:00:10. > :00:12.No evidence of a cover up, but the BBC is heavily criticised over the
:00:12. > :00:16.shelving of Newsnight's Jimmy Savile investigation into sexual
:00:16. > :00:22.abuse. An inquiry finds there was chaos
:00:22. > :00:25.and confusion in BBC management with leadership in short supply.
:00:25. > :00:29.The decision by their editor to drop the original investigation was
:00:29. > :00:32.clearly flawed and the way it was taken was wrong. I believe it was
:00:32. > :00:35.done in good faith. It has emerged that before Jimmy
:00:35. > :00:39.Savile died, a senior BBC executive warned he had felt queasy about
:00:39. > :00:43.running a tribute for him, saying he'd seen the real truth about the
:00:43. > :00:46.presenter. Fresh inquests ordered into the
:00:46. > :00:50.deaths of 96 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster as police
:00:51. > :00:53.launch a new investigation. The Swiss bank, UBS, is fined
:00:53. > :00:57.nearly �1 billion after some traders illegally fixed key
:00:57. > :01:02.interest rates. Nearly 4,000 British troops in
:01:02. > :01:04.Afghanistan are to be withdrawn next year.
:01:04. > :01:14.And why Christmas cards sent by German soldiers occupying Jersey
:01:14. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :01:23.during World War II are finally on The scandal of the capital's
:01:23. > :01:26.children who go hungry at school. A report into alleged abuse of
:01:26. > :01:36.elderly stroke patients at one of the region's hospitals has been
:01:36. > :01:46.
:01:46. > :01:49.Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.
:01:49. > :01:53.The decision to shelve Newsnight's report into allegations of sexual
:01:53. > :02:00.abuse by Jimmy Savile was flawed. But an inquiry has found no
:02:00. > :02:06.evidence of a cover-up. It says poor management meant the BBC
:02:06. > :02:11.failed to handle the revelations about Savile resulting in chaos and
:02:11. > :02:15.confusion and the resignation of George Entwistle. It emerged months
:02:15. > :02:20.before and Savile died a senior executive questioned whether
:02:20. > :02:28.tributes should be run because of the darker side to his life. The
:02:28. > :02:32.deputy Director of BBC News has resigned.
:02:32. > :02:38.It is the scandal that brought down a Director-General after just 54
:02:38. > :02:45.days and raised doubts about one of the BBC's most precious as assets,
:02:45. > :02:48.it is reputation for trustworthy journalism. Everyone know has Jimmy
:02:48. > :02:55.Savile did. Newsnight began an investigation. Only for the editor
:02:55. > :02:59.to drop it. Instead, the BBC ran a Jimmy Savile Christmas tribute. Six
:02:59. > :03:03.weeks ago, Newsnight's editor wrote a blog explaining his decision
:03:03. > :03:07.after ITV broadcast the allegation about Savile. The blog turned out
:03:08. > :03:10.to be inaccurate. So went wrong and who was responsible?
:03:10. > :03:15.The former head of Sky News, brought into to investigate says
:03:15. > :03:21.the decision to drop the Savile investigation was flawed, gu taken
:03:21. > :03:25.in but taken in good faith. He is critical of top BBC managers and
:03:25. > :03:30.says the BBC's news division was in meltdown. When the full force of
:03:30. > :03:35.the affair broke in October this year, the BBC's management system
:03:35. > :03:40.proved incapable of dealing with it. The level of kay chaos and
:03:40. > :03:44.confusion was greater than was apparent at the time. Several
:03:44. > :03:49.individuals were making efforts to get to the truth behind the Savile
:03:49. > :03:53.story, but leadership and organisation seemed to be in short
:03:53. > :03:59.short supply. That looks like a criticism of
:03:59. > :04:02.Helen Boaden, but she will return to her job tomorrow. Her deputy
:04:02. > :04:09.Steve Mitchell who couldn't explain why he had taken the Savile
:04:09. > :04:15.investigation off a are list of stories will resign. Peter Rippon
:04:15. > :04:18.will move to a new job. Newsnight editor's most serious
:04:18. > :04:22.mistake was that he didn't look properly at the evidence before
:04:22. > :04:26.deciding to drop the story. It is not surprising therefore, that he
:04:26. > :04:29.didn't understand the evidence that he had and that was to cause
:04:29. > :04:37.enormous confusion in the months to come.
:04:37. > :04:43.A new crisis for Newsnight. Low An investigation into historic
:04:43. > :04:48.child abuse in North Wales led to the former top Tory Lord McAlpine
:04:48. > :04:54.being wrongly named on the internet. The BBC paid him damages and
:04:54. > :05:03.apologised in court. Adrian Van Klaveren is also moving to a new
:05:03. > :05:08.job. The way this report has enabled the BBC to look with
:05:08. > :05:11.searing honesty at its own failings and not just report on other
:05:11. > :05:19.peoples will help rebuild trust. One damaging piece of evidence to
:05:19. > :05:27.emerge, two years before Jimmy Savile's death, a prog a programme
:05:27. > :05:31.maker warn against an obituary of the star and it made him queasy.
:05:31. > :05:36.David Sillito is at New Broadcasting House in London. This
:05:36. > :05:44.inquiry cost �million. What -- �2 million. What is the impact of it
:05:44. > :05:47.likely to be? Well, it is a damning indictment of BBC management. A
:05:47. > :05:51.disaster and inability to get to the truth and they say when
:05:51. > :05:58.leadership was required, it was not there. So these are very serious
:05:58. > :06:02.questions to be addressed. However, this is just the report. There are
:06:02. > :06:06.10,000 e-mails, there are all the transcripts, many of the people who
:06:06. > :06:12.were spoken to were speaking for up to eight hours. We have been told a
:06:12. > :06:18.lot of this information will be made available and the Culture
:06:18. > :06:26.Secretary asked that this be put in the public domain as quickly as
:06:26. > :06:31.possible so people can make their own own minds up of how the BBC
:06:31. > :06:35.handled this investigation. It is interesting that a BBC
:06:35. > :06:38.executive said that he felt queasy at the idea of preparing tributes
:06:39. > :06:44.to Jimmy Savile? I really couldn't believe it when I
:06:44. > :06:48.read it. This is back in May 2011. Jimmy Savile was ill. This was an
:06:48. > :06:54.e-mail sent to George Entwistle, the Director-General who resigned
:06:54. > :06:59.when he was the head of television, saying, "Are you going to do an
:06:59. > :07:03.obituary on Jimmy Savile? I don't know about this because I feel
:07:03. > :07:07.queasy." He worked with Jimmy Savile and he said, "I know the
:07:07. > :07:11.truth." There is another e-mail that talks about Jimmy Savile's
:07:11. > :07:17.dark side. When we get to December and January there are four tributes
:07:18. > :07:20.on BBC TV and radio that go out. Today, Tim Davie, the acting
:07:20. > :07:24.Director-General, said they shouldn't have gone out.
:07:24. > :07:28.There will be more reaction to this story throughout the afternoon on
:07:28. > :07:33.the BBC News Channel. Detectives investigating historical
:07:33. > :07:37.claims of sex abuse linked to Jimmy Savile arrested a man in his 70s.
:07:37. > :07:41.He was arrested this morning on suspicion of sexual offences and is
:07:41. > :07:45.in custody in a South London police station. He is the eighth person to
:07:45. > :07:48.be arrested under the Operation Yewtree investigation.
:07:48. > :07:52.Fresh inquests have been ordered into the deaths of 96 people who
:07:52. > :07:55.died in the Hillsborough disaster over 20 years ago. A new police
:07:55. > :08:00.investigation has also been announced after it emerged that 41
:08:00. > :08:03.of those who died in April 1989 might have been saved. The Home
:08:03. > :08:08.Secretary, Theresa May, says she is determined to deliver justice for
:08:08. > :08:18.the football fans who died and for the families who have fought hard
:08:18. > :08:21.on their behalf. Judith Moritz is at the High Court. Campaigners have
:08:21. > :08:25.long for the inquest verdicts to be overturned and quashed for over 20
:08:25. > :08:30.years. They have waited all that time for their day in court and in
:08:31. > :08:34.reality, it was less than three months since the publication of the
:08:34. > :08:37.Hillsborough independent report until today. Jubilant scenes in the
:08:37. > :08:42.courtroom were the Lord Chief Justice made his announcement. The
:08:42. > :08:47.whole place erupted into applause. These families and their supporters
:08:47. > :08:51.have waited nearly 25 years for this moment. The High Court
:08:51. > :08:56.decision that their relatives who died at Hillsborough will get a new
:08:56. > :09:02.inquest. The depth and the length of the judgement, we couldn't have
:09:02. > :09:09.written it better if we had written it ourselves. So when you get the
:09:09. > :09:14.Lord Chief Justice and I think he used the Term, "Vindicateed".
:09:14. > :09:17.fans were crushed in April 1989. At the inquests which opened the
:09:17. > :09:21.following year, verdicts of accidental death were returned.
:09:21. > :09:24.Something which angered bereaved relatives. They were unhappy with
:09:24. > :09:29.the coroners assessment that all Hillsborough victims had been
:09:29. > :09:33.injured by 3.15pm on the afternoon of the disaster. Evidence covering
:09:33. > :09:37.the emergency response after this time was not heard. Earlier this
:09:37. > :09:42.year, the Hillsborough Independent Panel revealed that 41 of the fans
:09:42. > :09:47.who died probably lived beyond 3.15pm and might have been saved.
:09:47. > :09:51.When I read the Hillsborough Independent Panel's publication of
:09:51. > :09:54.documents and their report, it was overwhelmingly clear that the
:09:54. > :09:59.inquests had proceeded on seriously flawed basis.
:09:59. > :10:03.Now, nearly 25 years after Britain's worst sporting disaster,
:10:03. > :10:12.for the first time, there will be a full coroners investigation into
:10:12. > :10:15.Although today's decision happened quickly, hot on the heels of the
:10:15. > :10:19.Hillsborough independent report, the families know they will have
:10:19. > :10:24.many months before inquests can begin. There is a lot of detail to
:10:24. > :10:29.get through in terms of the format the inquests will take. But tor for
:10:29. > :10:33.today, they are celebrating one of them said it was simply breath-
:10:33. > :10:38.taking to hear this decision here at the High Court.
:10:38. > :10:41.The Swiss banking giant, UBS has been fined nearly �1 billion after
:10:41. > :10:47.dozens of its traders illegally rigged the interest rates used by
:10:47. > :10:51.banks to lend money to one another. The penality imposed by regulators
:10:51. > :10:57.in Britain, the US and Switzerland is more than three times the fine
:10:57. > :11:00.that is imposed on on Barclays after similar accusation.
:11:00. > :11:05.It was a scandal that cast a shadow over London and other financial
:11:05. > :11:10.capitals, the rigging of a key interest rate, led to the chairman
:11:10. > :11:14.and two top executives at Barclays quitting. Now under the Spotlight
:11:14. > :11:18.is UBS with a fine of nearly �1 billion announced by regulators.
:11:18. > :11:22.Three times the swiz the size of the Barclays fine.
:11:22. > :11:25.This is some of the most shocking misconduct we have seen to date.
:11:25. > :11:27.This was prevalent across the firm for five years where people were
:11:27. > :11:31.seeking to manipulate an internationally used benchmark
:11:31. > :11:35.which is used for millions of pounds worth of contracts in order
:11:35. > :11:39.to benefit their own trading positions.
:11:39. > :11:42.The global market influenced by LIBOR and similar rates is huge. A
:11:42. > :11:48.change in them can mean the difference between profits or
:11:48. > :11:51.losses on deals for a bank like UBS. That's why traders had a powerful
:11:52. > :11:56.incentive to manipulate rates. In one message unearthed by regulators,
:11:56. > :12:02.one dealer says to a counterpart at another firm, "I need you to keep
:12:02. > :12:08.it as low as possible. I will pay you �50,000, �100,000, whatever you
:12:08. > :12:12.want.". This is one of the most outrageous things I have seen in
:12:12. > :12:17.the banking industry because of the kal of the collusion.
:12:17. > :12:20.The wrongdoing at UBS took place over five years from 2005, the
:12:20. > :12:24.Chief Executive said they regretted inappropriate and unethical
:12:24. > :12:29.behaviour and were committed to doing business with integrity.
:12:29. > :12:32.UBS won't be the last major bank to make an announcement about its
:12:32. > :12:35.involvement in the LIBOR scandal. International regulators are
:12:35. > :12:41.continuing to investigate a number of leading financial institutions.
:12:41. > :12:44.Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed it is in discussions and
:12:44. > :12:49.there could be an announcement within weeks.
:12:49. > :12:57.Banks could be hit by multi-billion pound lawsuits from investors who
:12:57. > :13:02.allege they lost money because of interest rate lation and --
:13:02. > :13:09.manipulation. Well, let's get more from Robert
:13:09. > :13:15.peston. This is not the end of it, is it? It is not. It is not the end
:13:15. > :13:18.of it for UBS. As Hugh said there will be civil letgation by
:13:18. > :13:21.investors who feel they suffered losses as a result of the market
:13:21. > :13:27.rigging and the most significant thing in a way what was announced
:13:27. > :13:31.by regulators in the case of UBS is that there was evidence no no not
:13:31. > :13:36.only UBS tried to manipulate rates, but they succeeded in manipulating
:13:36. > :13:41.rates. That's different from Barclays. Barclays was fined �290
:13:41. > :13:45.million a few months ago. In its case, there was no proof it
:13:45. > :13:49.profited. The significant of regulators saying that UBS profited
:13:50. > :13:54.is that when the cases come to court, if damages are fixed, those
:13:54. > :13:58.damages could be a multiple of the big fine that has been imposed on
:13:58. > :14:03.UBS and that's something that banks, still recovering from the crisis of
:14:03. > :14:07.2008 need like a hole in the head. Also, other banks as Hugh said are
:14:07. > :14:11.in the frame. Something like a dozen banks worldwide are being
:14:11. > :14:15.investigated by regulators. Next down the track, almost certainly,
:14:16. > :14:22.will be our own Royal Bank of Scotland, it is braced for big
:14:22. > :14:28.fines. Probably more more than the �290 million levied on Barclays,
:14:28. > :14:31.but fingers crossed for RBS, maybe a bit less than the �1 billion on
:14:31. > :14:33.UBS. Thank you.
:14:33. > :14:37.In the last hour, the Prime Minister has announced that troop
:14:37. > :14:42.withdrawals from Afghanistan will be speeded up. Nearly 4,000 British
:14:42. > :14:46.troops will now return home next year. All NATO combat operations
:14:46. > :14:56.are due to finish by the end of 2014 with responsibility being
:14:56. > :15:01.transferred fully to Afghan forces. British forces went into
:15:01. > :15:05.Afghanistan in 2001, some to hunt down Osama bin Laden, after the
:15:05. > :15:09.9/11 attacks. Others later to become part of NATO's international
:15:09. > :15:13.security assistance force. Its aim, to bring stability and democracy to
:15:13. > :15:19.a country deeply scarred by decades of war.
:15:19. > :15:23.In the first year, they were warmly welcomed, especially in Kabul. By
:15:23. > :15:27.2006, when British forces went into Helmand, they found themselves
:15:27. > :15:32.fighting a bitter insurgency, a mixture of Afghan and foreign
:15:32. > :15:36.fighters. The aim was to quell the insurgency and deal with the opium
:15:36. > :15:39.trade while politicians and diplomats were to aid peace and
:15:39. > :15:43.reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan Government.
:15:43. > :15:48.At the start of the campaign, there were 4,300 British troops which
:15:48. > :15:54.fell to a few hundred by 2003. But a few years later, for
:15:54. > :16:01.operations in Helmand, the numbers rose again to nearly 3,000.
:16:01. > :16:04.By 2009, that had gone up to 9,500 British troops. By the end of 2013,
:16:04. > :16:07.another 4,000 will withdraw, according to the Prime Minister,
:16:07. > :16:11.David Cameron, in parliament today. Because of the success of our
:16:11. > :16:15.forces and the Afghan national security forces and the fact that
:16:15. > :16:21.we are moving from mentoring at a battalion level to a brigade level
:16:21. > :16:27.by the end of 2013, we will be able to see troops come home in two
:16:27. > :16:33.relatively even steps, 2013, 2014, leaving probably around 5,200
:16:33. > :16:38.troops after the end of 2013. campaign has cost 438 British lives
:16:38. > :16:42.so far. With many more injured. Their lives changed forever. The
:16:42. > :16:48.mission isn't over yet. There's still much to do before more
:16:48. > :16:51.British forces leave and NATO's combat operations end. As for the
:16:51. > :16:59.Afghans themselves, there's still enormous uncertainty about what
:16:59. > :17:06.2014 will bring for a country still a long way from peace.
:17:06. > :17:10.Our top story: The no cover-up but the BBC's been
:17:10. > :17:18.heavily criticised over the shelving of the Newsnight's Jimmy
:17:18. > :17:23.Savile investigation and a BBC executive warned of Savile's darker
:17:23. > :17:27.side. New guidelines on what constitutes offensive behaviour on
:17:27. > :17:31.social networks. On BBC London: How much would you
:17:32. > :17:37.be willing to invest to star in a film? We meet Protestant dueser
:17:37. > :17:47.looking -- we meet the producer looking to the public. The world's
:17:47. > :17:48.
:17:48. > :17:51.top Paralympians return to the Colleagues of the former
:17:51. > :17:54.Conservative Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell, have backed calls for an
:17:54. > :17:56.inquiry into his row with police officers over access to the main
:17:56. > :17:59.gate in Downing Street. Mr Mitchell resigned from the Government over
:17:59. > :18:03.the incident, admitting he swore at the officers but denying that he
:18:03. > :18:06.called them "plebs". It was alleged yesterday that a police officer had
:18:06. > :18:10.falsely claimed to have been present and witnessed what happened.
:18:10. > :18:15.Here's our political correspondent Robert Brant.
:18:15. > :18:18.I have nothing to say, except to wish you a happy Christmas. A happy
:18:18. > :18:22.Christmas indeed because Andrew Mitchell believes he is a man on
:18:22. > :18:26.the way to clearing his name. Last night, we finally got to see the
:18:26. > :18:30.pictures of the moment that bike caused a career-ending row.
:18:30. > :18:34.In the CCTV footage you can see Andrew Mitchell cycling towards the
:18:34. > :18:38.Downing Street gates. Then, there is an exchange with the armed
:18:38. > :18:41.police. It's brief, they refuse to open the gates. He is forced to
:18:41. > :18:46.move to the side and walk out with his bike. It's here he admits
:18:46. > :18:49.swearing but insists he didn't call the officer a pleb. In this shot
:18:49. > :18:52.you can see it's virtually empty outside the gates. That's contrary
:18:53. > :18:57.to police claims that members of the public were standing and
:18:57. > :19:00.listening. It's also contrary to an e-mail revealed by Channel 4 sent
:19:00. > :19:03.by someone it claims posed as a member of the public who said they
:19:04. > :19:09.witnessed it all. A serving policeman's been arrested and
:19:09. > :19:12.suspended over that. Some senior Conservatives suspect a conspiracy.
:19:12. > :19:16.The Health Secretary has tweeted about a stitch-up. Why do you think
:19:16. > :19:24.he was stitched up? Friends say it's time to bring Andrew Mitchell
:19:24. > :19:30.back. He is a honest, honourable man whose career has been traduced.
:19:30. > :19:33.He is described as disgraced former Chief Whip. David Cameron needs to
:19:33. > :19:36.be on the phone to him immediately. In parliament with Andrew Mitchell
:19:36. > :19:39.looking on, the Prime Minister gave his reaction. A police officer
:19:39. > :19:44.posing as a member of the public and sending an e-mail potentially
:19:44. > :19:48.to blacken the name of a cabinet Minister is a very serious issue.
:19:48. > :19:51.Does need to be seriously investigated. A Scotland Yard
:19:51. > :19:55.investigation is now up and running. 30 officers are looking at how
:19:55. > :19:58.details were leaked and that apparently fake witness. It's
:19:58. > :20:02.acknowledged the possibility of a conspiracy against a Cabinet
:20:02. > :20:10.Minister. But still Andrew Mitchell insists he isn't call an officer a
:20:10. > :20:12.pleb. The official police log, though, says he did.
:20:13. > :20:15.The number of people prosecuted for writing offensive messages on
:20:15. > :20:17.social networks like Facebook and Twitter is likely to fall. The
:20:18. > :20:20.Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, says people should
:20:20. > :20:28.only face trial if their comments go beyond being offensive. Tom
:20:28. > :20:32.Symonds reports. When does an internet message break
:20:32. > :20:36.the law? This man was found guilty of offensive Facebook posts about
:20:36. > :20:40.soldiers. But Paul Chambers who threatened to blow up an airport
:20:40. > :20:44.was cleared because it was a joke. Today's guidelines say there should
:20:44. > :20:49.be charges if a message contains a credible threat of violence or if
:20:49. > :20:53.an individual is specifically targeted. But there may not be if a
:20:53. > :20:58.message is simply banter or humour, even if it's offensive shocking or
:20:58. > :21:03.disturbing it may not in the legal jargon get over the threshold for a
:21:03. > :21:07.prosecution. The fact others don't like it, the fact others find it
:21:07. > :21:11.distasteful or pained by it is unlikely to get over the higher
:21:11. > :21:16.threshold. The legislation says grossly offensive so parliament's
:21:16. > :21:20.indicated that merely offensive is not an offence. But it's a fine
:21:20. > :21:25.line. Police are now dealing with an estimated 50 cases a week of
:21:25. > :21:30.offensive posts on social networking sites. For the victims,
:21:30. > :21:35.cyber harassment causes real fear. There was threats against me, it
:21:35. > :21:41.basically started to put myself, my son's safety, they were even tweets
:21:41. > :21:48.about my mum. It was just out of hand. Threrp threats of violence --
:21:48. > :21:50.there he were threats of violence. While drawing up the guidelines,
:21:51. > :21:54.the Director of Public Prosecutions met representatives of sports stars,
:21:54. > :22:01.an targeted online. He told them if an offensive message is taken down,
:22:01. > :22:05.perhaps after the author Sobers up, charges may not be pressed but new
:22:05. > :22:10.new guidelines will not, some say this is all a matter of judgment.
:22:10. > :22:13.They've put in 25 pages, two words, common sense. It wasn't necessary.
:22:13. > :22:17.It enshrines the law into one document. The law, the CPS, really
:22:17. > :22:20.should have known without this exercise. But what everyone agrees,
:22:20. > :22:29.is that as our internet culture matures, the law will have to keep
:22:29. > :22:31.Councils in England will find out today how much money they will
:22:31. > :22:34.receive in grants from central government next year. It's the
:22:34. > :22:36.first local government funding settlement in two years. Some
:22:36. > :22:40.labour councils say the cuts have hit the poorest councils hardest.
:22:40. > :22:42.But ministers insist the settlement will be fair. Our local government
:22:42. > :22:52.correspondent Mike Sergeant has been to Wolverhampton to see how
:22:52. > :22:52.
:22:52. > :22:56.the council there is facing up to straightened times.
:22:56. > :23:04.In Wolverhampton the spending squeeze goes on. But are residents
:23:04. > :23:07.here really feeling the effects? Used to run a park next to where I
:23:07. > :23:11.live and the council have no funding to do it up. It's not
:23:11. > :23:17.affected us. We don't use libraries and things which they're talking
:23:17. > :23:23.about closing. We don't use those. There's nothing much. As long as
:23:23. > :23:26.they don't take buses from us. sky hasn't fallen down? Not yet, I
:23:26. > :23:31.think it will do eventually. leader of Wolverhampton agrees
:23:31. > :23:33.things are about to get tougher. For this council and many others.
:23:33. > :23:36.It's going to be increasingly difficult to maintain services to
:23:36. > :23:40.the level people have become to expect. We are going to have to
:23:40. > :23:44.look at new ways of delivering services and look at changed ways
:23:44. > :23:48.of operating and it's going to be painful, both for the council and
:23:48. > :23:51.also for the communities of Wolverhampton.
:23:52. > :23:56.The council-owned leisure centre could be handed to an independent
:23:56. > :24:00.trust. Free school meals might be limited. New charges could be
:24:00. > :24:02.introduced for catching rats and mice.
:24:02. > :24:06.Councils are looking at every bit of spending from the number of
:24:06. > :24:10.people who work in town halls, to how frequently the streets are
:24:10. > :24:16.cleaned. Asking one question - can they keep doing all of this with
:24:16. > :24:20.less and less money from central Government? Ministers say councils
:24:20. > :24:30.can protect frontline services, but only if they accept new more
:24:30. > :24:37.efficient ways of working. Do not use the vulnerable. You know you
:24:37. > :24:40.could go about this in a different way, it does mean breaking down
:24:40. > :24:43.those municipal empires. After today's settlement councils across
:24:44. > :24:52.England will know the challenge they face over the next 12 months,
:24:52. > :24:55.but the austerity may continue for years after that.
:24:55. > :24:58.London has won the right to host the 2017 Paralympic Athletics World
:24:58. > :25:00.Championships. They'll be held at the Olympic Stadium just a month
:25:00. > :25:04.before the World Athletics Championships - the first time a
:25:04. > :25:14.city has hosted the two events in the same year. The London Mayor,
:25:14. > :25:15.
:25:15. > :25:17.Boris Johnson, says they'll recreate the magic of London 2012.
:25:17. > :25:20.Seventy one years after they were written by German soldiers,
:25:20. > :25:24.hundreds of Christmas cards and letters meant for loved ones at
:25:24. > :25:26.home are finally being put in the post. They were penned in 1941 by
:25:26. > :25:29.Germans who were occupying the Channel Islands during the Second
:25:29. > :25:35.World war. But they never arrived in Germany because locals stole
:25:35. > :25:39.them as part of their resistance against Nazi occupation. They're
:25:39. > :25:43.finally being returned, in time for Christmas.
:25:43. > :25:47.Robert Hall has the story. Dear Hans, dear Mary and Margaret, I
:25:47. > :25:52.wish you a merry Christmas and all the best for the new year, but what
:25:52. > :25:58.I hope hope most is that the war will come to an end and soon so
:25:58. > :26:02.that we can all enjoy life again. Five years when islanders yearned
:26:02. > :26:06.for freedom and occupying forces dreamt of home, and of a Christmas
:26:06. > :26:16.of peace. Film shot secretly in Jersey's
:26:16. > :26:18.capital reveals glimpses of a community determined to find ways
:26:18. > :26:20.of fighting back. During the years of occupation islanders did what
:26:20. > :26:23.they could to resist, to obstruct or to irritate the German forces
:26:23. > :26:27.who thronged their streets and in the run-up to Christmas in 1941 ra
:26:27. > :26:30.group of young men hatched a plan which begins this story and which
:26:30. > :26:37.remained a secret for for 70 years. These letters and cards were part
:26:37. > :26:44.of the haul they stole from the German Army Post Office. It was a
:26:44. > :26:49.high-risk plan, Bob lived through the occupation. If the offence was
:26:49. > :26:55.considered seriously enough, they would be taken to a prison on the
:26:55. > :27:02.continent, run by the SS where things were very tough. Some of
:27:02. > :27:05.those people, quite a number, did not come back, ever.
:27:05. > :27:09.conspirators have never told their story but the letters found their
:27:09. > :27:12.way into archive and work began to trace families who never received
:27:12. > :27:15.them. It's a wonderful story. They're things talked about within
:27:15. > :27:20.the letters, the German soldiers, what they were concerned with in
:27:20. > :27:27.terms of their families, their loves, wishing people merry
:27:27. > :27:31.Christmas. It's a wonderful tale. My dearest Kate, I hope you haven't
:27:31. > :27:38.forgotten me. Christmas won't be so happy for me this year, because I
:27:38. > :27:43.am only happy when I am with you. These are busy times, but after
:27:43. > :27:48.weeks of postal detective work in Jersey and in a much changed
:27:48. > :27:52.Germany, potential addresses have begun to emerge. At a farm near
:27:52. > :27:58.Frankfurt, the first special delivery. Engelbert Bergmann is
:27:58. > :28:02.about to receive a greeting intended for his grandfather.
:28:02. > :28:06.are very pleased to be delivering this letter today. He said he was
:28:06. > :28:11.delighted, and hoped many more letters would find their
:28:11. > :28:19.destination. Further delivers are under way. Dark war-time years set
:28:19. > :28:21.aside in a seasonal gesture of reconciliation.
:28:21. > :28:28.The latest weather now. Lots and lots of rain.
:28:28. > :28:33.The weather is changing. We may have scenes like this over the next
:28:33. > :28:37.few days. Today and tomorrow it's wet for many of us, windy, too,
:28:37. > :28:42.bringing a risk of localised flooding, especially in the south-
:28:42. > :28:46.west. Friday, drier for most. It's this area of cloud here that we are
:28:46. > :28:51.watching that's going to bring heavy rain and this cloud already
:28:51. > :28:54.produced about an inch or so in the south-west today. That rain is
:28:54. > :28:57.moving slowly northwards and eastwards. Stronger winds ahead of
:28:57. > :29:01.it, as well and a raw feel across many parts of Scotland. It's here
:29:01. > :29:04.that we see the heaviest of the rain over the next few hours T will
:29:04. > :29:12.turn to snow over the Scottish mountains. Less windy and becoming
:29:12. > :29:17.less wet across Northern Ireland. The rain rather patchy, across much
:29:17. > :29:21.of northern England and the Midlands.
:29:21. > :29:24.The rain is on the way. The rain is easing off for a while in Wales and
:29:24. > :29:28.the south-west of England but more to come here. The Met Office have
:29:28. > :29:34.issued amber rain warnings for south-west England and the south-
:29:34. > :29:37.east of Wales, given the wet ground it's likely there will be local
:29:37. > :29:42.flooding and travel disruption. That rain turns heavier from the
:29:42. > :29:45.south-west this evening and the rain pushes northwards, just on top
:29:45. > :29:49.of what what have had already. Stronger winds across northern
:29:49. > :29:52.northern areas and snow likely in the mountains and a colder feel
:29:53. > :29:56.across the north. But particularly mild in the south. A lot of water
:29:56. > :30:00.on the roads for the rush hour tomorrow. It's going to be a wet
:30:00. > :30:03.day, a miserable day on the whole. The rain will be heaviest over the
:30:03. > :30:07.hills and snow over the tops of the Pennines. Pwhreusz Ards in --
:30:07. > :30:11.blizzards in the Scottish mountains. A cold feel across northern parts
:30:11. > :30:16.of the UK given the strength of the wind. The rain beginning to ease
:30:16. > :30:19.off in the south-west later. Overnight and into Friday, the
:30:20. > :30:25.attention turns to the north-east of Scotland, amber warnings here.
:30:25. > :30:29.Elsewhere, much drier and sunshine, just one or two showers. It's a
:30:29. > :30:33.calmer day on Friday. The best day of the next few, because then over
:30:33. > :30:36.the weekend we have a succession of low pressures and weather fronts
:30:36. > :30:41.pushing up from the south-west and strengthening winds again and
:30:41. > :30:45.piling in a lot of cloud and yet more rain. Over the next few days
:30:45. > :30:49.with this rain continuing on and off, there may be localised
:30:49. > :30:57.flooding, especially in the south- west and travel disruption is
:30:57. > :31:00.likely. Thank you very much.
:31:00. > :31:04.Our top story: An inquiry has heavily criticised
:31:04. > :31:08.the BBC he over the shelving of Newsnight's Jimmy Savile