:00:14. > :00:24.300 staff to rebuild the track at Dawlish in Devon, where a section of
:00:25. > :00:28.sea wall had collapsed. The prime minister has just told rail workers
:00:29. > :00:31.here that they have completed a Herculean task, but what is the
:00:32. > :00:35.long-term future of this route? Also this lunchtime: A new phase in
:00:36. > :00:38.the search for the missing Malaysian airliner - underwater locators are
:00:39. > :00:41.used to try to track signals from the plane's black box.
:00:42. > :00:44.More violence in Afghanistan ahead of this weekend's election, as two
:00:45. > :00:49.veteran journalists are shot - one is killed, the other injured.
:00:50. > :00:57.Sweeping changes to the way bailiffs collect debt are due to come into
:00:58. > :01:00.force. And 18 months after the end of the
:01:01. > :01:09.London 2012 games, the Olympic Park is set to reopen to the public.
:01:10. > :01:11.Later on BBC London: As the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park opens, what
:01:12. > :01:12.difference will it make to Stratford?
:01:13. > :01:14.And government inspectors ARE appointed to examine fraud claims at
:01:15. > :01:39.Tower Hamlets council. Good afternoon and welcome to the
:01:40. > :01:42.BBC News at One. This was the scene back in February, when winter storms
:01:43. > :01:48.destroyed the main railway line to the south-west of England at Dawlish
:01:49. > :01:51.in Devon. But eight weeks and ?35 million later, the line has
:01:52. > :01:53.reopened, thanks to a team of 300 workers who've been working
:01:54. > :02:01.round-the-clock to get the work done. And this time, engineers say
:02:02. > :02:04.it should last for around 200 years. Well, our correspondent, Jon Kay,
:02:05. > :02:12.was on the first train to pass through Dawlish, and we can join him
:02:13. > :02:16.now. It is not often that you film at a
:02:17. > :02:19.railway station and all you see are smiling faces and all you hear are
:02:20. > :02:23.positive comments from passengers, but that is what it has been like
:02:24. > :02:28.here today, such is the level of relief and gratitude that this line
:02:29. > :02:32.has reopened. As you say, it has only taken eight weeks to do a
:02:33. > :02:35.massive construction job, but for people affected by this line being
:02:36. > :02:43.closed, it has been a long eight weeks.
:02:44. > :02:48.The 5.34 from Exeter to Dawlish this morning, the first train to travel
:02:49. > :02:53.this route in two months. Not many passengers, but for bleary eyed
:02:54. > :02:57.commuters, it is still a big day. It is great for tourism. It is a scenic
:02:58. > :03:02.stretch of line, and it is important the business, both for Exeter, the
:03:03. > :03:06.south-west, Devon and Cornwall. I know you have the roads and other
:03:07. > :03:10.forms of transport, but the railway is the main link. You will not see
:03:11. > :03:14.much this morning. Not at the moment. We slow down and go past the
:03:15. > :03:22.section that collapsed, now rebuilt and reopen. Hard to believe this was
:03:23. > :03:26.how it looked eight weeks ago. The main line in and out of the West
:03:27. > :03:29.Country was hanging in midair. Since then, hundreds of engineers have
:03:30. > :03:36.worked around the clock, often in terrible conditions, filling the gap
:03:37. > :03:40.with thousands of tonnes of concrete and reinforcing the embankment. It
:03:41. > :03:46.is only when you look at the Victorian sea wall that you realise
:03:47. > :03:49.exactly what has happened here. There is a section which is modern,
:03:50. > :03:54.made of new materials. This is the bit that gave way and fell apart.
:03:55. > :03:58.But it has been bolstered, and they say it is now stronger than when
:03:59. > :04:02.Brunel built it in the 1800 's. From the other side, you can see the
:04:03. > :04:06.shipping containers filled with rocks that have been used to protect
:04:07. > :04:11.the site from the tide. How much of a challenge has it been to get to
:04:12. > :04:17.this stage? It has been commended challenge. We have had landslips and
:04:18. > :04:22.650 metres of track to replace. But we are proud of the achievements of
:04:23. > :04:25.the whole industry. For a region that relies on visitors, the
:04:26. > :04:30.reopened railway sends out an important message, especially coming
:04:31. > :04:38.just before the crucial Easter holiday season. We are back on the
:04:39. > :04:44.map. We are back in business. That is what is really important to us.
:04:45. > :04:47.Fantastic! Very happy. Among the first passengers to arrive, the
:04:48. > :04:52.prime minister. He came to say thank you to the engineers known here as
:04:53. > :04:59.the Orange army. It has been a Herculean effort. 56 days and 56
:05:00. > :05:05.nights, 10,000 tonnes of concrete, 150 tonnes of deal, a huge task
:05:06. > :05:11.carried out not only on time, but before time, so thank you for that.
:05:12. > :05:14.There are still questions about the long-term viability of this line,
:05:15. > :05:22.but today, they are only thinking about the job done. One idea is
:05:23. > :05:28.whether it is time to move this line inland, to a space where it might be
:05:29. > :05:32.safer for the future if coastal erosion continues to be a problem.
:05:33. > :05:35.The man who runs the Eden Project told the BBC today that he think
:05:36. > :05:39.some of the money being put aside for HS2 for other parts of Britain
:05:40. > :05:43.should be spent on updating the infrastructure in the south-west. So
:05:44. > :05:47.job done for now, but the future is yet to be sorted. Search teams have
:05:48. > :05:53.begun using underwater locators to hunt for the black box of Malaysia
:05:54. > :05:57.Airlines flight MH370. It's a race against time, as the batteries which
:05:58. > :06:02.send out a signal are due to run out any day. The plane, which
:06:03. > :06:05.disappeared on March eighth, is believed to have crashed in the
:06:06. > :06:08.southern Indian Ocean with 239 people on board. In a moment, we'll
:06:09. > :06:13.get the latest from Perth in Western Australia, from where the search is
:06:14. > :06:22.being co-ordinated. But first, here's our transport correspondent,
:06:23. > :06:25.Richard Westcott. After a fruitless month looking for
:06:26. > :06:28.the missing plane, searchers have begun listening for it, too. Beneath
:06:29. > :06:31.the waves, two ships are using special kit to try to hear distress
:06:32. > :06:36.signals from the plane's black boxes, but they have got their work
:06:37. > :06:39.cut out. The sea bed in that part of the world is like an underwater
:06:40. > :06:46.alps, 4.5km deep and with 2.5 kilometre-high mountains. That is
:06:47. > :06:50.the kind of terrain that hides its secrets. And this is what
:06:51. > :06:55.investigators are after, the black boxes that solve this puzzle. They
:06:56. > :07:00.will tell us what the aircraft was doing and what the crew were saying
:07:01. > :07:03.on board. But how to find them? Well, this piece of American kit,
:07:04. > :07:07.shaped like a stingray, will lead the search. It is called a TOAD
:07:08. > :07:10.pinger locator, but think of it as an underwater microphone, tuned to
:07:11. > :07:14.hear signals from the black box locator beacons. A Royal Navy
:07:15. > :07:20.nuclear submarine is also combing the area, listening for the same
:07:21. > :07:24.tell-tale pings. They might get lucky, but it is a long shot. The
:07:25. > :07:28.pinger batteries run out in a few days, and they will be listening
:07:29. > :07:34.across an area the size of Britain. There is other high-tech kit on
:07:35. > :07:37.stand-by as well. This underwater vehicle swims up and down, mapping
:07:38. > :07:41.the sea bed, but they will not start using it until they find a piece of
:07:42. > :07:44.the actual plane. So they have got the best tools available to find
:07:45. > :07:48.this airliner, but that does not mean it will work. They had the same
:07:49. > :07:51.state-of-the-art technology five years ago to find the black boxes
:07:52. > :07:56.from a French airliner that had crashed into the Atlantic. For a
:07:57. > :07:59.month, they trawled the area, listening for signals, without
:08:00. > :08:04.realising they even went over the wreckage. Yet they heard nothing.
:08:05. > :08:08.The company that eventually helped find that plane told me why. In
:08:09. > :08:14.hindsight after the wreckage was discovered, it was revealed that
:08:15. > :08:20.both pingers had failed. So it was similar to the situation we face now
:08:21. > :08:23.with flight MH370. We have no information on where the wreckage
:08:24. > :08:27.could be on the ocean bottom. And in this case, it is an area 20 times
:08:28. > :08:32.the size of the area we were dealing with with the Air France flight. So
:08:33. > :08:36.the search enters a new phase, but the reality is, if they don't find a
:08:37. > :08:43.clue soon, they may never find the aircraft. Richard Westcott, BBC
:08:44. > :08:49.News. Our World Affairs Correspondent Jon Donnison is in
:08:50. > :08:57.Perth now. Jon, what hope of this latest search providing results in
:08:58. > :09:01.what is now a race against time? Well, they are not giving up, but I
:09:02. > :09:08.don't think there is much hope. We spent the day on a US search plane,
:09:09. > :09:11.the P8 Poseidon. It is as sophisticated as it gets in terms of
:09:12. > :09:17.search technology. We were in the air for about eight hours, two hours
:09:18. > :09:21.over the search zone. We covered around 10,000 square miles, and in
:09:22. > :09:25.the words of the pilot, we saw absolutely nothing but ocean. We
:09:26. > :09:30.were skimming over the ocean at about 1000 feet, peering out of the
:09:31. > :09:34.windows. Much of the search was being done with the naked eye, and
:09:35. > :09:37.it requires a lot of concentration. It is tedious and exhausting work.
:09:38. > :09:42.There have now been more than 100 search flights, and there has been
:09:43. > :09:47.no breakthrough whatsoever. There is obviously a huge human cost to the
:09:48. > :09:51.families and also a financial one. One expert told us the eventual
:09:52. > :09:56.search operation, if the plane is recovered, could cost as much as
:09:57. > :09:59.$500 million. There's been more violence in the
:10:00. > :10:02.run-up to this weekend's presidential election in
:10:03. > :10:05.Afghanistan. A photographer has been killed and a reporter injured after
:10:06. > :10:13.a police officer opened fire on their car. Let's speak to our
:10:14. > :10:17.correspondent in Kabul, David Loyn. David, this is the latest in a
:10:18. > :10:23.number of killings ahead of the elections. What happened? It was an
:10:24. > :10:27.apparently unprovoked attack on the two journalists by a police officer.
:10:28. > :10:29.They were in a convoy going towards polling stations to watch
:10:30. > :10:34.preparations for tomorrow's election. A police officer came up
:10:35. > :10:37.to their vehicle and shot the two, Cathy Gannon, a highly experienced
:10:38. > :10:42.journalist, who lived and worked in this region of 30 years and has
:10:43. > :10:46.written books about Pakistan and Afghanistan. She was shot and
:10:47. > :10:51.injured. We understand she is in a stable is issued and is now in a US
:10:52. > :10:53.hospital. But her colic, Anja Niedringhaus, a well-known
:10:54. > :11:00.photojournalist, was shot in the head and died instantly. She was one
:11:01. > :11:03.of the nicest people on the road and a very good photographer. She
:11:04. > :11:07.covered conflict all the way back to Bosnia through Iraq and Libya and so
:11:08. > :11:11.on. She was also a good sports photographer. There was no war that
:11:12. > :11:16.could stop her going to Wimbledon. This terrible news has shocked the
:11:17. > :11:20.press community. Both of them were very well-known. I knew them both
:11:21. > :11:24.myself. It reminds us of the potential violence around this
:11:25. > :11:28.election over the weekend. There are some 400,000 Afghan and
:11:29. > :11:33.international troops protecting the election process, the largest
:11:34. > :11:37.military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. Going
:11:38. > :11:40.out this morning in Kabul, we were stopped frequently at police
:11:41. > :11:45.checkpoints, and all gates to the city are closed down as this huge
:11:46. > :11:54.security presence tries to protect this very important aquatic moment
:11:55. > :11:56.for Afghanistan. New rules come into force this weekend which will
:11:57. > :12:01.radically change the way bailiffs can collect debts. It means they'll
:12:02. > :12:03.no longer be able to enter homes at night or use physical force against
:12:04. > :12:07.debtors, or take away essential household items. Here's our legal
:12:08. > :12:15.affairs correspondent, Clive Coleman.
:12:16. > :12:21.It is painful looking at the money I have paid. After she sold her camper
:12:22. > :12:25.van, the new owner got a congestion charge fine and two parking tickets.
:12:26. > :12:29.Despite being able to show but the charges occurred after she had sold
:12:30. > :12:33.the van, the bailiffs pursued her. That was when I knew I was in
:12:34. > :12:38.trouble here. All the evidence they had first requested, they then
:12:39. > :12:41.dismissed, and three times, they said they had not received it
:12:42. > :12:46.through the post, so I started recording delivery, again expense I
:12:47. > :12:49.don't have. It is that kind of had practised that the government wants
:12:50. > :12:54.to stamp out. The new law will ban the use of force against debtors,
:12:55. > :12:59.stop bailiffs from visiting homes at night and from entering properties
:13:00. > :13:03.where only children are at home. Bailiffs will not be allowed to take
:13:04. > :13:06.essential household items such as washing machines and fridges, and
:13:07. > :13:09.they will have to give courts information on their means of entry
:13:10. > :13:16.and the amount of force required for a warrant is granted. Lawrence works
:13:17. > :13:23.for a reputable enforcement company which welcomes the new law. There
:13:24. > :13:26.will be a bit more admin involved and quite a bit more regulation,
:13:27. > :13:30.mode but the upside is that there will be more carrot for debtors and
:13:31. > :13:35.enforcement companies alike. It will be good all round. Citizens Advice
:13:36. > :13:40.Bureau said they deal with around 1000 bailiffs problems a week. They
:13:41. > :13:46.say it is time the bailiffs to put their houses in order, and if the
:13:47. > :13:50.new law makes them do that, there should be a sharp fall in
:13:51. > :13:56.complaints. If it was my fine, fair enough. Fewer people experiencing
:13:57. > :14:06.the kind of heavy-handed behaviour that Spike Watson has had to put up
:14:07. > :14:10.with. There's been better news for the UK's high streets today after a
:14:11. > :14:13.survey found that most of the big name shops that closed over the past
:14:14. > :14:16.five years have now been re-let. The survey by the accountancy firm
:14:17. > :14:19.Deloitte also found that the high street was outperforming retail
:14:20. > :14:22.parks and shopping centres when it came to filling empty shops. Our
:14:23. > :14:24.business correspondent, Emma Simpson, reports from
:14:25. > :14:27.Weston-super-Mare. It's got all the trappings of a
:14:28. > :14:30.traditional seaside town. In recent years, Weston-super-Mare has been
:14:31. > :14:36.battling against the tide. But it's not all gloom. Take Woolie's, the
:14:37. > :14:42.first big collapse. It is now home to Poundland. Then there is
:14:43. > :14:47.Blockbuster, now a supermarket. TJ Hughes was a department store chain.
:14:48. > :14:54.Things are finally changing here, too. In days gone by, this was a
:14:55. > :15:00.prime destination for shoppers, its rapid demise another blow for the
:15:01. > :15:06.town. The store has been sitting empty for two years, but it's now
:15:07. > :15:11.got a new owner. The top floors could eventually be transformed into
:15:12. > :15:14.new flats. Perhaps there will be a bit of retail down here once more.
:15:15. > :15:22.This is one big, empty property that is about to get a new lease of life,
:15:23. > :15:24.like many others. New research shows that out of nearly 6000 shops
:15:25. > :15:27.affected by the biggest administrations of the last five
:15:28. > :15:39.years, just 20% of them on the high street remain vacant. That vacancy
:15:40. > :15:46.rate goes up to 29% shopping centres, and it goes higher still
:15:47. > :15:49.for shops on retail parks. The high street has recovered far greater
:15:50. > :15:52.than we thought it would partly due to the fact that there are
:15:53. > :15:56.convenience shops for the consumer, be that pound shops, discounters or
:15:57. > :15:58.of course, the supermarkets. That is what has been happening here in
:15:59. > :16:07.Weston-super-Mare, a high street that is reacting to our changing
:16:08. > :16:11.shopping habits. There are loads of food shops, and there are lots of
:16:12. > :16:14.banks and clothes, but there is not much variety for young girls. You go
:16:15. > :16:19.into town to get the odd gift, cards, go to the bank and some
:16:20. > :16:24.toiletries. Like many others, this town has still got a long way to go.
:16:25. > :16:28.There are plenty of empty shops off the main high street, and these may
:16:29. > :16:39.not be so easy to fill. Emma Simpson, BBC News,
:16:40. > :16:42.Weston-super-Mare. David Cameron has again defended the Culture Secretary
:16:43. > :16:47.Maria Miller who has been criticised for her 32nd apology to the Commons
:16:48. > :16:51.yesterday over her failure to cooperate into an enquiry into her
:16:52. > :16:57.expenses. Mr Cameron said she had apologised for her mistakes and
:16:58. > :17:01.people should leave it there. The problem is, people are not leaving
:17:02. > :17:07.it there, are they? They are not, what started as a row about her
:17:08. > :17:11.expenses and her attitude to the enquiry has expanded into a row
:17:12. > :17:14.involving Downing Street and pressed regulation.
:17:15. > :17:19.Let me begin with the expenses claims, a committee of MPs cleared
:17:20. > :17:24.Maria Miller of funding a home for her family at the expense of the
:17:25. > :17:31.taxpayers but they called her to pay back ?60,000, ?40,000 less than a
:17:32. > :17:35.senior party official suggested she should be paying back, leading to a
:17:36. > :17:40.furious reaction by the press who said she had been let off lightly.
:17:41. > :17:44.But Maria Miller as Culture Secretary is in charge of a strict
:17:45. > :17:50.form of press regulation which was going to be introduced following the
:17:51. > :17:54.Leveson enquiry so a lot of the press do not like that and they do
:17:55. > :18:01.not like her. Former allegations were made by the former editor of
:18:02. > :18:04.the Daily Telegraph who repeated claims that Downing Street had asked
:18:05. > :18:09.him not to run the story about Maria Miller, which got a furious response
:18:10. > :18:13.from Craig Oliver, director of communications, who said, there is
:18:14. > :18:18.no threat in anyway over Leveson, best regulation. Tony Gallagher, the
:18:19. > :18:23.former editor of the Daily Telegraph, is talking rubbish about
:18:24. > :18:28.me. Where does this leave Maria Miller? She still retains a Prime
:18:29. > :18:32.Minister 's support and having a row with the press might threaten her
:18:33. > :18:38.job as Culture Secretary but David Cameron still wants women around the
:18:39. > :18:41.table of his Cabinet, so I believe her job is safe and the Prime
:18:42. > :18:44.Minister believes she has apologised for what she was initially
:18:45. > :18:49.criticised for by that committee of MPs.
:18:50. > :18:52.Our top story this lunchtime: The main railway line into the South
:18:53. > :18:53.West of England has re-opened, after being badly damaged in last winter's
:18:54. > :19:05.storms. And I am at Aintree, where we have
:19:06. > :19:12.60,000 fans for ladies day, and tomorrow, it is the Grand National.
:19:13. > :19:17.Later, tackling young offenders with mental health needs, a new scheme on
:19:18. > :19:21.shoes the capital. And Tom Daley 's new coach on her move from the
:19:22. > :19:31.States to the aquatic centre. The London 2012 Olympics might seem
:19:32. > :19:35.like a distant memory, but from this weekend, anyone can re-live those
:19:36. > :19:42.heady days of summer, with a visit to the newly re-opened and re-named
:19:43. > :19:45.Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The regeneration of the area was one of
:19:46. > :19:48.the central planks of the Olympic bid and today, Prince Harry and
:19:49. > :19:53.London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, got a chance to see the attractions. Our
:19:54. > :20:04.correspondent, Sarah Campbell, was there too. Sarah.
:20:05. > :20:08.This view became so iconic in 2012 but after that, effectively, the
:20:09. > :20:12.gates to this part were padlocked and almost ?300 million have been
:20:13. > :20:17.spent getting it ready for the public hash this park. Prince Harry
:20:18. > :20:21.and Boris Johnson got a sneak review this morning and they seemed to
:20:22. > :20:25.enjoy it. Chance for royalty and the to seem -- to see the transformation
:20:26. > :20:28.of the Olympic Park, meet some of those behind it and try out the
:20:29. > :20:40.facilities. A slightly reluctant Prince was
:20:41. > :20:45.persuaded by local schoolchildren to test the new playground. Boris
:20:46. > :20:52.Johnson needed no persuading to give the rope bridge a go. Was it as good
:20:53. > :20:55.as you expected or better? Better, that is what she wanted to
:20:56. > :21:01.hear! It was fantastic anyway but the amount of money that has been
:21:02. > :21:05.spent on the creativity, it has brought to life and the public get
:21:06. > :21:10.chance to come here. The kids obviously adore it.
:21:11. > :21:14.Both men clearly had a lot of fun today but they also have personal
:21:15. > :21:19.interests here. Rinse Harry has chosen this is the venue for his pet
:21:20. > :21:24.project, the Invicta is games, and for Boris Johnson, the long-term
:21:25. > :21:28.success of the Olympics will be judged on legacy.
:21:29. > :21:36.The new park is bigger than Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens combined
:21:37. > :21:42.so bikes will come in handy. If Boris can do it, anybody can do
:21:43. > :21:47.it! This charity provides specially adapted mobility cycles, as
:21:48. > :21:52.demonstrated by His Royal Highness. Avoiding the interactive water
:21:53. > :21:56.fountains. It looks far better than even I dreamt and judging by the
:21:57. > :22:01.reaction of the kids, it is going to be a success.
:22:02. > :22:06.From tomorrow, the gates to London 's newest and largest park will be
:22:07. > :22:12.open to everybody. Not so long ago, this area was
:22:13. > :22:15.basically wasteland. The hope is now it will become a focus for local
:22:16. > :22:20.groups, national events and for people who simply wants to come back
:22:21. > :22:25.and relive those summer 2012 memories. -- wants to come back.
:22:26. > :22:28.Police officers in London say they are living in a "culture of fear"
:22:29. > :22:31.because of the "draconian" use of performance targets. The Police
:22:32. > :22:34.Federation surveyed 250 officers and found officers felt under a
:22:35. > :22:40."constant threat" because of what it called "meaningless" and
:22:41. > :22:46."unrealistic" targets. Here is our home affairs correspondent, Tom
:22:47. > :22:49.Symonds. When it comes to setting targets for
:22:50. > :22:56.the police, the government says it has just one, to cut crime.
:22:57. > :23:02.The country's biggest force, the Met, has insisted it has no policy
:23:03. > :23:06.of setting targets for arrests. And search. But today, the Police
:23:07. > :23:10.Federation is claiming hitting the numbers is a real pressure on
:23:11. > :23:14.members. This is the sort of e-mail the
:23:15. > :23:19.federation says is circulating among managers. It mentions targets will
:23:20. > :23:25.stop and search and how each officer is doing. This arrest rate is below
:23:26. > :23:29.10% which needs to improve and not be so reliant on drug searches.
:23:30. > :23:34.Another has a fantastic arrest rate but this has made zero arrests. So
:23:35. > :23:38.the federation says despite the official policy, there are unwritten
:23:39. > :23:45.targets which officers are pushed to meet. It is a culture where they
:23:46. > :23:51.stressed, pressurised, always, taken to misconduct procedures when they
:23:52. > :23:54.do not hit specific targets. It is write performance is measured but
:23:55. > :24:02.there are different ways of measurement. This report draws on
:24:03. > :24:05.the accounts of 250 officers out of 32,000, Scotland Yard said a local
:24:06. > :24:11.managers are setting targets, they should not be.
:24:12. > :24:14.We do not condone it, we recognise that in some places we need to do
:24:15. > :24:19.more to coach people to get the best from their teams, but broadly my
:24:20. > :24:23.officers do a great job to protect the public and officers -- and
:24:24. > :24:31.issues like this can be dealt with quickly and simply. Cut stone police
:24:32. > :24:32.officers have contributed to a climate of unrest among some
:24:33. > :24:38.officers. But today's report from London goes
:24:39. > :24:44.further, describing it as a climate of fear. -- cuts in police officers.
:24:45. > :24:47.The former Formula 1 racing champion Michael Schumacher has shown what
:24:48. > :24:50.his manager called "moments of consciousness and awakening". It is
:24:51. > :24:52.more than three months since he sustained severe head injuries
:24:53. > :24:56.during a skiing accident in the French Alps. In a statement, his
:24:57. > :25:01.manager said the 45-year-old was "making progress".
:25:02. > :25:06.England have beaten South Africa to reach a second successive Women's
:25:07. > :25:08.World Twenty20 final. They restricted South Africa to 101, then
:25:09. > :25:21.reached their target within 17 overs. They'll meet Australia in the
:25:22. > :25:24.final on Sunday. The BBC understands seven
:25:25. > :25:26.footballers arrested in connection with allegations of match
:25:27. > :25:29.spot-fixing are all players at Preston. And Barnsley. They are
:25:30. > :25:34.being questioned over allegations of bribery and money laundering. All
:25:35. > :25:37.deny any wrongdoing. Let's speak to our chief sports correspondent, Dan
:25:38. > :25:43.Roan, who is in Preston. Dan, what more can you tell us?
:25:44. > :25:47.Today, the National Crime Agency revealed they had made seven new
:25:48. > :25:51.arrests in connection with an investigation into alleged spot
:25:52. > :25:57.fixing, on top of B6, they had originally made in December. -- on
:25:58. > :26:03.top of the six they had originally made. Six players aged between 18
:26:04. > :26:09.and 30 play for Preston North End, one of the most gamers clubs, home
:26:10. > :26:13.to the legendary Sir Tom Finney whose statue is behind me at
:26:14. > :26:19.Deepdale. Those six players captain John Welsh, Keith Keane, Bailey
:26:20. > :26:24.Wright, David Buchanan, Ben Davies on loan at York city, Graham Cummins
:26:25. > :26:28.on loan at Rochdale. They have all told the club they are innocent and
:26:29. > :26:32.they have been released on bail and Preston have issued a statement
:26:33. > :26:34.saying they are disappointed the names have got into the public
:26:35. > :26:37.domain. Tomorrow will see the running of the
:26:38. > :26:40.world's most famous steeplechase. 40 horses will start the Grand National
:26:41. > :26:44.including current favourites Teaforthree and Monbeg you. Today,
:26:45. > :26:47.though, is Ladies' Day, where the interest in fashion almost matches
:26:48. > :26:54.the interest in the racing. Our correspondent Andy Swiss is in
:26:55. > :27:01.Aintree. A busy day then, Andy? That is right. The sun is peeking
:27:02. > :27:05.through the clouds at Aintree, good news for the 60,000 fans here.
:27:06. > :27:12.Tomorrow is all about the Grand National but today is where sport
:27:13. > :27:17.meets style. It is the annual running of racing 's fashion stakes.
:27:18. > :27:22.Ladies day at Aintree, when Liverpool concert finery and heads
:27:23. > :27:27.for the horses -- when Liverpool dons its finery.
:27:28. > :27:32.Where do your start -- where do you start? Your tan, your make-up, it
:27:33. > :27:40.takes a long time. You start with the town on Tuesday, the nails, the
:27:41. > :27:44.works in. -- the tanning. Could tomorrow also be a ladies day
:27:45. > :27:47.Chris DiMarco this is the favourite for the Grand National,
:27:48. > :27:50.Teaforthree, trained on the Pembrokeshire coast by Rebecca
:27:51. > :27:57.Curtis, hoping to become the third female trainer to win the National
:27:58. > :28:01.in six years. Everybody wants to win it because it is so hard, even with
:28:02. > :28:10.Teaforthree as favourite, you need a lot of luck, it is not just a trot
:28:11. > :28:13.round, it is a hard race. Others are going for the Royal
:28:14. > :28:18.connection. This is what it is like to ride Monbeg you, bought at an
:28:19. > :28:23.auction by accident by former England rugby star Mike Tindall.
:28:24. > :28:31.After sessions with his wife Zara Phillips, Monbeg you has become an
:28:32. > :28:35.unlikely contender. -- he has become. It was bought by accident
:28:36. > :28:41.trying to be involved in an auction that backfired. He has as good a
:28:42. > :28:45.chance as anybody else. He has beaten a lot of the others in the
:28:46. > :28:49.round, but it is the Grand National, the toughest race in the
:28:50. > :28:54.world. And the most unpredictable, 12
:28:55. > :28:58.months ago, it was outside Auroras Encore that stole the headlines and
:28:59. > :29:04.now once again the search is on for that winning combination. But the
:29:05. > :29:07.biggest hope here is for a safe Grand National.
:29:08. > :29:14.Last year, they introduced soft offences and the race was free of
:29:15. > :29:18.injuries and organisers will hope for a similar story. -- soft
:29:19. > :29:24.offences. Time for a look at the weather.
:29:25. > :29:30.For the next couple of days, cleaner Atlantic air is coming in, meaning
:29:31. > :29:35.less pollution. And some rain for many of us. A bit of rain heading
:29:36. > :29:42.across the northern part of Scotland, but it is clearing up
:29:43. > :29:47.further South. Another weather front is heading in from the Atlantic, but
:29:48. > :29:52.a lot of dry weather today. Sunny spells developing, especially in the
:29:53. > :29:56.West, but showers in Northern Ireland, Wales and the south-west.
:29:57. > :30:01.Not as warm as it has been recently but a pleasant day, 17, 18 degrees.
:30:02. > :30:09.This evening, right patchy rain from the West, it will not reach eastern
:30:10. > :30:16.areas but it could be a chilly night down the East coast of England.
:30:17. > :30:19.Further West, it is a mild night. Tomorrow, a lot of cloud around.
:30:20. > :30:24.That weak weather front will bring outbreaks of light rain to parts of
:30:25. > :30:29.Scotland, patchy and light further East. Across northern England,
:30:30. > :30:34.outbreaks of light rain but many places of avoiding them. Cloudy
:30:35. > :30:39.across the Midlands, a bit of sunshine to parts of East Anglia
:30:40. > :30:43.towards Kent. Generally cloudy skies through Southern counties of
:30:44. > :30:49.England. Outbreaks of patchy rain for Devon and Cornwall, a lot of low
:30:50. > :30:53.cloud and hill fog here as well, and fairly drizzly bursting across much
:30:54. > :30:58.of Wales. Across the Isle of Man, outbreaks of rain in the morning,
:30:59. > :31:03.and after a wet start in Northern Ireland, it will write an up and
:31:04. > :31:11.improve. This rain wellhead eastwards. -- it will brighten up. A
:31:12. > :31:15.breeze will come in from the South and the south-west and temperatures
:31:16. > :31:20.around 60 degrees, but they do better for the Northwest -- for the
:31:21. > :31:24.North East of England. If you are heading to Aintree, a chance of
:31:25. > :31:28.catching light showers but predominantly it will be dry and
:31:29. > :31:33.outbreaks of rain will be fairly light. Into Sunday, the next area of
:31:34. > :31:41.low pressure will in from the Atlantic, gathering pace. Quite a
:31:42. > :31:45.breezy day, outbreaks of rain and a bit cooler. I am not going on but at
:31:46. > :31:48.least the air quality is getting better.
:31:49. > :31:55.That is better. Now a reminder of our top story this lunchtime: The
:31:56. > :32:00.main railway line in and out of the south-west of England has reopened
:32:01. > :32:02.after being at Leeds damaged in last winter 's storms. That is all from