:00:24. > :00:27.Good afternoon. Rebels in Syria say they have
:00:27. > :00:31.launched a major offensive to capture a military airport in the
:00:31. > :00:35.north of the country. It comes as members of Syria's fragmented
:00:35. > :00:41.opposition prepare to meet this weekend. They are trying to form a
:00:41. > :00:44.united front. The latest fighting by rebels has been taking place
:00:44. > :00:52.near Taftanaz, near Aleppo. Our World Affairs Correspondent, Peter
:00:52. > :00:59.Biles, reports. The rebel offensive began at first
:00:59. > :01:04.light. The fighters opened fire on the Taftanaz air base, using
:01:04. > :01:08.multiple rocket launchers and mortars.
:01:08. > :01:14.The video footage has not been verified, but it is thought to be
:01:14. > :01:18.genuine. As many as five different rebel
:01:18. > :01:23.units are said to be involved in the attack.
:01:23. > :01:28.If they manage to capture and to hold the air base, it will be a
:01:28. > :01:33.significant development. Taftanaz lies in a streak area between
:01:33. > :01:37.Syria's two biggest cities, Aleppo and Damascus.
:01:37. > :01:45.For some time the rebels have been trying to counter the government's
:01:46. > :01:50.increasing use of air power. Syrian TV today, it said an armed
:01:50. > :01:55.terrorist group attacked the airport with heavy weapons, but
:01:55. > :01:58.that the assault was repelled by the army.
:01:58. > :02:04.The latest offensive comes before an important Syrian opposition
:02:04. > :02:12.meeting in the Gulf state of Qatar, but 19 months after the uprising in
:02:12. > :02:17.Syria began, there is no sign of the conflict abating.
:02:17. > :02:21.A man claims he was abused by a leading Conservative politician
:02:21. > :02:26.more than three decades ago is seeking to meet with the Prime
:02:26. > :02:33.Minister. The claims dates back to a scandal, the subject of a public
:02:33. > :02:37.inquiry into child abuse in North Wales in the 1970s. The allegations
:02:37. > :02:42.involved somebody alive but not named by the BBC's Newsnight
:02:42. > :02:46.programme. We were abused, drink would be
:02:46. > :02:51.involved. It was basically rape, but there would not just be him.
:02:51. > :02:55.There were others involved as well. Barack Obama and his rival to the
:02:55. > :02:58.US presidency, Mitt Romney, is facing a final weekend of
:02:58. > :03:02.campaigning. Both candidates are insisting that they can win the
:03:02. > :03:06.race for the White House. Polls in swing states suggests that the
:03:06. > :03:11.contest is still tight. Let's go live to Washington. Our
:03:11. > :03:16.correspondent, Zoe Conway, is there. A frantic weekend, then? Frantic,
:03:16. > :03:22.yes. Barack Obama is visiting eight states in the next three days, Mitt
:03:22. > :03:28.Romney is visiting six. They are spending a lot of time in Ohio, a
:03:28. > :03:32.state that they are desperate to win. President Obama has a narrow
:03:32. > :03:36.lead there, but in a sign of how nervous sides are, there are
:03:36. > :03:39.thousands of lawyers on the ground, getting ready if they have to
:03:39. > :03:44.challenge the result there. President Obama has a narrow lead
:03:44. > :03:46.in most of the background states, but what is striking is how few
:03:46. > :03:51.political commentators in Washington are prepared to stick
:03:51. > :03:55.their necks out to say that the President will win that is because
:03:55. > :03:58.they know that the crucial factor in all of this is turn out. How
:03:58. > :04:05.enthusiastic are the voters? How many of them will bother to go to
:04:05. > :04:11.the polls on Tuesday? Thank you. It is emerging that letters from
:04:12. > :04:17.the former Labour minister, Denis MacShane, in which he admits