24/05/2014 BBC Weekend News

Hopes of finding four missing British sailors fade after their

capsized yacht is discovered in the Atlantic Ocean. The boat's life raft

had not been deployed. The Prime Minister says his thoughts are with

the families and friends of the crew.

After significant UKIP gains in the local elections, both Labour and the

Conservatives count the cost. And the Pope arrives in Jordan at

the start of his first official trip to the Middle East.

Good afternoon. Hopes of finding the four British sailors missing in the

Atlantic have all but faded after the yacht's life raft was found on

board the capsized vessel. The search has now been called off a

week after contact was lost with the men. Prime Minister David Cameron

said his thoughts were with the families and friends of the crew.

Duncan Kennedy is in Southampton. Well Cheeki Rafiki should have

arrived back in Southampton this weekend but early this morning came

confirmation from the US Coast Guard that they had found the upturned

hull and also crucially, the life raft. So for the families a week of

anxiety has turned into a day of tragedy. The photographs but brought

hope to an end. The turned Cheeki Rafiki and no sign of life. The

queue has been sheared off making stability all but impossible. The

Coast Guard also confirmed that the life raft was still on board. The

search for Andrew Bridge, James Male, Paul Goslin and Steve Warren

had spread over a week but has now been called off. The family of Steve

Warren issued a statement this morning saying we are sad that the

US has not suspended the search for Stephen and his friends. From the

beginning we together with the other families involved had continued to

hold out hope that he would be found alive. Many private yacht took part

in the search and this morning those who helped to organise them spoke of

a sense of loss. It is very personal to us we feel it is one of our

family out in the water and I think that sailors feel that way

worldwide. It is a situation where it could have been me and if it was

me I would want everyone to be a parent looking. The Cheeki Rafiki

had been returning from Antigua when it sent out distress calls. Today

the battle of Mac charter company said this was a terrible moment for

the families and friends of the crew of the yacht. We all share their

sorrow after this tragedy. This is where it all went wrong. Photographs

of the boat will now be studied by experts. The loss of the keel a

focal point for any questions. The keel will have failed

catastrophically, dropped off, and the boat would have capsized within

seconds. They would have been no time to respond to that. It will now

be down to the British Government to salvage the boat ahead of any

enquiry but for the families of the men, the public expressions of hope

now turn to the private pain of grief.

George Osborne has said the Conservative Party will respond to

voters' concerns which were expressed in the local elections

across England. The Chancellor said he respected the UKIP leader Nigel

Farage and the people who had voted for his party, but added they did

not have the right answers for the country. Labour has also been

defending its election performance. The party gained 338 seats, though

it didn't capture several target councils in the North and the

Midlands. The Conservatives lost 231 council seats. While the Lib Dems

lost 307 seats. UKIP won 161 seats. Our Political Correspondent Alan

Soady's report contains some flash photography.

It is probably not the only points that Nigel Farage will be having

this weekend. His party is still celebrating its strong performance

in the local elections and insisting it was not just a one-off protest

vote. But they are correct to the main parties when it comes to the

general election. The Chancellor George Osborne admits his party

needs to take the performance of UKIP seriously but he has rejected

calls from a few Tory MPs to form an electoral pact with UKIP. They will

not be packed because they want a Conservative government you have to

vote Conservative and that is the message we have to make clear to

people in the next year. There are only two people who can be by

Minister after the next election, David Cameron or Ed Miliband and if

you do not want Ed Miliband you have to vote Conservative. It is not just

amongst conservatives whether our jitters over UKIP. The election

results have seen the party picking up support in traditional Labour

heartlands. Some senior Labour figures have said their party needs

to talk about issues like immigration. The Labour leader Ed

Miliband himself coming in for personal criticism from several of

his own MPs. They claim he has failed to connect with the voters

but allies have defended his performance. Just look at those

results. We did win those local elections. We are on course to get

the majority, if you look at results in those key marginal seats, that is

something we have to continue to work at over the next 11 months and

everyone will get behind Ed Miliband and continue to do that. The vote in

the local elections have been counted but the results of the

European elections will come tomorrow. There may be more -- more

soul-searching to come. Reports are coming in of drive by

shooting in the Californian city of Santa Barbara, in which at least

seven people have died. It's understood it happened near the

campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara and the

gunman was amongst the dead. Fire crews who tackled yesterday's

blaze at the world famous Glasgow School of Art say they have saved

the building's structure and the majority of its contents. The

building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and it was feared

initially that most of its works had been destroyed. Joining us from

Glasgow is our Scotland Reporter Kevin Keane. Kevin, the damage not

as bad as first feared? Indeed. Although from this position

looking up the hill it does look quite badly damaged. All of the

windows on the higher levels have been smashed. Part of the roof

appears to have collapsed as well and is still smoke smouldering from

higher up floors. But told 90% of the structure itself has been saved

and 70% of the contents of the building has been saved as well. And

much of that has been down to the hard work and efforts of the Fire

Service crews who were here throughout the night trying to do

their best. Understanding the historical importance of this

building to the city. The Scotland culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop has

been down this morning meeting some of the teams who have been involved

and she says historic Scotland and the Scottish funding Council are

engaging with the School of Art to talk about how it could be rebuilt

in the future. In Thailand the crackdown following

the military coup is continuing. The military government has ordered 35

more people, including prominent academics, to report to them.

Yesterday 150 politicians from both sides of the political divide were

summoned. From Bangkok our correspondent Damian Grammaticus has

sent this report. Face-to-face. High security and

protesters. Increasingly bold. Starting to confront the Army.

Opposition to the coup beginning to show. The army here in Thailand said

that any gathering of more than five people is illegal for this March in

Bangkok today is a direct challenge to the military. The coup leader has

shouted obscenities. The police said they were waiting for orders from

the military, who seemed unsure how to respond. What do you want to

happen now? But Thailand's new military dictatorship as detained

political leaders, shut down media and imposed a curfew. It is trying

to stifle opposition. It is a risky path at its my -- as it might simply

deepen divisions in Thailand. Pope Francis has arrived in Jordan

at the start of a three-day visit to the Middle East which will also take

in the West Bank and Israel. He was greeted at the airport by political

and religious dignitaries, before being driven to meet King Abdullah

and Queen Rania. Later he'll celebrate mass at Jordan's

international stadium. We can speak to Quentin Somerville in Jordan now.

Quentin, what's the purpose of the visit? Well it is about to get very

loud here at this stadium because the Pope is just about to enter the

stadium. After he celebrated Mass here with 50,000 of the faithful, he

will then go and meet Syrian refugees. Many Christians have been

affected by that conflict. Some half a million have fled. He has called

ready for an end to that conflict as he arrived here to begin this

three-day tour. Much of the focus will be on his next stop. He will

visit the occupied territories and Israel. The Vatican support the

creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Those peace talks

aimed at achieving that of course recently collapsed. This is a

plain-spoken and direct talking Pope and he is bound to have something to

say about Middle East peace. That is all for now. We are back at 20 to

seven. Good afternoon. It has been a hugely

appropriate sphere for a good part of England and Wales this morning.

Some