:00:03. > :00:08.The wounded British photographer trapped in Syria for days has been
:00:08. > :00:13.smuggled out of the country. Paul Conroy was carried on a stretcher
:00:13. > :00:21.by Syrian activists. There are reports that a number of them died
:00:21. > :00:25.in the operation. There is relief from his family. I think he will
:00:25. > :00:30.just be glad he is out. He is a strong character. He has to be to
:00:30. > :00:33.do what he does. We do not have any qualms on that aspect. He can cope.
:00:33. > :00:36.Also on tonight's programme: Closing a massive tax loophole -
:00:36. > :00:44.Barclays are told to hand over half a billion pounds they tried to
:00:44. > :00:49.avoid paying. There tax-avoidance factory at Canary Wharf is the most
:00:49. > :00:52.productive factory in Britain. Tax- avoidance schemes roll-off that
:00:52. > :00:54.production-line like Rolls-Royces. The St Paul's protest is over -
:00:54. > :00:58.police evict the anti-capitalist demonstrators in a midnight raid.
:00:58. > :01:01.The crippled cruise liner is towed to safety - and the concern of the
:01:01. > :01:10.British family with a daughter still on board and a son who
:01:10. > :01:13.survived the Costa Concordia disaster.
:01:13. > :01:16.Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC News Channel, Stuart Pearce knows
:01:16. > :01:26.who it is, but tells us why he will not announce who the England
:01:26. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :01:39.captain will be against the Good evening. Welcome to the BBC
:01:39. > :01:43.News at Six. A British photographer wounded in Syria has been smuggled
:01:43. > :01:46.out of the country to neighbouring Lebanon. He was injured last week
:01:46. > :01:50.in the same attack that killed his colleague, Marie Colvin, in the
:01:50. > :01:54.city of Homs. Mr Conroy was carried out on a stretcher last night by
:01:54. > :01:57.Syrian activists. It has emerged that a number of them may have been
:01:57. > :02:04.killed in the operation to get him across the border into Lebanon.
:02:04. > :02:12.Paul Wood reports from the capital, Beirut.
:02:12. > :02:18.This report contains strong images. The shelling of Homs. Unrelenting
:02:18. > :02:23.today, as it has been for three weeks. In the middle of this,
:02:23. > :02:28.activists tried again and again to bring out the injured journalists.
:02:28. > :02:32.Three volunteers died in the attempt, they say. Another 10
:02:32. > :02:38.reportedly killed bringing in medical supplies the wounded
:02:38. > :02:42.Syrians who remain. The British photographer, Paul Conroy, is in
:02:42. > :02:46.Lebanon now. His paper, the Sunday Times, said he was in good shape
:02:46. > :02:50.and in good spirits. His family said they were overjoyed and
:02:50. > :02:56.relieved. We have heard that he is out. We don't know where he is. We
:02:56. > :03:00.are happy that he is out. When we hear from him, we will be happy.
:03:00. > :03:05.The badly injured French journalist Edith Bouvier was with him in the
:03:05. > :03:08.makeshift hospital. There is confusion over her current
:03:08. > :03:13.whereabouts, and have two additional journalists there. They
:03:14. > :03:18.were under siege in a quarter of Homs. After leaving, they still had
:03:18. > :03:25.to get out of Syria. Harassed by government forces, they apparently
:03:25. > :03:30.became split up. This activist helped them to flee.
:03:30. > :03:34.TRANSLATION: They were coming under lots of fire. They had to travel on
:03:34. > :03:39.foot and move from house to house. Rockets fired at them and even tank
:03:39. > :03:43.shells. The evacuation across the border took three or four hours.
:03:43. > :03:49.spied the successful rescue, the veteran war correspondent Marie
:03:49. > :03:52.Colvin died in Homs. Her body apparently remains there, along
:03:52. > :04:00.with that of a French photographer. His girlfriend pleaded for his
:04:00. > :04:05.remains to be allowed home. TRANSLATION: De los of your
:04:05. > :04:08.boyfriend is terrible, but the waiting is insufferable. All
:04:08. > :04:12.religions recognise that to say goodbye, you need a body. Today, we
:04:12. > :04:17.are not able to grieve. I have promised his friends and family
:04:17. > :04:22.that I will not leave him there. The plight of civilians still in
:04:22. > :04:28.Homs remains desperate. Here, rescue workers try to free a little
:04:28. > :04:36.boy trapped in the rubble of his home, destroyed by a shell. He
:04:36. > :04:41.apparently survived. Many others died today, as every day. Efforts
:04:41. > :04:44.by the Red Crescent and the Red Cross to get a temporary ceasefire
:04:44. > :04:47.have so far failed. Barclays Bank has been accused of
:04:47. > :04:50."aggressive tax avoidance" by the Treasury and ordered to pay half a
:04:50. > :04:54.billion pounds to the Revenue. The government has closed two loopholes
:04:54. > :04:59.in the regulations that Barclays used to reduce its tax bill. The
:04:59. > :05:09.bank says its tax affairs were entirely legal. Here is our
:05:09. > :05:14.
:05:14. > :05:17.business editor, Robert Peston. Barclays are these days keen to
:05:17. > :05:20.show how they are we paying for support from the Government has a
:05:20. > :05:26.good citizen. With its contribution to economic growth and the way it
:05:26. > :05:30.does business, including, it said, paying a lot of tax. It is all part,
:05:31. > :05:35.said the bank's chief executive in a BBC picture, of the Barclays
:05:35. > :05:38.ethos. Rebuilding trust requires banks to be better citizens. I
:05:38. > :05:42.believe in this passionately. therefore looked pretty
:05:42. > :05:48.embarrassing for Barclays that the Treasury is closing down two new
:05:48. > :05:53.tax avoidance schemes that it has been using. Barclays' tax-avoidance
:05:53. > :05:55.factory is the most productive factory in Britain. Tax-avoidance
:05:55. > :05:59.schemes roll-off that production- line like Rolls-Royces. It is
:05:59. > :06:04.highly abusive and aggressive. crackdown against Barclays is all
:06:05. > :06:09.about protecting tax revenues. The Treasury says it will get back �500
:06:09. > :06:15.million of tax that Barclays thought it had saved, although the
:06:15. > :06:18.bank insists it will only have to pay back �150 million. Future
:06:18. > :06:22.savings of �250 million for all banks will be stopped. The
:06:22. > :06:26.Treasury's crackdown on Barclays' tax-avoidance schemes is a loud
:06:26. > :06:32.warning from ministers to all big companies that it wants them to
:06:32. > :06:38.obey the spirit of the tax rules as well as the letter of the tax rules.
:06:38. > :06:42.We have sent a clear signal to banks and other entities that this
:06:42. > :06:46.Government takes tax-avoidance seriously, and we will act to stop
:06:46. > :06:52.it. But in taking tax that Barclays thought it had already avoided,
:06:52. > :06:58.there may be risks. Retrospection is always a bad signal, because it
:06:58. > :07:03.destroys a bit of faith in the tax system. It worries people that
:07:03. > :07:08.anything they do might be countered retrospectively. The Government
:07:08. > :07:13.needs to use it very rarely and carefully and in carefully defined
:07:13. > :07:17.circumstances. Ministers need every tax penny available to close the
:07:17. > :07:22.government's deficit, but will companies now know that slashing
:07:22. > :07:24.their tax bills can be humiliating, even when they do not break the law.
:07:24. > :07:27.Officials at St Paul's Cathedral say they are "regret" the clearing
:07:27. > :07:30.of a protest camp by bailiffs overnight. More than 100 tents were
:07:30. > :07:33.taken down after Occupy London protesters lost their legal battle
:07:33. > :07:43.with the City of London to remain on the site. Our correspondent is
:07:43. > :07:45.
:07:45. > :07:49.at St Paul's. Yes, the senior could hardly be in
:07:49. > :07:53.sharper contrast to the situation just 24 hours ago. Then, this
:07:53. > :07:57.entire area was covered with tents and activists who said they were
:07:57. > :08:02.determined to stay. But as you can see, after the dramatic events of
:08:02. > :08:06.last night, there is hardly any physical evidence that the campaign
:08:06. > :08:10.organisation was ever hear. St Paul's Cathedral, a world
:08:10. > :08:16.renowned place of worship, for months home to the Occupy
:08:16. > :08:19.encampment, last night on high alert, expecting trouble. The
:08:19. > :08:25.police and bailiffs came in overwhelming numbers, here to kill
:08:25. > :08:31.a camp which has so sharply divided opinion. Scuffles, yes. But little
:08:31. > :08:36.real violence. After months of occupation, after the long
:08:36. > :08:40.protracted legal battles, the tents have finally been cleared away.
:08:40. > :08:45.They have been loaded into the dump trucks. But the protesters insist
:08:45. > :08:51.that they will remain. The message went out for all supporters to come
:08:51. > :08:55.and join the cause. But police cordons blocked the way. The court
:08:56. > :08:59.order was for the removal of tents and other structures. The City of
:08:59. > :09:05.London Corporation said it regretted sending in the bailiffs,
:09:05. > :09:10.but had no choice. As the clearance continued, some of the most
:09:10. > :09:16.committed protesters manned the last barricade. But ultimately, the
:09:16. > :09:22.result was never in doubt. This is an opportunity for us to move
:09:22. > :09:26.sideways and be creative and innovative. This is not the
:09:26. > :09:30.beginning of the end, it is the end of the beginning. With the new day,
:09:30. > :09:34.confirmation here that the landscape here had changed. Dozens
:09:34. > :09:38.of tents gone, time for the clean- up crews to move in. Behind the
:09:38. > :09:44.fences, the high-pressure hoses were put to immediate work. Some
:09:44. > :09:48.local businesses were clearly glad it is over. It is good, because
:09:48. > :09:52.business is back to normal. Occupied campaign has been
:09:52. > :09:56.difficult, at times embarrassing for the Church authorities. Today,
:09:57. > :10:02.this was their response. Last night was about the removal of tents and
:10:02. > :10:06.camping equipment. It was not about the removal of protest or debate or
:10:06. > :10:11.ideas. Those things carry on here, just as they have for hundreds of
:10:11. > :10:15.years. But perhaps they carry on now with a sharpened focus. Life
:10:15. > :10:21.here is returning to normal, but the court order applies to tense,
:10:21. > :10:25.not protesters. Many of them say they and their message will be back.
:10:25. > :10:29.There is no doubt that some local businesses and people who work in
:10:29. > :10:33.this area are pleased to see that this clearance has taken place. But
:10:33. > :10:37.speaking to people who have been protesting here for those four
:10:37. > :10:41.months, some say that they also take satisfaction, believing that
:10:41. > :10:43.they have put their agenda firmly in the national picture.
:10:43. > :10:47.Nearly 50,000 patients with all- metal hip replacements will need
:10:47. > :10:49.annual checks because of safety concerns about the devices. The
:10:49. > :10:51.medicines watchdog announced new guidance after reports that
:10:51. > :10:57.microscopic metal particles from the implants could leak into the
:10:57. > :10:59.blood, causing tissue damage. The new advice comes as a joint BBC
:10:59. > :11:02.Newsnight and British Medical Journal investigation found that
:11:02. > :11:08.problems with such devices had been known about for years, but no
:11:08. > :11:11.action had been taken to restrict their use.
:11:11. > :11:15.And you can see more on that investigation on Newsnight on BBC
:11:15. > :11:18.Two at 10.30 tonight. It has emerged that the
:11:18. > :11:22.Metropolitan Police loaned a retired horse to the former chief
:11:22. > :11:25.executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks. Her spokesman says
:11:25. > :11:33.she became a "temporary foster parent" for the horse between 2008
:11:33. > :11:35.and 2010. She paid for food and vet bills until it was rehoused with a
:11:35. > :11:38.police officer, months before fresh investigations into illegal
:11:38. > :11:41.activities at the News Of The World. Conservative MPs have been telling
:11:41. > :11:45.the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to stand firm on his controversial
:11:45. > :11:48.reform of the NHS in England. It follows a letter from the deputy
:11:48. > :11:52.prime minister, Nick Clegg, yesterday in which he outlined the
:11:52. > :11:55.areas where the Lib Dems were unhappy with the bill. Our deputy
:11:55. > :12:03.political editor James Landale reports on how the reforms continue
:12:03. > :12:06.to cause friction between the coalition partners.
:12:06. > :12:11.The government's plans to reform the NHS in England are opposed by
:12:11. > :12:13.many doctors. There have been protests in the streets, defeats in
:12:13. > :12:18.Parliament and tensions in the coalition. But today, when the
:12:18. > :12:24.minister responsible was forced to answer yet more questions, he was
:12:24. > :12:28.cheered, at least by his own side. The plans to give doctors more
:12:28. > :12:32.spending power and patients more choice would not, he said, mean a
:12:32. > :12:37.US-style market in the health service. I believe in the National
:12:37. > :12:42.Health Service. I am a passionate supporter of our NHS. That is why I
:12:42. > :12:45.understand the passionate debate it arouses. But it is also why I
:12:45. > :12:50.resent those on the benches opposite who seek to misrepresent
:12:50. > :12:55.the NHS, its current achievements or its future needs. Tory MPs lined
:12:55. > :12:59.up to support him, as did the few Lib Dems who spoke. Labour MPs did
:12:59. > :13:03.not. Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister has been cleared. This bill is
:13:03. > :13:06.about competition at the heart of the health service. The Deputy
:13:06. > :13:11.Prime Minister has supported it all the way. Aren't these just empty
:13:11. > :13:13.gestures designed to save face? This is a bad bill that cannot be
:13:13. > :13:18.amended for stock this is why Andrew Lansley was forced to come
:13:18. > :13:25.to the Commons again, Mr Clegg's letter demanding yet more changes
:13:25. > :13:28.to the Health Bill, to prevent -- protect the NHS from competition
:13:28. > :13:32.and to force GPs to declare financial interests.
:13:32. > :13:35.To Rory ministers say privately that they are relaxed about these
:13:35. > :13:40.latest Lib Dem demands. But some of their MPs are clearly not.
:13:40. > :13:45.Shouldn't somebody tell the Deputy Prime Minister who is running this
:13:45. > :13:48.government? This is what the Government wants to see - GPs with
:13:48. > :13:52.the chance to send their patients to a private screening clinic like
:13:52. > :13:55.this one in London. But many critics fear that this expansion of
:13:55. > :14:00.the private sector could lead to private companies and not doctors
:14:00. > :14:06.controlling NHS budgets. If that is the fear, it will not happen,
:14:06. > :14:10.because it is the doctors and nurses at the frontline who will
:14:10. > :14:14.have the opportunity to shape the services that they know patients
:14:14. > :14:17.need. That will not be overridden by anybody else. So for the
:14:18. > :14:27.Government, an unexpected chance to make the case for its NHS reforms.
:14:28. > :14:29.
:14:29. > :14:33.But the bill will be back in the Our top story: The wounded British
:14:33. > :14:36.photographer Paul Conroy, trapped in Syria for days, has been
:14:37. > :14:41.smuggled out of the country by Syrian activists.
:14:41. > :14:44.Inside Fukushima. We are among the first Westerner journalists to
:14:45. > :14:48.report from the doomed Japanese nuclear plant. The next challenge
:14:48. > :14:53.is to dismantle the power station. It is made more difficult by the
:14:53. > :14:57.fact it is highly radioactive here and it could take up to 40 years.
:14:57. > :15:02.Later on the BBC News Channel: A blow for Barclays as it is ordered
:15:02. > :15:06.by the Treasury to pay �500 million in tax that it tried to avoid. And
:15:06. > :15:15.Ireland confirms it is to hold a referendum on whether to accept the
:15:15. > :15:18.Thousands of illegal immigrants who volunteer to be deported from
:15:18. > :15:22.Britain have found themselves unable to return home. With the
:15:22. > :15:26.economic downturn leading to a lack of work, they have applied to be
:15:26. > :15:29.sent back to India. But Britain cannot deport them, as many
:15:29. > :15:33.destroyed their identification documents when they entered the
:15:34. > :15:37.country and cannot prove their nationality. Chris Rogers, in the
:15:37. > :15:42.second of his special reports on illegal immigration, found that
:15:42. > :15:47.many are living rough. Is this way you sleep? Yes, my
:15:47. > :15:57.bedroom. His family paid �10,000 to traffickers to smuggle him into
:15:57. > :16:04.Britain. He came here from India for a better life. This is what he
:16:04. > :16:10.got. 4000 miles from home, out-of- work and penniless, he has found
:16:10. > :16:15.refuge in a derelict garage. TRANSLATION: When I left and came
:16:15. > :16:20.here I was told life was good here. It's not just me, other boys came
:16:20. > :16:24.for work. You can see what state we are in. There is no work, no
:16:24. > :16:30.government help. He has cut himself off from his family. He would
:16:30. > :16:34.rather they think he is dead and living like this. TRANSLATION: They
:16:34. > :16:38.sold land and took out loans to get me out of India, to improve our
:16:38. > :16:43.lives and make life better. When you get here, there is nothing.
:16:43. > :16:47.is desperate to be deported back to India. But here is the problem,
:16:47. > :16:50.like most illegal immigrants he destroyed his identification papers
:16:50. > :16:54.when he arrived to make a deportation difficult. Now he is
:16:54. > :17:00.pleading to go home. But he must prove his identity. That can take
:17:00. > :17:10.years. There are thousands of others stuck in the same
:17:10. > :17:13.
:17:13. > :17:17.We found dozens bedding down under bridges in west London. Every day
:17:17. > :17:23.they spend in this misery they slip further into a destructive cycle.
:17:23. > :17:29.It is now midnight. Nearly all of the men that live under this bridge
:17:29. > :17:34.have gone to bed, wrapping themselves in duvets and jumbos to
:17:34. > :17:38.try to keep warm. The temperature at the moment is freezing. The
:17:38. > :17:43.atmosphere is very intense, as you can hear. A lot of people had been
:17:43. > :17:51.drinking all day. Some of them are clearly taking drugs as well. It is
:17:51. > :17:55.a very intimidating place today. India, my life is better. This 21-
:17:55. > :18:01.year-old was jailed for shoplifting. Now he is back on the streets and
:18:01. > :18:06.on heroin. They arrest me. I told them, send me back, yeah? But they
:18:06. > :18:12.don't send me back. Because I've got no passport, no papers? Where
:18:12. > :18:16.do you get the money to buy drugs? Shoplifting. Outside, like this, I
:18:16. > :18:20.cannot sleep unless I take drugs. The only help available are
:18:20. > :18:24.handouts from homeless charities, who claimed the repatriation system
:18:24. > :18:29.is overwhelmed. The problem is that they have paperwork pending in the
:18:29. > :18:32.Indian High Commission. The High Commission and dragging their heels
:18:32. > :18:38.in co-operating with the UK Border Agency is to try to send these
:18:38. > :18:41.people back. It's a bit of a mess, to be honest. The Indian High
:18:41. > :18:45.Commission on the UK Border Agency says the establishing the true
:18:45. > :18:49.identity of these men can be complex and the time it takes to
:18:49. > :18:56.issue emergency travel documentation varies, case by case.
:18:56. > :19:03.Efforts are being made to speed up the repatriation process. In 2011,
:19:03. > :19:06.nearly 7000 Indian nationals were deported voluntarily. He has this
:19:06. > :19:10.warning to those who still believe that Britain is a land of
:19:10. > :19:15.opportunity. TRANSLATION: They are mad. They should look at this and
:19:15. > :19:20.see what it is like. What kind of life is this? For now, it's a life
:19:20. > :19:23.in limbo that he and others like him cannot escape.
:19:23. > :19:27.It is nearly a year since an earthquake and tsunami devastated
:19:28. > :19:32.parts of Japan. For weeks afterwards, engineers fought to
:19:32. > :19:36.maintain a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Today it was
:19:36. > :19:41.revealed that the danger posed was so serious that officials
:19:41. > :19:50.considered evacuating the whole of Tokyo. For the first time,
:19:50. > :19:55.international journalists have been Getting ready to face the radiation
:19:55. > :20:01.at Fukushima. Boiler suits and masks, protection against
:20:01. > :20:05.contamination. We were being taken to the power station, the first
:20:05. > :20:10.group of foreign journalists allowed in. Through the exclusion
:20:11. > :20:15.zone, 12 miles of overgrown fields, abandoned homes and, at the heart
:20:15. > :20:20.of the nuclear disaster, the source of fear for the Japanese people for
:20:20. > :20:25.almost a year now. This is where the fight back is being co-
:20:25. > :20:33.ordinated. The control room at the power station. Minute by minute,
:20:33. > :20:40.they are monitoring the reactors, now stabilised. TRANSLATION: What
:20:40. > :20:44.we have in mind to prevent, the release of radioactive gases. The
:20:44. > :20:49.leakage outside the power station that happened before. March last
:20:49. > :20:54.year. The power station was rocked by explosions. The tsunami had
:20:54. > :20:57.triggered meltdown in three of the reactors. Japan's leaders feared
:20:57. > :21:02.they would have to order the evacuation of Tokyo. It is only
:21:02. > :21:06.when you are standing here that you can appreciate the force of the
:21:06. > :21:13.explosions that destroyed those reactor buildings. You can see men
:21:13. > :21:18.in the skeleton, working on it. The reactor is in a state of cold shut
:21:18. > :21:22.down. It means they are called, below boiling point. The next
:21:22. > :21:26.challenge is to dismantle the power station. It is made difficult by
:21:26. > :21:31.the fact it is highly radioactive and it could take up to 40 years.
:21:31. > :21:36.Then we were driven right past the reactors, scarred by the power of
:21:36. > :21:41.the sea. The wreckage of trucks still litters the ground. In places
:21:41. > :21:46.it is too radioactive for humans to venture. Elsewhere, the workers
:21:46. > :21:52.were busy, maintaining the cooling system, vital to keeping the
:21:52. > :21:56.reactors under control. TRANSLATION: I worked here before
:21:56. > :22:03.the disaster. Since my plant is in this condition, I think it is my
:22:03. > :22:08.mission to stay here. What they fear is another earthquake, a
:22:08. > :22:13.second tsunami. It could tip the nuclear disaster into crisis once
:22:13. > :22:23.again. And no one needs reminding now that sitting on the edge of the
:22:23. > :22:24.
:22:24. > :22:28.Pacific the crippled reactors are Now, why is it that a student at
:22:28. > :22:32.lives in England, only a few miles from the Scottish border, has to
:22:32. > :22:36.pay up to �9,000 to go to a Scottish university, whereas one
:22:36. > :22:38.living hundreds of miles away in Europe can go for free? It is one
:22:38. > :22:42.of the anomalies thrown up by the current system and it has meant
:22:42. > :22:46.that the number of EU students applying to Scotland has risen by
:22:46. > :22:54.6%, compared to last year, whereas the number replying to England,
:22:54. > :22:58.where fees to apply, has fallen by over 16%.
:22:58. > :23:02.EU students have always come to the UK for their degrees. But
:23:02. > :23:06.Scotland's FE system is making it increasingly popular. Students here
:23:06. > :23:10.pay no fees, so European law states nor do those from other EU
:23:10. > :23:15.countries. But devolution does allow Scottish universities to
:23:15. > :23:19.charge students from other parts of the UK. This is the international
:23:19. > :23:26.school in Berlin, where Michael is one of the sixth-formers. He is
:23:26. > :23:31.English, but living in Germany for an ex pat liked him to count as a
:23:31. > :23:35.EU student. Despite being English, he can go to Scotland for free.
:23:35. > :23:39.you look at the UK, the cheapest place in Scotland. You can get in
:23:39. > :23:44.much cheaper if you're someone in my position. That is a huge factor.
:23:44. > :23:48.We are not the wealthiest family, price will always play a role.
:23:48. > :23:52.Devolution has meant a jigsaw of different fees from September.
:23:52. > :23:56.Students in England face fees of up to �9,000. Students that live in
:23:56. > :24:00.Scotland and those from the do will continue to pay no fees. Welsh
:24:00. > :24:05.students will be subsidised by the Welsh government and fees will be
:24:05. > :24:08.capped for Northern Irish students that stay in Northern Ireland. This
:24:08. > :24:15.high-school is in Scotland, right on the border with England. It has
:24:15. > :24:18.pupils from both nations. Those living in England, like Robin, will
:24:18. > :24:22.not get the free university education given to her friends.
:24:22. > :24:26.It's hard to deal with. I don't feel I am any different to them.
:24:26. > :24:29.I'm exactly the same, we do the same subject and go to the same
:24:29. > :24:34.school. I've never been in an English school, so why am I
:24:34. > :24:38.different? This bridge separates England from Scotland. Which side
:24:38. > :24:41.of the border Unibond determines the cost of go university education.
:24:41. > :24:45.Eight people living a couple of miles away in England will pay full
:24:45. > :24:51.tuition fees in Scotland. Someone hundreds of miles away in the EU
:24:51. > :24:55.will not, and as EU applications go at it is a matter of increasing
:24:55. > :24:58.concern for the Scottish government. It costs them �75 million a year to
:24:58. > :25:03.pay for EU students. Ministers say they are looking into student
:25:04. > :25:08.changes. I would like to see a change of some sort, a smallish fee
:25:08. > :25:13.for students coming in. I am an active discussion with the European
:25:13. > :25:16.Union. It is difficult to do. difficult because it is not clear
:25:17. > :25:20.if you or will allow it. What is clear is that the present system
:25:20. > :25:22.produces very unexpected winners and losers.
:25:22. > :25:27.Another from Sutton Coldfield did not think disaster could strike
:25:27. > :25:30.twice. That was until she learnt that her daughter was working on
:25:30. > :25:33.the cruise liner that was cast adrift without power in the Indian
:25:33. > :25:37.Ocean yesterday. Jayne Thomas has only just recovered from the ordeal
:25:37. > :25:43.of having her son on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground
:25:43. > :25:47.last month. He survived. Her daughter, Rebecca, was working on
:25:47. > :25:51.the Costa Allegra when the engine room caught fire yesterday.
:25:51. > :25:55.This was supposed to be a luxury cruise. But the passengers on board
:25:55. > :25:58.the Costa Allegra have had no hot food, no light and no air
:25:58. > :26:06.conditioning for most Tim days. They are not certain when their
:26:06. > :26:10.ordeal will end. At home, near Birmingham, chain is waiting for
:26:10. > :26:14.news of her daughter. Rebecca is working as a dancer on board.
:26:14. > :26:21.your loved ones are in that situation, all you want to do is
:26:21. > :26:25.make contact. All I want to do is give her a big hug. I just want to
:26:25. > :26:29.greet her off de plane and know that she is safe. She speaks from
:26:29. > :26:34.experience. Hassan survived the Costa Concordia disaster. Like his
:26:34. > :26:39.sister, he was a dancer. How do you feel that this has happened to both
:26:39. > :26:44.of your children? Gutted, really. Gutted that it should happen...
:26:44. > :26:51.Wall of the ship sailing on the ocean, the two that come into
:26:51. > :26:58.difficulty of the two that my It's hard to accept, to be quite
:26:58. > :27:01.honest. The ship, now being towed, has had to change direction. The
:27:01. > :27:05.nearest island in the Seychelles was apparently too small to let the
:27:05. > :27:10.passengers off. It is the safest place for the people, on the boat.
:27:10. > :27:16.There is no reason to disembark people, put them on another ship, a
:27:16. > :27:21.helicopter. They will remain on the Costa Allegra. There is no
:27:21. > :27:26.communication with the ship. She's not able to have a conversation
:27:26. > :27:34.with her daughter. There are 1149 passengers on board. Many friends
:27:34. > :27:39.and relatives are having to deal Time for the weather now.
:27:39. > :27:42.It has been an exceptionally mild day across western areas... Eastern
:27:43. > :27:46.areas of the British Isles, I should say. In the West it has been
:27:47. > :27:51.clouded. The south-westerly winds brought highs of about ten degrees.
:27:51. > :27:55.As the wind went over the mountain it warmed up, and we saw
:27:55. > :28:00.temperatures just below the all- time Scottish temperature record in
:28:00. > :28:03.Scotland today. 17.2 Celsius is the top temperature there. We're going
:28:03. > :28:06.to keep the cloudy but mild conditions as we go to the rest of
:28:06. > :28:10.the night. The breaks in the cloud are still there across the eastern
:28:10. > :28:15.side of England and also the stock high ground in Scotland. Maybe if
:28:15. > :28:19.he breaks in south-west England, where we could see the odd mist
:28:19. > :28:22.patch developing. The temperatures are exceptionally mild. These would
:28:22. > :28:27.be about right for the middle of the day at this time of year. We
:28:27. > :28:30.start off with his blanket of cloud overhead. Progressively we will see
:28:30. > :28:34.the skies brightening up and sunny spells breaking out. Eastern
:28:34. > :28:41.Scotland will be favoured for seeing decent breaks in the cloud.
:28:41. > :28:44.Heysel 14 degrees, not as toasty as today, but still very mild. County
:28:44. > :28:48.Antrim seen some brighter breaks. To the east of the Pennines, the
:28:48. > :28:52.sun will come out. Wales, the West Midlands and south-west England
:28:52. > :28:56.will also have more sunshine than yesterday. We might see the skies
:28:56. > :28:59.brightening up towards the capital late in the day, with highs of 15
:29:00. > :29:03.degrees. If anything, the temperatures will be drifting back
:29:03. > :29:07.down towards seasonal norms as we get towards the latter end of the
:29:07. > :29:11.week. Wet and windy on Thursday, the wind and rain easing fairly
:29:11. > :29:16.quickly to leave many areas dry and bright. The temperatures are