20/01/2013 BBC Weekend News


20/01/2013

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The Algerian hostage crisis - David Cameron warns the battle against

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terrorism in North Africa could last decades. Three British workers

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were killed. Three more are feared dead during the four-day siege at

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the gas plant in the Sahara. Pictures of two of the four

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climbers killed an avalanche are released. Christopher Bell was 24.

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Una Finnegan was 25. Freezing weather and heavy snow continues to

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disrupt travel. Hundreds of flights are cancelled at Heathrow. More

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will be grounded tomorrow. And in sport - Saracens and Leicester book

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their places in the quarter-finals Good evening. David Cameron has

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warned that the west faces a decade's long struggle against

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Islamist terrorism in North Africa. The Prime Minister has confirmed

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three Britons died and another three are feared to have been

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killed in the hostage crisis which ended when Algerian Special Forces

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stormed a gas plant yesterday. Most of the kidnappers are thought to

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have been killed. There are a reports that some were captured

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alive. 22 who survived the siege are now back home. Our diplomatic

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correspondent has the latest. The four-day siege is finally over.

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These new pictures give some sense of the ferocious battles fought by

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Algerian forces to end it. It is far from clear how many hostages

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died in these firefights or how many may have been murdered by

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their captors. Algeria says at least 23 hostages of many

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nationalities are now dead, as well as 32 of the millants. Algerian

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police buses have been ferrying injured hostages out of the desert,

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starting their journeys home. The 22 Britons are now believed to be

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back in the UK. The family of one Lou Fear, from Lincolnshire got out

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alive. His wife said he had been through a horrendous ordeal, a

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feeling echoed by neighbours. people put thair lives at risk

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working out there. You don't expect to have to deal with such awful

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situations. A team of consular officials have been sent out there

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to bring back the bodies of the dead. The threat has grown,

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particularly in North Africa. This is a global threat. It will require

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a global response. It will require a response that is about years,

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even decades rather than months. This is what David Cameron was

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talking about - the whole northern part of Africa, where extremists

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exploit vast, often empty spaces to base themselves and to plot.

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Algeria has long borders, mere lines in the sand, almost

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impossible to police. Large parts of Mali have fall on the extremists.

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Historically Britain has focused more effort on strengthening former

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colonies like Nigeria, with less emphasis on French-speaking areas.

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I don't think the West assessed the scale of the threat in this region

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properly. We now see that it is considerable. What should we do

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about it? That's the difficult question. I think that the Prime

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Minister is right to say it will take a long time. It is a question

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of finding them, rooting them out. It is a vast area. This man,

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Mokhtar Belmokhtar, says he was behind the attack and even claims

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to have infiltrated followers into jobs at the plant.

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Algerian state TV says an army officer negotiated at the height of

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the siege with the man leading the hostage-takers.

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In this recording this claim is made - I have spoke on the the

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British, he says, but they are far away, they have contacted Mali and

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Belmokhtar. Tonight, the Foreign Office said we don't reveal

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anything about negotiating tactics in managing a hostage crisis. Of

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course, the claim could be deliberate misinformation. What is

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not known is about the bloody events of the past few days. One of

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the British victims of the hostage crisis has been identified by the

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Foreign Office tonight as Paul Thomas Morgan, who was 46. He has

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been described as a true gentleman, who loved live and lived it to the

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full. The Algerian militants have claimed it was in response to

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France's military intervention in Mali. There are currently 2,000

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French troops in the West African country, trying to push back the

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rebels who control the northern regions. Our Africa correspondent

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has the latest from Mali. The French build-up here continues.

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Soldiers arriving at the frontlines in central Mali.

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Up ahead, the aftermath of a French air strike. Islamist rebels had

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brought in quite an arsenal when they sieged this town on Monday.

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Now they have fled, leaving a bewildered population to examine

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the ruins and wonder where this quietly tolerant country went wrong.

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They were foreigners, he says. Some Arabs, they spoke a different

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language,. They tore the cross from the Church. "We are religious here

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in Mali, but people are abusing our faith to invade this country."

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Here are the results - a hard-line interpretation of shary ya law

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imposed in rebel territory. These two escaped after being accused of

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theft. They did it without any anaesthetic

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says this man. They are just thieves and criminals.

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It is hard to join the dots between all the extremist groups fighting

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here in Algeria of course, in northern Nigeria and as far away as

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Somalia. There are concerns that what were localised conflicts are

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starting to emerge into something more alarming. This is not a second

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Afghanistan, but it is a worry to Africa and for Europe. Which is

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where the French come in. They may be weary about getting dragged into

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a long war against a resilient army here, but what alternative is

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there? It is most important to finish the job. Do you think French

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troops will have to be involved here? Do you think local African

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troops can handle this problem? of course I think so. You think

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foreigners? Yes, of course. longer term answer is to strengthen

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Mali's own army and to help re- build democracy, not unlike the

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Afghanistan model. Before last year, this was considered one of Africa's

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more stable, success stories. Things change fast.

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Let's talk now to our diplomatic correspondent, who is here. The

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situation in Mali highlights the complexity of the terrorist threat

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in the region. How difficult will it be to tackle that threat? Very

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difficult. What we are seeing is very clear, is that Islamist

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extremists have seen an opportunity in the north of Africa: They are

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working quick. They moved to take over that whole country and they

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are being pushed back by the French. It has involved the commitment of

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European forces N Algeria, a sister organisation, if you like, another

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Al-Qaeda-related franchise, also took the moment, even if it was

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long in the planning, this attack on the energy installation, it

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could have been moved forward to coincide with what is happening in

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Mali. Thank you.

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Two phD students and a junior doctor have been named among the

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four climbers killed in an avalanche in Glencoe. Two people

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survived. One is in a critical condition in hospital. The other

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escaped without injury. Tonight, he said the group were experienced

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winter walkers and they all loved the mountains. The climbers who

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died fell about 1,000 feet and ended up in around two metres of

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snow. In the shadow of the mountain range

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where four people lost their lives, the community of Glencoe came to

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pray and pay its respects. 24-year-old Christopher Bell, a phD

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student and 25-year-old Una Finnegan, a junior doctor from

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county Londonderry were among the four killed, along with Tom

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Chesters, a student from Leeds. A single step on to a snow gully cost

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them and one other their lives. They were climbing down this peak

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in Glencoe when the avalanche struck, plunging them nearly 1,000

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feet down the mountain. Rescuers were helicoptered there minutes

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after the alarm was raised. They found one man who managed to step

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free of the avalanche, helpless as his friends were engulfed in snow.

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He had made his own way down from the ridge. Obviously, very upset.

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There wasn't a lot of information, rather there was no information at

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that time in terms of how people were. It was evident it was a

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serious event. Today, police spoke on his behalf.

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It is with much sadness and deep regret some of my friends have died

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as a result. All in the group loved mountains and are experienced

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winter walkers. The second survivor - a 24-year-old woman, is

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critically ill in hospital tonight. The avalanche risk in this valley

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is currently described as considerable. It is a difficult

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thing to detect. Even the most experienced climbers, they can be

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lulled into a sense of security and suddenly the slope goes.

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Mountaineering Council of Scotland has described what happened here

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yesterday as a significant tragedy. As you can tell, the weather

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conditions changed very suddenly. It's yet another reminder that the

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rewards of climbing these beautiful mountains are considerable, but so

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are the risks. The freezing conditions across much

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of the UK which have affected travel over the past few days are

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likely to cause further disruption. 300 flights were cancelled at

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Heathrow today. One in ten flights will be grounded there tomorrow.

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The poor conditions will continue to disrupt the roads and rail

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network too. At the end of a wintry week, it is

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de-icing lorries rather than planes that dominate Heathrow's runways.

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Tomorrow's flights continue to be disrupted. When we have these types

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of circumstances, we need to leave more gaps between the planes. A

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little bit like when you are driving on the motorway and these

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conditions, you need to leave more space between you and the car in

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front. It is the same at an airport. Because we need more gaps, that

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means we can land less planes. was the east that bore the brunt of

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the freezing weather today. Large areas have been transformed into a

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winter wonder land. There's been plenty of fun to be had.

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But for some, the snow has been an unwelcome hardship. It disrupts

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people's lives. It makes planning difficult and trying to work around

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it is always difficult. And the focus is already turning to

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the working week ahead and how to keep everything moving. Tomorrow

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will be the big test. We will be gritting. We have been out two or

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three times with the gritter lorries. We will carry on

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throughout the day. That will go on throughout the night. Tomorrow

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should be OK. This is a band of snow that is moving up the country.

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Forecasters say tomorrow the main areas affected will be north-east

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England and Scotland. There's no real sign of the cold

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weather ending, certainly for much of the working week expect it to be

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cold, wide-spread night-time frosts, a continued risk of ice. Further

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snow fluries to come. It is still snowing here in

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Cambridgeshire tonight. It is bitterly cold and the temperature

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is plummeting, making driving conditions more treacherous.

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The reality for many commuters tomorrow will be significant delays.

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The advice is to check before you travel.

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Barack Obama has been officially sworn in for his second term as US

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President in a small ceremony at the White House. It comes a day

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before his public inauguration. This report from our Washington

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correspondent. The day began with a wreath-laying

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ceremony for America's fallen soldiers.

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A solemn reminder of the wait that comes with this office. I Barack

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Obama do... Then at the White House, a low-key swearing in ceremony, as

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required on the 20th January by the constitution. So help me God....

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Congratulations. Thank you so much. It was a family affair. Public

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events come later. He'll do it all over again here tomorrow.

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Around the capitol, final preparations are underway for an

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open-air swearing in, followed by a parade.

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Hundreds of thousands will fill the stands and line the route. The mood

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is buoyant, but security tight. When Barack Obama delivers his

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second inaugural address from the steps of the US capitol, the themes

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will be familiar, securing economic recovery, ending America's longest

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war and what he calls "nation building" here at home. Today, a

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senior adviser spelt out what that might mean. Right now, in front of

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Congress and the country you have the need to continue the economy,

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energy and climate change, immigration, things are stacked up.

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For his elated followers, hope and change are still alive. Barack

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Obama will have to move quickly. Eventual wisdom gives a second term

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President two years to make a mark. After that, thoughts turn to who

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will live here next. Let's get some sport now. For a

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full round-up here's Olly Foster. Thank you. The three matches in the

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English and Scottish Premier League beat the weather today. Depending

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where you are Match of the Day 2 or Sportscenes follows. I have the

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results coming up. Manchester United slipped up at White Hart

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Lane. They thought a Robin Van Persie goal had given them the

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points but Clint Dempsey scored an injury-time equaliser. United's

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lead stands at five. Juan Mata and Frank Lampard scored

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early goals before Theo Walcott pulled one back. In Scotland,

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Michael Higdon's hat trick for Motherwell saw them beat St

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Johnstone 3-2 and move level on points with Inverness. The line-up

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for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup is complete. There'll

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be two clubs from Ireland, three from France and three from England.

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The ground staff at Leicester removed 50 tonnes of snow from the

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Welford Road pitch in the two days before their Heineken Cup match. In

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Toulouse, they had another awkward obstacle to shift. They did it with

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the boot. Toby Flood gave the Tigers a 9-0 lead over the

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champions. Things were tricky. Cold hands and unsteady feet help the

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French side get back into it. On a day like this, qualification came

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down to will power as much as anything. Leicester showed plenty.

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Their prize - a trip to the Mediterranean to play Toulon.

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Sarah Seines reached the last eight. In a very different way.

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Ashton's try was the second of the afternoon. They secured their bonus

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point when Hodgeson was allowed safe passage through the defence.

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They ended up with five. There was a match at the Australian Open as

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Novak Djokovic made it into the fourth round after a five-hour,

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five-set thriller against Stanislas Wawrinka. The defending champion

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and world number one prevailed by 12-10 in the decider. It finished

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at 1.50am. Mark Selby needs two more frames to become Masters

:17:46.:17:51.

champion for a third time. He is eight frames to five up against

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