:00:10. > :00:13.It is the final countdown in the race for the US presidency. Mitt
:00:13. > :00:18.Romney and Barack Obama on a frenetic last weekend of
:00:18. > :00:23.campaigning in the all-important swing states. You know I tell the
:00:23. > :00:27.truth and Janelle I will fight for you and your families. -- and you
:00:27. > :00:33.know. He says it has to stay this way, but I say it cannot stay this
:00:33. > :00:35.way. He is offering excuses, but I've got a plan. With the
:00:35. > :00:41.candidates neck and neck in the polls, we have the latest on the
:00:41. > :00:46.campaign. Superstorm Sandy few horses -- forces fuel rationing in
:00:46. > :00:51.New Jersey as more than 1 million homes and businesses remain without
:00:52. > :00:56.power. Rebels in Syria attack a military base used to mount air
:00:56. > :01:01.assaults on opposition fighters. And the Formula One championship is
:01:01. > :01:11.thrown wide open tonight as Sebastian Vettel is penalised after
:01:11. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:28.qualifying and will start Good evening. Barack Obama and Mitt
:01:28. > :01:31.Romney are spending the weekend in a frenetic round of campaigning
:01:31. > :01:34.ahead of Tuesday's presidential vote, with the candidates running
:01:35. > :01:40.virtually neck and neck in the polls. They have been focusing on
:01:40. > :01:43.the crucial undecided swing state. Barack Obama said he wanted to
:01:43. > :01:47.create a future on a strong and growing middle class. Mitt Romney
:01:47. > :01:53.talked of wanting to lead America to a better place. Life to our
:01:53. > :01:57.correspondent in Washington. -- lied. It's extraordinary that after
:01:57. > :02:02.all of these campaigning, the race should come down to such a close
:02:02. > :02:05.dead-heat as we are seeing. That means both candidates seemed that
:02:05. > :02:14.more fired up than they have ever been and are both focusing on what
:02:14. > :02:20.they can do. They are trying to Sometimes the line between
:02:20. > :02:25.entertainment and politics is hard to draw in this election. The
:02:25. > :02:28.singer Katie Perry opening for Barack Obama in Wisconsin today.
:02:28. > :02:33.The latest Tinseltown staff to throw her support behind the
:02:33. > :02:38.President. -- Tinseltown staff. When he emerged in the arena,
:02:38. > :02:42.Barack Obama was firing on all cylinders. It is good to be back in
:02:43. > :02:46.Wisconsin! Now it is nearly over, he looks more and beat Benny has
:02:46. > :02:53.for months. You know why I'm working hard because my voice is
:02:53. > :02:57.all ragged. But he is not home and dry yet. Earlier in Ohio, the state
:02:57. > :03:01.on which the outcome may hang, there was an urgent appeal for the
:03:01. > :03:07.crowd to go out and vote. If you want to knock on doors and make
:03:07. > :03:14.some phone calls with May and early vote for me, or turn out on Tuesday
:03:14. > :03:18.for me, we will win at Ohio and we will win this election. According
:03:18. > :03:22.to the latest polls, the likely carve-up of the electoral map is
:03:22. > :03:25.clear in most places. So both candidates are now on a breathless
:03:25. > :03:32.- -- breathless run to win over the swing states that could go either
:03:32. > :03:39.way. Barack Obama's schedule looks from Ohio to Wisconsin and I were,
:03:39. > :03:45.finishing in Virginia. Mitt Romney leaps from New Hampshire to Iowa in
:03:45. > :03:51.the West and two stops in Colorado. For Mitt Romney, the final,
:03:51. > :03:55.frenzied sprint began last night with a spectacular rally in Ohio. A
:03:55. > :04:00.small army of governors, senators and other Republican notables brave
:04:00. > :04:03.to the freezing cold, joining him on stage will offer support. --
:04:03. > :04:07.braved the freezing cold. Look at this team. They have gathered
:04:07. > :04:16.tonight because they are about to fan out across the entire nation to
:04:16. > :04:21.make sure that we have victory on November 6th. In macro Waller --
:04:21. > :04:26.and Iowa, another dramatic entrance, where Mitt Romney poured scorn on
:04:26. > :04:32.his opponent. He says it has to stay this way, but I say it cannot
:04:32. > :04:35.stay this way. He is offering excuses, I've got a plan. With the
:04:35. > :04:39.opinion polls almost a dead heat nationally, this year's election
:04:40. > :04:44.will come down to who has the advantage in just a few states.
:04:44. > :04:49.Expect the frenzied pace to continue right up until the end.
:04:49. > :04:53.Of course, you have to ask yourself, what difference will all of this
:04:53. > :04:58.last minute running around the country make, when these days and
:04:58. > :05:02.the United States more and more people are voting early? It is
:05:02. > :05:07.thought in the state of Ohio, at least 30% will have voted by
:05:07. > :05:12.election day. And in places like Colorado, also a swing state, it
:05:12. > :05:17.could be as many as 80%. But when the national races this close and
:05:17. > :05:20.he could come down to a few votes - - it could come down to a few votes,
:05:20. > :05:25.neither candidate will leave it to chance. Do you really think it
:05:25. > :05:28.could go either way? There are scenarios where it could. In the
:05:29. > :05:32.national polls it seems as though they are in a dead-heat. Looking at
:05:32. > :05:37.the swing states, those where it is still uncertain which way it would
:05:37. > :05:42.go, over the last few weeks, quite consistently, it has looked as
:05:42. > :05:47.though Barack Obama has a slight advantage. But in different polls
:05:47. > :05:51.they can sometimes be one that will put Mitt Romney ahead. It is by no
:05:51. > :05:54.means certain. When it is in five percentage points it is never
:05:54. > :05:59.certain that the Poles are accurate, and if they are not, there could be
:05:59. > :06:03.a surprise on election day, and Mitt Romney could be the next
:06:03. > :06:07.President. If you look at the mood in both camps, I would say the Mitt
:06:07. > :06:11.Romney camp, including himself, they still seemed nervous and tense.
:06:11. > :06:14.My sense for Barack Obama in the last couple of days, especially
:06:14. > :06:22.since the hurricane disaster, which seems to have given him a boost, he
:06:22. > :06:28.does look as though he feels more You can keep up-to-date with the
:06:28. > :06:32.race for the presidency by the visiting how website. -- and
:06:32. > :06:35.visiting our website. Over 1 million homes in New York are
:06:35. > :06:40.without power still because of Superstorm Sandy. It has already
:06:40. > :06:45.claimed more than 100 lives. 80% of the city's subway system is back in
:06:45. > :06:50.service but there is petrol rationing in much of New Jersey. We
:06:50. > :06:54.report on the clean up in New York. Today they were packing up. The New
:06:54. > :06:59.York Marathon cancelled for the first time in 42 years. Even in the
:06:59. > :07:04.weeks after 9/11 the race went ahead. But as bodies were still
:07:04. > :07:09.being pulled from wrecked homes, the public outcry of holding a big
:07:09. > :07:14.sporting event easily outweighed the spirit of keeping calm and
:07:14. > :07:17.carrying on. This is where the New York Marathon was due to start, one
:07:17. > :07:20.of the worst affected areas. While few doubt it was the right decision
:07:20. > :07:25.to cancel, they wonder why the decision was not made earlier in
:07:25. > :07:29.the week before tens of thousands of runners arrived in New York.
:07:29. > :07:34.Barriers and tables were taken away and there were generators here,
:07:34. > :07:37.food and security staff, all used elsewhere. People are hurting here
:07:37. > :07:42.because they want to know whether relief is coming from. But their
:07:42. > :07:47.resources here that would be helpful. I don't understand how you
:07:47. > :07:51.think it could be a good idea. is still in short supply. This was
:07:51. > :07:56.a queue at one of the Mobil petrol stations being set up across New
:07:56. > :08:02.York to help ease the backlog. Help is getting through to those who
:08:02. > :08:10.need it most. Communities are rallying round. And the lights are
:08:10. > :08:12.coming back on. Tonight, most of Manhattan has power again. But
:08:12. > :08:18.across all the storm hit states more than 1 million people are
:08:18. > :08:22.still waiting. Until you have your lights on, you're not happy. We
:08:22. > :08:28.understand. And we are not going to stop until we have every house,
:08:28. > :08:34.every home with it their power restored. The if you have any
:08:34. > :08:37.special skills, help us. Volunteers queued up to help in the chaste --
:08:37. > :08:42.East Village, among them marathon runners, who found out where to
:08:42. > :08:47.come. I was ready to run the there is a lot of controversy and I felt
:08:47. > :08:51.uncomfortable running even though I had trained for it. But I will be
:08:51. > :08:55.excited to run next year when the city is back on its feet. We just
:08:55. > :08:58.want to help the people of the city. We will head over to an apartment
:08:58. > :09:04.complex which does not have electricity and we will knock on
:09:04. > :09:08.their doors and make sure they are OK and help them. There has been
:09:08. > :09:17.lost and there has been anger, but there is also spirit. People will
:09:17. > :09:20.Syrian rebels say they are locked in a fierce battle with government
:09:20. > :09:25.forces for control of a strategically important military
:09:25. > :09:29.base. The attack on the air base at Taftanaz in the north of the
:09:29. > :09:39.country is aimed at hampering the regime's use of airpower to bomb
:09:39. > :09:39.
:09:39. > :09:45.The rebel offensive began at first light. Fighters opened fire at the
:09:45. > :09:49.Taftanaz airbase using multiple rocket launchers and mortars. The
:09:49. > :09:54.video footage is not been verified, but it is thought to be genuine. --
:09:54. > :09:58.has not been verified. Syrian TV said the attack on the airport was
:09:58. > :10:02.repelled. Armed forces killed a large number of terrorists and
:10:02. > :10:05.destroyed their vehicles. These pictures appear to show government
:10:05. > :10:11.helicopters able to land. But it has been impossible to get a full
:10:11. > :10:15.picture of what has been happening. The rebels -- rebels have made
:10:15. > :10:18.advances near Aleppo, but in spite of the larger weapons they have
:10:18. > :10:24.tried to counter the Government's increasing use of airpower.
:10:24. > :10:29.Helicopter gunships and fighters are regularly in the skies. This
:10:29. > :10:34.rebel fighters say they attacked Taftanaz airport and destroyed a
:10:34. > :10:40.huge area and hit a number of planes. If the Syrian rebels manage
:10:40. > :10:48.to capture and hold the air base it could be a major development.
:10:48. > :10:51.particular air base provides the major route for supply is in Aleppo.
:10:51. > :10:55.Most of the strategic roads have been captured by the rebels. This
:10:55. > :11:00.particular area would be controlled by them now. But neither side seems
:11:00. > :11:04.capable of delivering a decisive blow in the conflict. The uprising
:11:04. > :11:09.in Syria began 19 months ago, but President Assad remains in power,
:11:09. > :11:12.helped in no small part by opposition that is fragmented and
:11:12. > :11:17.fractures. A fresh attempt will be made in the coming days in the Gulf
:11:17. > :11:21.state of Qatar to bring forward -- together the disparate elements but
:11:21. > :11:26.there is no promise of progress towards a united opposition front.
:11:26. > :11:30.On the ground, this was the aftermath of a bombing. People in
:11:30. > :11:39.panic, making their way through the rubble. Amid the chaos, the
:11:39. > :11:43.Work is underway to gather information about the spread of the
:11:43. > :11:46.fungal disease which is killing ash trees in the UK. Experts from DEFRA
:11:46. > :11:56.are surveying land where the trees grow to find out the extent of the
:11:56. > :12:00.Across thousands of acres of British woodland this weekend,
:12:01. > :12:04.experts are looking for signs of a deadly disease. Ash dieback was
:12:05. > :12:08.first discovered in the UK in March on saplings imported from the
:12:09. > :12:15.Netherlands. But now the symptoms have been found in wild trees as
:12:15. > :12:19.well, and knowing just how far it has spread could be crucial to
:12:19. > :12:23.saving the species. understanding is that this has been
:12:23. > :12:27.blown around by the wind, so now it is in the native population and we
:12:27. > :12:32.need to work together and put money into research to see how we can
:12:32. > :12:35.make a border and more resilient. This is what they are looking for.
:12:35. > :12:41.Withered leaves and markings on the bark, signs of an infection that
:12:41. > :12:44.has wiped out 90% of the Danish ash tree population. Imports to the UK
:12:44. > :12:51.have now been banned. The there are three possible pathways, movements
:12:51. > :12:56.of plants, movement of dead leaves and security measures can prevent
:12:56. > :13:02.that, and then there is a belief later overwinter which doesn't take
:13:02. > :13:06.place until the summer -- belief later. That kingmakers slow the
:13:06. > :13:11.spread. The fungus has been found at dozens of sites across the UK.
:13:11. > :13:15.In Scotland earlier in the week, thousands of saplings were uprooted
:13:15. > :13:21.and burnt and walkers are being asked to wash their books, children
:13:21. > :13:24.and dogs to try and stop the spread -- wash their boots. The that could
:13:25. > :13:29.be quite difficult. Do you do it when you get home or do you do it
:13:29. > :13:34.here? The ash trees on this National Trust Park in Suffolk are
:13:34. > :13:38.free from the fungus, but last week a few miles up the road one of the
:13:38. > :13:42.first cases of the disease in a wild ash tree was confirmed. The
:13:42. > :13:46.fear is now that many more could soon become infected. The results
:13:46. > :13:51.of this survey will tell scientists how widespread the disease has
:13:51. > :14:01.become. Meanwhile, there are already calls to quarantine any
:14:01. > :14:05.
:14:05. > :14:09.Now to sport, and a full round-up It is getting very interesting at
:14:09. > :14:12.the top of the Premier League. Match of the day has all the goals
:14:12. > :14:17.after the news, but I have the results coming up, so if you have
:14:17. > :14:21.to, it is that time again. Manchester United are top of the
:14:21. > :14:26.table for the first time this season. They beat Arsenal tool-1 at
:14:26. > :14:29.Old Trafford. Robin van Persie scored against his old club --
:14:29. > :14:34.tool-1. Patrice Evra got the other goal and Wayne Rooney missed a
:14:34. > :14:37.penalty. The Gunners had Jack Wilshere sent off. United were the
:14:37. > :14:42.only side in the top half of the table to win as they replace
:14:42. > :14:46.Chelsea as leaders. Chelsea were held 1-1 at Swansea. There were
:14:46. > :14:51.wins for Norwich and Aston Villa. Wigan won at Tottenham Hotspur and
:14:51. > :14:54.Manchester City could only draw at West Ham. Hibernian are top of the
:14:54. > :15:01.Scottish Premier League after beating St Mirren. Aberdeen could
:15:01. > :15:05.have gone level on points but lost to Ross County. Stephen Ross got
:15:06. > :15:10.what proved to be the winner in their victory. Elsewhere there were
:15:10. > :15:13.victories for Dundee, Inverness and Motherwell. There was high drama in
:15:13. > :15:16.qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton will be on
:15:16. > :15:21.pole for the race but world champion Sebastian Vettel will have
:15:21. > :15:31.to start from the pit lane after running low on fuel. That opens the
:15:31. > :15:32.
:15:32. > :15:36.door for his title rival Fernando Stop the car. Stop the car! That
:15:36. > :15:40.could be the moment Sebastian Vettel's hopes of securing three
:15:40. > :15:43.titles in a row faded. After setting the third fastest time in
:15:43. > :15:47.qualifying, his team ordered him to stop before he could return to the
:15:47. > :15:53.pits. Initially nobody seemed to know or willing to say why he
:15:53. > :15:59.didn't make it back. It was very sudden, and I got the call to stop
:15:59. > :16:02.the car, and I am part myself. I waited for a taxi! Almost five
:16:02. > :16:06.hours later the reason became clear with a ruling from the stewards.
:16:07. > :16:09.Sebastian Vettel was qualified because he ran out of petrol. When
:16:09. > :16:12.a similar incident happened to Louise Hamilton in Barcelona
:16:12. > :16:18.earlier this season he was relegated to the back of the grid -
:16:18. > :16:21.- Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel suffered the same fate. He makes a
:16:21. > :16:25.difference, but it's thousands of the second. You do have to push to
:16:25. > :16:29.the limits but you must play safe on a basic things like how much
:16:29. > :16:34.petrol is in the car. His nearest rival Fernando Alonso moves up to
:16:34. > :16:37.six on the grid giving him the opportunity to close the gap. It
:16:37. > :16:41.will take a remarkable performance for Sebastian Vettel to score any
:16:42. > :16:47.points. For the sake of a teacup full of fuel, Red Bull may have
:16:47. > :16:49.thrown away the drivers' championship. England's rugby
:16:50. > :16:54.league team are looking unstoppable in the autumn series after another
:16:54. > :16:59.big victory. They ran in eight tries against France. Kallum
:16:59. > :17:02.Watkins scored a hat-trick in their 44-6 victory. They put 80 points
:17:03. > :17:07.past Wales last weekend but they will play the French again next
:17:07. > :17:11.Sunday in the final. Champions Harlequins have moved three points
:17:11. > :17:15.clear at the top of the Aviva Premiership. They lead by 10 points
:17:16. > :17:21.at the break with three first-half tries including this one from Sam