14/05/2014 BBC News at One

Frantic efforts in Turkey to rescue hundreds of miners trapped below

ground. At least 200 are already known to have died, as Turkey calls

for three days of national mourning. We'll be live from the scene with

the latest on the disaster. Also this lunchtime: Unemployment falls

to its lowest level for five years. The news comes with a warning for

borrowers from the Bank of England. The economy has edged closer to the

point at which bank rates will need gradually to rise.

What do you do when life gives you cancer?

Stephen Sutton, who raised more than ?3 million for a cancer charity, has

died. His mother says her heart is bursting with pride but breaking

with pain. A delay in the Oscar Pistorius

murder trial after the judge calls for a psychiatric evaluation.

And chaos ahead of the Commonwealth Games as organisers apologise

unreservedly after the ticketing website and phone lines break down.

Later on BBC London: A paedophile from Peckham who escaped prison

could have his sentence reviewed by the Court of Appeal.

And the campaign to help pupils from the East End find jobs in the

booming tech sector. Good afternoon and welcome to the

BBC News at One. Turkey has declared three days of national mourning

after at least 200 miners were killed in an explosion at a coal

pit. With rescue teams working frantically against time, hopes of

finding alive another 200 trapped underground are fading. The mine is

privately owned and situated in Soma in Manisa province, 280 miles west

of the capital Ankara. The Soma district is one of the key centres

for lignite coal mining in Turkey. Our world affairs correspondent Mike

Wooldridge reports. A rescued workwer emerges alive from

the mine to the cheers and applause of onlookers. But it was as hopes

were fading further for the scores still trapped in the mine the after

the explosion and fire. Emotions were running high, as they

did throughout the night, emergency operations continued and

ambulances carried away a rising number of bodies.

Officials said many of the dead fell victim to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The accident had victim to carbon monoxide poisoning.

miners were preparing for a victim to carbon monoxide poisoning.

change, meaning there was a particularly large number in

change, meaning there was a mind, 787, according to the

authorities. The Turkish government has declared three days of national

mourning. TRANSLATION: May God wish mercy upon

our brothers who lost their lives, and I hope our brothers will get

well soon. The energy minister visited the

scene as rescue workers continued to pump oxygen into the mine in the

hope of keeping trapped miners alive. The mine owners said the

accident happened despite what they call the highest safety measures.

The minister also said the government would not turn a blind

eye if negligence was revealed. These CCTV pictures showing rescuers

moving underground, the air thick with smoke and soot.

moving underground, the air thick passed and the gravity of the

tragedy becomes ever clearer, the distress of relatives only deepens.

Paramilitary police guarding the entrance to the mine to enable the

rescue efforts to continue unhindered. And teams of

psychiatrists have been organised to counsel the families of the victims.

Workers, rescuers and relatives, we are all a family here, one of the

miners said. Let's speak to our correspondent

James Reynolds who's in Soma. As we have been hearing, it is a race

against time, a frantic effort to get to those still underground. It

is, and that explosion happened is now 24 hours ago, which will make

relatives extremely concerned. They will worry about how on earth their

fathers, brothers and sons will have managed, if at all, to survive. The

Prime Minister has just been here, and he says 232 people were killed,

but that still leaves more than 100 missing. 20 Minutes Drive away is

the main hospital in Soma. Relatives have effectively taken over the

grounds, sitting waiting for news. One elderly woman started sobbing,

saying her son was just two months from retirement. Turkey has a pretty

poor record when it comes to mining. What caused this? 95 people were

killed in 2013 in a mining accident in this country, so yes it has a

poor safety record. The initial supposition is that a power unit

inside the mine exploded. That may have cut off the electricity and

started a fire. It meant the miners were trapped underneath the ground

with a fire with no way of getting out, and many of them died from

carbon monoxide poisoning. The company says that this mine was very

safe, but one former leader of the miners union has dead that what

happened here was workplace murder of the highest order. James Reynolds

in Soma, thank you very much. There'll be more on that story

throughout the afternoon on the BBC News Channel Unemployment has fallen

to its lowest level for five years. The number of people out of work

dropped by 133,000 in the first three months of the year to 2.2

million. Latest figures show the total in work has reached a record

high. The Bank of England says it expects unemployment to fall more

quickly than previously thought. Our chief economics correspondent Hugh

Pym reports. The clouds are lifting, the outlook

is bright. That was the message today from the Bank of England with

its latest set of forecasts on how the economic climate is likely to

look. Output is now close to regaining its weak prices level.

700,000 more people are work. Inflation is below or close to the

2% target. Short, the economy has started to head back to normal. So

what does that mean for interest rates, expected by the markets to

start rising in one year's time? When the bank rate does begin to

rise, increases are expected to be gradual and limited, meaning that

the bank rate may stay at historically low levels for some

time. We also learned today that the unemployment rate has fallen from

7.2% of the workforce to 6.8% in the first quarter of this year, the

lowest for more than five years. The employment market is certainly

improving, with more opportunities opening up for those who want to

take them. Jobs are being created, but in some cases, getting people to

a position where they can take them remains a challenge. That's why

colleges like this one see it as their mission to help people prepare

for the world of work, whatever their age educational background.

Here at Reading College, a group of people out of work are being trained

before they start a week's work experience at a leading supermarket.

If they do well, a permanent jobs on offer. Fort Lucrecia, 21, it is a

much-needed boost after not much luck with her job-seeking. I don't

feel too good about putting myself out there and looking for jobs,

because nine times out of ten, I don't get anywhere, because jobs are

hard to find. But I do think this will help us a lot. And for Tony,

the chance to get back into work has given him new-found confidence. It

gives you a steam. There is nothing worse than sitting in the house with

no money, staring out of the window. Offer after offer is rejected,

application after application. Today's figures also showed that the

number of workers in the UK from other parts of the European Union

rose in the first three months of this year compared to the final

quarter of 2013, but the number from Romain yet and Bulgaria fell

slightly, even though employment restrictions were lifted on January

one. Well, let's speak to our

correspondent at Westminster Norman Smith. That was something the prime

ministers seized on in the House of Commons.

Yes, he did, but it seems in truth they are something of a double-edged

sword for the prime minister. While it is absolutely the case it enables

him to rebuff the claims of those like Nigel Farage and some on the

right in his own party you said lifting of border controls would

suddenly lead to vast numbers of remaining and barbarians coming to

Britain, because actually, when you look at the figures, you see that

far from the number going up, they have actually gone down by 4000 over

the first three months of this year. However, you turn over the page, and

you find today's figures also confirmed that overall, the number

of people coming from Eastern Europe to work in Britain is steadily and

remorselessly and rapidly rising. It is gone up by something like 17%

over the past year, 74,000 over the past three months, and now stands at

more than 800,000. That absolutely plays to Nigel Farage's narrative

about the Government losing control of our borders. But more than that,

it matters, because it makes it increasingly difficult Mr Cameron to

meet his objective of getting net migration down to the tens of

thousands by the next election. Indeed, Vince Cable this morning

said that pledge was now looking increasingly unlikely. Norman Smith,

thank you very much. Stephen Sutton, the teenage cancer

sufferer who raised more than ?3 million for charity, has died.

Stephen had aimed to raise ?10,000, but his high-profile campaign caught

the public imagination and went viral on the internet. Today his

mother said "My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain

for my courageous, selfless, inspirational son." Andy Moore

reports. The old saying goes, when life gives

you lemons, make lemonade. What do you do when life gives you cancer?

This is not a sob story. This is my story. And it was a story that moved

and motivated nation. A teenager diagnosed with bowel cancer at 15

who decided to use the last few years of his life to raise money for

other young cancer victims. But Stephen said he wanted to put the

fun in fundraising, and so he did. He served in a rubber dinghy on a

cloud. He went skydiving. He played a drum in front of a vast cloud at

Wembley, and he got a tad too. While he was busy completing his bucket

list of things to do before he died, he was raising money. He said, I

might have cancer, but cancer doesn't have me. His initial

fundraising target was ?10,000, but his campaign attracted celebrity

endorsement, and the money kept rolling in. In April, he thought it

was his final days, and he posted what he thought was his final

picture. I don't do what I do for recognition. I love nice comments,

but I find the best way to help myself is to fundraiser. I'm proud

of the feeling I get for raising the money. That money has been used by

the teenage Cancer trust to provide expert help and support that teenage

units across the country. It is the legacy that Stephen would have been

most proud of. I don't really want to die, but if my story teaches

others not take life for granted, then so be it. In the meantime, I

will try to enjoy every second. Cancer sucks, but life is grey. --

great. Well, let's speak to our

correspondent Sian Lloyd who's outside the hospital where Stephen

died. Stephen Sutton's mother broke the news to his followers on social

media sites just before midday that her son had passed away peacefully

here at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in the early hours of

this morning. The 19-year-old had used social media so successfully to

reach out to millions of people right across the world who helped

him follow his dream of raising money for the teenage Cancer trust.

That target initially was ?10,000. It became ?1 million, and now the

more ?3 million has been raised in a campaign that has been backed by

celebrities and by the Prime Minister. And on hearing the sad

news of Stephen Sutton's death, David Cameron said he was deeply

saddened, and that Stephen's spirit and fundraising were an inspiration.

In her tribute, Stephen's mother said, my heart is bursting with

pride but breaking with pain. She has thanked everybody for all the

support that they have given. She said it has been an immense help to

the family at this difficult time in the same way that it helped Stephen

on his journey. Sian Lloyd, thank you very much.

The murder trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius could face a

lengthy delay after the judge ordered he should undergo a mental

health evaluation. She ruled that psychiatric evidence before the

court could not replace "a proper enquiry" into his state of mind.

Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Our

correspondent Andrew Harding is in Pretoria.

Earlier this week, Oscar Pistorius told me the idea he needed further

psychiatric evaluation was a joke. Today, the judge found nothing funny

in the request by the prosecution. The decision took many

in the request by the prosecution. by surprise. A big twist in a long

trial. The psychiatrist of Oscar Pistorius has told the court he

suffers from a general anxiety disorder which could have influenced

his behaviour on the night he killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The

prosecution has hit back, the clip -- accusing the athlete of changing

his story and for an assessment of his mental health. No one was

suggesting the athlete was mentally ill, it is claimed. Today she told

him he must undergo 30 days of evaluation. I am satisfied a case

has been made out for the application as sort by the state.

The defence team of Oscar Pistorius did not expect this to happen. It

means another long delay in an already extended trial. As a family,

we are comforted by the narrowness and detail of this judgment. And,

the commitment by the judge, using every avenue, to ensure a fair

trial. It is about a fair trial. It reaffirms our confidence in the

South Africa -- South African justice system. I two with that, a

pause in this trial. -- with that, a pause in the trial. The judge said

she did not want him to be punished twice. Rather than sending him for

30 days to an institution, she recommended that he be treated as an

outpatient. Thank you very much. Our top story: Turkey has declared three

days of national mourning after more than 230 miners were killed in an

explosion. Still to come, we will be live inside and Astra Zeneca

laboratory as the battle over the takeover of the UK drugs firm

continues. Could a house in a cube BD solution to the capital 's

housing crisis? -- be the solution. The Foreign Office minister, Mark

Simmonds, is holding talks in Nigeria today about how Britain can

support efforts to find the abducted school girls. The Nigerian

government has said it will negotiate with Boko Haram, the

Islamic militant group responsible for taking the girls from a boarding

school last month. Our correspondent, Mark Doyle, has been

to a school in Abuja to see how the situation is affecting other

Nigerian schoolchildren. A secondary school in the Nigerian capital,

Abuja. It is relatively safe here. The children's thoughts are with the

kidnapped girls. I feel really terrible because they are girls like

me. No-one knows how they are. I always pray for them so God will

protect them. Nigeria is a very big country and schools like this are

part of the reality. The mass kidnapping in the north-east has

served to highlight the vicious war that is taking place between Boko

Haram and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have attacked targets

here in Abuja as well. So the head of the school says she follows the

Government's security advice with maintaining a firm perimeter of

walls and fencing around her charges. The schools are fenced,

unlike before, schools are not fenced. Now, almost all the schools

are fenced and have security added with gates to check in and out every

movement of the student and parent. The boarding school that was

attacked in north-eastern Nigeria with girls taken away would have

needed more than good fencing. It is in the middle of a war zone. Boko

Haram means Western education is a sin and the leader of the Nigerian

union of teachers said over 170 of its members have been killed by the

Islamist group. The way and manner it happened. These people just came

from nowhere and began to shoot. Teachers are their target because

they are the educators, they are the ones that preach the gospel of

education and these people do not want that. What they want is Arabic

education, nothing more, nothing less. You want to give this

education to the young ones. You are their target and enemy number one.

It has come to this. Parts of Nigeria are not safe for school

children or their teachers. At the trial of Rolf Harris, a

former school friend of one of his alleged victims has told the court

that she confided in her that he had sexually abused her over many years,

since she was 13 or 14. Harris, who's 84, denies 12 charges of

indecent assault between 1968 and 1986. Our correspondent, Sarah

Campbell, is at Southwark Crown Court. Today, the jurors heard more

about the prosecution 's alleged main victim of home the seven counts

of indecent assaults occur. Earlier this morning, they heard from a

friend from school. Arriving at Southwark Crown Court, it

friend from school. Arriving at third day of evidence and the first

time the veteran entertainer 's wife has not been with him. His daughter

was holding his hand. This week, the jury has heard from the childhood

friend of Bindi. Today, he listened in court through a hearing loop, as

a school friend of the woman recalled a conversation when they

were both about 16 years old. She said the alleged victim had

described Harris as a dirty old man and that he used to get her to sit

on his lap and then touch her up. When asked why he -- she had

remembered the talk, she said it was a shocking conversation. This was

around the late 1970s when Harris was one of the best-known names in

show business, a regular on prime-time television. He denies 12

charges of indecent assault. After the school friend, the court heard

from both the parents of the school friend, the court heard

victim. The court has been told she had a problem with alcohol and in

1997 they both confronted her about it. She said she had been abused or

her life. Initially she would not say who buy. Her mother pushed her

her life. Initially she would not on this and she said it was role.

Her father told the court he was absolutely devastated and he could

not believe it. David Cameron absolutely devastated and he could

told MPs that the Government absolutely devastated and he could

its British rival, AstraZeneca. The boss of the American pharmaceutical

giant told MPs there was no truth in the allegation a merger with delay

the development of cancer drugs. It said the company would ring fence

the growth of important products. Our science correspondent, Pallab

Ghosh, reports. This is AstraZeneca' vision of the future.

Nestled inside a science city alongside leading scientific

institutes, it plans to build a ?330 million lab in 2016. It will be a

continuation of the pioneering research it is already carrying out

in Cambridge. I was shown how the researchers here are developing a

new generation of better medicines, which harness a body 's immune

system to combat heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Pfizer has

promised to continue with the investment plan for these

laboratories. It says it will protect the science here.

AstraZeneca warns any takeover would disrupt research and slow down the

development of much-needed medicines. This morning, Pfizer 's

executives came to face the science select committee, to answer charges

that the development of cancer drugs in particular would be delayed by

the takeover. There is absolutely no truth to any comment that some

products of a truth to any comment that some

be delayed. If anything, we will accelerate that. Yet the concern of

AstraZeneca is that Pfizer has its own drug deferment programme in the

US and it could be the research in Cambridge that closes.

US and it could be the research in development. We have a very

substantial group in the UK and Pfizer has substantial groups in

California. How do you bring the groups together? Do you have a

consolidation? Which projects survive and which start? Pfizer says

the UK company, without its muscle, will not be able to realise the full

potential of its promising research. Next week, some voters in England

and Northern Ireland will be voting in local elections. Well, our local

government correspondent Mike Sergeant has been to the West

Midlands to find out what people's priorities are when they head to the

ballot box. The annual ritual of local elections. Weeks of pounding

streets, posting leaflets and pleading for votes. While national

politicians slug it out, those on the ground focus relentlessly on

local problems. So, how much of the campaign is getting through?

Mothers at this baby yoga club have some firm views and yet seem pretty

flexible about who they'll vote for, if they vote at all. What's more

interesting to you - local issues or national politics? National politics

is probably of more interest to me, if I am honest, rather than local.

There is a lot that goes on nationally that I think affects us.

We have got some local elections going on at the moment. Are you

interested in that at all? Yes, absolutely. Especially now I have

Poppy, it is much more important to me nowadays. There are issues you

care about now that you did not care about before you had children? I

would say so. Walsall is on a political knife edge. Like the

national government, it is a Tory-Lib Dem coalition with Labour

hoping to take control and UKIP an increasing presence. For the

parties, the local elections may be a sparring session ahead of the

bigger fight next year. The owner of this boxing club says solving local

problems is more important than the national political contest. I do not

care about Westminster or Europe, it is local issues. Such as? Policing,

schooling, hospitals. Funding for places like this which keep kids off

the streets. Political parties believe this is the time to show

ambition. For ultimate success at Westminster, they need to stand

their ground in local government. There are eight parties fielding

candidates in the local elections in Walsall. These are their details

which you can see now. After the fiasco surrounding early ticketing

for the London Olympics, they said it wouldn't happen again. Well, it

has. The website and phone line for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in

Glasgow has remained closed this morning after technical problems

took the site down yesterday. Organisers are yet to say when they

think tickets will be available again. Our Scotland correspondent,

Lorna Gordon, is in Glasgow. How big a problem is this? I think it has

been a pretty big problem quite a big embarrassment as well. The

organisers of this summer 's Glasgow Commonwealth Games have been keen to

the embarrassing image which happened at the London Olympic Games

where there was row upon row of empty seats which were handed back.

They decided to release this final batch to the public. They called it

a final sprint to the final tickets. It turned into a bit of a marathon

many of those trying to log on to the ticketing website. Some people

reported trying for upwards of 24 hours to buy tickets for these

different sporting event as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

What some of them found was that as they were logging on to get to the

top of the queue to pay for the tickets, they were booted off the

system and had to try again. There have been a lot of cutting comments

on social media websites. One person is calling it hit the asker, another

a farce. And had to try again. There have been a lot of cutting comments

on social media websites. One person is calling it hit the asker, another

a farce. Another saying it was an absolute joke. -- calling it a

fiasco. The organisers have issued a very strong apology, saying the

situation has been completely unacceptable and they have taken the

decision to take down the website. When will it be backed up and

running? They say they will not have the website up and running until

they know all the problems have been resolved. There seems to have been

an intermittent fault. It will probably not be today, possibly not

tomorrow. We could have to wait until after the weekend before we

see the final tickets being released. They managed to sell just

over 60,000 of the 100,000 tickets. There are tens of thousands of

tickets waiting to be bought. Time for a look at the weather.

You can see how cloudy it was in Glasgow. For many, there has been a

big improvement in the weather today. All the cold and showery air

we have seen is getting squeezed away. We are wafting in from the

Atlantic some much warmer air across the whole of the country.

Temperatures will be rising. By Friday, they could be up to 23, 20

four degrees. The warmer air is coming courtesy of this area of high

pressure. It is bringing much drier conditions. The spoiler in the North

West which have already brought a cloudy day across Northern Ireland.

We will see cloudy skies spilling their way into the West. Sunny skies

will continue further south and east. A bit of light rain or drizzle

from the cloud. Still dry and bright for eastern Scotland. No more than a

spot or two of rain for Northern Ireland but we will keep the cloud.

The cloud is moving over the Irish Sea into England and Wales. Sunny

skies and brighter conditions. In East Anglia and the south-east of

England, it will be warmer. A fine looking afternoon also for the

south-west of England. Under clearer skies overnight in the South, it

will turn chilly in rural areas. The tendency is to push the cloud

further south. Quite a bit of low cloud around the Irish Sea coasts

and onto the hills. My love for most but a bit chilly in the South. --

milder foremost. For many parts of England and Wales, it will be

cloudier than today. Temperatures will be rising. Any rain restricted

to the north of Scotland. With brighter skies developing in

Scotland and Northern Ireland, Tim Burgess will be higher. 19 degrees

in Belfast. -- temperatures will be higher. By the end of the week I

pressure will sit right over the UK. Some early mist and fog possible.

Later on we will see the weather front bringing rain into the far

north and west. Ahead of that, temperatures will continue to climb.

We will find temperatures of 23, 24 in the Midlands. The rain in the

north-west will be a spoiler again in the weekend. In the north of the

UK, there will be increasing amounts of cloud and some patchy rain. On

Saturday, a lot of dry weather and some sunshine. It will be very