:00:13. > :00:17.government forces. Opposition activists in Syria say they have
:00:17. > :00:23.documented the deaths of 200 men, women and children in what they say
:00:23. > :00:29.is one of the worst massacres of the war. There was a black cloud of
:00:29. > :00:32.smoke covering the village. could not see anything. Fire
:00:32. > :00:39.engulfed the village. All you could hear was the screaming of men, women
:00:39. > :00:45.and children. We will be getting the latest from our correspondent.
:00:45. > :00:50.Also this lunchtime, it comes as the EU backs a British and French pushed
:00:50. > :00:54.to lift the sanctions which prevents weapons being sent to the rebels.
:00:54. > :01:00.This is a strong signal to the Assad regime that it needs to engage in
:01:00. > :01:05.the political process. Spending cuts for seven government
:01:05. > :01:09.targets as the Chancellor tries to find savings of �11 billion.
:01:09. > :01:13.Counterterrorism officers are investigating an attack on prison
:01:13. > :01:16.officers at a top security prison near York. The publicist Max
:01:16. > :01:22.Clifford appears in court on charges of indecent assault.
:01:22. > :01:27.He says the claims are completely false. Warnings that one in five
:01:27. > :01:31.High St shops could close in the next few years.
:01:31. > :01:34.Later on BBC London, four gang members are found guilty of killing
:01:34. > :01:44.this 15-year-old boy. And what will Crystal Palace do with the cash
:01:44. > :02:00.
:02:00. > :02:04.windfall after their promotion to BBC News at one. The European union
:02:04. > :02:06.says it will not renew an arms embargo against the Syrian
:02:07. > :02:11.opposition which was due to expire on Saturday.
:02:11. > :02:14.The Foreign Secretary William Hague said it would send a strong message
:02:14. > :02:19.to the regime of President Assad but opponents say will only increase
:02:19. > :02:23.sectarian violence in the country. As the fighting continues,
:02:23. > :02:26.opposition activists say they have documented what they say is one of
:02:26. > :02:36.the worst massacres of the civil war in which more than 200 men, women
:02:36. > :02:45.
:02:45. > :02:48.and children were killed. The Syrian government said the action was
:02:48. > :02:50.against terrorist fighters. In a moment we will hear more about
:02:50. > :02:52.the negotiations in Brussels but first, this exclusive report which
:02:52. > :02:54.does contain graphic images which you may find disturbing. Rebel
:02:54. > :02:59.fighters in the North get ready to attack. What motivates these men is
:02:59. > :03:08.revenge. Using rockets they have captured from one military base,
:03:08. > :03:13.they bombard another. This attack is retaliation for what they believe is
:03:13. > :03:19.a brutal massacre in the west of the country. It is a conflict which is
:03:19. > :03:23.increasingly violent, sectarian and seems unstoppable. Attacks like this
:03:23. > :03:28.are taking place across Syria as the rebels grows stronger and so does
:03:28. > :03:34.the government was a response. The truth is, there are no real winners
:03:34. > :03:39.here, just losers. Syria is consumed by war. But what happens in this
:03:39. > :03:44.town appears to be one of its darkest hours. Unverified footage
:03:44. > :03:50.shows the army attacking the area in early May, after rebel gunmen killed
:03:50. > :03:58.a number of soldiers. Neither side disputes this took place. But what
:03:58. > :04:03.happens next is. This leaked video, apparently filmed by pro-government
:04:03. > :04:07.fighters shows the troops in the town square. State media says they
:04:08. > :04:13.killed 40 terrorists. Locals talk of a frenzied assault where Alawite
:04:13. > :04:17.militias killed the Sunni population. We met two women who
:04:17. > :04:23.escaped. They say they are too afraid to show their faces. Their
:04:23. > :04:27.story is matched by others we have spoken to. There was a black cloud
:04:27. > :04:34.of smoke covering the village. You could not see anything. Fire
:04:34. > :04:37.engulfed the village. All you could hear was the screaming men, women
:04:37. > :04:41.and children. They describe soldiers and pro-government militia coming to
:04:41. > :04:46.their village. They say men and boys were rounded up and killed. We have
:04:46. > :04:55.had to stop the video here. It is graphic and appears to show a shop
:04:55. > :05:01.in the town full of the bodies of men. I ran down the road and saw 20
:05:01. > :05:04.to 30 men laying on the ground all shot up. Then I saw my husband and
:05:04. > :05:09.father-in-law. They were laying on the ground shot in the head. There
:05:09. > :05:15.was nothing left of my husband's face apart from his mouth and nose.
:05:15. > :05:21.It was hideous. The rebels then moved on to a neighbouring town.
:05:21. > :05:29.This video apparently shows the members of one family or killed. It
:05:29. > :05:34.is to violent to show. Mothers and women slumped on a bed. An entire
:05:34. > :05:42.family slaughtered in one house. What more can I say? There was so
:05:42. > :05:47.much blood. Those who escaped and our refugees
:05:47. > :05:52.trapped inside their own country. We cannot be sure what happened. But
:05:52. > :05:56.what does seem beyond doubt is many innocent people were killed without
:05:56. > :06:05.any possible reason. While nations placed their faith in diplomacy, the
:06:05. > :06:10.country is soaked in the blood of its own children.
:06:10. > :06:13.On the diplomatic front, the UK and France had called for the EU arms
:06:13. > :06:18.embargo to be dropped. The Foreign Secretary William Hague says he has
:06:18. > :06:22.no immediate plans to send weapons to Syria. After long talks, EU
:06:22. > :06:29.foreign ministers have allowed the current embargo to run out at the
:06:29. > :06:33.end of this week with a review to take place in August.
:06:33. > :06:39.Behind the smiles in Brussels, hours of tough negotiating and eventually
:06:39. > :06:44.the decision Britain and France had pushed for, the lifting of the EU's
:06:44. > :06:48.embargoed on member states supplying weapons to the opposition. Not
:06:48. > :06:54.immediately and targeted, the Foreign Secretary insisted. We would
:06:54. > :06:56.only take the step of sending arms in company with other nations in
:06:56. > :07:02.carefully controlled circumstances and in compliance with international
:07:02. > :07:06.law. It is thought this is the type of weapon most likely to be
:07:06. > :07:11.supplied, portable anti-aircraft missiles. They are seen as the
:07:12. > :07:17.potential game changer in the skewed balance between the government and
:07:17. > :07:23.rebels. There is the fear they could end up in the hands of extremists.
:07:23. > :07:30.President Assad's army was 220,000 strong but today depleted through
:07:31. > :07:36.desertion and defection. He has 400 combat aircraft. And 4000 tanks. The
:07:36. > :07:39.main Free Syrian Army is thought to have 30,000 fighters in the field.
:07:40. > :07:45.Britain and France argue that strengthening the rebels militarily,
:07:45. > :07:50.creating something of a more level battlefield could force President
:07:50. > :07:55.Assad to negotiate. A sofar impossible ambition. Today,
:07:55. > :07:59.Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister argued the opposite, even though his
:07:59. > :08:04.government continues to arm the regime. He said lifting the arms
:08:04. > :08:08.embargo directly damaged the prospects for the peace conference
:08:08. > :08:18.which is currently being organised. No one is underestimating the
:08:18. > :08:26.
:08:26. > :08:28.diplomatic challenge of bringing off a conference in Geneva next month
:08:28. > :08:30.which could produce results, even with the pressure of an ever more
:08:30. > :08:33.dire humanitarian crisis being generated by the conflict.
:08:33. > :08:39.humanitarian crisis is growing. The only way to stop that is to try and
:08:39. > :08:45.agree a political settlement for the future. In this volatile mix, with
:08:45. > :08:49.its daily cost in lives, would weapons from the EU provide more
:08:49. > :08:55.flexibility as Britain maintains or add fuel to the fire? The debate is
:08:55. > :08:58.likely to intensify. Our world affairs correspondent who
:08:59. > :09:03.brought us that first report is back from Syria and is with me now.
:09:03. > :09:09.Having seen what you have seen, what is the risk of more weapons being
:09:10. > :09:15.sent into this region? I think there are risks and challenges. If you put
:09:15. > :09:20.weapons into Syria, who would you give them to? Who do you trust? Can
:09:20. > :09:24.you guarantee they will not fall into the hands of extremists? The
:09:24. > :09:29.truth is the rebels have consistently been out manned and
:09:29. > :09:33.outgunned. You would have to put in significant heavy weapons to tip the
:09:33. > :09:37.balance in their favour. The truth is the armed opposition has made
:09:37. > :09:41.advances on the ground but the government has responded and
:09:41. > :09:46.responded with increasing strengths. Both sides believe they can win this
:09:46. > :09:51.conflict and in that situation what you do to change that? The clear
:09:51. > :09:56.risk is it leads to more civilian deaths. The United Nations says
:09:56. > :10:01.80,000 people have been killed. The opposition say as many as 90,000. It
:10:01. > :10:08.is civilians who paid the ultimate price here and pay that price
:10:08. > :10:11.disproportionately to everyone else the risk of putting more arms and
:10:11. > :10:15.there is it leads to more violence. Both sides believe they can win and
:10:15. > :10:23.civilians die. There is much more information and
:10:23. > :10:29.analysis on the situation in Syria on the BBC website.
:10:29. > :10:33.Here, the Chancellor has agreed to cuts of 10% in seven Whitehall
:10:33. > :10:37.departments ahead of next month's spending review. Communities,
:10:37. > :10:43.energy, Justice, Northern Ireland as well as the Treasury, Cabinet office
:10:43. > :10:47.and Foreign Office will face more cuts. George Osborne wants to reduce
:10:47. > :10:53.spending by �11.5 billion. Even with these cuts he has defined a further
:10:53. > :10:57.�8 billion. For months now they have been
:10:57. > :11:01.fighting over money here in Whitehall over how much government
:11:01. > :11:06.departments will have to spend in 2015. They have got until the end of
:11:06. > :11:14.June to sort it out but today we have learned that seven of those
:11:14. > :11:18.departments have agreed to cuts. don't think any Chancellor in
:11:18. > :11:21.history has made this much progress with still a month to go. I think
:11:21. > :11:27.people were saying you will not be able to get the agreements from
:11:27. > :11:31.these departments from some of these ministers. Actually, we have got
:11:31. > :11:36.ministers like Ed Davey and Eric Pickles all agreeing to substantial
:11:36. > :11:41.savings. Plenty of other ministers have not agreed like Vince cable,
:11:41. > :11:44.Theresa May and Philip Hammond. are still battling hard and
:11:44. > :11:48.sometimes publicly for their budgets.
:11:48. > :11:53.I will be making the case very strongly supported by business that
:11:53. > :11:59.we need to invest more in training, science and innovation and business
:11:59. > :12:04.support. One row seems to be resolved. The Chancellor dropped
:12:04. > :12:14.heavy hints there would not be any new cuts to welfare. Labour are not
:12:14. > :12:17.impressed. His priority should be growth in 2013 instead of trying to
:12:17. > :12:23.second-guess what he cannot predict. He needs to start focusing on
:12:23. > :12:30.repairing the economy. The Treasury says it has to cut the budgets --
:12:30. > :12:36.has to set the budgets in April. There is still plenty of work to do
:12:36. > :12:41.here. The departments mentioned today, many of them are relatively
:12:41. > :12:46.small spenders. The Chancellor still has to find up to �8 billion in
:12:46. > :12:50.savings. It means the big questions remain unanswered. Where will the
:12:50. > :12:55.most sensitive cuts come and what affect will they have won services?
:12:55. > :12:57.We can speak to our political correspondent Norman Smith in
:12:57. > :13:03.Westminster. How big a mountain does George
:13:03. > :13:10.Osborne have two climb? The word from George Osborne's people is that
:13:10. > :13:13.they believe they are making progress. Part of today's
:13:13. > :13:18.announcement was a bit of finger wagging and naming and shaming of
:13:18. > :13:22.ministers who have not yet signed on the dotted line. It seems Mr
:13:22. > :13:26.Osborne's task has remained harder because he is setting up this
:13:26. > :13:30.financial mountain kitted out in what looks like a straitjacket of
:13:30. > :13:35.his own making, namely, the government's decision to exempt vast
:13:35. > :13:38.areas from cuts such as the NHS budget which will be safeguarded,
:13:38. > :13:48.the schools budget, the overseas aid budget and now we learn that the
:13:48. > :13:52.welfare budget will be protected from the year 2015/16. That means
:13:52. > :13:57.60% of government spending is off limit for further cuts. That means
:13:57. > :14:00.the pain will have to be concentrated on a relatively small
:14:00. > :14:06.number of departments and those departments are some of the most
:14:06. > :14:09.politically sensitive such as the MOD and Armed Forces, the Home
:14:09. > :14:15.Office including police and counterterrorism. It seems to
:14:15. > :14:23.continue the mountaineering analogy that George Osborne is still in the
:14:23. > :14:26.fiscal foothills of K2 of savings he to achieve. Thank you.
:14:26. > :14:30.The counterterrorism unit is investigating an attack on two
:14:30. > :14:35.prison officers by three inmates at a maximum security prison near York.
:14:35. > :14:40.The incident took place yesterday afternoon and lasted for four
:14:40. > :14:44.hours. Our correspondent Ed Thomas is there now. What do we read into
:14:44. > :14:49.the involvement of the counterterrorism unit? A fuller
:14:49. > :14:52.picture of what happened here is starting to emerge. That includes
:14:52. > :15:00.the investigation from the counterterrorism unit. We know the
:15:00. > :15:07.first phone call was made at 4:30pm on Sunday. The counterterrorism unit
:15:07. > :15:12.has confirmed that phone call described a hostage situation. Three
:15:12. > :15:17.inmates were involved, two men aged 35 and one man aged 26. None of
:15:17. > :15:21.those inmates were serving sentences connected to terrorism. This whole
:15:21. > :15:26.incident lasted for around seven hours before prison officers in riot
:15:26. > :15:30.gear brought it to an end. The officers who were attacked were a
:15:30. > :15:37.male and female officers. They were both treated in hospital. They were
:15:37. > :15:39.said to be hurt but are now discharged from hospital and
:15:39. > :15:44.recovering at home. It is worth bearing in mind that this is a
:15:44. > :15:50.maximum security jail. It receives category a and category B
:15:50. > :15:54.prisoners. They are the most dangerous in the country. The
:15:54. > :16:00.counterterrorism unit is trying to find out what motivated the inmates
:16:00. > :16:04.and whether it is connected with Islamic extremism.
:16:04. > :16:07.A tenth man is being questioned in connection with the murder of Lee
:16:07. > :16:11.Rigby last week. The two main suspects are still in hospital and
:16:11. > :16:16.are yet to be interviewed. Our correspondent is at Scotland Yard
:16:16. > :16:19.for us now. Ben, where are we with this investigation? Well, so far,
:16:19. > :16:23.detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command here at Scotland
:16:23. > :16:27.Yard have arrested a total of ten people. The first two to be arrested
:16:27. > :16:30.were the two suspects who were shot by armed police in the immediate
:16:30. > :16:34.aftermath of the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby. They're still in
:16:34. > :16:38.hospital. Detectives say they won't be questioned until doctors have
:16:38. > :16:43.discharged them. Elsewhere, we've had a further number of arrests. One
:16:43. > :16:46.man, a 50-year-old, arrested yesterday in south-east London is
:16:46. > :16:51.still being questioned. A 22-year-old man arrested in North
:16:51. > :16:56.London on Saturday, was late last night released on bail. Two other
:16:56. > :16:59.people were released without charge, two women who were arrested a -- of
:16:59. > :17:03.days after the killing. And four other men, also arrested in south
:17:03. > :17:07.London, so far have been bailed. This investigation, they are still
:17:07. > :17:10.describing it as complex and fast moving. In other developments, there
:17:10. > :17:14.have been investigations continuing into the defacing of two war
:17:14. > :17:19.memorials in Central London. Police are scouring CCTV and we've been
:17:19. > :17:24.told by the national memorial trustees that Lee Rigby's name will
:17:24. > :17:30.be placed in an army war memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in
:17:30. > :17:35.Staffordshire. Thank you very much. It's just after 1. 15. Our top
:17:35. > :17:41.story: Opposition activists in Syria say more than 200 people have died
:17:41. > :17:45.in what they say is one of the worst massacres of the war. Still to come:
:17:45. > :17:50.Why they're growing trees in America to burn for electricity in the UK.
:17:50. > :17:55.Later on BBC London, we meet one of the rising stars of the climbing
:17:55. > :17:57.world, who's hoping the sport might become an Olympic event. And the new
:17:57. > :17:59.exhibition that uncovers Shakespeare's hidden connection to
:17:59. > :18:09.Shakespeare's hidden connection to Shakespeare's hidden connection to
:18:09. > :18:11.
:18:11. > :18:15.The UK is already the world leader in online retail sales. That's
:18:15. > :18:19.according to the Centre for Retail Research. But it says the impact of
:18:19. > :18:23.ever larger numbers of customers turning to the internet is
:18:23. > :18:28.increasingly going to be felt in our high streets. It claims 62,000 shops
:18:28. > :18:33.may fold in the next five years, which is the equivalent to one in
:18:33. > :18:38.five hive street shops. The centre's latest report warns employees could
:18:38. > :18:41.be hit with the risk of 316,000 people losing their jobs. Our
:18:42. > :18:50.correspondent is in Wolverhampton to examine how this is likely to impact
:18:50. > :18:54.the shops and high streets there. A damp and bleak morning here in
:18:54. > :18:59.Wolverhampton. Fitting when you think of these dire predictions
:18:59. > :19:02.forts future of High Street centres like this one. The general economy
:19:02. > :19:05.doesn't help much. But what makes life here particularly challenging
:19:05. > :19:11.is the fact that many of us are choosing to take our business
:19:11. > :19:15.elsewhere. The storm clouds are lingering over
:19:15. > :19:20.Britain's high streets. The weather doesn't help, but fierce competition
:19:20. > :19:24.from out of town retail parks and online shopping mean we've already
:19:24. > :19:30.seen multiple casualties. Some shops which have survived for generations
:19:30. > :19:34.are already retail history. They've been forced to go out into the
:19:34. > :19:38.larger shopping areas where they can get free parking. Online, it's not
:19:38. > :19:42.quite the same. You're not exactly sure what you're getting. If you
:19:42. > :19:47.come into town and look in the shops, it's your choice then.
:19:47. > :19:52.the shops are just going. Do you shop online? No. I wouldn't. I
:19:52. > :19:56.wouldn't entertain it, no. doesn't, but many of us do. That's a
:19:56. > :20:01.challenge for a family jewellery business trading on the High Street
:20:01. > :20:06.here since 1847. Here they understand that the retail game has
:20:06. > :20:11.changed. The new mission statement is to offer the customer the choice
:20:11. > :20:17.of any way, every way to shop. need to be able to offer our clients
:20:18. > :20:21.the opportunity to buy online, on mobile, real-life, in the store,
:20:21. > :20:27.click and collect, all of the options. It's up to us to provide
:20:27. > :20:32.prot ducts which will then secure them working out how it suits them
:20:33. > :20:37.to buy from us. We've been in the game a long time. I'd be
:20:37. > :20:42.disappointed if we didn't make it through to the next 50 years.
:20:42. > :20:46.retail landscape, then, is facing a revolution. The businesses which
:20:46. > :20:51.survive and thrive are likely to be those best able to adapt to the new
:20:51. > :20:55.reality. The High Street in five years' time will be smaller than
:20:55. > :20:58.they are now. I think the shops will be better. There'll be more
:20:58. > :21:02.independent shops and more for people to do when they visit.
:21:02. > :21:07.reality here in Wolverhampton, and across the country, makes it clear,
:21:07. > :21:13.that it's not easy. Many shops are already empty and many more are
:21:13. > :21:17.struggling to survive. We'll end up with the high streets
:21:17. > :21:21.we deserve, at least the ones we're prepared to pay for. What is certain
:21:21. > :21:26.in places like this is the competition from out of town retail
:21:26. > :21:33.parks and online services means that the pressure is well and truly on.
:21:33. > :21:37.Jeremy, thank you very much. Max Clifford has appeared in front
:21:37. > :21:43.of magistrates charged with 11 historic counts of indecent assaults
:21:43. > :21:45.against girls aged 14 to 19. He denies all charges.
:21:46. > :21:49.This report contains some frash This report contains some frash
:21:49. > :21:55.photography. The man so often behind the story,
:21:55. > :22:03.this morning was the story. That meant fighting his way with his wife
:22:03. > :22:08.past the cameras to get into court. Max Clifford's answer -" We're
:22:08. > :22:12.bearing up. I'm not guilty." He was arrested in December, charged last
:22:12. > :22:17.month. This brief appearance in front of magistrates was the start
:22:17. > :22:23.of the court process. It was over in minutes. Max Clifford stood in the
:22:24. > :22:28.dock and confirmed his name, wearing a dark blue blazer and white shirt,
:22:28. > :22:34.he listened while all 11 charges were read to him and each time,
:22:34. > :22:38.quietly he said "not guilty". Max Clifford is accused of a pattern of
:22:38. > :22:42.sexual offending dating back decades in. Total he's facing 11 counts of
:22:42. > :22:47.indecent assault. The charges involve seven alleged female victims
:22:47. > :22:52.who were between 15 and 19 at the time. It's claimed the assaults
:22:52. > :22:57.happened between 1966 and 1985, but no further details have yet been
:22:57. > :23:02.made public. These are historical allegations which cover the period
:23:02. > :23:08.during which Max Clifford developed his formidable reputation as a
:23:08. > :23:15.celebrity public relations advisor. Since his arrest, also in the glare
:23:15. > :23:19.of publicity, prosecutors have said there is sufficient evidence to just
:23:19. > :23:22.charging him. Max Clifford told reporters this morning he had been
:23:22. > :23:26.kept in the dark as to the identities of those making
:23:26. > :23:32.allegations. His case has been passed to Southwark Crown Court for
:23:32. > :23:36.a hearing expected next month. Thousands of trees in the USA are
:23:36. > :23:40.cut down to be burnt to make electricity here in the UK. This is
:23:40. > :23:44.because wood is considered a renewable source and power stations
:23:44. > :23:54.can add subsidies from the Government for using it.
:23:54. > :23:58.
:23:58. > :24:02.Environmentalists argue the policy The forest plantations of the
:24:02. > :24:08.south-east USA, they're mainly grown for construction timber, but some of
:24:08. > :24:13.the trees will be burned to make electricity in Britain. It's all
:24:13. > :24:18.because of EU rules to increase energy from renewable sources to
:24:18. > :24:21.combat climate change. Governments consider wood burning to be
:24:21. > :24:26.renewable power. We leave the bigger trees to continue to grow and add
:24:26. > :24:31.more value. That allows the smaller trees to be used for outcomes such
:24:31. > :24:37.as energy and pulp and paper. Georgia also boasts natural swamp
:24:37. > :24:41.forests, full of rare species like the swamp canary. These forests are
:24:41. > :24:46.also being felled. Environmentalists blame Europe's policy of subsidising
:24:46. > :24:51.wood power. This is a misguided policy which will do little, if
:24:51. > :24:54.anything, to address climate change but has the potential to do great
:24:54. > :24:59.damage to the environment in the south-eastern United States.
:24:59. > :25:06.firm admits that some swamp trees are used here, but only low grade
:25:06. > :25:13.logs. Next stage is for the trees to be turned into wood chips. They are
:25:13. > :25:18.dumped here on this mountain of wood. It is the massive scale of
:25:18. > :25:25.this operation that's so -- that so alarms environmentalists. The wood
:25:25. > :25:30.chips go into this giant drier and they're made into pellets. Tens of
:25:30. > :25:35.millions of tons will be heading across the Atlantic. New rules are
:25:35. > :25:38.due to ensure this industry doesn't damage the environment, but wood
:25:38. > :25:43.burning is likely to become the biggest source of renewable energy
:25:43. > :25:50.in the UK and the subsidies that drive the trade won't get dumped any
:25:50. > :25:53.time soon. Cricket now and England are close to
:25:53. > :25:58.securing victory in their series against New Zealand needing just two
:25:58. > :26:08.wickets on the final day of the final Test. Chris broad got them off
:26:08. > :26:12.
:26:12. > :26:15.219 for eight chasing a target of 468 runs before rain forced an early
:26:15. > :26:18.lunch. Now earlier in the programme we
:26:18. > :26:21.heard the latest on the investigation into the killing of
:26:21. > :26:25.Drummer Lee Rigby. His death has highlighted the work of the charity
:26:25. > :26:29.Help for Heroes. He was wearing one of its tops when he was killed.
:26:29. > :26:32.Today hundreds of cyclists, including 50 injured servicemen, set
:26:32. > :26:42.off from Paris to London to raise money for the charity and to pay
:26:42. > :26:46.
:26:46. > :26:51.The soundtrack to the sendoff came from the French military, but this
:26:51. > :26:57.was an event dedicated to British troops. Many of the cyclists are
:26:57. > :27:00.former soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including triple
:27:00. > :27:04.Paralympic Silver Medallist John Allen Butterworth. Waving them on
:27:04. > :27:08.their way was the Duchess of Cornwall as part of her first solo
:27:09. > :27:14.appearance at a public event abroad, just the week after a death -- the
:27:14. > :27:19.death of a British soldier on home soil. We also have a special word
:27:19. > :27:25.for the memory of Lee Rigby killed last week in London, I know that he
:27:25. > :27:31.was deeply linked with Help for Heroes. Be sure of our support in
:27:31. > :27:36.this fight against barbarism. the sixth annual bike ride through
:27:36. > :27:39.the French battlefields to be organised by the charity and
:27:39. > :27:45.supporters sado-nations remain crucial as British troops prepare to
:27:45. > :27:50.leave Afghanistan next year. There are thousands of wounded soldiers
:27:50. > :27:55.that need support for a long time. If there's a good thing that comes
:27:55. > :27:58.out of Woolwich is that it will never be off the radar screen.
:27:58. > :28:02.that's a legacy that Lee has left behind for the ongoing support
:28:02. > :28:05.they'll need for the rest of their lives. Maybe that's a small comfort,
:28:05. > :28:10.hopefully, to his family. Despite security worries, following an
:28:10. > :28:16.attack on a French soldier over the weekend, the riders set off for
:28:16. > :28:20.London in good spirits, with none raising concerns about their safety.
:28:20. > :28:25.The organisers say they want the focus to be on the fundraising and
:28:25. > :28:35.the physical challenge by these cyclists, as they begin their
:28:35. > :28:38.
:28:38. > :28:42.350-mile journey. eastern England was covered in
:28:42. > :28:45.sunshine, today it's pretty much covered in cloud, as are many
:28:45. > :28:49.central and increasingly northern areas of the British Isles and that
:28:49. > :28:52.cloud is also now producing some quite heavy outbreaks of rain. We
:28:52. > :28:57.started off with some sunshine this morning to the north of Norfolk and
:28:57. > :29:03.around the wash. Here we got up to 17 Celsius, but as you can see, the
:29:03. > :29:08.rain is now encroaching further north. There are darker areas in it,
:29:08. > :29:12.indicating herrier pulses of rain. Our temperatures have slid down.
:29:12. > :29:16.This afternoon they're around 14 or 15 here. Rain across the south-east
:29:16. > :29:20.of England too. For the heaviest down pours we need to head further
:29:20. > :29:26.west. The West Country and particularly eastern parts of Wales
:29:26. > :29:31.in for heavy rain. Thunldery showers for Devon and Cornwall. You should
:29:31. > :29:35.get sunny spells in between. Better for Pembrokeshire. There will be
:29:35. > :29:40.rain later. For Northern Ireland, scattered showers, heaviest in the
:29:40. > :29:45.west, where they could turn heavy and thundery. Scotland, not faring
:29:45. > :29:49.badly today. The south-west has more cloud and outbreaks of rain. In the
:29:49. > :29:52.north-east, highs of of 17 or 18 degrees. We head through this
:29:52. > :29:55.evening and overnight into Wednesday. We'll see rain brushing
:29:55. > :29:59.across Northern Ireland for a while. Quite a wet story for Wales before
:29:59. > :30:03.the rain comes to sit across the south-west bit end of the night.
:30:03. > :30:05.Also rain stretching across East Anglia into the north Midlands.
:30:05. > :30:10.That's persistent through this evening and into tomorrow morning.
:30:10. > :30:16.Perhaps big totals here before it finally slides away further south.
:30:16. > :30:20.For Wednesday, well, it's pretty much an east/west split. ? The east,
:30:20. > :30:24.outbreaks of rain, cloudy and murky. Temperatures are struggling around
:30:24. > :30:27.11 or 12 Celsius along the North Sea coasts. Further west the best of the
:30:27. > :30:30.sunshine and I think the top temperatures across south-western
:30:30. > :30:34.Scotland, South Wales and the south-west of England. As for the
:30:34. > :30:36.rest of the week, I can't promise you it will be entirely dry, but it
:30:37. > :30:41.will be drier than Tuesday and Wednesday and hopefully,
:30:41. > :30:44.temperatures will start to recover a little as well. Still gloomy to the
:30:44. > :30:48.east on Thursday. Some showery outbreaks of rain in the south-east.
:30:48. > :30:53.Again, in the west, plenty of sunshine and our healthiest
:30:53. > :30:56.temperatures, 19, 20 degrees possible in some spots. Friday,
:30:56. > :30:59.finally something warmer perhaps returning to central and southern
:30:59. > :31:03.areas of England as we start to pull in air from the south. A bit
:31:03. > :31:07.brighter as well. We could see highs of 19 or 20 for Cardiff and London.
:31:07. > :31:11.Lots going on in the outlook. The website is the place to go for all
:31:11. > :31:15.website is the place to go for all the details.
:31:15. > :31:19.A reminder of our main story: Opposition activists in Syria say
:31:19. > :31:22.more than 200 people have died in what they say is one of the worst
:31:22. > :31:26.massacres of the war. It comes as the EU backs a British