:00:04. > :00:09.The missing 15-year-old schoolgirl and her teacher have been found in
:00:09. > :00:18.France. Megan Stammers is now under police protection in Bordeaux, to
:00:18. > :00:23.the relief of her family. We are so relieved that Megan has been found
:00:23. > :00:26.safe and well. We just cannot wait to be reunited with her.
:00:26. > :00:28.The maths teacher Jeremy Forrest is in custody, arrested on suspicion
:00:28. > :00:31.of child abduction. Details have been emerging of the
:00:31. > :00:33.couple's whereabouts over the last week. We'll bring you the latest
:00:33. > :00:37.from Bordeaux. Also tonight:
:00:37. > :00:43.Seven British men are among 19 people who've been killed in a
:00:43. > :00:51.plane crash in Nepal. Timothy Oakes was on the trip of a lifetime. His
:00:51. > :00:57.family say he had always wanted to go to Mount Everest. We are hanging
:00:57. > :00:59.on to the fact that today Tim died, so we believe, in an aircraft are
:00:59. > :01:03.doing something he had always wanted to do.
:01:03. > :01:06.David Cameron suggests he may be ready to hold a referendum on
:01:06. > :01:08.Britain's membership of the EU. And pregnant women will be offered
:01:09. > :01:18.a vaccine against whooping cough after the worst outbreak in
:01:19. > :01:20.
:01:20. > :01:25.And coming up in Sportsday on the BBC News Channel, the latest on the
:01:25. > :01:35.Ryder Cup, and Steve Kean resigns as Blackburn manager, saying his
:01:35. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:47.Good evening. Megan Stammers, the 15-year-old
:01:47. > :01:51.girl who disappeared from East Sussex a week ago with her maths
:01:51. > :01:54.teacher, has been found in France. She is now under police protection,
:01:54. > :01:57.while Jeremy Forrest, who's 30, has been arrested on suspicion of child
:01:57. > :02:00.abduction. They were spotted walking through the centre of the
:02:00. > :02:04.southern city of Bordeaux at lunchtime. Megan's family say
:02:04. > :02:13.they're thrilled she's been found and cannot wait to be reunited with
:02:13. > :02:19.her. Christian Fraser reports from Bordeaux. This report contains
:02:19. > :02:23.flash photography. In handcuffs, and in police custody,
:02:23. > :02:26.30-year-old maths teacher at Jeremy Forrest, who was driven from a
:02:26. > :02:30.police station in Bordeaux today at the end of a week-long search
:02:30. > :02:34.throughout France. He and Megan Stammers were last seen together on
:02:34. > :02:40.board a ferry from Dover to Calais. They looked the average couple,
:02:40. > :02:44.only she was 15, and half his age. This afternoon they were still hand
:02:44. > :02:48.in hand, walking down this, one of the main shopping streets in
:02:48. > :02:51.Bordeaux. Police, acting on a tip- off, were following. They had
:02:51. > :02:53.travelled the entire length of the country to evade the authorities
:02:53. > :02:58.but they had been a number of sightings in Bordeaux's since
:02:58. > :03:01.Wednesday, from both French and British members of the public. We
:03:01. > :03:05.understand they abandoned the black Ford Fiesta in which they were
:03:05. > :03:09.travelling in Paris before catching a train to the south. It is said
:03:09. > :03:12.Jeremy Forrest was trying to find work, possibly in a bar, and
:03:12. > :03:16.yesterday went for an interview, which suggests that in spite of
:03:16. > :03:21.desperate appeals from the families, they had no intention of returning
:03:21. > :03:25.home. None the less, Megan's stepfather, who had made two
:03:25. > :03:31.appeals for her return, spoke of his relief is evening that she was
:03:31. > :03:33.safe and well. I would just like to say that Danielle and I are so
:03:34. > :03:39.relieved that Megan has been found a safe and well and we cannot wait
:03:39. > :03:44.to be reunited with her. Our family are overjoyed at the outcome, as
:03:44. > :03:48.you can imagine. It has been an emotional roller-coaster. But to
:03:48. > :03:52.see you guys now is quite nice because I have smiles on my face
:03:52. > :03:56.because we have Megan. Sussex police said the pair were found as
:03:56. > :04:03.a result of an intense media campaign that intensified in France
:04:03. > :04:05.in the past 24 hours. Megan is now in the care of British consular
:04:05. > :04:11.staff and a Sussex police child protection team officers. She will
:04:11. > :04:15.be returned to the UK to be with her family. Jeremy is in custody in
:04:15. > :04:20.Bordeaux after his arrest, and the process of his extradition will now
:04:20. > :04:24.commence. The alarm was first raised on Friday when Megan fails
:04:24. > :04:28.to arrive at school. The two had left Britain, crossing the Channel
:04:28. > :04:32.by ferry. With no contract from them over the weekend, Megan's
:04:32. > :04:36.family made an emotional appeal for her return. On Tuesday, the
:04:36. > :04:40.European arrest warrant was issued for Jeremy Forrest. Yesterday, his
:04:40. > :04:44.family made their appeal for him and Megan to get in contact. The
:04:44. > :04:49.pair also featured on the BBC Crimewatch programme. Today they
:04:49. > :04:53.were eventually traced in Bordeaux, just after midday. We are told that
:04:53. > :04:57.Megan, who has spoken to her family, will fly home tomorrow. Jeremy
:04:57. > :05:01.Forrest has already appeared before a judge. It is not clear whether he
:05:01. > :05:05.remains in custody. British police, who are here, say that the legal
:05:05. > :05:08.process could take several days before he returns for formal
:05:08. > :05:12.questioning. Seven British tourists are among 19
:05:12. > :05:16.people killed in a plane crash in Nepal. They were due to start a
:05:16. > :05:19.two-week trek in the Himalayas. The cause of the crash hasn't been
:05:19. > :05:22.confirmed. The plane was travelling from Kathmandu to Lukla, near the
:05:22. > :05:29.Everest base camp, but crashed just moments after it had taken off.
:05:29. > :05:35.Sanjoy Majumder reports from Kathmandu.
:05:35. > :05:39.A journey to the Himalayas, ending in tragedy. Eyewitnesses say that
:05:39. > :05:43.the plane was already on fire before it crashed. Emergency
:05:43. > :05:53.workers put the flames out, but the damage was so intense that hopes of
:05:53. > :05:54.
:05:54. > :05:58.finding survivors swiftly faded. All 19 people on board were killed.
:05:58. > :06:04.The plane was flying from Kathmandu to Lukla, gateway to the Everest
:06:04. > :06:08.region. It took off at 615. After just two minutes in the air, it
:06:08. > :06:12.crashed about a kilometre from the airport. It is quite dark now, so
:06:12. > :06:17.are not easy to make out the remains of the aircraft. There are
:06:17. > :06:21.parts of wreckage strewn around this large field, where the twin-
:06:21. > :06:25.engine Dornier came down. And over in the distance I can see the
:06:25. > :06:28.lights of Kathmandu international airport. You get a sense of how
:06:28. > :06:33.quickly this must have happened, the last few terrifying moments
:06:33. > :06:40.before the plane came down. This is the plane that's it off this
:06:40. > :06:49.morning. 57-year-old Tim Oakes, a keen mountaineer, was on board.
:06:49. > :06:53.one dream he has always had was to go to base camp. There is no real
:06:54. > :06:58.words of comfort here for my daughter, for myself, but we are
:06:58. > :07:03.hanging on to the fact that today Tim died doing something he had
:07:03. > :07:07.always wanted to do. And we are trying very hard to take comfort.
:07:07. > :07:12.It is a trip thousands of people take every year, and mountaineers
:07:12. > :07:18.are surprised it crashed so close to the airport. Among the victims
:07:18. > :07:22.was Stephen Holding, Vincent Kelly, Raymond Eagle and Ben Ogdon.
:07:22. > :07:27.Vincent's brother, David, was also killed, along with Christopher
:07:27. > :07:31.Davey. Bits of twisted metal are all that remain. Tonight, it was
:07:31. > :07:36.announced that two British investigators would head out to
:07:36. > :07:39.Nepal to assist in determining what caused the crash.
:07:39. > :07:42.David Cameron has given his biggest hint yet that there'll be a
:07:42. > :07:45.referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union if the
:07:45. > :07:48.Conservatives win the next general election. Speaking during a visit
:07:48. > :07:52.to Brazil, he said there would be opportunities for "a fresh
:07:52. > :07:55.settlement" with Europe, which would need "fresh consent". He also
:07:55. > :08:04.said the Government would opt out of some European police and justice
:08:04. > :08:09.powers. From Rio de Janeiro, James Landale reports.
:08:09. > :08:13.David Cameron at a boxing academy in Rio, with Olympic stars of the
:08:13. > :08:18.present and perhaps the future. He has come to Brazil with a team of
:08:18. > :08:23.businessmen and women to make the most of the legacy of London 2012
:08:23. > :08:27.and box clever. He said he could offer Brazil access to millions of
:08:27. > :08:30.consumers in the European Union via the UK, but he said the time was
:08:30. > :08:34.coming for a new relationship between Britain and the EU, with
:08:35. > :08:38.the British people having a say. do think that what there is
:08:38. > :08:45.increasingly coming a time for is a new settlement between Britain and
:08:45. > :08:49.Europe. I think that new settlement will require fresh consent. A new
:08:49. > :08:53.referendum? In the next Parliament I think there will be opportunities
:08:53. > :08:57.for a fresh settlement and new consent for that settlement.
:08:57. > :09:02.Cameron also revealed that he would withdraw Britain from hundreds of
:09:02. > :09:08.EU policing and justice powers by invoking an opt-out included in the
:09:08. > :09:11.Lisbon Treaty. The opt-out is there. We will be exercising that. The key
:09:11. > :09:14.thing is which of the array of things you have come out of do you
:09:14. > :09:18.think are good for Britain and you want to co-operate with European
:09:18. > :09:21.partners on. That is a discussion we are having at the moment. This
:09:21. > :09:24.could mean withdrawing from the European arrest warrant which makes
:09:24. > :09:29.it easier for Britons to be handed over to other countries, scrapping
:09:29. > :09:33.rules which forced police to share DNA fingerprint data with European
:09:33. > :09:37.counterparts. And allowing British courts to ignore unsafe convictions
:09:37. > :09:41.in another country. This has already inflamed coalition tensions.
:09:41. > :09:45.Nick Clegg's spokesman said he valued European police co-operation
:09:45. > :09:53.and insisted that opting out was still under review. And while the
:09:54. > :09:58.hint of a referendum may reassure some MPs, the parties want more.
:09:58. > :10:01.will not join until this as we do not join a full European federation,
:10:01. > :10:05.but we stay where we are and we will get a vote to approve that. It
:10:05. > :10:08.is simply not good enough. Tonight, after holding talks with the
:10:08. > :10:12.President of Brazil, David Cameron returned home with the promise of
:10:12. > :10:16.million-pound deals with Brazilian firms that he claims shows positive
:10:16. > :10:24.things are happening in the economy. But it is the promise of changes in
:10:24. > :10:27.Europe that he hopes will please his party, too.
:10:27. > :10:31.Nine men from Oxfordshire have appear at the Old Bailey accused of
:10:31. > :10:35.a string of child sex offences. They face more than 50 charges,
:10:35. > :10:38.including rape of a child, conspiracy to rape and trafficking.
:10:38. > :10:41.They deny the allegations. The setting of the inter-bank
:10:41. > :10:44.lending rate, known as LIBOR, is expected to change following the
:10:44. > :10:47.recommendations of a Government- commissioned report. One of the
:10:47. > :10:50.likely changes will be a new, independent body to set the rate,
:10:50. > :10:56.rather than the banks themselves. The Treasury has welcomed the
:10:56. > :10:59.proposals. Robert Peston has the details.
:10:59. > :11:04.Global banking, global finance. Underpinning trillions of dollars
:11:04. > :11:08.of deals in Tokyo, in Frankfurt, Wall Street in America, a system
:11:08. > :11:12.called LIBOR operated out of London for determining what banks had to
:11:12. > :11:17.pay to borrow. That, in turn, influences what millions of us have
:11:17. > :11:22.to pay to borrow. But there is a problem. The system is broken and
:11:22. > :11:28.needs complete overhaul. The disturbing events that we have
:11:28. > :11:31.uncovered in the manipulation of LIBOR have severely tarnished
:11:31. > :11:38.confidence and our trust. It has torn the very fabric of our
:11:38. > :11:45.financial system. In July, Barclays former boss, Bob Diamond, lost his
:11:45. > :11:48.job over his band's attempts to rig LIBOR. And it has become clear that
:11:48. > :11:52.other big banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland, lied about the
:11:52. > :11:56.interest rates they were paying. Love them or hate them, the banks,
:11:56. > :12:00.the City of London are important to the prosperity of the United
:12:00. > :12:03.Kingdom, so when it became impossible to any longer ignore the
:12:03. > :12:08.fundamental flaws in the LIBOR system for measuring borrowing
:12:08. > :12:13.costs, the Treasury, the Government, ordered an emergency review. There
:12:13. > :12:17.will be three big reforms. Proper regulation will be introduced of
:12:17. > :12:21.how LIBOR rates are set, and fixing the rate will become a crime.
:12:21. > :12:24.Control of LIBOR will be taken away from the British Bankers'
:12:24. > :12:27.Association, the lobby group for banks, and given to a more
:12:27. > :12:31.independent body. And the rates should become more reliable. There
:12:31. > :12:37.will be fewer of them and they will be calculated in a new way based on
:12:37. > :12:43.real deals, not the judgment of bankers. Running through the heart
:12:43. > :12:47.of the report is a rich vein of distrust about banks. A we know
:12:47. > :12:50.that self regulation did not work for banks. What he is saying is, I
:12:50. > :12:55.do not think these people are capable of exercising self-
:12:55. > :12:58.restraint or integrity. The LIBOR reforms may go some way to
:12:58. > :13:03.restoring confidence in the City, but more than a dozen banks are
:13:03. > :13:07.bracing themselves for further accumulations, as regulators around
:13:07. > :13:17.the world decide what penalties to impose on them for their past LIBOR
:13:17. > :13:20.Thousands of pregnant women across the UK are to be offered a whooping
:13:21. > :13:25.cough vaccine to protect their unborn babies from the disease. The
:13:25. > :13:29.latest outbreak, the worst in two decades, has killed nine newborn
:13:29. > :13:39.babies in England this year. Health officials say there are no safety
:13:39. > :13:39.
:13:39. > :13:43.concerns about the vaccine, which will be available from Monday.
:13:43. > :13:48.The sound is distinctive. The disease is distressing. Whooping
:13:48. > :13:53.cough has made a dramatic comeback after years in decline. Matthew is
:13:53. > :13:56.a picture of health, but he has spent half his young life in
:13:56. > :14:03.hospital with whooping cough. He got infected at three weeks, too
:14:03. > :14:07.young to have been immunised, and it nearly killed him. The every
:14:07. > :14:11.night, we used to just pray that God would let us be a mummy and
:14:11. > :14:15.daddy and that we could take him home and give him all the gifts we
:14:15. > :14:20.had been given. We really did not know if that would ever happen, if
:14:20. > :14:25.we would be able to come home as the three of us. Her other
:14:25. > :14:29.officials hope that cases like Matthew will persuade all pregnant
:14:29. > :14:34.women of both the potential dangers of whooping cough and of the clear
:14:34. > :14:39.benefits of having the vaccine. The vaccine will be given to women
:14:39. > :14:44.between 28 and 38 weeks of pregnancy to boost their immunity.
:14:44. > :14:47.They will pass antibodies to their unborn baby, which should protect
:14:48. > :14:53.newborns until they are immunised at two months. The vaccine also
:14:53. > :14:56.protects against diphtheria, tetanus and polio. It is the same
:14:56. > :15:01.jab that is given to all three- year-olds. Health officials say
:15:01. > :15:06.there are no safety concerns and women should not hesitate.
:15:06. > :15:10.overwhelming evidence at is that this will save lives, save hospital
:15:10. > :15:14.admissions and the distress that cause us to the baby and the family.
:15:14. > :15:21.It is horrible. I remember looking after babies like that. It is a no-
:15:21. > :15:26.brainer. That view got some support from pregnant mothers in Bristol.
:15:26. > :15:32.He whenever a vaccine was offered to me in the past with my first
:15:32. > :15:38.child, such as the swine flu vaccine, I have always taken that
:15:38. > :15:43.up. It is a positive step. It is not something that I would take up
:15:43. > :15:48.until I found out more about it. In terms of vaccinations, I tend to be
:15:48. > :15:54.a bit wary. It is a decision that many pregnant women will need to
:15:54. > :16:04.make quickly, as the vaccine will be available from Monday.
:16:04. > :16:13.
:16:13. > :16:17.Coming up: not so easy, as America takes control in the Gulf. -- golf.
:16:17. > :16:22.France is proposing a 75% tax on its highest earners as part of its
:16:22. > :16:26.plans to control its rising debts. The Socialist government aims to
:16:26. > :16:33.raise EUR20 billion in new taxes next year, but insists that nine
:16:33. > :16:38.out of ten of its citizens would not be affected by the highest rate.
:16:38. > :16:42.France tonight, learning details of one of its toughest budgets in 30
:16:43. > :16:47.years. Ministers met at the Elysee Palace to decide how to fix a large
:16:47. > :16:51.hole in the country's finances and reduce the deficit. The Government
:16:51. > :16:56.was clear. The richest households and the biggest companies would
:16:56. > :16:59.bear most of the paying. TRANSLATION: This is a fighting
:17:00. > :17:05.budget to restore the country to health. This is a fighting budget
:17:05. > :17:10.to fight a debt that does not stop rising. The Budget will lead to
:17:10. > :17:14.savings of EUR30 billion next year, although that is less than 2% of
:17:14. > :17:20.France's economic output. Public spending will be frozen. There will
:17:20. > :17:24.be higher taxes on companies and the rich. Those earning over EUR1
:17:24. > :17:30.million will be taxed at 75%, although that will affect only a
:17:30. > :17:34.few thousand people. Pinsent is a new media entrepreneur and a
:17:34. > :17:41.millionaire. He believes the higher taxes will send a message that
:17:41. > :17:47.France is not open for business. The big risk is that not only that
:17:47. > :17:51.talent leaves the country, but that the young ones with talent feel
:17:51. > :17:59.that they are not welcome and leave the country. This week has seen the
:17:59. > :18:04.Paris Motor Show. Hard-selling in tough times. The French economy is
:18:05. > :18:10.stagnating, and workers are being laid off. 8000 ACPO show alone.
:18:10. > :18:18.Some argue that if France is to grow again, it needs radical reform.
:18:18. > :18:23.In France, we must do everything it takes for the future to be
:18:23. > :18:27.competitive. We must reduce the cost of manpower in France, which
:18:27. > :18:31.is one of them are highest in Europe. Men the of these Peugeot
:18:31. > :18:34.workers face redundancy. The Government says growth will return
:18:34. > :18:38.next year. Others say the Government has missed an
:18:38. > :18:43.opportunity to reduce state spending and make it easier to
:18:43. > :18:47.hire-and-fire workers. Today's budget in France reflects a deeper
:18:47. > :18:50.unresolved problem with the Eurozone. As we have seen this week,
:18:50. > :18:57.other countries like Spain and Greece have struggled to reduce
:18:57. > :19:01.spending, even while their economies are weak or in recession.
:19:01. > :19:04.China's leadership has expelled the senior politician Bo Xilai from the
:19:04. > :19:09.Communist Party. Mr Bo has been at the centre of the biggest scandal
:19:09. > :19:12.to engulf the party in two decades when his wife admitted murdering
:19:12. > :19:15.the British businessman Neil Heywood. State media says he will
:19:15. > :19:25.face criminal charges linked to corruption, abuse of power and
:19:25. > :19:30.taking bribes. Among china's characterless leaders,
:19:30. > :19:37.he was an exception. Bo Xilai, filmed by the BBC 15 years ago,
:19:38. > :19:44.when he was mayor of a small port. Popular, charismatic, at ease on
:19:44. > :19:49.camera. It is not the biggest city in China, but I hope to create the
:19:49. > :19:54.best city. He became commerce minister, then a Politburo member.
:19:54. > :20:01.One of the two dozen people who run China. But the Communist Party now
:20:01. > :20:07.says that all along, he was corrupt. The main evening news announced
:20:07. > :20:11.that Mr Bo will go on trial. It said he had abused his power, taken
:20:11. > :20:16.huge bribes and done serious damage to the image of China and the party.
:20:16. > :20:19.The trigger for his spectacular downfall? The death in China last
:20:20. > :20:24.year of the British businessman Neil Heywood and the embarrassment
:20:24. > :20:30.that has caused. Mr Pol Pot my wife was last month found guilty of
:20:30. > :20:35.murder. Now he is accused of trying to cover up her crime. Not everyone
:20:35. > :20:41.believes the case is simple. One of China's top forensic scientists
:20:41. > :20:45.today told the BBC that in her opinion, there is no evidence that
:20:45. > :20:50.the businessman was poisoned with cyanide, as prosecutors claim.
:20:50. > :20:54.TRANSLATION: there were no signs of cyanide. First, it would have
:20:54. > :21:00.caused immediate death. His skin should have bright red patches.
:21:00. > :21:04.Second, his blood should have been bright red, too. Whatever the truth,
:21:04. > :21:09.the party will now install new leaders in November or who will
:21:09. > :21:14.rule for the next decade. Bo Xilai will not be one of them. The
:21:14. > :21:21.Communist Party has been deeply tainted by this gamble. It now
:21:21. > :21:24.wants to wrap it all up. The -- but prosecuting Bo Xilai will now raise
:21:24. > :21:28.questions. How did such a senior leader get away with so much for so
:21:28. > :21:34.long undetected, and can the Communist Party, with few checks
:21:34. > :21:38.and balances on its power, really clean itself up?
:21:38. > :21:42.And Dre week of intense diplomacy at the United Nations in New York,
:21:42. > :21:44.there is still no agreement on how to resolve the crisis in Syria. The
:21:44. > :21:48.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has complained that efforts
:21:48. > :21:52.to reach a solution have been repeatedly blocked and that a split
:21:52. > :21:58.in the Security Council is paralysing the UN's response to the
:21:58. > :22:03.bloodshed. Another group of Syrians about to
:22:03. > :22:08.become refugees, waiting to cross into Turkey. Most of the 350,000
:22:08. > :22:12.Syrians who have fled the country have done so in the last six months.
:22:12. > :22:16.That is because the war is getting worse. Among the latest pictures
:22:16. > :22:20.out of Syria is the aftermath of an air strike, a baby among the dead
:22:20. > :22:24.being pulled out of the rubble. This matters not just because of
:22:24. > :22:28.thousands of individual human tragedies, but because a long war
:22:28. > :22:33.in Syria could make a region that is already unstable even more
:22:33. > :22:36.dangerous. Here at the UN, they all know the risks, but can't do
:22:36. > :22:40.anything because the Security Council is split. Russia and China
:22:40. > :22:45.are blocking more pressure on the Assad regime, arguing that it could
:22:45. > :22:49.make matters worse. Western countries and their friends meeting
:22:49. > :22:52.in New York, wanting a new UN resolution to back a peace plan
:22:52. > :22:58.based on regime change, and struggling to be polite about their
:22:58. > :23:03.old Cold War adversaries. It is no secret that our attempts to move
:23:03. > :23:07.forward at the UN Security Council have been blocked repeatedly.
:23:07. > :23:12.whole international community has to address this. We need a binding
:23:12. > :23:18.resolution. We cannot waste more time, because people are dying.
:23:18. > :23:21.Syrian war already looks like the ones that destroyed Lebanon in the
:23:22. > :23:25.'80s and Bosnia in the nineties, which international diplomacy also
:23:25. > :23:30.could not stop. That is a frightening prospect for Syria's
:23:30. > :23:35.neighbours. Turkey, housing 90,000 Syrian refugees in camps, is
:23:35. > :23:39.calling again for safe zones inside Syria. Turkey's foreign minister
:23:39. > :23:42.says the UN has been a serious failure and should now send a
:23:42. > :23:47.strong signal to the Assad regime. A unfortunate do, since there was
:23:47. > :23:50.no clear message and decisive position of the international
:23:50. > :23:55.community in the early stages of the crisis, the Syrian regime felt
:23:55. > :23:58.confident in doing more and more tax. If we do not take decisions
:23:58. > :24:03.today for the women and children escaping from these attacks, we
:24:03. > :24:07.will face more risks in the future. If Turkey's border force or its
:24:08. > :24:12.allies moved into Syria to create a safe zone without the regime's
:24:12. > :24:16.consent, it would be an act of war. The foreign minister said risks had
:24:16. > :24:20.to be taken to protect civilians. But it would need a UN resolution,
:24:20. > :24:25.which the Security Council remains too divided to produce. The UN has
:24:25. > :24:29.never had a magic formula for ending wars. Often, the time for
:24:29. > :24:34.diplomacy does not come until both sides have exhausted themselves. It
:24:34. > :24:40.could be that the Syrian regime and its enemies need to spill more
:24:40. > :24:43.blood before they are prepared to talk properly.
:24:43. > :24:46.The Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton is leaving the British-
:24:46. > :24:51.based McLaren team after 14 years and will race for Mercedes from
:24:51. > :24:56.next season. Hamilton won the world championship in 2008. McLaren's
:24:56. > :24:58.team principal called his decision to leave a mistake. Hamilton will
:24:59. > :25:02.replace the Formula One veteran, Michael Schumacher.
:25:02. > :25:07.It golf, the Ryder Cup is under way in Chicago, with Europe already
:25:07. > :25:11.facing a struggle to retain the trophy against a partisan crowd and
:25:11. > :25:16.some outstanding goal from the Americans. Andy Swiss is their
:25:16. > :25:20.force. Are the Americans already out in front? Yes, it has been a
:25:20. > :25:24.tough few hours for the European team. They made a solid start this
:25:24. > :25:29.morning, but America are the favourites for this Ryder Cup, and
:25:29. > :25:33.this afternoon, they have been showing why.
:25:33. > :25:42.On a crisp Chicago morning, they flocked in their thousands.
:25:42. > :25:48.Transatlantic rivals, ready to make some noise. USA, USA, all the way.
:25:48. > :25:56.We are ready. Bring it on. It is seven in the morning, and it is
:25:56. > :26:01.about to get louder. Indeed it was. A wall of American noise, as
:26:01. > :26:06.Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell got things under way. The nerves
:26:06. > :26:10.were plain to see. Not the greatest of omens, but but when your partner
:26:10. > :26:15.is the world number-one, most things are possible, and Rory
:26:15. > :26:20.McIlroy was soon conjuring some strokes of genius. The Northern
:26:20. > :26:29.Irish pair claimed Europe's first point, and a second soon followed.
:26:29. > :26:34.In Poulter as the chairman of the European team, so he enjoyed this.
:26:34. > :26:39.But the home crowd were not quiet for long, and the USA claimed the
:26:39. > :26:45.other two matches. 2-2 at after the morning session. The decibel count
:26:45. > :26:50.was rising fast. Soon, it was sky high. Crowd favourite Bubba Watson,
:26:50. > :26:55.in stunning form as he and Webb Simpson dominated Paul Lawrie and
:26:55. > :26:59.Peter Hanson. The US were charging, while Europe seemed to be wilting.
:26:59. > :27:04.Makah were's brilliance disappeared into the undergrowth as the
:27:04. > :27:12.momentum role the US's way. It is early days, but America is already
:27:12. > :27:16.finding plenty to cheer. The latest is that the USA lead 3-2, and if
:27:16. > :27:21.the rest of the matches out on the course to stay as they are, they