hanging on to
:12:23. > :12:26.labour, not sheding them in the hope that demand will pick up.
:12:26. > :12:29.There maybe some Olympics effect in the latest figures. London accounts
:12:29. > :12:35.for nearly half the rise in employment. And in Yorkshire and
:12:35. > :12:38.Northern Ireland, unemployment went But the mystery remains. As the
:12:38. > :12:42.Deputy Governor of the Bank of England freely admitted last week.
:12:42. > :12:46.There is a genuine economic puzzle that we don't really understand. We
:12:46. > :12:50.are doing lots of work trying to dig deeper into the data, looking
:12:50. > :12:53.at what is going on in different sectors, but I have to say, I don't
:12:54. > :12:57.think we have the explanation and I don't think anybody else out there
:12:57. > :13:01.does yet. Many in the City expect to see unemployment rising again in
:13:01. > :13:11.the next few months. Until then, our economy's producing jobs, and a
:13:11. > :13:13.
:13:13. > :13:17.The United Nations has accused Syrian government forces of
:13:17. > :13:21.committing war crimes. Rebel forces were also accused of atrocities. In
:13:21. > :13:26.Syria today dozens of civilians are reported to have been killed by a
:13:26. > :13:31.government air strike. It took place in the rebel held town of
:13:31. > :13:39.Azaz. Here's our correspondent Frank Gardner. Death and
:13:39. > :13:42.devastation today in the north Syrian town of Azaz. Air strikes by
:13:42. > :13:49.government warplane hit this residential area reducing it to
:13:49. > :13:53.rubble, killing and wounding dozens. These pictures were filmed not by
:13:54. > :14:00.rebels, but by an international news agency. Part of a growing
:14:00. > :14:05.library of documented atrocities. UN human rights investigators have
:14:05. > :14:09.published a damning 100-page report on events in Syria this year. It
:14:09. > :14:12.says war crimes are being committed by both sides, including murder,
:14:12. > :14:17.sexual violence and torture. But the worst crimes, it says, were
:14:17. > :14:22.carried out by the government side. And that's included the massacre at
:14:22. > :14:26.Houla in May, where over 100 civilians were killed. The Syrian
:14:26. > :14:32.regime blamed what it called Islamist terrorists. The UN has
:14:32. > :14:36.conclude today was government forces backed by militiamen. Will
:14:36. > :14:39.this report have any effect? If and when members of the regime are
:14:39. > :14:42.taken to the Hague for the crimes that they've committed, this kind
:14:42. > :14:45.of report will be crucial, particularly the testimony that has
:14:45. > :14:51.been gathered from the victims and the relatives of the victims of
:14:51. > :14:55.this massacre. The UN's emergency relief coordinator was in Damascus
:14:55. > :15:00.today, pressing the Syrian government for better access for
:15:00. > :15:03.aid agencies, with only limited success. In the places where the
:15:03. > :15:07.fighting is still going on, it's ordinary men, women and children,
:15:07. > :15:11.who are caught up in the middle of that and who are feeling the full
:15:11. > :15:16.brunt of this. I made it clear to the government and I repeat my call
:15:16. > :15:24.on all parties who are involved in this conflict that the fighting has
:15:24. > :15:27.got to stop. Too late for the citizens of Azaz, where terrified
:15:27. > :15:35.residents struggle to reach hospital today. Reeling from an air
:15:35. > :15:40.strike that will have changed their lives forever.
:15:40. > :15:45.Coming up on tonight's programme: Once a biword for anarchy and
:15:45. > :15:49.violence, how mag dish ewe is returning to something resembling -
:15:49. > :15:54.- Mogadishu is returning to something resembling normality.
:15:55. > :15:58.As the debate continues on how to maximise the legacy of London 2012,
:15:58. > :16:02.critics claim the Government is making it easier for schools to
:16:02. > :16:06.sell off playing fields. The Department of Education insists new
:16:06. > :16:08.rules on how much outdoor space is provided will require schools to
:16:08. > :16:15.obtain approval before selling land. Chris Buckler reports from Cheadle
:16:15. > :16:19.Hulme. For many, this was a summer of inspiration. It's hoped the
:16:19. > :16:23.achievements of Team GB will encourage children to enjoy sport
:16:23. > :16:28.not just as a spectator, but as a participant. In summer camps across
:16:28. > :16:31.the country, there are young people getting active and involved. Other
:16:31. > :16:36.people don't usually do sport outside school. So it's important
:16:36. > :16:40.that they do sport inside school. But there's concern about the
:16:40. > :16:44.future of sport in schools, with some worried that changes could
:16:44. > :16:48.lead to pitches potentially being sold off. Under the current rules,
:16:48. > :16:54.the Government sets out minimum requirements for the size of team
:16:54. > :16:57.gaem playing fields based on the number of pupils. These rules apply
:16:57. > :17:00.only to state schools. Independent schools only need to provide
:17:00. > :17:03.outside space for pupils to play safely. They're being replaced with
:17:03. > :17:07.new regulations to cover all schools in England. They simply
:17:07. > :17:13.state the need for suitable outdoor space, without any minimum
:17:13. > :17:16.requirements for playing fields. I'm very concerned that the word
:17:17. > :17:20."suitable" will allow the flood gates to open of the sale of school
:17:20. > :17:24.playing fields. Because it's suddenly becomes a really
:17:24. > :17:28.subjective judgment. In the last two years, the Education Secretary
:17:28. > :17:34.has approved the sale of more than 20 school playing fields in England,
:17:34. > :17:38.including here on the outskirts of Rochdale. But houses were only
:17:38. > :17:41.planned for this site after Haywood Community High was closed. The
:17:42. > :17:47.Government points out that 18 of the 22 sales approved involve
:17:47. > :17:51.schools that had been merged or shut down. The truth is there are
:17:51. > :17:55.also still in place requirements and will be strong requirements in
:17:55. > :18:02.place for schools to provide the right facilities for people to play
:18:02. > :18:05.competitive sports. Between 1979 and 1997, under the previous
:18:05. > :18:10.Conservative Government, an estimated 10,000 playing fields
:18:10. > :18:14.were sold off. That makes this a sensitive issue for this coalition
:18:14. > :18:19.and despite reassurances Labour and campaigners continue to raise
:18:19. > :18:23.concerns about what these changes could mean. Political parties of
:18:23. > :18:28.all colours know that in the shadow of the Olympics, facilities and
:18:28. > :18:34.funding for sport will remain hot topics.
:18:34. > :18:37.After years of anarchy and Civil War in Somalia, parts of the
:18:37. > :18:40.country appear to be returning to something resembling normality. The
:18:40. > :18:43.next few weeks will see a new President and Parliament in what
:18:43. > :18:46.many believe will be a free and fair election. Many Somalis, who
:18:46. > :18:56.were living in Britain, are now returning. The BBC's Andrew Harding
:18:56. > :19:01.is in Mogadishu, where the tides of economic change are happening.
:19:01. > :19:06.Stunning view, adventurous location, property - needs some work. Welcome
:19:06. > :19:11.to Mogadishu a ruined city in the grip of an unlikely housing boom.
:19:11. > :19:15.This beach-front property is good for coffee shop. Idris Darwan has
:19:15. > :19:20.come back from Britain looking to invest in Somalia. The estate agent
:19:20. > :19:25.urges speed. Prices are soaring. This is the patio where your
:19:25. > :19:30.customers enjoy the beach. Beautiful views. Absolutely. After
:19:30. > :19:36.years of war, it's no longer the guns that are hammering here. A new,
:19:36. > :19:39.but fragile, stability is luring many exiles back home. You think
:19:40. > :19:43.there's money to be made here? believe so. I believe there's a lot
:19:43. > :19:48.of money to be made here. But it takes a lot of guts to stay in this
:19:48. > :19:53.place. What do your family in the UK think? They probably be saying
:19:53. > :19:59.by now he must be gone crazy, but I'll prove them wrong once
:19:59. > :20:04.everything is set. Last year, we visited Mogadishu at its lowest ebb.
:20:04. > :20:10.The Islamist militant group Al- Shabaab controlled half the city,
:20:10. > :20:16.gunfire and famine on every street. Today, this feels like a different
:20:16. > :20:19.city, the battle for Mogadishu is over. That's given Somalia's
:20:19. > :20:26.endlessly feuding politicians an opportunity to build something that
:20:26. > :20:30.hasn't existed here for more than 20 years., a functioning state.
:20:30. > :20:36.Building a new army is part of that process, trained abroad and showing
:20:36. > :20:42.off its new skills here. Stabilising the entire country
:20:42. > :20:46.remains a messy work in progress, but look at this, electioneering on
:20:46. > :20:50.the streets of Mogadishu, unimaginable only a few months ago.
:20:50. > :20:54.A new President and Parliament are being nominated. Somali people are
:20:54. > :21:00.ready to have a government that's just, that serves them. I think
:21:00. > :21:04.they've had enough of Al-Shabaab rule. The last 21 years we've lived
:21:04. > :21:09.under tyranny. Now we are ready to form a government that is
:21:09. > :21:14.legitimate that will serve its people. But even if that happens,
:21:14. > :21:21.the tasks ahead are daunting, a lost generation has known nothing
:21:21. > :21:29.but war. "I've never been to school ," says this 15-year-old. Now I
:21:29. > :21:33.want to get an education and then serve my community. Time is short.
:21:33. > :21:37.If Somalia's new leaders stumble, chaos may quickly return to the
:21:37. > :21:42.streets. So today's property boom could be a bubble, but right now,
:21:42. > :21:50.it doesn't feel that way. For the first time in decades, the optimism
:21:50. > :21:56.just might be justified. In the last few minutes, there's
:21:56. > :22:00.been a development in the case of Julian Assange the WikiLeaks
:22:00. > :22:05.founder. He is wanted as part of an ongoing investigation in Sweden,
:22:05. > :22:09.where he's wanted for questioning about suspected sex offences. James
:22:09. > :22:15.Landale is in Downing Street. James, this has just happened. What more
:22:15. > :22:19.can you tell us? Julian Assange is still in the embassy that the
:22:19. > :22:22.Ecuadorians have in London. He's determined to avoid extradition to
:22:22. > :22:26.Sweden. The British Government is determined to make sure that
:22:26. > :22:30.happens. What has happened in the last few minutes is that the
:22:30. > :22:34.minister for foreign affairs in Ecuador has given a press
:22:34. > :22:38.conference in which he has claimed that the British government
:22:38. > :22:44.officially threatened to enter the Ecuadorian embassy and arrest Mr
:22:44. > :22:48.Assange. Now what appears to have happened is that a British diplomat
:22:48. > :22:53.in conversation with government officials reminded the Ecuadorians
:22:53. > :22:57.of existing British law. There is something called the diplomatic and
:22:57. > :23:01.consular affairs act 1987 which effectively gives William Hague the
:23:01. > :23:05.right to say look, I declare that is no longer Ecuadorian territory
:23:05. > :23:09.and thus allow the police to go in. The Ecuadorians have interpreted
:23:09. > :23:13.that as a threat. A Foreign Office spokeman said "Throughout this
:23:13. > :23:17.process we have drawn the Ecuadorians attention to relevant
:23:17. > :23:21.provisions of our law, whether for example the extent of human rights
:23:21. > :23:24.safe guards but also to the legal status of diplomatic premises in
:23:24. > :23:29.the UK." In other words, the British Government started playing
:23:29. > :23:32.hard ball on this. The Ecuadorians have replied by going public. They
:23:32. > :23:35.have said they have made a decision about whether or not they're going
:23:35. > :23:39.to grant Mr Assange asylum. They will not make that public until
:23:39. > :23:43.tomorrow. Either way, the chances are that if Mr Assange makes any
:23:43. > :23:49.attempt to leave those premises just down the road from here, the
:23:49. > :23:52.British Government will make every effort to arrest him. Thank you.
:23:52. > :23:57.Football now and the Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie is to move
:23:57. > :24:00.to Manchester United for a reported transfer fee of �24 million. The
:24:00. > :24:04.Dutch striker was the Premier League's top scorer last season.
:24:04. > :24:07.Arsenal had threatened to make him serve out the remainder of his
:24:07. > :24:12.contract. He travels to Manchester tomorrow to agree terms and complot
:24:12. > :24:15.a medical checkment The Bolton midfielder Fabrice
:24:15. > :24:19.Muamba has announced his retirement from football. It comes six months
:24:19. > :24:24.after the 24-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch in a
:24:24. > :24:28.cup tie at Tottenham. He says he is devastated his playing career is
:24:28. > :24:32.over. But he is glad to be alive. The England cricketer Kevin
:24:32. > :24:35.Pietersen has apologised for sending what he called
:24:36. > :24:38."provocative" text messages to the members of the South African team
:24:38. > :24:42.about his own team-mates. It hasn't done enough to rescue his chances
:24:42. > :24:49.of playing in the crucial third and final Test Match. Daniela Relph
:24:49. > :24:54.reports. He is brash, bold and oven brilliant, Kevin Pietersen is
:24:54. > :24:58.England's star batsman. He's got 100. He leaps into the air and
:24:58. > :25:03.pufrpbls it. He takes his helmet off. But his international career
:25:03. > :25:08.now hangs in the balance. Today he apologised for sending the texts
:25:08. > :25:12.and talked of having to reign himself in. In a statement he said,
:25:12. > :25:16."I did send what you might call provocative texts to my close
:25:16. > :25:22.friends in the South African team. The texts were meant as banter
:25:22. > :25:25.between close friends. I truly didn't mean to cause upset or
:25:25. > :25:29.tension particularly with important games at stake."
:25:29. > :25:33.Over the years the England captain Andrew Strauss has shown great
:25:33. > :25:36.loyalty to Pietersen. Today there was irritation and frustration.
:25:36. > :25:40.When he's playing well and everything's happy in the
:25:40. > :25:46.dressingroom, he's a great asset to the side. But that's not where we
:25:46. > :25:50.are right at the moment. I think the selectors made a brave and
:25:50. > :25:54.correct decision for this particular Test Match that he
:25:54. > :25:57.didn't play. It is now obvious there is a real rift between Kevin
:25:57. > :26:02.Pietersen and the other players, a clear lack of trust in. Dropping
:26:02. > :26:07.Pietersen England have taken the view that team harmony matters more
:26:07. > :26:10.than one player's talent. Under scrutiny from the Test Match
:26:10. > :26:14.special commentary box, the Pietersen problem had to be
:26:14. > :26:17.addressed. To be the best team in the world you all have to pull
:26:17. > :26:22.together. You have to have loyalty, trust, all of those things. You
:26:22. > :26:28.haven't got to be best mates. England practised without him. If