:00:10. > :00:15.Another battering from the weather is expected, with high tides and
:00:16. > :00:18.galeforce winds threatening even more flooding. Five severe flood
:00:19. > :00:26.warnings are in place as winds reach more than 80 mph.
:00:27. > :00:29.A row over the schools Inspectorate Ofsted. Downing Street denies it is
:00:30. > :00:39.trying to pack public bodies with its conservative supporters.
:00:40. > :00:56.Nail-biting finale to England's Six Nations clash with France.
:00:57. > :01:04.Good evening. The Environment Agency is warning
:01:05. > :01:16.that high tides tonight could bring further flooding to areas already
:01:17. > :01:19.hit by bad weather. Five severe flood warnings remain in place. High
:01:20. > :01:22.winds are also causing problems. Our correspondent Duncan Kennedy sent
:01:23. > :01:25.this report from Northmoor, in Somerset.
:01:26. > :01:30.New month, same old weather. The destructive cocktail of wind and
:01:31. > :01:36.high tides returning today. Per farm has been underwater for four weeks.
:01:37. > :01:40.It is heartbreaking, we don't know when it is going to end. The Devon
:01:41. > :01:42.and Somerset Fire service today beefed up its flood training
:01:43. > :01:50.operation. It is now the biggest they have ever organised. We have
:01:51. > :01:53.eight high-volume pumps, removing 80 litres per hour, which is the
:01:54. > :01:57.equivalent of one Olympic size swimming pool every hour. Everywhere
:01:58. > :02:03.you go, there are pumps pumping, from great big operations to others
:02:04. > :02:06.that are much more modest. It is not just the industrial pumping going
:02:07. > :02:11.on. A lot of ordinary people, fed up with waiting for the authorities to
:02:12. > :02:14.take action are going it alone and storing their own pumps to try and
:02:15. > :02:18.keep some of the water away from their homes. Tonight, the police
:02:19. > :02:24.said they were expecting more of this. The weather, as usual, staying
:02:25. > :02:27.one step ahead. Certainly the forecast I have heard today
:02:28. > :02:34.indicates no letup in the first week of February, so we are expecting a
:02:35. > :02:37.multi-agency response to continue for the foreseeable future. Coastal
:02:38. > :02:41.areas took a particular pounding. This was Fleetwood. And this was the
:02:42. > :02:45.seafront in Aberystwyth. Although it's punchier left the destructive
:02:46. > :02:55.force last month's storm. On the River, service today ignored
:02:56. > :02:59.warnings to stay off the water. While some can find an escape in all
:03:00. > :03:05.of this, most prisoners of this winter.
:03:06. > :03:12.--most are prisoners of this interminable winter.
:03:13. > :03:15.Three people have been arrested after a seven-week-old baby died
:03:16. > :03:18.from severe head injuries. The badly injured child, who came from the
:03:19. > :03:21.Clarksfield area of Oldham, died in hospital. One of those arrested is
:03:22. > :03:24.believed to be the child's mother. The Conservatives have been accused
:03:25. > :03:29.of trying to put Tory supporters in charge of public bodies. The claim
:03:30. > :03:33.has been made by the Labour Peer Baroness Morgan, after she was told
:03:34. > :03:35.she would not get a second spell as head of the schools inspectorate
:03:36. > :03:39.Ofsted. Downing Street has rejected the claim, saying appointments were
:03:40. > :03:41.made on merit and a number of former Labour Ministers had been given
:03:42. > :03:43.jobs. Our Political Correspondent Tom Barton reports.
:03:44. > :03:46.It sends inspectors into our schools on a daily basis, checking the
:03:47. > :03:56.standards of teaching and care across England. Ofsted brands itself
:03:57. > :03:59.as independent and impartial, but its outgoing chair, a Labour peer,
:04:00. > :04:03.says the Conservatives are playing politics with her role. I am the
:04:04. > :04:06.latest of a fairly long list of people now who are non-Conservative
:04:07. > :04:10.supporters who are not being reappointed. I think there is
:04:11. > :04:12.absolutely a pattern, and I think it is extremely worrying, because I
:04:13. > :04:18.think one of the really important things about public appointments is
:04:19. > :04:21.they are made on the basis of merit. Sally Morgan isn't pointing the
:04:22. > :04:25.finger at Michael Gove, who appointed her to the job in 2010. In
:04:26. > :04:29.fact, she insists they have not had a falling out. Instead, she is
:04:30. > :04:32.blaming Downing Street, claiming there is a determined effort there
:04:33. > :04:40.to recruit Tory sympathisers to public bodies like the Arts Council
:04:41. > :04:43.and the Charity Commission. A senior source inside Number Ten has
:04:44. > :04:46.described these accusations as baseless, while officials are keen
:04:47. > :04:54.to point out there is a number of senior Labour figures in top jobs.
:04:55. > :04:56.Simon Stephens, a former Labour adviser, is about to become the
:04:57. > :04:59.Chief Executive of NHS England, while two former Labour Cabinet
:05:00. > :05:07.ministers are carrying out reviews for the coalition into pensions and
:05:08. > :05:10.social mobility. There are hundreds of public bodies in the UK and who
:05:11. > :05:14.runs them matters, because they control everything from the food we
:05:15. > :05:19.eat, to the state of the roads to our gas and electricity. The
:05:20. > :05:25.Conservative Party Chairman insists the Government is simply focused on
:05:26. > :05:29.getting the best people for the job. We have to make sure that we have
:05:30. > :05:34.the right people in place to deliver Government policy. There is now
:05:35. > :05:37.likely to be pressure on Number ten to steer clear of Conservative Party
:05:38. > :05:41.supporters when the head of Ofsted is appointed. Already, Liberal
:05:42. > :05:44.Democrats are privately saying whoever gets the job should do so
:05:45. > :05:53.based on their experience and their knowledge, rather than their
:05:54. > :05:56.political affiliations. The US Secretary of State John Kerry
:05:57. > :06:01.has sharply criticised Ukraine over its handling of anti-government
:06:02. > :06:07.protests. It comes after allegations that a senior opposition leader was
:06:08. > :06:09.abducted and tortured. The demonstrations in Ukraine, over the
:06:10. > :06:12.country's ties with the European Union and Russia, began last
:06:13. > :06:16.November but turned violent last month. Duncan Crawford's report from
:06:17. > :06:26.Kiev contains images you may find distressing.
:06:27. > :06:31.Entrenched in their positions. Anti-government demonstrations show
:06:32. > :06:34.no sign of ending. But this front line now feels like it has become a
:06:35. > :06:39.tool wrist attraction as well as a battle zone. And despite the
:06:40. > :06:44.freezing temperatures, the protests see more determined than ever. We
:06:45. > :06:50.will stay here, we will fight for our country. We will fight for our
:06:51. > :06:54.freedom. People's anger has been fuelled by the latest allegations of
:06:55. > :06:58.torture. Dmytro Bulatov, a well-known activist, says he was
:06:59. > :07:07.kidnapped and repeatedly beaten for eight days. He is now being treated
:07:08. > :07:11.in hospital. TRANSLATION: The most horrifying thing is they crucified
:07:12. > :07:15.me, they nailed me to something. Police have suggested the kidnapping
:07:16. > :07:22.was staged, a theory dismissed by protesters the American ambassador
:07:23. > :07:25.paid a visit earlier in a show of solidarity. Dmytro Bulatov remains
:07:26. > :07:29.in hospital here, he is under police guard. The fact that US and EU
:07:30. > :07:35.officials came here today reflect the growing international pressure
:07:36. > :07:38.over what is happening. Russia has already warned the West against
:07:39. > :07:43.interfering, but Western pressure is growing. At a conference in Munich,
:07:44. > :07:50.it was all smiles to begin with. But the world's top diplomats couldn't
:07:51. > :07:53.pretend along. Ukraine, just the latest incident to stir up angry
:07:54. > :07:58.exchanges between the West and Russia.
:07:59. > :08:02.TRANSLATION: Why don't we condemn those who seize and hold government
:08:03. > :08:08.buildings, attack and torch the police, use racist, anti-Semitic and
:08:09. > :08:13.Nazi slogans? The vast majority of Ukrainians want to live freely, in a
:08:14. > :08:16.safe and prosperous country. And they are fighting for the right to
:08:17. > :08:22.associate with partners who will help them realise their aspirations.
:08:23. > :08:27.This whole crisis started at the Ukraine scrapped plans for closer
:08:28. > :08:31.ties with the EU -- after. In favour of Russia. But no these protests
:08:32. > :08:35.have become about much more, a direct challenge to the President's
:08:36. > :08:44.rule, and people of all ages are being drawn into the conflict.
:08:45. > :08:47.OK, we turn to sport now with rugby, and it was a nail-biting finale to
:08:48. > :08:55.England's match in the Six Nations just now. In the end, France one,
:08:56. > :09:02.26-24. -- won. Better news for Wales as they beat Italy 23-15. Joe Wilson
:09:03. > :09:07.has been watching. A new Six Nations, same old stuff,
:09:08. > :09:12.please, Cardiff requested. Wales favourites again. Who was going to
:09:13. > :09:16.stop them this season? Italy? Well, nearly. When you are three minutes
:09:17. > :09:21.into your debut defending the line, just get something on the ball.
:09:22. > :09:26.Horrible for Italy, lovely start the Wales. After a second try by
:09:27. > :09:33.half-time, Jamie Roberts breaking through, finished by Scott
:09:34. > :09:38.Williams. But what next? Suspicions of an Italian forward pass here. Not
:09:39. > :09:46.so, said the officials, and what followed was unmistakable skill and
:09:47. > :09:50.speed. Campagnaro, a 20-year-old, calmly and quickly bringing his team
:09:51. > :09:53.back into the match. So Wales knew about Campagnaro now. Leigh
:09:54. > :09:58.Halfpenny passed the ball straight to him. With every stride to the
:09:59. > :10:02.line, Wales suddenly contemplated the possibility of defeat. In the
:10:03. > :10:09.end, despite Campagnaro's her relics, Wales hung on to win 23-15.
:10:10. > :10:12.-- heroics. Nothing rampant all resplendent about his performance.
:10:13. > :10:18.The best thing Wales can say is they began with a victory and in Paris,
:10:19. > :10:24.France and England would settle for something similar. England feared
:10:25. > :10:28.the match was over as soon as it started. France scored the strike
:10:29. > :10:34.after 30 seconds, the ball bouncing their weight. How about bouncing
:10:35. > :10:39.back? England lead in the second half until, with three minutes to
:10:40. > :10:42.go, France worked a move to the wing for the decisive score. Breathtaking