:00:30. > :00:32.A fall in the number of top A level grades for the first time in more
:00:32. > :00:34.than 20 years. Thousands of students in England,
:00:34. > :00:37.Wales and Northern Ireland are collecting their results. For the
:00:37. > :00:40.first time, boys have outperformed girls in achieving the A-star grade.
:00:40. > :00:42.Scuffles outside Ecuador's embassy in London - a decision's due on
:00:42. > :00:44.whether the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will be allowed
:00:44. > :00:47.political asylum. The Prime Minister's former spin
:00:47. > :00:49.doctor Andy Coulson is among six former News of the World
:00:49. > :00:51.journalists and a private investigator who've appeared in
:00:51. > :00:54.court over phone hacking. The Duke of Edinburgh remains in
:00:54. > :00:57.hospital in Aberdeen as he's treated for a recurrence of an
:00:57. > :00:58.infection. Man paralysed from the neck down
:00:58. > :01:01.Man paralysed from the neck down will told shortly if doctors will
:01:01. > :01:09.be free from prosecution if they help him to die. Later on BBC
:01:09. > :01:12.London: can you help the police find the killer of this pensioner,
:01:12. > :01:22.and the deck hand on the ferry whose death could have been
:01:22. > :01:26.
:01:26. > :01:29.Good afternoon, and welcome to the BBC news at 1.00pm. For the first
:01:29. > :01:32.time in more than two decades, the number of students getting A grades
:01:32. > :01:35.at A level has fallen. Thousands of pupils in England, Wales and
:01:35. > :01:38.Northern Ireland are getting their results today. And for the first
:01:38. > :01:46.time boys have overtaken girls at the A star grade. Our education
:01:46. > :01:53.correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti reports.
:01:53. > :01:59.I am so proud of you! Two years of hard work and an outburst of joy.
:01:59. > :02:02.Oh, my God. Hundreds of thousands of A-level students across England
:02:02. > :02:08.and Wales and Northern Ireland today face their day of reckoning.
:02:08. > :02:12.I was revising every day, and I was predicting grades I thought I would
:02:12. > :02:18.never, ever get. Obviously, the hard work paid off, and I got it.
:02:18. > :02:25.got A, B, C and I only needed 200 points. I got 300. It's exactly
:02:25. > :02:31.what I hoped for, to be honest. I was worried about my English grade,
:02:31. > :02:34.but I booted that one. Results of this school are up on last year,
:02:34. > :02:39.but overall, those getting the very top grades have fallen slightly for
:02:39. > :02:44.the first time in more than two decades. Entries awarded an A or A
:02:44. > :02:50.star fell nearly half a percentage point to 26.6%, but the pass rate -
:02:50. > :02:54.those getting an E and above - went up slightly to 97%. 8% of boys'
:02:54. > :03:01.entries got an A star, outstripping girls for the first time. I found
:03:01. > :03:04.out I got in this moreing. Andrew got a clean sweep, four A stars and
:03:04. > :03:10.seemed stunned. I haven't even taken in awe all these words on
:03:10. > :03:16.this paper yet. Where is it you want to do? What do you want to do?
:03:16. > :03:26.Physics and philosophy in at Oxford. I can't stop saying hopefully at
:03:26. > :03:33.the end of that sentence, automatic. Pupils with good grades have a
:03:33. > :03:36.better chance this year. I trust the decisions students make. If the
:03:36. > :03:42.university has the capacity to take them on, they should be able to go
:03:42. > :03:46.to that university. I think this is incredibly empowering for students.
:03:46. > :03:50.But UCAS, the universities admission service, said those
:03:50. > :03:55.accepted by universities were down by nearly 7% this morning. This
:03:55. > :04:00.could be because the places for those getting lower grades than two
:04:00. > :04:03.As and a B were reduced. There are likely to be people who got A-B-B
:04:03. > :04:06.who may not have been accepted, whereas in the past the university
:04:07. > :04:11.might have been able to say, OK. You have only dropped by one grade,
:04:11. > :04:14.and we'll let you in, so those people will now have to go into
:04:14. > :04:18.clearing, and we'll have to wait and see what happens over the next
:04:18. > :04:25.days and weeks. The futures of tens of thousands of young people will
:04:25. > :04:28.have been decided today. For others, the uncertainty continues. From --
:04:28. > :04:30.What about students who didn't get the grades they were hoping for?
:04:30. > :04:35.Chris Buckler is at UCAS headquarters in Cheltenham. I
:04:35. > :04:38.imagine they're already fairly busy. Yes, indeed, Sophie. Not everybody
:04:38. > :04:41.is screaming and shouting about those results. Those are the people
:04:42. > :04:45.these people are here to deal with. Half a million students they
:04:45. > :04:49.believe have already been in contact with UCAS in some way
:04:49. > :04:53.either by logging on on their website, getting in touch on social
:04:53. > :04:57.media or making phone calls to them. If you take look at their website,
:04:57. > :04:59.you can see they have something you can click through and get to the
:04:59. > :05:04.clearing vacancies. That is all- important to the tens of thousands
:05:04. > :05:08.of students who are still waiting to find a place or for a position
:05:08. > :05:11.at university. The chair of UCAS is David. When we take a look at this,
:05:11. > :05:15.that is very stressful time for students. What advice would you
:05:15. > :05:20.give them to make sure they get a place The important thing is to
:05:20. > :05:24.take their time. Out there are over 25,000 courses, good courses, who
:05:24. > :05:27.have vacant places. There is plenty of time for those who have fallen
:05:27. > :05:30.short of their level of expectations to reflect, to take
:05:30. > :05:35.advice, to take advice from their schools, from their colleges, to
:05:35. > :05:39.research their options, as you say, through the UCAS web site, then get
:05:39. > :05:43.in touch with the universities that have got vacancies. We were hearing
:05:43. > :05:50.about universities really having more of an option to take the top
:05:50. > :05:52.performing pupils, those two take two As and a B at A level. From
:05:52. > :05:57.your position as Vice Chancellor of Birmingham University will, you be
:05:57. > :06:02.looking for students at that top level? Yes, at Birmingham we'll be
:06:02. > :06:05.looking for students that have A, A B or better. Our phone lines are
:06:05. > :06:09.open for students who are thinking of upgrading to a university like
:06:09. > :06:13.Birmingham. You have two groups of student who have done very well, A,
:06:13. > :06:17.A B or better who can think about a possible change of institutions,
:06:17. > :06:21.and you got some others who might have been a little bit disappointed
:06:21. > :06:25.by their results, but they can move into clearing, and there are a lot
:06:25. > :06:29.of opportunities for them in clearing. UCAS telling us at this
:06:29. > :06:32.stage there are 25,000 courses still with vacancies. Of course
:06:32. > :06:36.what's important is getting on to the website and finding out what
:06:36. > :06:46.your options are. Thank you very much. There is
:06:46. > :06:47.
:06:47. > :06:50.plenty more information on the BBC News site -- website explaining the
:06:50. > :06:53.clearing system, what to do if you don't get your desired results and
:06:53. > :06:55.an opportunity to put your questions to our panel of experts
:06:55. > :06:58.from the Association of Colleges. Just go to bbc.co.uk/news and click
:06:58. > :07:01.on the education link. In the next few minutes Ecuador is
:07:01. > :07:03.expected to announce whether it will grant political asylum to the
:07:03. > :07:06.Wikileaks founder Julian Asssange. Mr Assange took refuge at the
:07:06. > :07:09.embassy in London in June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he
:07:09. > :07:13.faces allegations of sexual assault. Caroline Hawley reports.
:07:14. > :07:19.Get off! Outside Ecuador's embassy in Knightsbridge this morning some
:07:19. > :07:21.of Julian Assange's supporters came out to protest, and some were taken
:07:21. > :07:27.away. But it's Mr Assange himself that Britain is determined to
:07:27. > :07:30.arrest. He's been in the international
:07:30. > :07:34.spotlight first for publishing classified documents, then for
:07:35. > :07:40.allegations of sex crimes in Sweden. Now he's at the centre of a major
:07:40. > :07:43.diplomatic storm. There have been police outside the
:07:43. > :07:48.Ecuadorian embassy ever since Julian Assange walked into this
:07:49. > :07:53.building almost two months ago claiming political asylum to avoid
:07:53. > :07:56.extradition to Sweden arguing he feared onward extradition to the US.
:07:56. > :07:59.British officials said he was protected from arrest while on
:07:59. > :08:03.diplomatic territory but would be taken into custody if he walked out
:08:04. > :08:08.for breaching his bail conditions, but Britain has now told Ecuador it
:08:08. > :08:11.has a legal right to actually enter the embassy from Ecuador, a furious
:08:11. > :08:14.response. TRANSLATION: We have received a
:08:14. > :08:18.threat by the United Kingdom, a clear and written threat, that they
:08:18. > :08:23.could storm our embassy in London if Ecuador refuses to hand in
:08:23. > :08:28.Julian Assange. We want to make it absolutely clear that we are not a
:08:28. > :08:34.British colony and that the times of the colony are over.
:08:34. > :08:39.It was after the killing outside the Libyan embassy in London of
:08:39. > :08:44.police officer eveon Fletcher that the obscure DiplomatIc and Premises
:08:44. > :08:46.Act was brought in, but Britain is wont to act on it because of
:08:46. > :08:54.international repercussions. suppose the Foreign Office note
:08:54. > :08:57.about this was a mistake. There are object both legal and practical
:08:57. > :09:01.implications about lifting legal obligations from embassy premises.
:09:01. > :09:04.You expose British and other diplomats everywhere to similar
:09:04. > :09:07.treatment. It would be wishful thinking from
:09:07. > :09:12.Julian Assange's supporters to imagine he could be whisked to the
:09:12. > :09:18.airport to fly to Ecuador. Britain has made clear it won't give him
:09:18. > :09:22.safe passage, that he faces arrest regardless of Ecuador's decision.
:09:22. > :09:27.Our diplomatic correspondent James Robbins is outside the Equador
:09:27. > :09:33.Embassy in central London. If he does get asylum, what next, James?
:09:33. > :09:36.Well, if you can hear me over the chanting by a lot of pro-Assange
:09:36. > :09:40.supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy, whose chants have been
:09:40. > :09:44.somewhat quietened by the rain that started a few minutes ago, they're
:09:44. > :09:48.very eager to hear whether or not the Ecuadorian Government will
:09:48. > :09:51.grant asylum to Julian Assange, just as the British side is. There
:09:51. > :09:55.is no doubt feelings are running high on both sides. Britain's
:09:55. > :09:59.Foreign Office says it has an absolute duty to comply with the
:09:59. > :10:04.Swedish request for the arrest of Julian Assange and his extradition
:10:04. > :10:09.to Sweden to face questioning and possible charges relating to
:10:09. > :10:13.alleged sexual assault. Equally, the Ecuadorians say their rights
:10:13. > :10:21.have been infringed and that the British are guilty of threatening
:10:21. > :10:27.them directly by saying they might set aside the Geneva Convention and
:10:27. > :10:31.they might feel it's necessary at some stage to go into this embassy
:10:31. > :10:33.and arrest Julian Assange. Feelings running high on both sides as we
:10:33. > :10:37.await the decision. Thank you very much. We're expecting that decision
:10:37. > :10:40.any time now. When we get it, we'll come back to you. Thank you.
:10:40. > :10:42.Retail sales grew unexpectedly in July. Figures from the Office for
:10:43. > :10:45.National Statistics showed they were up 0.3% on the month before
:10:45. > :10:53.despite predictions of another fall. It's thought high street sales and
:10:53. > :10:56.fuel promotions helped to boost takings.
:10:56. > :10:59.It's been confirmed that the body found at a house in New Addington
:10:59. > :11:01.in South London last week was that of the missing schoolgirl, Tia
:11:01. > :11:06.Sharp. Her grandmother's boyfriend, Stuart Hazell, has been charged
:11:06. > :11:08.with her murder. Six former News of the World
:11:08. > :11:12.journalists and the private investigator Glen Mulcaire have all
:11:12. > :11:15.appeared in court charged with phone hacking. They're accused of
:11:15. > :11:17.conspiring to intercept the voicemail messages of 600 people in
:11:17. > :11:20.total, including those of the murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler,
:11:20. > :11:22.the actors Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jude Law and Sienna Miller
:11:22. > :11:32.and the politicians Lord Prescott and Charles Clarke. Our home
:11:32. > :11:32.
:11:33. > :11:37.affairs correspondent Tom Symonds reports. They were some of the
:11:37. > :11:42.biggest names in tabloid journalism - the editor, Andy Coulson, led the
:11:42. > :11:48.News of the World for four years. The managing editor, Stuart Kuttner,
:11:48. > :11:52.the veteran reporter, Neville Fellbeck. The phone-hacking charges
:11:52. > :11:57.have pulled in almost the entire top table of the red-top newspaper
:11:57. > :12:00.during its heyday, and with them, this man, Glen Mulcaire, private
:12:00. > :12:04.investigator, last in court six years ago when he was convicted.
:12:04. > :12:08.They answered their names and took their seats in the dock. The court,
:12:08. > :12:15.crowded with their former newspaper colleagues. It was a short hearing
:12:15. > :12:18.to pass the case to the Crown Court. They're charged with intercepting
:12:18. > :12:22.communications during transmission without authority, or, as it's
:12:22. > :12:26.better known, phone hacking. It took 15 minutes to read out all of
:12:26. > :12:30.the charges against the defendants here today. This has been one of
:12:30. > :12:34.the biggest investigations the Metropolitan Police has mounted.
:12:34. > :12:39.They will all appear next at Southwark Crown Court on the 26th
:12:39. > :12:44.of September. It's alleged that the victims numbered 600. Those named
:12:44. > :12:47.today include politicians - Lord Prescott, David Blunkett and
:12:48. > :12:55.Charles Clarke, sports people like Sven Goran Eriksson and Wayne
:12:55. > :13:00.Rooney, a string of celebrities, Jude Law and Cienna Smith -- Sienna
:13:00. > :13:06.Mayor have already been paid damages by News International. Brad
:13:06. > :13:11.Pitt is joined by Paul McCartney on the list and of course Millie
:13:11. > :13:16.Dowler. When her name became public as a victim, the News of the World
:13:16. > :13:19.closed within days. Some have publicly and vehemently stated they
:13:19. > :13:24.weren't involved in illegality, most recently Andy Coulson. But he
:13:24. > :13:28.and others are on bail awaiting the next court date. They can't speak
:13:28. > :13:31.to each other. They must tell the police if they want to go on
:13:31. > :13:36.holiday. Tom is here. Explain where this one
:13:36. > :13:38.fits in. This is all getting very complicated. Most noticeable by her
:13:38. > :13:42.absence today was Rebekah Brooks, who was charged with phone hacking
:13:43. > :13:47.a little bit later than the others and has a later court date, but
:13:47. > :13:50.she's also charged with perverting the course of justice in relation
:13:50. > :13:53.to police investigations. Andy Coulson is being prosecuted in
:13:53. > :13:56.Scotland for perjury, and the Crown Prosecution Service have an
:13:56. > :14:00.enormous pile of files that they have to go through to try to work
:14:00. > :14:05.out in a number of other areas whether there should be criminal
:14:05. > :14:09.prosecutions, and they have their new guidelines to work out whether
:14:09. > :14:12.that should happen. Those include the operation's work looking at
:14:12. > :14:16.whether there was illegal payments to public officials. Down the line
:14:16. > :14:20.there are possible charges for computer hacking, so a major job of
:14:20. > :14:23.work really for the justice system, and if you look at how long this
:14:23. > :14:26.might take to go through the courts, I think we're not counting in
:14:26. > :14:29.months. We're counting in years. Tom, thank you very much.
:14:29. > :14:32.The Duke of Edinburgh has spent the night in hospital after being re-
:14:32. > :14:35.admitted with a bladder infection. Prince Philip, who's 91, was taken
:14:35. > :14:37.to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from Balmoral, where he'd been staying
:14:37. > :14:46.with the Queen. Our Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon is in
:14:46. > :14:52.Aberdeen. Yes, Sophie, Prince Philip has had an extremely busy
:14:52. > :14:58.summer so far. He was at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics
:14:58. > :15:02.alongside the Queen. He watched his grand daughter Zara Phillips. Last
:15:02. > :15:06.week they held a garden party at Balmoral for 3,000 guests, then
:15:06. > :15:10.yesterday morning he returned to Balmoral after a series of
:15:10. > :15:13.engagements on the Isle of Wight. It was when he returned that
:15:13. > :15:18.doctors took the decision that he should be admitted to hospital here
:15:18. > :15:23.in Aberdeen. He was brought here by ambulance on the 50-mile or so
:15:23. > :15:28.journey from that private estate on Royal Deeside. Buckingham Palace
:15:28. > :15:31.says his admission is a precautionary measure after a
:15:31. > :15:36.recurrence of that bladder problem that flared up in June and which
:15:36. > :15:40.led to his admission in hospital during the Diamond Jubilee
:15:40. > :15:44.celebration. In the end, he ended up staying for five nights, but of
:15:44. > :15:49.course, this is the third time in about nine months he has been
:15:49. > :15:53.admitted to hospital, so doctors here will be keeping him under very
:15:53. > :16:03.close observation - no Royal visitors so far, but we are told
:16:03. > :16:05.
:16:05. > :16:08.he's expected to remain in hospital Our top story this lunchtime:
:16:08. > :16:12.Thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are
:16:12. > :16:14.collecting A-level results, there has been a fall in the number of
:16:15. > :16:18.top grades for the first time in more than 20 years.
:16:18. > :16:22.Coming up, South Africa win the toss and bat first in the decisive
:16:22. > :16:25.third and final Test against England at Lord's.
:16:25. > :16:28.Later on BBC London, pricing the locals out of the market, why plans
:16:28. > :16:30.to redevelop South Tottenham have angered some traders and residents.
:16:30. > :16:40.And a budget airline launches an engineering apprentice scheme to
:16:40. > :16:47.
:16:47. > :16:51.The United Nations says at least 2.5 million people in Syria are in
:16:51. > :16:54.need of aid. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the
:16:54. > :16:58.United Arab Emirates have urged citizens in Lebanon to leave
:16:59. > :17:05.immediately because of fears that the conflict in Syria is spiralling
:17:05. > :17:08.across the border. Security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.
:17:08. > :17:14.Searching for survivors, not from an earthquake but a man-made
:17:14. > :17:21.tragedy. A Syrian government air strike yesterday on this village
:17:21. > :17:26.killed and wounded dozens of civilians. It doubled the course
:17:26. > :17:30.for an end to a conflict that has cost an estimated 20,000 lives and
:17:30. > :17:35.contain. The UN emergency relief co-ordinator, Baroness Amos, has
:17:35. > :17:38.been in Damascus. She says the situation is deteriorating.
:17:38. > :17:43.humanitarian situation has worsened since I was here in March. Over one
:17:43. > :17:46.million people have been uprooted and face destitution. Perhaps one
:17:46. > :17:50.million more have agent humanitarian needs due to the
:17:50. > :17:59.widening impact of the crisis on the economy and on people's
:17:59. > :18:05.This unverified footage appears to show more government air strikes
:18:05. > :18:09.this week. As world leaders fail to agree on how to stop the conflict,
:18:09. > :18:14.a small but growing number of international jihadis are heading
:18:14. > :18:18.to Syria to join the fight against the regime, some from Britain.
:18:18. > :18:23.you start to have people, British citizens, going somewhere else,
:18:23. > :18:27.involving themselves in fighting, are obtaining guerrilla warfare
:18:27. > :18:34.skills and sometimes terrorist tactics, nobody knows exactly where
:18:34. > :18:39.The ongoing plight are Syrian people is causing many to despair
:18:39. > :18:42.of the UN efforts to end it. If international diplomacy continues
:18:42. > :18:48.to founder on disagreements in the Security Council, the immediate
:18:48. > :18:52.future for Syria and the wider region looks bleak.
:18:52. > :18:55.Frank Gardner is here now. Is there any sign of a breakthrough on the
:18:55. > :19:01.diplomatic front? To be bland, no. There's plenty of diplomatic
:19:01. > :19:05.activity, but going in different directions. There is a senior
:19:05. > :19:10.Syrian official in Beijing, talking to the Chinese. Essentially, he is
:19:10. > :19:15.thanking them and the UN Security Council, because China and Russia
:19:15. > :19:19.have blocked any more robust action against the Syrian regime. The
:19:19. > :19:25.rebels are saying it is too late for dialogue, and Les Assad goes,
:19:25. > :19:29.which he will not do. On the other hand you have the Organisation of
:19:29. > :19:32.Islamic Co-operation, a powerful and important umbrella grouping for
:19:32. > :19:37.the Muslim-majority nations, which has expelled Syria in the last 24
:19:37. > :19:42.hours. That was against the wishes of Iran, another Syrian ally. So
:19:42. > :19:46.Syria is certainly looking isolated diplomatically, but is any of this
:19:46. > :19:50.leading to a solution? No, and in the absence of a diplomatic
:19:50. > :19:55.solution, people are taking events into their own hands. More weapons
:19:55. > :19:59.are flowing into Syria. As we have seen, really just a trickle, but a
:19:59. > :20:02.dangerous trickle of international freelance jihadists who have very
:20:02. > :20:06.little Syrian connection are starting to end up there, so it is
:20:06. > :20:10.looking dangerous. Gunmen have attacked one of
:20:10. > :20:15.Pakistan's biggest air bases, killing one sold and damage in an
:20:15. > :20:23.aircraft. Several armed militants stormed the NRA's 60 kilometres
:20:23. > :20:24.from Islamabad. Special forces killed eight are the terrorists.
:20:24. > :20:28.The Taliban say they carried out the attack.
:20:28. > :20:31.A landmark ruling is due at the High Court in the next hour or on
:20:31. > :20:37.whether a man left paralysed on the neck down by a stroke should be
:20:37. > :20:40.allowed medical help to die. He has locked-in syndrome and says his
:20:40. > :20:46.life has become intolerable. He is fully conscious and mentally alert,
:20:46. > :20:51.but he cannot move or speak. Jane Dreaper reports.
:20:51. > :20:56.Tony Nicklinson wants to be allowed to die. A devastating stroke seven
:20:56. > :21:02.years ago left him unable to move anything but his head and eyes. He
:21:02. > :21:07.used to have an active lifestyle and a good job overseas. The
:21:07. > :21:10.skydiver and played rugby. But now he has to use a special computer
:21:10. > :21:15.which tracks his eye movements to communicate. Tony Nicklinson sums
:21:15. > :21:21.up his life as demeaning and intolerable. Today's ruling is a
:21:21. > :21:26.big moment for him. I am feeling believed that I love have an answer
:21:26. > :21:29.to the question, who determines my future, me or the state? I am
:21:29. > :21:32.thinking that I may not like the answer because the judgment will be
:21:32. > :21:37.in favour of the state. Still, we will still have to wait for the
:21:37. > :21:41.answer. It means everything to us, whether we have to sit and watch
:21:41. > :21:46.and suffering for goodness knows how long or he gets to have a quiet,
:21:46. > :21:51.pain-free death. Their husbands can only take his own life if he starts
:21:51. > :21:55.himself to death. -- her husband. He is asking the court to sanction
:21:55. > :21:58.help from doctors, but the legal challenge troubles son in the
:21:59. > :22:03.medical profession. The deliberate termination of light in somebody
:22:03. > :22:07.who is disabled has ramifications for the way we regard this ability
:22:07. > :22:11.in our society as a whole. judges will also rule in the case
:22:11. > :22:16.of another paralysed man today. Asians who have suffered similar
:22:16. > :22:24.problems say they can still be hope, though. -- patients. After about
:22:24. > :22:29.five years with total paralysis, one does not have a life. But one
:22:29. > :22:35.of the things I would like to do is try and help people with locked-in
:22:35. > :22:38.syndrome develop a new brain path and the motor function.
:22:38. > :22:45.Ministry of Justice says Parliament should decide what happens here,
:22:45. > :22:48.not the courts. There are indications this
:22:48. > :22:51.lunchtime that the government wants to limit the cost of care for the
:22:51. > :22:56.elderly. A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister is serious
:22:56. > :22:59.about solving the issue after a review suggested they should be cap
:22:59. > :23:04.on social care of �35,000. But there has been no agreement on a
:23:04. > :23:06.final package of proposals. Robin Brant is in Westminster, and this
:23:06. > :23:10.is all are trying to end the situation where elderly people are
:23:10. > :23:15.forced to sell their homes in order to pay for long-term care. Yes,
:23:15. > :23:19.under the current arrangements, elderly people who have assets
:23:19. > :23:23.above �23,000 invariably end up selling their homes to fund them
:23:23. > :23:26.move into retirement homes as part of their social care. Most of the
:23:26. > :23:31.politicians here agree that is arbitrary, makes it difficult for
:23:31. > :23:34.people to make plans for the later years of their life, and so they
:23:34. > :23:38.want change. Andrew Bill Mott, the Economist, look at this for the
:23:38. > :23:43.government last year and came up with two significance suggestions,
:23:43. > :23:46.a cap of �35,000 above which the government would pay for care, and
:23:46. > :23:51.a significant increase in the threshold at which people began to
:23:51. > :23:54.face means-testing, rising to �100,000. Andrew Lansley, the
:23:54. > :23:58.Health Secretary, said the government agreed in principle with
:23:58. > :24:02.a cap but said it cannot be decided until after the next spending
:24:02. > :24:08.Review, 2014, and most people saw that as taking it into the long
:24:08. > :24:10.grass. Now it is clear that has been a change in sentiment, a small
:24:10. > :24:14.shift not a huge leap, but the Prime Minister wants to sort this
:24:14. > :24:18.before the next general election. Downing Street has said there is a
:24:18. > :24:22.will to see a decision about funding social care reform in the
:24:22. > :24:25.next Comprehensive Spending Review, which will come no later than 2014.
:24:26. > :24:30.We do not know how much money will be needed, where it will come from,
:24:30. > :24:34.and there's talk of the NHS budget, but it is clear Mr Cameron and Nick
:24:34. > :24:37.Clegg one-twos of the problem. There is also a political
:24:37. > :24:41.imperative for them. They want to embrace social care reform, it
:24:41. > :24:44.could be a big legacy issue for the coalition, and they would prefer to
:24:44. > :24:47.have some of the talk in the run-up to the next election being
:24:47. > :24:53.dominated by NEC they can coalesce around, rather than their attempts
:24:53. > :24:57.to divorce each other in the run-up to the election.
:24:57. > :25:02.In the first day of the final Test at Lord's, South Africa opened the
:25:02. > :25:06.batting and was 65-4 at lunch. England have to win the Day to
:25:06. > :25:12.level the series and retain their position as the number one Test
:25:12. > :25:17.side. -- the game. There is no Kevin Pietersen in his
:25:17. > :25:21.team. His derogatory text messages have cost him his plays and
:25:21. > :25:25.disrupted England, where South Africa have just been focusing on
:25:25. > :25:30.becoming the best team in the world. It is a title Andrew Strauss did
:25:30. > :25:34.not want to give up easily, and an early run-out chance was not taken,
:25:34. > :25:39.so Stuart Broad thought he would try to rough Graham Smith up a bit.
:25:39. > :25:44.Jimmy Anderson sends the captain back to the pavilion soon after
:25:44. > :25:46.with a little help from a review. I think the Lord's faithful were
:25:46. > :25:50.enjoying what they were seeing, and with early movement they were
:25:50. > :25:55.hoping England would take advantage, but Le Hashim Amla at the crease,
:25:56. > :26:00.it is never easy. His wonderful travel century in the first Test is
:26:00. > :26:05.arguably the difference between the two sides. -- treble. Worryingly,
:26:05. > :26:09.he pushed down the accelerator again. But Steve Finn is tenacious
:26:09. > :26:13.and struck at the other end, another Pietersen not play much
:26:13. > :26:16.part applause. Hashim Amla got nervous, and Steve Finn revelled in
:26:16. > :26:20.it. Everything was going England's way, including controversial
:26:20. > :26:28.decisions. He may have been blind, but Jacques Kallis was unlucky to
:26:28. > :26:38.be given out. England united did not care, as they got off to an
:26:38. > :26:38.
:26:38. > :26:42.Stop Ben Ainslie has returned to London to sail his boat down at the
:26:42. > :26:46.Thames this morning. He won his fourth consecutive gold
:26:46. > :26:51.at London 2012 and was chosen as the flag-bearer for Team GB at the
:26:51. > :26:54.closing ceremony last Sunday. But there's no rest for the most
:26:55. > :26:57.decorated Olympic sale of all time. He will be heading to San Francisco
:26:57. > :27:02.tomorrow to compete in the America's Cup World Series.
:27:02. > :27:06.And another Olympian has been back in action at a book-signing, but he
:27:06. > :27:15.is also celebrating his A-level results. One week after diving
:27:15. > :27:18.success at the Olympics, Tom Daley achieved top grades. Add that to
:27:18. > :27:23.his bronze medal from the Olympics, and it has not been a bad week for
:27:23. > :27:28.the teenager. Now, back to our correspondent
:27:28. > :27:31.James Robbins, who is outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and
:27:31. > :27:36.we are expecting a decision any minute now on whether Julian
:27:36. > :27:40.Assange will be granted political asylum. That is right, and I have
:27:40. > :27:43.to say, there is a substantial crowd gathered here outside the
:27:43. > :27:47.embassy, which is contained in the building behind me, a flat within
:27:47. > :27:52.that building. That's an surprisingly, they are supporters
:27:52. > :27:56.of Julian Assange. -- perhaps unsurprisingly. They are chanting
:27:56. > :28:00.slogans in his support, against the British government, against what
:28:00. > :28:04.they see as Western bullying and in favour of Julian Assange's
:28:04. > :28:07.championing of the freedom of the press. We are also hearing that
:28:07. > :28:11.Ecuador's foreign minister is speaking at the moment. He has not
:28:11. > :28:15.announced a decision yet on whether Julian Assange will be granted
:28:15. > :28:19.asylum inside his embassy, but I should tell you that the Foreign
:28:19. > :28:23.Office says that even if Mr Assange were to be granted asylum, it would
:28:23. > :28:27.change nothing in their view, because Britain, in the view of the
:28:27. > :28:31.Foreign Office, has an absolute obligation to follow its
:28:31. > :28:34.responsibilities, to arrest Mr Assange, to extradite him to Sweden,
:28:34. > :28:39.where he faces questioning in relation to possible charges of
:28:39. > :28:44.sexual assault. This has gone far beyond that issue, and it has now
:28:44. > :28:48.become a potentially dangerous political collision between several
:28:48. > :28:52.countries in Latin America who believe that Britain is behaving in
:28:52. > :28:55.a colonial way, and those in Britain, particularly around the
:28:55. > :29:01.British government, who believe it is standing up for the rule of law.
:29:01. > :29:05.A look at the weather now with I have not said this very often
:29:05. > :29:09.recently, but some of us have got hot weather just around the corner,
:29:09. > :29:13.most of it across central and eastern parts of England. Today is
:29:13. > :29:17.a day of sunshine and showers, and some of them are heavy across the
:29:17. > :29:19.Bristol Channel area, and they will work into the Midlands.
:29:19. > :29:24.Thunderstorms here through the afternoon and heavy downpours
:29:24. > :29:28.further north, across southern Scotland and Northern Ireland. The
:29:28. > :29:32.far north of Scotland, though, should stay fine and bright with
:29:32. > :29:35.temperatures of 22 in Inverness. Similar in Northern Ireland, heavy
:29:35. > :29:40.showers working in from the Bristol Channel area into the Midlands.
:29:40. > :29:44.Across south-east England, turning increasingly hazy with one or two
:29:44. > :29:48.showers. Cloudy in the south-west, outbreaks of rain pushing him. Some
:29:48. > :29:53.uncertainty about that, but there could be spots as far east as Devon
:29:53. > :29:57.and Dorset. Overnight, heavy rain working in across the British Isles,
:29:57. > :30:02.and the rainfall totals will really mount up. Across Northern Ireland
:30:02. > :30:05.and south-west Scotland, up to 40 mm of rain, but perhaps 50
:30:05. > :30:09.millimetres falling by the end of Friday across the south of Wales in
:30:09. > :30:14.particular. It is going to be a wet night and very warm for most of us,
:30:14. > :30:18.temperatures falling no lower than 16-18 Celsius, so a little
:30:18. > :30:23.aggressive. Friday starts cloudy and wet with heavy pulses of rain.
:30:23. > :30:26.The wettest weather on Friday will be across western areas, Wales and
:30:26. > :30:29.the south-west of England, brightening up across Northern
:30:29. > :30:34.Ireland and northern areas of Scotland, and later across the
:30:34. > :30:38.south-east, where it will turn hot and humid. 27 Celsius is possible
:30:38. > :30:41.in the Greater London area. For the weekend, a weather front across
:30:41. > :30:46.central portions of the British jazz, and there is some uncertainty
:30:46. > :30:51.about where it will lie, but it marks the dividing line between hot
:30:51. > :30:54.and humid air in the south-east and north fresher, pleasant conditions
:30:54. > :30:58.across western areas. Saturday will start cloudy with rain in the
:30:58. > :31:02.morning, but easing across western areas, and the skies will become
:31:02. > :31:05.brighter in the afternoon. Across the south-east, temperatures
:31:05. > :31:10.rocketing during the afternoon, feeling oppressive and humid with
:31:10. > :31:15.temperatures reaching 27 or 28 degrees Celsius through the course
:31:15. > :31:19.of Saturday afternoon. Of the two days, Sunday will see temperatures
:31:19. > :31:23.even higher, close to 30 degrees, not too far away from the hottest
:31:23. > :31:27.weather that we have seen so far this year. If you want more details
:31:27. > :31:32.about this hot spell, across eastern parts of England, my
:31:32. > :31:37.colleague has done a piece on the BBC weather website. That is it