:00:05. > :00:09.The leader of North Korea - one of the world's most secretive nations
:00:09. > :00:17.- has died suddenly. Kim Jong-il, who had ruled the nuclear state
:00:17. > :00:19.since 1994, is said to have had a heart attack on a train. As North
:00:19. > :00:29.Koreans weep in the streets, the international community says his
:00:29. > :00:32.death could be a turning point. hope they new leadership will
:00:32. > :00:36.recognise that engagement with the international community or put --
:00:36. > :00:39.offers the best prospect of improving the lives of the Korean
:00:39. > :00:41.people. Also on tonight's programme:
:00:41. > :00:43.Signs of a breakthrough in the bitter public sector pensions
:00:43. > :00:46.dispute. Guilty of attempted murder - the
:00:46. > :00:53.man who buried his girlfriend alive in a cardboard box. A policewoman
:00:53. > :00:57.describes the woman's trauma. still have nightmares that Marcin
:00:57. > :01:01.Kasprzak will come back to find me and kill me. My only hope is that
:01:01. > :01:04.he can accept that what he did to me was very wrong.
:01:04. > :01:12.Redrawing the rules for Britain's banks - the Government agrees the
:01:12. > :01:22.most far-reaching reforms in modern And showing fighting spirit - the
:01:22. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:27.military wives battling to be the Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC
:01:27. > :01:37.News Channel: the Scottish Premier League have announced that they
:01:37. > :01:49.
:01:49. > :01:53.plan to relax the rules on standing Good evening. Welcome to the BBC
:01:53. > :01:55.News at Six. The man who led North Korea, one of the world's most
:01:55. > :01:58.secretive countries, for almost two decades, has died suddenly. State
:01:58. > :02:03.media said Kim Jong-il had suffered a heart attack during a train
:02:03. > :02:06.journey on Saturday. His young son has been hailed as the so-called
:02:06. > :02:08.Great Successor. North Korea's neighbours are on high alert
:02:08. > :02:14.tonight amid fears of instability in the region, heightened by
:02:14. > :02:17.reports that North Korea tested a short-range missile today. It's the
:02:17. > :02:23.most heavily militarised area on earth, with an army of just over 1
:02:23. > :02:26.million soldiers and a further 8 million reservists. North Korea
:02:26. > :02:31.been a nuclear power since the mid- 1960s and is believed to have
:02:31. > :02:41.nuclear weapons. Our world affairs editor, John Simpson, looks back at
:02:41. > :02:44.
:02:44. > :02:49.the Kim Jong-il era and the future This is the weird, reclusive figure
:02:49. > :02:54.who ran the world's most secretive country, and did it as though it
:02:54. > :03:04.was his own private property. Looking on was his son, Kim Jong-un,
:03:04. > :03:05.
:03:05. > :03:10.who is around 28. No one knows for sure. He will take over.
:03:10. > :03:13.The cult leader died on Saturday, but his people were only told today
:03:14. > :03:20.-- the altar leader. The news unleashed a storm of emotion,
:03:20. > :03:24.genuine or otherwise -- the cult In North Korea, you have do mourn
:03:24. > :03:34.the lead as noisily as possible, especially if the cameras are on
:03:34. > :03:34.
:03:34. > :03:39.But if you are a member of the political elite, you may well be
:03:39. > :03:44.sorry he is gone. No one knows what will happen to the country now. For
:03:44. > :03:50.17 years, Kim Jong-il was the leader of the last and most extreme
:03:50. > :03:54.of the world's dictatorships. He was distinctly odd, sometimes
:03:54. > :03:58.gentle, sometimes capable of frightening rages. He seems to have
:03:58. > :04:05.been born in Russia, but he was always destined to succeed his
:04:05. > :04:09.father, Kim Il-sung. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia stop
:04:09. > :04:14.propping North Korea up financially. As a result, their national income
:04:15. > :04:19.after in a decade. Mostly on Kim Jong-il's watch, and there was an
:04:19. > :04:23.actual famine. It is an extraordinary failure of leadership
:04:23. > :04:28.for one who laughingly styled himself as the Dear Leader and
:04:28. > :04:33.later the great leader. He leaves behind him a country which is it
:04:33. > :04:37.appallingly poor. This girl, filmed secretly by a South Korean
:04:37. > :04:45.journalist last year, has been collecting grass to eat. There is
:04:45. > :04:50.And this is where the money which might have been spent on better
:04:50. > :05:00.living conditions actually does. On the world's fifth-largest army, 1
:05:00. > :05:03.million strong. And even more worryingly, North Korea has now
:05:03. > :05:08.developed long-range missiles, capable of carrying nuclear
:05:08. > :05:13.warheads. We hope, of course, that it will be a turning-point for
:05:13. > :05:16.North Korea. We hope that their new lives ship will recognise that
:05:16. > :05:20.engagement with the international community offers the best prospect
:05:20. > :05:25.of improving the lives of the North Korean people -- their new
:05:25. > :05:32.leadership. For now, a pampered, wholly inexperienced 28-year-old
:05:32. > :05:37.controls the future of North Korea. The fear is that Kim Jong-un's
:05:37. > :05:41.spectacular promotion could end up in a nasty power struggle, with the
:05:41. > :05:46.older military elite. And this, in a nuclear state, which seems
:05:46. > :05:50.seriously out of control. John Simpson is here with me now.
:05:50. > :05:55.Is there any hope that the region could become more stable now?
:05:55. > :05:59.I think there is. It doesn't have to be a disaster. The great thing
:05:59. > :06:04.about it is that there is no Cold War any longer, nobody is back in
:06:04. > :06:09.North Korea, it is absolutely on its own. -- nobody is backing North
:06:09. > :06:13.Korea. It has helped and implants from China but it shows the Chinese
:06:13. > :06:19.that it does not want them to push north Korea around -- it has helped
:06:19. > :06:24.and influence from China. There is a hope that China will be able to
:06:24. > :06:28.play a greater part. But it is a dangerous place. It was only last
:06:28. > :06:32.year since the North Koreans sank a South Korean naval ship. There is
:06:32. > :06:37.always a chance that somebody will say, I want to be the leader, I am
:06:37. > :06:40.going to show the other side how tough I am.
:06:40. > :06:44.There are the first signs of a breakthrough tonight in the bitter
:06:44. > :06:47.public sector pensions dispute. The health service union, Unison, has
:06:47. > :06:51.launched -- reached an initial agreement which will be considered
:06:51. > :07:01.by officials next month. The largest civil service union, the
:07:01. > :07:02.
:07:02. > :07:05.Stick together to win, they say. For many months, they have. Trade
:07:05. > :07:09.unions against the government. As union leaders meet to decide
:07:09. > :07:16.whether or not to do a deal, it seems their solidarity is going
:07:16. > :07:20.soggy. Will not compromise at all, we will fight until we win...
:07:20. > :07:27.members a fight, not fault, others are sounding more conciliatory. Are
:07:27. > :07:30.they about to do a deal? We see it as a career move to further talks.
:07:30. > :07:35.These are complicated issues and we want to take the full package back
:07:35. > :07:38.to our members, so we can explain it to them fully. A deal on the
:07:38. > :07:42.local government scheme appears to have been reached. One of Britain's
:07:42. > :07:46.biggest unions, Unison, says it will put the offer to its members.
:07:46. > :07:49.Teachers are still in discussions and the civil service unions are
:07:49. > :07:55.split. This is not a united movement and some are holding out
:07:55. > :07:58.for more. No, we won't be signing up to the deal. We have written to
:07:58. > :08:02.the government today, we are reminding them that 2 million
:08:02. > :08:06.people went on strike because they are being forced to work longer,
:08:06. > :08:09.pay more and get less. That has always been unfair. This is what
:08:09. > :08:14.the unions have been unhappy about. They argue most of their members
:08:14. > :08:18.are being expected to pay more, at least 3%, they will have to work
:08:18. > :08:21.longer, until they are 67, and receive less when they retire. The
:08:21. > :08:25.government says in this economic climate, cuts are needed, but they
:08:25. > :08:28.have tried to sweeten the deal. They say the lower-paid are
:08:28. > :08:32.protected and the over-50s will get to keep their current plan. Earlier
:08:32. > :08:36.this year, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers brought to
:08:36. > :08:38.their protests right here to the gates of Downing Street. Despite
:08:38. > :08:41.this being the biggest confrontation with unions for many
:08:41. > :08:46.years, the government has dug in because it believes it has public
:08:46. > :08:49.support on its side and that they can get a deal. The unions always
:08:49. > :08:54.have a typical case to make with rising unemployment and
:08:54. > :08:58.particularly, a public sector shedding jobs -- a difficult case
:08:58. > :09:02.to make. There was only a limited distance they could go and the
:09:02. > :09:06.government was firm in its position. I don't think they had much road
:09:06. > :09:09.and what they had has run out. unions had clarity, marching
:09:10. > :09:13.against the government. Tonight, some are talking about strikes,
:09:13. > :09:20.others want to settle with the government. The unity appears to be
:09:21. > :09:25.Some signs of a breakthrough, but how likely is it that it will lead
:09:25. > :09:29.to a deal? It won't lead to a deal in the sense of all unions in all
:09:29. > :09:32.parts of the public sector agreeing with the government. The signs are
:09:33. > :09:37.tonight that a majority of unions in a majority of parts of the
:09:37. > :09:42.public sector look very likely to at least recommend a deal to their
:09:42. > :09:46.memberships, to the executives. That is the crucial thing in a way.
:09:46. > :09:50.The government's position has been, frankly, we are not budging on the
:09:50. > :09:53.fact that we want people to work longer in the public sector to get
:09:53. > :09:59.their pension, and to pay more for it. And yet they have been more
:09:59. > :10:03.flexible on the issue of quite who gets what after they retire. Many
:10:03. > :10:06.unions are saying, we don't like this, we want a completely
:10:06. > :10:10.different settlement, but it is about as good as we think we can
:10:10. > :10:15.get. Therefore, you may not be prepared to take more strike action.
:10:15. > :10:19.Some critical players, like the PCS union and Civil Service are saying
:10:19. > :10:23.no. The teachers' unions are still talking as we speak. Effectively,
:10:23. > :10:27.tomorrow is a form of deadline. The government have said, if you are
:10:27. > :10:31.not with us on a broad range of agreement, you will not be part of
:10:31. > :10:38.more detailed negotiations. Ministers won't say it tonight, but
:10:38. > :10:41.they think they are almost there. A man who attacked his girlfriend
:10:41. > :10:45.with a taser and then buried her alive in a cardboard box has been
:10:45. > :10:49.found guilty of attempted murder. Marcin Kasprzak attacked the mother
:10:49. > :10:53.of his child at their home, before burying her in woods near
:10:53. > :10:57.Huddersfield. She managed to cut herself free by using their
:10:57. > :11:02.engagement ring. Our correspondent's report contains a
:11:02. > :11:05.flash photography for a Michelina Lewandowska was tasered and buried
:11:05. > :11:08.alive by the father of her 3-year- old child.
:11:08. > :11:14.Marcin Kasprzak had become bored with their, and wanted to start
:11:14. > :11:19.again. So he decided to place her in this cardboard box, wrap it up
:11:19. > :11:24.in tape, and leave her for dead. Today, a detective read out her
:11:25. > :11:28.reaction, after he was found guilty of attempted murder. The thought of
:11:28. > :11:32.my son gave me the strength to fight my way out of the box and
:11:32. > :11:39.save myself. For many years, I laughed Marcin Kasprzak very much,
:11:40. > :11:44.but after his horrific attack -- I love to Marcin Kasprzak, but after
:11:44. > :11:50.his horrific attack towards me, my feelings have turned to hatred. I
:11:50. > :11:56.still have nightmares that Marcin Kasprzak will come back to find me.
:11:56. > :12:00.Bad nightmare began at this home. He fired two shots to stun his
:12:00. > :12:04.fiancee. His friend, Patryk Borys, was also there, and they put her
:12:04. > :12:08.into the box. Michelina Lewandowska was then taken here, with her arms
:12:08. > :12:14.and legs taped together. Both men dug a hole in the ground, covered
:12:14. > :12:17.the box in soil and placed a branch on top. This police photograph
:12:17. > :12:21.shows the exact area where she was buried. The jury was told she could
:12:22. > :12:27.hear what was happening, but was too scared to shout out. But once
:12:27. > :12:31.she was alone, the court heard how she used her engagement ring to
:12:31. > :12:35.scratch away at the tape around her legs. She then found a small hole,
:12:35. > :12:43.and with soil falling on to her face, she managed to tear the box
:12:43. > :12:47.apart. She said, trying to escape Here is what saved her life, the
:12:47. > :12:51.engagement ring she used to cut her way out of the box. Marcin Kasprzak
:12:51. > :12:55.has showed himself to be an unpleasant, intimidating of a
:12:56. > :13:01.vulnerable woman and I am pleased that he is behind bars, where he
:13:01. > :13:04.belongs. Marcin Kasprzak will be sentenced next month. His former
:13:04. > :13:13.fiancee says she hopes one day he will accept that what he did was
:13:13. > :13:17.The most far-reaching reforms in British banking in modern history,
:13:17. > :13:21.that is what the chancellor, George Osborne, has promised to date, in
:13:21. > :13:25.an effort to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis. -- promised to
:13:25. > :13:30.date. The Chancellor also announced a big reduction in the size and
:13:30. > :13:35.scope of the investment arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
:13:35. > :13:38.It is the most ambitious redesign of our big banks in the City for at
:13:38. > :13:43.least 25 years, and it is needed because of a sharp recession caused
:13:43. > :13:47.in large part by the 2008 banking crisis, and because taxpayers face
:13:48. > :13:54.losses of more than �40 billion on the bail-outs of Lloyds and Royal
:13:54. > :13:58.Bank of Scotland. We believe RBS' future is as a major UK bank with
:13:58. > :14:04.the majority of its business in the UK and impersonal, SME and
:14:04. > :14:07.corporate banking. Investment banking will continue to support
:14:07. > :14:12.RBS's lending business, but RBS will make further significant
:14:12. > :14:17.reductions in the investment bank. George Osborne was announcing big
:14:17. > :14:21.cuts to the global investment bank, and new laws intended to make all
:14:21. > :14:24.big banks safer. There are two important reforms. The part of a
:14:24. > :14:28.big bank that looks after the savings of individuals and small
:14:28. > :14:32.businesses, and provides them with overdrafts, will be protected by a
:14:32. > :14:36.ring fence, or file all. That is supposed to make it cheaper and
:14:36. > :14:41.easier to protect our money and keep vital services going in a
:14:42. > :14:44.crisis -- firewall. A separate initiative would cut the cost for
:14:44. > :14:50.taxpayers because more of the losses would fall on investors and
:14:50. > :14:54.lenders. But the reforms will impose up to �8 billion of new
:14:54. > :15:01.costs on banks'' shareholders and customers, says the Treasury. The
:15:01. > :15:05.impact of those costs would reduce annual GDP by 1.8 billion poll --
:15:05. > :15:09.�1.8 billion. But there are huge costs to the economy of banking
:15:09. > :15:15.crisis, and the Treasury estimates that if the reforms succeed in
:15:15. > :15:19.reducing the impact of those crises, we will all be �9.5 billion a year
:15:19. > :15:23.better off. For customers, it should mean they can be confident
:15:23. > :15:27.that the risky activities of investment banks won't bring down
:15:27. > :15:32.the boring retail banking that we all rely on every day. The banking
:15:32. > :15:35.industry, a bit glum about it all. As we made changes that required in
:15:35. > :15:40.some respects, the banks to absorb costs which otherwise they could
:15:40. > :15:46.use the money to support lending, that is where you start to get an
:15:46. > :15:49.economic impact. It will take four years to redraw the City and
:15:49. > :15:53.another three to reinforce the banks against losses. Unfortunately,
:15:53. > :16:00.the crisis in the eurozone, to which our banks are exposed by
:16:00. > :16:03.loans to other banks, is happening Our top story tonight:
:16:03. > :16:07.North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, one of the world's most secretive
:16:07. > :16:17.nations has died suddenly of a heart attack.
:16:17. > :16:25.Coming up: Rehearsing with the military wives
:16:25. > :16:31.as they aim for a Christmas number The Royal Bank of Scotland is to
:16:31. > :16:41.reduce its investment arm. Saab files for bankruptcy after
:16:41. > :16:41.
:16:41. > :16:44.For three months anti-capitalist protestors have been camped outside
:16:44. > :16:49.St Paul's Cathedral, but today the Corporation of London began High
:16:49. > :16:54.Court proceedings to remove their tents. It says it wants "to protect
:16:54. > :16:56.the rights and freedoms of others" not the banks. But the
:16:56. > :17:00.demonstration there has prompted a wider debate about inequality and
:17:01. > :17:10.consumerism. Mark Easton has been asking whether the protest has
:17:11. > :17:13.
:17:13. > :17:16.Around St Paul's in the City of London are the streets where the
:17:16. > :17:24.commercial rubs shoulders with the spiritual. But this Christmas,
:17:24. > :17:29.austerity, anxiety and anger have infiltrated the crowds. Below thick
:17:29. > :17:33.walls of Portland stone, flimsy shelters huddle, a scruffy
:17:34. > :17:38.challenge to the towering orth Docksy of the city. The wind has
:17:38. > :17:41.not dented the commitment of the protest, but are Occupy London's
:17:41. > :17:47.demands for equality and sustainability more than a
:17:47. > :17:50.temporary irritant to be swept aside by City City bailiffs? People
:17:50. > :17:54.are dedicated. I have never seen anything like this in my life.
:17:54. > :17:57.Dedicated, but can you really change the world? Of course,
:17:58. > :18:01.history will show that people power, large people-led movements have
:18:01. > :18:03.caused history to change and we believe because it is global,
:18:03. > :18:06.that's what is happening with this movement.
:18:06. > :18:11.In the shadow of the great cathedral, the Bishop of London
:18:11. > :18:15.works on a sermon with questions about society's priorities and
:18:15. > :18:22.values, spilling in through the deanry wind open. The City must not
:18:22. > :18:26.underestimate the depth of diseye of disquiet and confusion.
:18:26. > :18:30.For many people the hope is that we will go back to business as normal
:18:30. > :18:35.and we will be able to forget about these things. I myself think that
:18:35. > :18:41.with the tectonic plates shifting, you have got to prepare for our
:18:41. > :18:46.place in a rather new world and that's why I think that this is a
:18:46. > :18:50.moment of opportunity and serious need for reset.
:18:50. > :18:55.Church has brokered contact between demonstrators and the City fathers.
:18:55. > :18:58.There have been promises made about financial regulation and ethics.
:18:59. > :19:03.The Lord Mayor of London wants the tents gone from Corporation land,
:19:03. > :19:10.but says he recognises that public anger at institutional corpulence
:19:10. > :19:17.and greed requires a response. Where there is success, there will
:19:17. > :19:21.be the trapings of success I think, you will find fewer champagne bars
:19:21. > :19:24.with fewer city workers in them than four years ago.
:19:24. > :19:29.REPORTER: Because they are aware of the public mood? Because they are
:19:29. > :19:35.aware of the public mood. Are we witnessing a new humility
:19:35. > :19:39.settling on the City? Is capitalism as we know it under threat? At the
:19:39. > :19:42.one new chain shopping centre, shoppers seem intent on pursuing a
:19:43. > :19:47.bargain, not a revolution. I don't think there is much of a
:19:47. > :19:50.change. I think everyone gets on with things themselves. I don't
:19:50. > :19:54.know really. Keep calm and carry on? Yeah,
:19:54. > :19:58.basically. As long as people have their X
:19:58. > :20:03.Factor and cheap booze, there won't be much of a change of mood.
:20:03. > :20:05.I hope people are starting to re- evaluate their lives, but I'm not
:20:05. > :20:12.sure whether that is happening. With warnings of cuts and austerity
:20:12. > :20:22.for years to come, perhaps there is no way back to business as usual.
:20:22. > :20:23.
:20:23. > :20:29.The famous Mary Poppins books, an old woman sells bird seed on the
:20:29. > :20:33.steps of St Paul's. Mary Poppins only stayed until the wind changed.
:20:33. > :20:43.The question this Christmas is whether Britain's values are
:20:43. > :20:43.
:20:43. > :20:46.Mortgage lenders are being urged to carry out tougher checks on people
:20:46. > :20:50.applying for loans to buy property to make sure they can repay them
:20:50. > :20:53.even if interest rates rise. It is part of efforts to avoid a repeat
:20:53. > :21:03.of problems with so called sub- prime mortgages which led to the
:21:03. > :21:07.
:21:07. > :21:10.financial crisis. Simon Gompertz It used to be easy to get a
:21:10. > :21:13.mortgage in the boom that came before the credit crunch, half of
:21:13. > :21:17.all new mortgages were approved without checking income.
:21:17. > :21:22.Then starting in the US, came the financial crisis and the downturn
:21:22. > :21:25.and too many loans went bad. Never again the lenders are now being
:21:25. > :21:29.told. What they are trying to achieve is
:21:30. > :21:33.that when conditions in the market improve, ie there is more funds
:21:33. > :21:35.available, we don't go back to the situation we had prethe credit
:21:35. > :21:39.crunch when some people were given mortgages when they shouldn't have
:21:39. > :21:44.been. If you apply for a mortgage from
:21:44. > :21:47.2013 all borrowers will go through affordability checks covering
:21:47. > :21:51.income and household bills. Lenders will calculate whether they can
:21:51. > :21:56.with stand interest rate rises of 1%. There will be restrictions on
:21:56. > :22:02.interest only mortgages. So if the market revives, 11% of mortgages
:22:02. > :22:07.will be blocked. Sally O'Neill is self-employed and
:22:07. > :22:11.she told me she is being asked to put down a 35% deposit. She is
:22:11. > :22:15.scared with this stricker regime she will never be able to buy.
:22:15. > :22:19.In the future it will make it more difficult for people to borrow
:22:19. > :22:23.money from the banks because it is going to give them more to pick at,
:22:23. > :22:28.more to look at, more to say, "If the interest rates go up, you won't
:22:28. > :22:31.be able to afford this." There is another worry - home-
:22:31. > :22:35.owners who are called mortgage prisoners because they borrowed
:22:35. > :22:43.before the credit crunch and would fall foul of the new new mortgage
:22:43. > :22:49.rules if they tried to move house now. The FSA said today it would
:22:49. > :22:54.waive the restrictions for them if they had good payment records.
:22:54. > :22:58.I think that that for most borrowers they shouldn't find the
:22:58. > :23:03.rules getting too much in the way of what they want to do. This is
:23:03. > :23:08.against a very difficult economic backdrop, where confidence is low.
:23:08. > :23:14.That's the current problem, lending has slumped anyway. One big lender
:23:14. > :23:22.says the reforms are a distraction from the urgent task of helping
:23:22. > :23:26.first-time buyers. Donald Neilson has died in Norwich
:23:26. > :23:31.Prison. Neilson who lived in Bradford committed three murders
:23:31. > :23:36.during robberies at sub Post Offices in the early 1970s and
:23:36. > :23:39.kidnapped and killed a 17-year-old student in 1975.
:23:39. > :23:42.The brother of a News of the World whistle-blower has been giving
:23:42. > :23:45.evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on press standards. Sean Hoare, who
:23:45. > :23:48.died earlier this year, had alleged that a former editor of the
:23:48. > :23:54.newspaper, Andy Coulson, was well aware that phone hacking had taken
:23:54. > :24:00.place. Mr Coulson strongly denied the claim. Nicholas Witchell has
:24:00. > :24:04.been at the inquiry. What did his brother, Stuart say then, Nick?
:24:04. > :24:06.giving evidence was Stuart Hoare. His brother Sean was a News of the
:24:07. > :24:11.World show business reporter. He died from liver failure in July,
:24:11. > :24:14.but before his death, he spoke out about the dark arts at News of the
:24:14. > :24:19.World, the phone hacking, the pinging, that's tracking people via
:24:19. > :24:23.their mobile phones and according to Mr Mr Hoare his brother told him
:24:23. > :24:29.the practises went on at The Sun newspaper as well as the News of
:24:29. > :24:32.the World. The inquiry heard from Matt Driscoll. He said the paper
:24:32. > :24:37.blagd the medical records of a Premier League football manager and
:24:37. > :24:42.he talked about the culture of bullying at News of the World under
:24:42. > :24:46.Andy Coulson. Mr Driscoll was dismissed. He took the the paper to
:24:46. > :24:53.an employment tribunal and won his case. He said both his health and
:24:53. > :24:56.his career had been ruined. Just a few months ago they were
:24:56. > :24:59.simply wives and mothers living on a military base while their
:24:59. > :25:01.husbands were away fighting, but now the members of the Military
:25:01. > :25:05.Wives Choir led by Gareth Malone have suddenly found themselves in
:25:05. > :25:15.the full glare of the spotlight as they fight their own battle to top
:25:15. > :25:20.
:25:21. > :25:24.the charts this Christmas. Lizo Performed by around 100 military
:25:24. > :25:28.wives and girlfriends, Wherever You Are is based on letters between the
:25:28. > :25:33.women and their partners, written while the men were deployed in
:25:33. > :25:38.Afghanistan. And it looks certain to be in year's Christmas number
:25:38. > :25:43.one. It is an unbelievable feeling and
:25:43. > :25:47.it is surreal. It doesn't feel like it is happening to us. No, I agree.
:25:47. > :25:50.If someone said, "You are going to be Christmas number one." We
:25:50. > :25:54.wouldn't have believed them. I'm starting a choir.
:25:54. > :25:59.Good luck with that one! The women were all brought together
:26:00. > :26:04.by a musician, Gareth Malone for The Choir. Taking the group, many
:26:04. > :26:09.of whom had never sung properly before and turning them into
:26:09. > :26:13.potential chart toppers. The Christmas number one may not
:26:13. > :26:17.have the high sales figures of the year, but it is seen as a
:26:17. > :26:24.prestigious achievement for any artist being on top of the charts
:26:24. > :26:34.on Christmas Day. It is usually the winning X Factor
:26:34. > :26:34.
:26:34. > :26:41.Act that is is favourite, but it Little Mix was released two weeks
:26:41. > :26:46.ago and it left the door open for The Military Wives.
:26:46. > :26:51.Would my honourable friend be willing to to join me to give the
:26:51. > :26:54.VAT proceeds to their nominated charities, namely the British
:26:54. > :26:59.Legion. If they make it to the number one
:26:59. > :27:07.spot, their journey from obscurity could be one of the most unexpected
:27:07. > :27:11.Let's take a look at the weather Let's take a look at the weather
:27:11. > :27:17.now with Alex Deakin. Hello there, Sophie.
:27:17. > :27:22.There is a a better chance of that being number one than there being
:27:22. > :27:25.any snow on Christmas Day. It won't be as cold as last night.
:27:25. > :27:29.It has been cold and wet this afternoon, but the rain is heading
:27:29. > :27:32.out into the North Sea. A few showers following on behind to
:27:32. > :27:37.Northern Ireland, north-west, England and Wales.
:27:37. > :27:42.As the skies clear, temperatures will dip close to freezing across
:27:42. > :27:45.parts of the north and there maybe the risk of ice in the morning.
:27:45. > :27:49.There should be sunshine in the morning. Further south, it may
:27:49. > :27:53.start cloudy, but tomorrow is a dry and a bright day. The sunshine
:27:53. > :27:56.lasts in the east. Just a few scattered showers for north-west
:27:56. > :28:00.England and maybe one or two continuing to feed into parts of
:28:00. > :28:03.Western Scotland. Eastern Scotland generally dry with
:28:03. > :28:07.sunshine. Bright start maybe in Northern Ireland, but it will turn
:28:07. > :28:12.cloudy here, some rain heading in by evening. Much of Northern
:28:12. > :28:16.England dry and fine. A few showers to the West of the Pennines. Sunny
:28:16. > :28:20.spells down the eastern side of England, but further West, again
:28:20. > :28:24.after some brightness, it will turn cloudy through the afternoon. Some
:28:25. > :28:29.rain spreading in here during the evening. That could fall as snow
:28:29. > :28:34.for a time across Scotland, with still the cold air here. The band
:28:34. > :28:38.of rain is changing things. A cold day tomorrow, but that cold air
:28:38. > :28:41.getting ousted by mild air, swamping in often the Atlantic for
:28:41. > :28:45.Wednesday and Thursday. The mild air brings moisture. It will be a
:28:45. > :28:48.damp start on Wednesday. A cloudy day generally, but look at those
:28:48. > :28:51.temperatures up to double figures for most places. Similar
:28:51. > :28:55.temperatures, similar day on Thursday, a lot of cloud around.
:28:55. > :28:58.The wet weather pushes southwards on Friday. It starts to turn colder