:00:05. > :00:10.The frantic scramble for a university place, tens of thousands
:00:10. > :00:13.are expected to miss out after another record A-level year.
:00:13. > :00:23.There's intense pressure for students trying to get to
:00:23. > :00:29.
:00:29. > :00:32.university before next year's It's just useless system really.
:00:32. > :00:36.Should have fixed it up, they should have known a lot of people
:00:36. > :00:39.are applying this year and done something about it.
:00:39. > :00:42.Also tonight: 20,000 people gather for the funerals of the three men
:00:42. > :00:45.killed during the riots in Birmingham.
:00:45. > :00:50.In Salford, Prince Harry meets emergency crews attacked by looters
:00:50. > :00:53.as they tried to put out the flames. Killed by a shark on honeymoon in
:00:53. > :01:03.the Seychelles, Ian Redmond's wife describes the moment he was
:01:03. > :01:03.
:01:04. > :01:07.attacked. The most awful scream, and I can still hear it and I
:01:07. > :01:11.closed my eyes. And the return of the otter, 30
:01:11. > :01:15.years after they almost vanished from England they're back in every
:01:15. > :01:19.County. I will be here with the sport later
:01:19. > :01:29.on the BBC News channel, including what action there was at the Oval
:01:29. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :01:44.as the first day's play is Good evening, welcome to the BBC
:01:44. > :01:47.News at Six. Tens of thousands of students are scrambling to get a
:01:47. > :01:50.university place tonight after another record year for A-level
:01:50. > :01:53.passes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There's an
:01:53. > :01:57.intense battle going on now for places as students try to get to
:01:57. > :02:02.university before the increase in tuition fees in England next year.
:02:02. > :02:06.At one point today there were 400 students a second trying to phone
:02:06. > :02:09.the UCAS clearing system in the hope of finding a place. Here's our
:02:09. > :02:13.education correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti.
:02:13. > :02:17.Joy for some, bitter disappointment for others. This year's A-level
:02:17. > :02:21.results saw the usual mix of triumph and dejection, with boys
:02:21. > :02:31.narrowing the gap with girls and overall results slightly up on last
:02:31. > :02:31.
:02:31. > :02:37.year. Three As. Well done! Biology an A. For all those now guaranteed
:02:37. > :02:41.a university place there are nearly 200,000 others who aren't. How have
:02:41. > :02:45.you done? Not well. They now go into clearing where people who
:02:45. > :02:49.haven't got a place are told where they can apply, with 400 phone
:02:49. > :02:55.calls a second the demand here has been huge and part of the website
:02:55. > :02:59.crashed repeatedly. I do apologise to everyone who's had any anxiety
:02:59. > :03:02.added to this, it is a tough day for everybody. UCAS is 100%
:03:02. > :03:09.dedicated to providing the services to applicants and to member
:03:09. > :03:12.universities and colleges. Jacinthan is now in the clearing
:03:12. > :03:17.system. He spent a frustrating morning struggling to get advice.
:03:17. > :03:21.It's just useless system really, they should have fixed it up a
:03:21. > :03:25.little bit. They should have known a lot of people are applying this
:03:25. > :03:29.year. Here at the University of West London they've taken as twice
:03:29. > :03:32.as many calls as last year but there are only a quarter of the
:03:32. > :03:36.number of free places and that picture is similar nationally with
:03:36. > :03:41.more pupils eligible for clearing than last year, but fewer vacancies.
:03:41. > :03:46.Judging from last year, tens of thousands could fail to fullfill
:03:46. > :03:53.their dream of going to university. 210,000 missed out on a place in
:03:53. > :03:58.2010. But this year there are 8,500 more applicants and nearly 3,700
:03:58. > :04:02.fewer courses with vacancies. Elizabeth from Newcastle is an A
:04:02. > :04:06.grade student but is scrapping the gap year she wanted because tuition
:04:06. > :04:10.fees rise next year. I wanted sometime to work and maybe make
:04:10. > :04:14.some money before university, but then when I found out about the
:04:14. > :04:20.whole fees changing we weren't sure if it was worth having a gap year.
:04:20. > :04:24.I am not sure exactly how it works but it it doesn't sound like the
:04:24. > :04:31.best situation. Rose has decided on an apprentice scheme, training to
:04:31. > :04:34.be a plumber and avoiding university altogether. Fees and the
:04:34. > :04:39.payments and I don't think I could afford it all and I would need help
:04:39. > :04:48.from my parents and and I would rather have my own money where I
:04:48. > :04:51.can spend it and enjoy it. Jacinthan finally got through to
:04:51. > :04:54.clearing and was offered a different course at a university of
:04:54. > :04:56.his choice, a happy ending, at least for him.
:04:57. > :05:00.Let's talk to our political correspondent Vicky Young at
:05:00. > :05:03.Westminster. There are going to be a lot of
:05:03. > :05:06.disappointed students tonight, aren't there? Yes, there's many
:05:06. > :05:10.factors putting pressure on places, not least of course many students
:05:10. > :05:16.trying to avoid that rise in tuition fees which is due to come
:05:16. > :05:19.in, in England, up to �9,000 a year in some cases, it doesn't apply to
:05:19. > :05:22.students elsewhere in the UK. The message from ministers is don't
:05:22. > :05:25.panic. They say the rise in applications isn't that high and
:05:25. > :05:29.the message they want to ram home is you don't pay back any of the
:05:29. > :05:34.money until you have graduated and earning more than �21,000 but it
:05:34. > :05:38.does seem from the pictures we saw today that they're not doing enough
:05:38. > :05:41.to quell the panic among students. The one thing that coalition
:05:41. > :05:45.ministers don't want to have suggested is that the plan to put
:05:45. > :05:50.up tuition fees is putting off students particularly from poorer
:05:50. > :06:00.backgrounds. Thank you. There is a lot more on the BBC News
:06:00. > :06:00.
:06:01. > :06:03.website, including a special Q and A on the options you have.
:06:03. > :06:07.Around 20,000 people have lined the streets of Birmingham this
:06:07. > :06:11.afternoon for the funerals of the three men who were knocked down and
:06:11. > :06:14.killed during last week's riots. Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali and Abdul
:06:14. > :06:17.Musavir were killed while protecting their property from
:06:17. > :06:24.looters. Four people have been charged with their murders. Our
:06:24. > :06:27.Midlands correspondent Claire Marshall reports.
:06:27. > :06:33.The three young men make their final journey through their
:06:33. > :06:37.community, their families by their side.
:06:37. > :06:47.The words of this Muslim prayer are the first words said to newborns
:06:47. > :06:47.
:06:47. > :06:52.and the last said to those dying. Tariq Jahan seeks comfort as he
:06:52. > :06:56.prepares to bury his own son. Haroon Jahan and the brothers
:06:56. > :07:01.Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir were hit by a car during Birmingham's
:07:01. > :07:06.worst night of looting. We spoke to the last surviving brother of
:07:06. > :07:11.Shazad and Musavir, he hasn't been able to eat or sleep since they
:07:11. > :07:14.were killed. He took this photo of them on their first family holiday
:07:14. > :07:24.to Blackpool. How will your brothers be remembered by your
:07:24. > :07:31.family and the community? Heroes all the time, every time, lovely
:07:31. > :07:36.kids. Not even one person I know has said anything bad. They're
:07:36. > :07:40.remembered by true heart, yeah, and speaking from the heart all the
:07:40. > :07:44.time, whatever come on the tongue is the truth. Thousands have come
:07:44. > :07:48.here today, this is very near where the young men were born and grew up
:07:48. > :07:51.and where they died. People have come from overseas, across the
:07:51. > :07:54.country and they've come from the local area. They've come here to
:07:54. > :07:58.honour them. How was it for you seeing so many
:07:58. > :08:01.people here today? It was incredible feeling and very bizarre
:08:01. > :08:07.feeling. I don't think we will ever see anything like this in
:08:07. > :08:13.Birmingham again. You feel sad, but you do feel that despite that
:08:13. > :08:17.sadness that their deaths actually achieved something. A father's
:08:17. > :08:24.goodbye. This ceremony was just one part of the long process of
:08:24. > :08:27.grieving and healing. In London police have released
:08:27. > :08:30.dramatic CCTV pictures of the looting of a shop in Clapham
:08:30. > :08:34.Junction last week. The pictures taken last Monday show a man
:08:34. > :08:37.appealing to a large group outside a Carphone Warehouse store. He is
:08:38. > :08:41.attacked with a fire extinguisher before the looters enter the shop
:08:41. > :08:44.through the smashed window. Detectives would like to hear from
:08:44. > :08:47.the victim who is yet to be identified, or anyone who witnessed
:08:47. > :08:50.the incident. Further sentences were handed out
:08:51. > :08:53.today in Manchester in relation to the riots. A university student was
:08:53. > :09:00.jailed for 16 months for theft after he was caught looting alcohol
:09:00. > :09:03.from a supermarket in Manchester. 21-year-old Conrad McGrath, who
:09:03. > :09:07.pleaded guilty to burglary at an earlier hearing, was told that he
:09:07. > :09:11.had thrown away a lot and it was a heavy price to pay for such
:09:11. > :09:15.behaviour. Thomas Downey, who was caught helping himself to doughnuts
:09:15. > :09:18.from a Krispy Kreme shop in Manchester was also jailed for 16
:09:18. > :09:22.months. The 48-year-old had just been released from Strangeways
:09:22. > :09:26.prison on the day of the riots. Prince Harry has been to Salford
:09:26. > :09:29.where he's met local people and emergency workers affected by last
:09:30. > :09:35.week's riots. Firefighters told him how they had been pelted with
:09:35. > :09:40.bricks as they tried to put out the fires in shops and cars which were
:09:40. > :09:45.started by looters and rioters. Chris Buckler reports.
:09:45. > :09:48.Past the Bingo and over the road to the shops, a day out for the Prince
:09:48. > :09:52.in Salford. Harry went to see some of the businesses that had been
:09:53. > :09:59.damaged in the rioting. A visible show of support for a community
:09:59. > :10:03.that got caught up in chaos. It's good for the community. Somebody
:10:03. > :10:08.like that to come to Salford, it's not an you get somebody like that.
:10:09. > :10:16.He is not the first person you expect to meet in the main street?
:10:16. > :10:20.You never know, do you. This visit was intended to boost morale. But
:10:20. > :10:24.seeing a Royal after the riots didn't impress everyone. They never
:10:24. > :10:27.come any other time do they? It's only because of the riots. That's
:10:27. > :10:31.all it's about. Why can't they come when nothing is happening? Aside
:10:31. > :10:33.from the repairs Salford does have problems that will take time and
:10:33. > :10:38.money to fix, including unemployment and anti-social
:10:38. > :10:41.behaviour. To make things happy here you need more community
:10:41. > :10:45.centres, more football, rugby. There's nothing here, nothing for
:10:45. > :10:50.people to do. But that doesn't excuse what happened last week. And
:10:50. > :10:54.how to prevent trouble is a subject of debate on every street. Spare
:10:54. > :10:58.the rod and spoil the child and that's what's going on here. Until
:10:58. > :11:02.they Lordship. You think there needs to be stronger discipline?
:11:02. > :11:05.children, yes. Those who were on the frontline in the riots were
:11:05. > :11:10.recognised today. Each of the emergency services receiving a
:11:10. > :11:13.Royal visit. The firefighters Prince Harry has been meeting were
:11:13. > :11:16.directly involved in dealing with the disorder in Salford. Across
:11:17. > :11:24.Greater Manchester there were more than 300 fires and several crews
:11:24. > :11:29.came under attack. We were getting hoax calls with house fires, so we
:11:29. > :11:32.could be attacked. Vehicles attacked with bricks. Many of those
:11:32. > :11:38.who met the Prince and tackled the trouble are from this community,
:11:38. > :11:41.and they say the rioters don't represent the residents.
:11:41. > :11:46.President Obama has called for the resignation of Syria's President
:11:46. > :11:49.Assad following a violent crackdown on anti-Government campaigners. Mr
:11:49. > :11:52.Obama has imposed tough new sanctions and signed an order
:11:52. > :11:55.freezing all Syrian Government assets. This afternoon the Prime
:11:55. > :12:00.Minister also called for President Assad to step down. David Cameron
:12:00. > :12:04.and his French counter-- and German counterparts issued a joint
:12:04. > :12:07.statement saying he had lost all legitimacy. Our correspondent Adam
:12:07. > :12:11.Brookes joins us from Washington. How significant could this prove to
:12:11. > :12:16.be? Well, for five months Washington has sat and watched the
:12:17. > :12:20.Syrian Government try to beat down these political protests, often
:12:20. > :12:23.violently. Today, President Obama announced that in his eyes the
:12:23. > :12:26.regime of President Assad is finished, that President Assad
:12:26. > :12:31.should step down, and allow political change in Syria to take
:12:31. > :12:34.its course. He also announced those tough new economic sanctions
:12:34. > :12:41.against Syria. Minutes later out came Britain, France, Germany,
:12:42. > :12:45.saying much the same thing. What we have here is a big complex
:12:45. > :12:49.choreographed effort to squeeze Syria, force President Assad from
:12:49. > :12:52.power. We should note that the Americans said also today that
:12:52. > :12:57.there will be no military intervention in Syria, that that is
:12:57. > :13:00.not on the cards. The Israeli military says it's
:13:00. > :13:06.carried out an airstrike on Gaza, at least five Palestinians were
:13:06. > :13:10.killed in the raid. It followed a series of attacks on vehicles in
:13:10. > :13:16.southern Israel which killed seven people. In the first attack a bus
:13:16. > :13:18.was fired on by gunmen. Later a car and a military patrol vehicle were
:13:18. > :13:22.also targeted. It's the first attack on the border area for
:13:22. > :13:26.several years. The widow of the British man killed
:13:26. > :13:30.by a shark on honeymoon in the Seychelles has been speaking about
:13:30. > :13:34.the attack for the first time. Gemma Redmond described hearing her
:13:34. > :13:37.husband Ian screaming for help as he was snorkelling yards from the
:13:37. > :13:43.beach. She's been speaking in an interview for BBC radio in the
:13:44. > :13:48.Seychelles to our correspondent. This is one of the last pictures
:13:48. > :13:53.taken of newlyweds Ian and Gemma Redmond just days before Ian was
:13:53. > :13:57.killed by a shark in an horrific attack. Today police have been
:13:57. > :14:03.patrolling the beach where Ian was killed as authorities try to catch
:14:03. > :14:07.the deadly shark. Ian's wife Gemma, now a widow at the age of 27, has
:14:07. > :14:12.been speaking to the BBC about what she saw. I could see the top of his
:14:12. > :14:16.snorkel because he had an orange band around it so I could always
:14:16. > :14:25.follow where he was. All of a sudden I heard this "help" and then
:14:25. > :14:32.I heard it again and I heard "help", and the most awful scream. I can
:14:32. > :14:36.still hear it when I close my eyes. Gemma Redmond doesn't blame anyone
:14:36. > :14:40.for what happened, and describes her husband's death as a tragic
:14:40. > :14:45.accident on which she will continue to replay in her mind. I ran up to
:14:45. > :14:49.the boat and the man who had pulled the speedboat in wouldn't let me
:14:49. > :14:57.get to it and I screamed at him it's my husband and he looked me in
:14:57. > :15:03.the eyes and he said go on then. I could see Ian was laid back in the
:15:03. > :15:13.boat. He looked up at me and I looked up at him and I could see a
:15:13. > :15:13.
:15:13. > :15:16.mixture in his eyes of fear and of a realisation, relief that he had
:15:16. > :15:20.seen me, that I was. Gemma's being supported by her parents who have
:15:20. > :15:25.flown to the Seychelles to be with her. She says she's touched by all
:15:25. > :15:30.the support and help she's had from people on the islands. After nine
:15:30. > :15:40.years together and only ten days as a married couple, she now faces the
:15:40. > :15:41.
:15:41. > :15:46.difficult journey of taking her Our top story tonight: Thousands of
:15:46. > :15:49.students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are in a last-
:15:49. > :15:54.minute rush for university places after another record A-level year.
:15:54. > :15:58.Once the leader of the mighty Soviet empire, Mikhail Gorbachev
:15:58. > :16:01.talks to us about the coup that nearly toppled him from power.
:16:01. > :16:06.On the BBC News Channel, I will have all of the business news,
:16:06. > :16:16.including another volatile day on global stock markets. The FTSE ends
:16:16. > :16:18.
:16:19. > :16:23.the day down 4.5%, the biggest fall He was once his sport's enthusiasts
:16:23. > :16:27.who loved the outdoor life but a catastrophic stroke left him
:16:27. > :16:32.trapped in his own world. His only way of communicating now is by
:16:32. > :16:37.blinking. The 46 year-old cannot be named for legal reasons. He wants
:16:37. > :16:41.to die that his wife wants him to live, so his only option is to seek
:16:41. > :16:45.outside help. Assisted suicide is illegal in the UK and asking a
:16:45. > :16:54.doctor or lawyer for help could result in a prosecution. Another
:16:54. > :16:58.man is trying to challenge the law. This is Martin in the room that he
:16:58. > :17:04.hardly leaves. We are not using his real name. We cannot identify him
:17:04. > :17:12.or his family for legal reasons. After a severe stroke he is unable
:17:12. > :17:18.to speak and virtually unable to move. At 46 he is desperate to die.
:17:18. > :17:23.Life is not worth living. It is exceedingly difficult for Martin to
:17:23. > :17:28.communicate. The only way he can talk to me is through this computer.
:17:28. > :17:35.He stares at a particular letter and then very slowly he forms words.
:17:35. > :17:45.He has said several times to me that all he wants to do is dire. --
:17:45. > :17:47.
:17:47. > :17:51.is die. How do you want to do that? In Switzerland, where it is legal.
:17:51. > :17:56.Martin's wife says that she understands his desire to travel to
:17:56. > :17:58.the Dignitas Clinic in Zurich but cannot bear to help him, and as no
:17:58. > :18:04.relative will help him, Martin would need outside help to get
:18:04. > :18:09.there. I couldn't. I just did not do it. I have tried so much to try
:18:09. > :18:13.to convince him to live but it does not work. He just cannot carry on
:18:13. > :18:17.as he is. Following the Debbie Purdy case, you prosecution
:18:17. > :18:20.guidelines were published for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
:18:20. > :18:25.They have been interpreted as offering some reassurance for
:18:25. > :18:29.family members that have helped relatives to die out of compassion.
:18:30. > :18:34.But the guidelines suggest that anybody who assists the suicide in
:18:34. > :18:38.a professional capacity is more likely to be prosecuted. As a
:18:38. > :18:43.lawyer I face the crazy position whereby I am not certain if it is
:18:43. > :18:47.lawful for me to advise my client. If I was a relative or a friend, I
:18:47. > :18:52.could arrange membership of Dignitas, but his appointment, go
:18:52. > :18:58.with him and come back and be confident that I would not face
:18:58. > :19:01.prosecution. Many believe that the current guidelines are too lax.
:19:01. > :19:06.They are alarmed at the possibility of further changes which could make
:19:06. > :19:09.assisted suicide easier. If this case is won, it could lead to a
:19:09. > :19:13.weakening of the protection that is offered by the law. Many disabled
:19:13. > :19:16.people would be very worried about that and might feel that this could
:19:16. > :19:20.lead to situations in which they are put under pressure to end their
:19:20. > :19:25.own lives. Martin faces a long wait as his case rumbles through the
:19:25. > :19:35.courts. For those that say you should continue to live as he is,
:19:35. > :19:36.
:19:36. > :19:40.he has a simple message. They should try it.
:19:40. > :19:44.It has been another turbulent day on the markets. The FTSE has had
:19:44. > :19:49.its biggest fall since November 2008 and the Dow Jones in America
:19:49. > :19:59.has also fallen heavily. Robert Peston is here. What is driving
:19:59. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:04.this? Let's look at the FTSE 100 index. Down 4.5%. That is a 239
:20:04. > :20:08.drop in points, which is the 12th biggest ever points fall in the
:20:08. > :20:15.history of the FTSE. It is it never good but not as big as the falls in
:20:15. > :20:21.France, where shares are down by 5.5% and in Germany by 5.8%. And in
:20:21. > :20:25.Wall Street, shares are roughly about 4% off tonight. What has been
:20:25. > :20:29.driving investor anxiety for the past few weeks? Fears that the
:20:29. > :20:33.biggest economy in the world, the US, is tumbling back into recession.
:20:33. > :20:40.There was an influential survey today showing that factory output
:20:40. > :20:45.in Pennsylvania and the surrounding area is contracting very sharply
:20:45. > :20:52.indeed. And there are further signs of weakness in eurozone, the banks,
:20:52. > :21:00.and if you add that together, you get a picture of investors that are
:21:00. > :21:03.increasingly fearful. The work by US banks has not been working.
:21:03. > :21:08.It was one of the great world events of the late 20th century.
:21:08. > :21:12.The future of the Soviet Union hung in the balance as a military coup
:21:12. > :21:17.and folded in Moscow. 20 years on, the man at the centre of it all,
:21:17. > :21:21.Mikhail Gorbachev, has spoken exclusively to the BBC. He has
:21:21. > :21:24.accused the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of castrating his
:21:24. > :21:30.country's electoral system and urged him not to stand in the
:21:30. > :21:34.presidential elections. At a private dinner in Moscow, the
:21:34. > :21:42.former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev mulls over what happened
:21:42. > :21:46.20 years ago with old colleagues. It also called, he says, starting
:21:46. > :21:50.from my opponent's anger at the elections I brought in. That is
:21:51. > :21:56.what led to the military coup against me. A dramatic showdown in
:21:56. > :22:02.the heart of Moscow. The future of the world at stake. As BBC Moscow
:22:02. > :22:07.correspondent, I witnessed it first hand. It was here exactly 20 years
:22:07. > :22:10.ago in central Moscow that the leaders of the coup made their move.
:22:10. > :22:14.On the orders of the Vice President, the KGB chief and others, tanks
:22:14. > :22:18.rolled down the central thoroughfare towards the Kremlin,
:22:18. > :22:24.passed astonished shoppers. The coup leaders said that Gorbachev
:22:24. > :22:31.was too sick to rule and they were taking over power. It looked like a
:22:31. > :22:35.classics of it -- classic Soviet military crackdown, reimposing
:22:35. > :22:39.hardline control over the whole country. Gorbachev was on holiday
:22:39. > :22:45.by the Black Sea. Where he refused to join the plotters, he found
:22:45. > :22:50.himself under house arrest. They surrounded us with the cars down by
:22:50. > :22:59.the shore and everywhere. At the entrance, they parked cars so that
:22:59. > :23:02.nobody could drive past. In Moscow, crowds flocked to protect Russia's
:23:02. > :23:06.fledgling democracy. The leaders of the coup panic and their plot
:23:06. > :23:12.crumbled. In its aftermath, the Soviet Union soon collapsed and
:23:12. > :23:15.swept Gorbachev from office. The day in Berlin, Gorbachev is greeted
:23:15. > :23:20.as a hero for helping to end the Cold War and bringing down the
:23:20. > :23:28.Berlin Wall. But his concern now is Russia's current Prime Minister,
:23:28. > :23:34.Vladimir Putin, who he says it should not stand again as President.
:23:34. > :23:37.Vladimir Putin and his team give stability but that kills
:23:37. > :23:41.development and results and stagnation. The electoral system
:23:41. > :23:48.that we have is nothing remarkable, but they have simply castrated it.
:23:48. > :23:52.I apologise for my choice of words but they really have circumcised it.
:23:52. > :23:59.He says that Russia needs to get back on the path to democracy and
:23:59. > :24:02.Vladimir Putin is not the leader to do it. Tomorrow we will report from
:24:02. > :24:05.Moscow and speak to those caught up in the momentous events 20 years
:24:05. > :24:11.ago. Rain has affected the first day of
:24:11. > :24:17.play in the 4th Test between England and India at the Oval.
:24:17. > :24:20.Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook got through without any problems
:24:20. > :24:23.until lunchtime when the rain fell. They have not been able to get back
:24:23. > :24:28.out and play has been abandoned for the day.
:24:28. > :24:32.After more than 30 years of work to clean up England's rivers, otters
:24:32. > :24:36.are now back and living in every English county. They almost
:24:36. > :24:40.disappeared in the 1970s as their habitat was polluted by pesticides.
:24:40. > :24:46.Now they have finally been spotted in Kent, the last county where none
:24:46. > :24:50.were recorded. Our correspondent is on the River Eden.
:24:50. > :24:54.Yes, we are in the lovely grounds of Hever Castle. That is the River
:24:54. > :24:59.Eden, one of two rivers in Kent where otters have finally been
:24:59. > :25:03.spotted. If you are conservationist, you will know that is highly
:25:03. > :25:08.significant news. They are the comeback kids of the English
:25:08. > :25:13.countryside. By the 1970s, otters were absent in most of the country,
:25:13. > :25:19.endangered in a few places where they managed to hang on to survival.
:25:19. > :25:24.Slowly they have returned, moving South and East, and now in the
:25:24. > :25:27.rivers of Kent, they are back. year when we did the national
:25:27. > :25:33.survey we had otters in every county Parkend, nearly. Over the
:25:33. > :25:38.last year we have definitely had some sightings. -- every county
:25:38. > :25:43.except Kent. Now their water is clean and their habitat is
:25:43. > :25:47.plentiful, a far cry from the 70s when pollution and persecution
:25:47. > :25:52.nearly wiped them out. This one was born in captivity. Her charm has
:25:52. > :25:56.helped the public to understand and support efforts to bring them back.
:25:56. > :26:01.Everything has to be right. You need to have the right clean water
:26:01. > :26:05.for the bugs and beasties that they like to eat. They all have to be
:26:05. > :26:09.perfect for the otter, right at the top of the food chain. So the
:26:09. > :26:13.otters have returned but their future survival is far from secure.
:26:13. > :26:18.Even cleaner water and improve habitat is essential for these
:26:18. > :26:23.vulnerable new colonies to become thriving populations. So there is
:26:23. > :26:31.still work to be done. The hope is that one day of the otter will
:26:31. > :26:38.become a common sight across our A lot of rain today.
:26:38. > :26:42.Yes, good if you are run off to but not if you are a cricket fan.
:26:42. > :26:47.Torrential rain in Dorset. The rain exploded through the cause of the
:26:47. > :26:51.morning, and those bright colours show intense rain in Southampton
:26:51. > :26:56.and Bournemouth. These were the images taken through the day, the
:26:56. > :26:59.flooding in the streets of Bournemouth. The rain has extended
:26:59. > :27:06.further North and it is pretty miserable across East Anglia and
:27:06. > :27:09.the South East of England. Here, the rain will go away, but the
:27:09. > :27:15.showers in Scotland will continue through the night. It turns into a
:27:15. > :27:20.clear night and cold. Tomorrow, something much brighter and much
:27:20. > :27:24.warmer. Some showers in North East Scotland, and cloudy in Northern
:27:24. > :27:29.Ireland. Some rain here, but for many it will be a day of spells of
:27:29. > :27:34.sunshine and it will feel warmer. A bright and fine day across northern
:27:34. > :27:38.England, East Anglia and the South. With the rain today, temperatures
:27:39. > :27:42.were in the low teens. Tomorrow it may even be 22. It has been
:27:42. > :27:46.pleasant this afternoon across Cornwall and in the beaches of the
:27:47. > :27:50.South West it will be fine, with spells of sunshine. The same in
:27:50. > :27:56.Wales. The sunshine may turn hazy as the cloud increases through the
:27:56. > :28:01.day. In Northern Ireland, bright spells today, but tomorrow will be
:28:02. > :28:05.cloudier with some rain, coming into the West of Scotland. Further
:28:05. > :28:11.East in Scotland, there will be southern spells and maybe 19 in
:28:11. > :28:17.Edinburgh. Central areas will see some cloud and rain over the
:28:17. > :28:20.weekend. Sunny spells further North. Then there is the risk of more
:28:20. > :28:26.heavy rain across south-eastern England and East Anglia on Sunday.
:28:26. > :28:28.That needs to be watched. Lots going on and there are some weather
:28:28. > :28:34.warnings in force for you to look up online.