:00:17. > :00:20.Emergency Committee. As some parts of the country remain underwater,
:00:21. > :00:23.the armed forces are called in with amphibious vehicles and equipment to
:00:24. > :00:27.help deal with flooded homes and businesses. With more rain forecast,
:00:28. > :00:29.the Environment Secretary will chair another meeting of the Government's
:00:30. > :00:33.Emergency Committee this afternoon. Also this lunchtime: David Cameron
:00:34. > :00:37.faces a Commons rebellion as Tory MPs call for tougher measures in the
:00:38. > :00:40.Immigration Bill. Anger as a serious case review
:00:41. > :00:44.decides that the killing of a pregnant woman and her young son by
:00:45. > :00:46.the boy's father could not have been prevented.
:00:47. > :00:50.Hopes of a treatment for peanut allergy. Doctors say a new clinical
:00:51. > :00:53.trial has transformed the lives of children taking part.
:00:54. > :00:58.And, flying for the last time over Afghanistan. The RAF's 617 squadron,
:00:59. > :01:04.better known as the legendary "Dambusters".
:01:05. > :01:10.Later on BBC London: 700 police swoop on one of the capital's most
:01:11. > :01:15.notorious gangs. 29 people are arrested. And the
:01:16. > :01:16.reunion between a man and the stranger who saved his life by
:01:17. > :01:49.talking him down from a bridge. Good afternoon, and welcome to the
:01:50. > :01:53.BBC News at One. Figures just released reveal what many of us have
:01:54. > :01:55.already suspected - January was the wettest month in parts of the
:01:56. > :01:59.country since records began over 100 years ago. The Met Office says some
:02:00. > :02:02.parts of England had already seen twice the average rainfall for
:02:03. > :02:06.January by midnight on Tuesday. And it is warning of more rain for much
:02:07. > :02:08.of the UK in the coming days. The Government's Emergency Committee,
:02:09. > :02:11.COBRA, will meet this afternoon as the military arrives in Somerset to
:02:12. > :02:19.help some of the most-severely flooded areas. Jon Kay is there.
:02:20. > :02:22.Good afternoon, Simon. An island that has been surrounded by water
:02:23. > :02:24.since the New Year, they have relied on boats to get backwards and
:02:25. > :02:28.forwards. You might expect, therefore, they would be full of joy
:02:29. > :02:33.and relief to hear the military are on their way, but people here are
:02:34. > :02:37.rather cynical about it. They say it is too little, too late, and they
:02:38. > :02:46.think this is more about politics and saving face rather than saving
:02:47. > :02:49.them. Humanitarian assistance arrives in the Somerset
:02:50. > :02:54.countryside. This lunchtime, the Red Cross turned up, bringing relief in
:02:55. > :03:01.the form of firewood. How important was this? Incredibly important
:03:02. > :03:04.because we live in this draughty, ancient house. We need the logs.
:03:05. > :03:08.It's what we're running out of. Next it is the military expected to
:03:09. > :03:12.arrive in similar amphibious vehicles. But villagers who were
:03:13. > :03:21.asking for help three weeks ago seem rather bemused now. Dare I say
:03:22. > :03:24.anything? It's a bit over the top. We are managing. It's going to start
:03:25. > :03:30.going down soon, I'm sure. We just get on with it. We are used to it.
:03:31. > :03:34.So why do you suspect they are being sent in? I suppose it's because
:03:35. > :03:39.we've had so much media coverage this time. The thing is, after four
:03:40. > :03:46.weeks of being cut off, Muchelney can be reached by road, so people
:03:47. > :03:50.wonder what the armed forces will do the charities and emergency services
:03:51. > :03:55.aren't doing already. A few of the residents have said to me that it's
:03:56. > :03:58.all a little bit late. Crowe blew its been four weeks that they have
:03:59. > :04:06.been underwater or cut off and it seems only now has the patent button
:04:07. > :04:09.hit. It is not just Muchelney. Other communities are affected. The Royal
:04:10. > :04:14.Marines have been seen nearby this morning apparently carrying out a
:04:15. > :04:18.recce on the Somerset Levels ahead of more heavy rainfall this weekend.
:04:19. > :04:23.It's hard to tell at the moment. We were tasked with this last night. At
:04:24. > :04:27.the moment we are concentrating on understanding the situation, and
:04:28. > :04:33.very much supporting the local council planning. It is early days
:04:34. > :04:35.and we've just been on the ground a couple of hours. According to the
:04:36. > :04:38.latest statistics from The Met office, so far this month 175
:04:39. > :04:43.millimetres of rain has fallen in southern and central England, nearly
:04:44. > :04:48.seven inches. Nationally, there has been 35% more than the long-term
:04:49. > :04:52.average. But it's not the same throughout the UK. Northern
:04:53. > :04:56.Scotland, for example, has only received 85% of its expected
:04:57. > :05:02.rainfall. So why has it been so wet for so many of us? What is causing
:05:03. > :05:05.it is having westerly winds through the window -- Winter, which has
:05:06. > :05:08.brought us the stormy weather and the big Atlantic weather systems
:05:09. > :05:12.that have come in and given us all this rain. Those weather systems
:05:13. > :05:18.have come in from the South first, which is why southern areas have
:05:19. > :05:21.been particularly wet. Some areas of Britain have been soaking since
:05:22. > :05:25.Christmas. Yalding has still not recovered. For many of us, January
:05:26. > :05:32.is set to end as it started, with yet more heavy rain and some very
:05:33. > :05:38.high tides. You see it here on the island of Muchelney there is still a
:05:39. > :05:41.significant amount of Warner -- water. It's gone down by about a
:05:42. > :05:44.foot and a half in the last few days. That is why people think the
:05:45. > :05:49.help would have been much more useful a week or two or three ago
:05:50. > :05:52.rather than now when they are a bit cynical about it. Having said that,
:05:53. > :05:56.they're still a lot more rain coming and we will get the full forecast
:05:57. > :05:59.late in the hour. A lot more rainfall in the weekend combined
:06:00. > :06:08.with high tides, which is why people here might be cynical, but they
:06:09. > :06:11.don't feel full of relief just yet. Aberystwyth was one of the hardest
:06:12. > :06:14.hit places by the storms in the New Year. Huge waves caused considerable
:06:15. > :06:18.damage to the historic seafront. Our Wales correspondent Hywel Griffith
:06:19. > :06:24.is there. One eye on the work being done, but also an eye on the
:06:25. > :06:29.forecast. Yes, absolutely. Work here is happening brick by brick, trying
:06:30. > :06:34.to rebuild the historic Victorian prom. On the front of Aberystwyth
:06:35. > :06:38.they have had heavy machinery in this morning to try and move the
:06:39. > :06:42.stones. Some people might remember a few weeks ago that much of the beach
:06:43. > :06:46.was up on top of the Marine Terrace, then it hit some of the
:06:47. > :06:50.houses. Now it has taken several weeks to bring it back to this
:06:51. > :06:54.condition and will cost the local council something like ?1.5 million
:06:55. > :06:58.to do the immediate repairs. In the future they face a bill of something
:06:59. > :07:04.like ten times that as they look for a way to build bigger and better
:07:05. > :07:07.flood defences to protect the town. They are even considering some sort
:07:08. > :07:11.of offshore system that would break the waves before they come in. That
:07:12. > :07:15.is much further into the future. The immediate concern is what the
:07:16. > :07:18.weather will bring this weekend. The university told us this morning they
:07:19. > :07:23.are planning to evacuate some 600 students who live in the houses
:07:24. > :07:27.along the seafront here. They are even offering to reimburse their
:07:28. > :07:31.train fares home to go and see their mothers and fathers so they can be
:07:32. > :07:36.much further away from the seafront, safely at home, in case of the storm
:07:37. > :07:40.surges hitting this weekend. We expect high tide to reach north and
:07:41. > :07:44.west Wales on Sunday morning, but ahead of that, high winds might mean
:07:45. > :07:51.we see bigger waves hitting this weekend and we saw a few weeks ago.
:07:52. > :07:54.And just a reminder that, throughout the afternoon, the BBC News Channel
:07:55. > :08:00.has a special day of coverage of how the bad weather has been battering
:08:01. > :08:02.Britain. David Cameron faces a significant backbench rebellion
:08:03. > :08:06.later with Conservative MPs calling for tougher measures on Immigration.
:08:07. > :08:09.A debate is underway now in the House of Commons after the Home
:08:10. > :08:11.Secretary Theresa May tabled a last-minute amendment to the
:08:12. > :08:14.Immigration Bill. The change would enable her to strip foreign-born
:08:15. > :08:17.terrorism suspects of their British citizenship, even if it leaves them
:08:18. > :08:19.stateless. But other Tory MPs want to go further. Our Political
:08:20. > :08:33.Correspondent Ross Hawkins reports. It is a debate about authority and
:08:34. > :08:37.power. Over Britain's borders and government policy. The debate in
:08:38. > :08:41.part between Tory rebels on the Home Secretary. It is a bill that will
:08:42. > :08:44.ensure we have greater ability as a government to make it harder for
:08:45. > :08:48.people to live here in the United Kingdom illegally, make it easier
:08:49. > :08:54.for us to be able to remove people who are here illegally. Ministers
:08:55. > :08:58.want tougher powers to strip people who have become British of their
:08:59. > :09:01.citizenship, even if it means they end up with no nationality at all.
:09:02. > :09:05.The plans would affect just a few people but have made headlines,
:09:06. > :09:10.which is helpful, because Conservative rebels have plans of
:09:11. > :09:13.their own. I am not trying to bring the walls down or crack the
:09:14. > :09:17.coalition, and I suspect what will happen is that we will have a big
:09:18. > :09:21.debate and it will pass in the end. He wants to make it much harder for
:09:22. > :09:25.foreign criminals arguing right they have a family like to avoid being
:09:26. > :09:30.deported. It's a popular idea at Westminster where over 100 MPs are
:09:31. > :09:33.prepared to back him. As the debate went on, it emerged that
:09:34. > :09:37.Conservative ministers would not oppose his amendment. They would
:09:38. > :09:42.abstain, meaning the Prime Minister could not bring himself to disagree
:09:43. > :09:46.with his own rebel. Liberal Democrats are expected to vote
:09:47. > :09:49.against that amendment, but now it is a backbencher who is dictating
:09:50. > :09:53.the terms of this argument. We will have a better idea by the end of the
:09:54. > :09:54.day what that means for migration laws and for the authority of
:09:55. > :10:05.ministers. Our chief Political Correspondent
:10:06. > :10:08.Norman Smith is in Westminster. Ross was implying this was as much about
:10:09. > :10:15.politics within the Tory party as immigration. It has been an
:10:16. > :10:19.extraordinary morning of twists and turns at Westminster. Scrollback 45
:10:20. > :10:23.minutes, here is David Cameron and his backbenchers, and this was what
:10:24. > :10:29.was about to happen. Major showdown with up to 100 Tory MPs signing this
:10:30. > :10:33.critical motion barring foreign criminals from using European human
:10:34. > :10:38.rights legislation to avoid being deported, in defiance of Mr Cameron,
:10:39. > :10:41.which is in defiance of the call from Michael Howard to show
:10:42. > :10:46.self-discipline and unity. And yet, in the past half an hour, we learn
:10:47. > :10:53.that Mr Cameron is not going to vote against that motion. Now, that might
:10:54. > :10:59.be seen as a very clever way of avoiding headlines about yet another
:11:00. > :11:04.Tory revolt over Europe. But it opens up some significant risks. One
:11:05. > :11:07.is, it opens up a coalition split, because we understand Mr Clegg and
:11:08. > :11:14.the Liberal Democrats are still going to vote against that backbench
:11:15. > :11:18.Tory motion. It also risks headlines about Mr Cameron caving into his
:11:19. > :11:23.backbenchers over Europe. So, yes, Mr Cameron may manage to avoid those
:11:24. > :11:26.damaging headlines about yet another Tory revolt over Europe, but the
:11:27. > :11:30.danger is, he is perceived as giving into his backbenchers.
:11:31. > :11:35.A serious case review has decided that the killing of a pregnant woman
:11:36. > :11:40.and her young son by the boy's father could not have been
:11:41. > :11:43.prevented. The Derbyshire Safeguarding Children's Board said
:11:44. > :11:45.the stabbings of Rachel Slack and her son, Auden, could not have been
:11:46. > :11:48."reasonably predicted". But the woman's partner, Robert Barlow, has
:11:49. > :11:51.said more should have been done to warn Rachael Slack of the danger
:11:52. > :11:59.posed by Andrew Cairns. Sian Lloyd reports.
:12:00. > :12:04.Rachel and Gordon were stabbed more than 40 times. After killing his
:12:05. > :12:10.former partner and young son, Andrew Cairns took his own life. He had a
:12:11. > :12:13.long history of mental illness, and in the days leading up to the
:12:14. > :12:17.tragedy had been arrested for making threats to kill Rachel. He had also
:12:18. > :12:21.been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and released. The report
:12:22. > :12:25.published today says that their deaths could not have been predicted
:12:26. > :12:28.or prevented. Rachel had been expecting a baby with her new
:12:29. > :12:33.partner, and he disagrees with the findings of the report. You cannot
:12:34. > :12:37.say it would have been prevented until everything was done. All
:12:38. > :12:47.information was not shared through the agencies. So, they could not
:12:48. > :12:53.make whole judgements within any decision-making process they had to
:12:54. > :12:58.do. An inquest jury found that Rachel and Auden had been an auld --
:12:59. > :13:01.illegally killed and police contributed to their deaths. The
:13:02. > :13:07.serious case review does not go far enough. There is a discordance
:13:08. > :13:11.between the two findings, and this discordance needs to be resolved,
:13:12. > :13:14.and one way to do that is to have a public enquiry and look at the
:13:15. > :13:20.failings of state agencies across England and Wales. When Andrew
:13:21. > :13:24.Cairns arrived here at Rachel Slack's home in the village of
:13:25. > :13:28.Holbrooke he was in breach of his conditions on police bail, but
:13:29. > :13:30.officers from the Derbyshire force had not warned Rachel that there was
:13:31. > :13:37.a significant risk that he could kill her. Derbyshire police say
:13:38. > :13:40.victims are now told of the risks. If we identify a victim of high risk
:13:41. > :13:47.of domestic violence, and therefore we would argue high risk of domestic
:13:48. > :13:51.homicide, that is explicit. We talk about protective measures, we asked
:13:52. > :13:55.the victim to understand what we are telling them, because this is an
:13:56. > :14:02.emotional time. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has yet
:14:03. > :14:09.to report its findings. Two people are believed to have died on the M1
:14:10. > :14:12.motorway this morning. Two ambulances and an air ambulances
:14:13. > :14:17.attended the scenes between junctions five and six. It's one of
:14:18. > :14:20.the most common food allergies and it can be life threatening, but
:14:21. > :14:22.researchers in Cambridge believe they've made a breakthrough in
:14:23. > :14:25.developing a potential treatment for peanut allergy. A group of sufferers
:14:26. > :14:27.were given tiny amounts of peanut protein, which was gradually
:14:28. > :14:30.increased. After six months, a significant number were able to eat
:14:31. > :14:33.up to five peanuts without a reaction. But experts say more
:14:34. > :14:37.research is needed. Our Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson has
:14:38. > :14:48.been to meet one child who took part in the study. Elizabeth Tooley used
:14:49. > :14:52.to have a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction
:14:53. > :14:55.to peanuts, the day after her fifth birthday she was rushed to hospital
:14:56. > :15:01.with severe swelling after eating peanut butter. But since taken part
:15:02. > :15:04.in a trial she can eat peanuts safely and now has to eat them every
:15:05. > :15:11.day. She prefers them chocolate coated. I am happy I am able to eat
:15:12. > :15:17.the peanuts and there is a trial to help me not be allergic any more. It
:15:18. > :15:24.is life transforming. The worry that it has removed from our life. The
:15:25. > :15:26.trial published in the Lancet and carried out at Addenbrooke's
:15:27. > :15:30.Hospital involved 99 children with the allergy. They were given tiny
:15:31. > :15:35.amounts of powdered peanut protein to eat, and the dose was slowly
:15:36. > :15:39.increased. After a few months, the vast majority, 80 to 90% of the
:15:40. > :15:44.children, were able to eat five peanuts a day. This study carried
:15:45. > :15:50.out in Cambridge is the largest and most successful of its kind in the
:15:51. > :15:53.world. Scientists here are describing it as a breakthrough and
:15:54. > :16:00.are saying that for the first time ever, a treatment for peanut allergy
:16:01. > :16:03.is a possible to. We do mainly clinical research and to be able to
:16:04. > :16:09.see something that you might be able to take into real-life treatment,
:16:10. > :16:14.and hugely benefit patient care, is, for us, the pinnacle. Some
:16:15. > :16:19.experts are urging caution and say more research is needed to assess
:16:20. > :16:24.the long-term risks. Researchers in Cambridge say this is the first time
:16:25. > :16:27.this type of treatment, known as desensitisation, has been successful
:16:28. > :16:31.for a food allergy. They say it could be used in trials for other
:16:32. > :16:36.allergies such as eggs, wheat and milk. The study was tightly
:16:37. > :16:40.monitored and should not be attempted a loan. It has, her family
:16:41. > :16:46.say, given the freedom to live without constant worry. The doctors
:16:47. > :16:49.who treated her hope it will eventually be available to others on
:16:50. > :16:54.the NHS. Our top story this lunchtime.
:16:55. > :17:00.The wettest January since records began. 100 years ago. And more rain
:17:01. > :17:03.forecast. Still to come, why, if you suffer
:17:04. > :17:06.from addiction, depression, or diabetes, it could be down to the
:17:07. > :17:13.behaviour of your ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago.
:17:14. > :17:19.Later on BBC London, grown under a street near you, subterranean farm
:17:20. > :17:23.taking root beneath south London. And reinventing itself after 150
:17:24. > :17:29.years, the Cutty Sark transforms from tea clipper to theatre.
:17:30. > :17:33.International troops were sent to Afghanistan after the Taliban were
:17:34. > :17:39.ousted in 2001 - following the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The
:17:40. > :17:42.number of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan peaked at about 140,000
:17:43. > :17:51.in 2011 - 100,000 of them from the US and 10,000 from the UK. But it's
:17:52. > :17:54.been a costly mission. There have been over 3,400 military fatalities
:17:55. > :18:00.- of which 447 have been British servicemen and women. There are now
:18:01. > :18:03.around 5,200 British troops there -including one of the RAF's most
:18:04. > :18:06.famous squadrons - the Dambusters - who have just flown their final
:18:07. > :18:12.mission before temporarily disbanding. This report from our
:18:13. > :18:22.defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt.
:18:23. > :18:29.Soaring through the Afghan skies for one of the final missions for the
:18:30. > :18:35.Dambusters. This is one of their Tornado GR4s being refuelled by an
:18:36. > :18:40.American tank while in the air, a move that requires precision while
:18:41. > :18:43.travelling at 450 mph. This is a beautiful country, there are
:18:44. > :18:47.mountains, Greenlands, snowcapped hills. On a day like this when the
:18:48. > :18:51.sun is shining, it is a beautiful place to look at. The view from my
:18:52. > :18:55.office is one of the best in the world. Even when the weather is not
:18:56. > :18:59.nice, when things are not going right and it becomes hard work, it
:19:00. > :19:02.is not about what we are doing, we are here to support the guys on the
:19:03. > :19:08.ground who are in a far more vulnerable position. Day and night
:19:09. > :19:12.for the past four months, Ben and his fellow aviators have provided
:19:13. > :19:19.air cover for NATO troops. They will move on to new jobs with different
:19:20. > :19:24.squadrons. The planes will be handed on to 2 Squadron who are taking over
:19:25. > :19:27.from 617. For the men and women of the Dambusters it is the end of an
:19:28. > :19:34.era, it is the last time they will fly these Tornado GR4s. For most, if
:19:35. > :19:41.not all of the squadron, it is a last tour of Afghanistan. Sergeant
:19:42. > :19:46.Adam Croxall is on his third tour of Afghanistan and home is just days
:19:47. > :19:52.away. It is was good to go home at the end of it, happy. It will be
:19:53. > :19:55.good to not come back here again. This fighter jets have been in
:19:56. > :20:02.service for some three decades now. Future runways are likely to be
:20:03. > :20:09.dominated by unmanned aircraft. But not for a while. 617 Squadron will
:20:10. > :20:13.be back again when the UK's newest jets come into service. Until then,
:20:14. > :20:22.Ben and several other pilots will continue to fly tornadoes, albeit
:20:23. > :20:26.with another squadron. The positive news is there is a very bright
:20:27. > :20:34.future. Later this decade the Dambusters will reform, 617 will be
:20:35. > :20:38.the UK's first Lightning II squadron and it will reform with a new
:20:39. > :20:44.aircraft at RAF Marnham. There will be sadness as they fly their
:20:45. > :20:49.separate ways. Formed from just one task in 1943, the Dambusters have
:20:50. > :20:59.endured. One day they will fly again.
:21:00. > :21:03.Michael Adebolajo, one of the two men found guilty of the murder of
:21:04. > :21:07.soldier Lee Rigby, has lodged an application to appeal against
:21:08. > :21:11.conviction. Add a blah Joe and Michael Adebowale were convicted in
:21:12. > :21:16.December of murdering Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks last May.
:21:17. > :21:18.The former News of the World reporter Dan Evans has told the Old
:21:19. > :21:22.Bailey he may have been mistaken when he told the court he
:21:23. > :21:28.intercepted a voice mail message from Sienna Miller to Kelly Hoppen.
:21:29. > :21:31.Mr Evans, who has admitted phone hacking during his time at the
:21:32. > :21:36.newspaper, says he now leads it may have been Sienna Miller's sister who
:21:37. > :21:38.left the message -- he now believes it may have been.
:21:39. > :21:41.Investigators say a father and daughter, who were killed in a
:21:42. > :21:44.speedboat accident in Cornwall, died after he took control of the
:21:45. > :21:47.steering from his wife. Nick Milligan and eight-year-old Emily
:21:48. > :21:52.were hit by the boat in Padstow last May. A report said Mrs Milligan
:21:53. > :21:56.should have been wearing a kill-chord safety device to shut off
:21:57. > :22:01.the boat's engine. Duncan Kennedy reports. This was the moment the
:22:02. > :22:05.Milligan family boat was left spinning out of control. It was at
:22:06. > :22:09.Padstow in Cornwall in May last year, when they were enjoying a day
:22:10. > :22:14.by the sea. All six members of the family were thrown into the water.
:22:15. > :22:18.Nick and age old Emily were killed when the vessel ran over them. Mum
:22:19. > :22:23.Victoria and four-year-old kit suffered serious injuries. Two older
:22:24. > :22:28.children suffered minor ones. The official report into the accident
:22:29. > :22:32.concluded that Nick Milligan had lent over his wife to take control
:22:33. > :22:38.of the rig and powered up to guide the boat away from a beach, action
:22:39. > :22:40.that tipped everyone overboard. Unfortunately the kill-cord, which
:22:41. > :22:45.should have stopped the engine, was not being worn and so it continued
:22:46. > :22:52.to circle over the family, resulting in the tragic death and two other
:22:53. > :22:55.family members being injured. Kill-cord is our standard issue in
:22:56. > :23:02.smaller boats, designed to be simple and quick -- kill-cords are
:23:03. > :23:11.standard. This is the kind of Rigby family was in. Each time a a vessel
:23:12. > :23:13.goes out they should have a skipper attached to one of these
:23:14. > :23:21.kill-cords, so that this does not happen. Not everyone supports calls
:23:22. > :23:24.to make them compulsory. We don't believe legislation is the answer,
:23:25. > :23:28.we believe making sure people are aware of the hazards and better
:23:29. > :23:50.educating, but are promoting the use of kill-cords is the way forward.
:23:51. > :23:57.The family had been trained before using their vessel. Today's report
:23:58. > :24:00.says kill-cords should become second nature when taking the helm at
:24:01. > :24:05.powerboats. Doctors in France are to begin
:24:06. > :24:08.brining the former Formula 1 racing champion, Michael Schumacher, out of
:24:09. > :24:11.his medically induced coma. He's been in hospital since a skiing
:24:12. > :24:15.accident at the end of last year - in which he hit his head against a
:24:16. > :24:23.rock. The driver's agent say doctors have now decided to start lowering
:24:24. > :24:25.his sedation. Researchers have discovered that
:24:26. > :24:28.many modern afflictions, such as addiction to smoking, depression,
:24:29. > :24:29.and diabetes are linked to early humans interbreeding with
:24:30. > :24:35.Neanderthals hundreds of thousands of years ago. The research by
:24:36. > :24:38.Harvard Medical School suggests that our species also acquired
:24:39. > :24:41.Neanderthal genes that helped us adapt to the colder climes of Europe
:24:42. > :24:47.and Asia, as the first humans of our species emerged. Our science
:24:48. > :24:54.correspondent, Pallab Ghosh, has more.
:24:55. > :24:59.In the distant past, our ancestors left Africa and populated the rest
:25:00. > :25:04.of the world. On the way, they met another species of human called the
:25:05. > :25:10.Neanderthals, with whom they coexisted until they died out 30,000
:25:11. > :25:15.years ago. Recently, and ours is of DNA taken from the bones of
:25:16. > :25:22.Neanderthals has shown modern humans have inherited some of their genes
:25:23. > :25:26.-- analysis of the DNA. When the first humans of our species left
:25:27. > :25:29.Africa, they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals. As a
:25:30. > :25:34.result, all non-African people living today have a little bit of
:25:35. > :25:37.Neanderthal DNA in them. Some of these Neanderthal genes we have
:25:38. > :25:42.inherited from our ancestors are linked to diseases that afflict us
:25:43. > :25:46.such as addiction to smoking, depression, diabetes and Crohn's
:25:47. > :25:51.disease. So what is the explanation for these modern-day diseases having
:25:52. > :25:57.their origins in Neanderthal DNA? This might be because that DNA is
:25:58. > :26:01.quite foreign to our body system. We are talking about a population that
:26:02. > :26:05.is much more different to how people are today. Perhaps that is
:26:06. > :26:10.triggering immune reactions, some autoimmune diseases may be affected
:26:11. > :26:18.by this presence of alien, if we call it, alien DNA. The research,
:26:19. > :26:20.published in the journal Nature, also suggested humans have inherited
:26:21. > :26:26.genes from Neanderthal that helped them to adapt to the colder climate
:26:27. > :26:30.outside of Africa. It is another step in getting to know ourselves
:26:31. > :26:35.better. Until recently we did not know that our ancestors interbred
:26:36. > :26:39.with Neanderthals at all. We found out that they did, we found out that
:26:40. > :26:45.we all carry a very small percentage of Neanderthal genomics. Future
:26:46. > :26:49.studies are likely to find many more Neanderthal genes that have both
:26:50. > :26:53.positive and negative effects on the modern-day population.
:26:54. > :26:56.The Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has turned himself in to police in
:26:57. > :26:59.Toronto and been charged with an assault.
:27:00. > :27:02.It relates to an alleged attack on a limousine driver in December.
:27:03. > :27:08.Officials say he'll appear in court in March. The 19-year-old singer has
:27:09. > :27:10.been involved in a series of bizarre incidents recently. This report from
:27:11. > :27:19.Sarah Campbell contains some flash photography.
:27:20. > :27:24.Still the centre of attention, and leaving his clean cut image even
:27:25. > :27:28.further behind. Justin Bieber handed himself into in Toronto, where he
:27:29. > :27:34.has been charged with assaulting a limousine driver. We are here to
:27:35. > :27:40.support him, we are his family. You want to be there for them. Fans have
:27:41. > :27:47.had several chances to be there for their idol recently. Last week he
:27:48. > :27:51.was in court in Miami. He has pleaded not guilty to charges
:27:52. > :27:57.related to alleged involvement in an illegal drag race. The press say he
:27:58. > :28:07.swore at an officer and admitted to taking marijuana. On January the
:28:08. > :28:16.14th his LA mansion was investigated by police on a vandalism charge. It
:28:17. > :28:19.might help explain why more than 180,000 people have signed an online
:28:20. > :28:24.petition to have him deported from the US. So many, in fact, that the
:28:25. > :28:30.White House must review and comment on the matter. He remains one of the
:28:31. > :28:36.world's best-known artists, but flagging album sales suggest he is
:28:37. > :28:40.becoming in danger -- in danger of becoming known more for his bad boy
:28:41. > :28:47.image than his music. Time for a look at the weather.
:28:48. > :28:51.Let's go straight out into the Atlantic because things are on the
:28:52. > :28:59.move. It is not so much this finger of cloud which loses its gusto, it
:29:00. > :29:05.is what is lurking further out that will be a problem. This afternoon,
:29:06. > :29:10.leaden skies for many, some sunshine around. Western side of Scotland,
:29:11. > :29:16.one or two spots in the north-west of Wales. Cold air has become
:29:17. > :29:18.further north towards Birmingham and Norwich and you will see wintry mess
:29:19. > :29:31.about your showers. -- wintry the top end of the Pennines into
:29:32. > :29:35.Scotland, a cold night, a touch of frost in rural spots, might even be
:29:36. > :29:40.fog across the South. The area of low pressure doesn't stay in the
:29:41. > :29:46.Atlantic. After a pretty quiet start to the day, wet and windy weather.
:29:47. > :29:50.There is still an amber warning for the Somerset Levels, 30 millimetres
:29:51. > :29:54.of rain, 40 across the high ground in Wales and the south-west of
:29:55. > :29:57.England. It takes a while before we get into the far east and East
:29:58. > :30:02.Anglia, blustery showers following on behind. Just when you might be
:30:03. > :30:08.thinking about leaving work on Friday, the top end of the M6, maybe
:30:09. > :30:12.into the Scottish roads, there will be a conversion of rain into snow
:30:13. > :30:18.and that could cause real travel problems. Transient on the snow
:30:19. > :30:25.front but there will be a lot of surface water around. Saturday, the
:30:26. > :30:32.low pressure is much closer and it will reduce an awful lot of wind. 60
:30:33. > :30:37.mph gusts through the Channel coasts, up into the Bristol Channel
:30:38. > :30:41.and the Irish Sea. That is one part of the triple whammy, the waves will
:30:42. > :30:45.be high, the tides are high through the course of the weekend.
:30:46. > :30:50.Potentially up to 70 mph on the western side of Wales. There could
:30:51. > :30:55.be a risk of flooding around about those coastal areas. That goes on
:30:56. > :30:58.through Saturday, into the first part of Sunday. That low pressure is
:30:59. > :31:04.not moving very fast. Saturday is a blustery day. We will continue that
:31:05. > :31:08.theme into the heart of Sunday because that low pressure is going
:31:09. > :31:11.nowhere fast. I know that is a lot to take in. You can do it at your
:31:12. > :31:22.speed on the BBC weather website. Now a reminder of our top story this
:31:23. > :31:27.lunchtime. The wettest January since records began 100 years ago, and
:31:28. > :31:28.more rain is forecast. That's all from us. Now on BBC One