08/03/2012 BBC News at Six


08/03/2012

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The six soldiers killed in Afghanistan are named, victims of

:00:04.:00:10.

the deadliest single attack on British troops since 2001. Five of

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them were 21 or under. Their sergeant was 33. They had been in

:00:16.:00:20.

Helmand for less than a month. Brothers in arms - a tribute from

:00:20.:00:24.

members of the Yorkshire Regiment, as the families of the men talk of

:00:24.:00:34.
:00:34.:00:35.

their grief. It is just such a massive loss. Just taken away so

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quickly. We will be asking what impact their

:00:39.:00:41.

deaths could have on the Afghan mission.

:00:41.:00:43.

Also tonight: The great railway shake-up - but

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could some commuters end up paying even more? I am shocked by how much

:00:52.:00:56.

rail travel is costing in this country. Frankly, it is simply not

:00:56.:00:59.

worth it. Leicester kicks off the royal

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jubilee tour. The Queen will travel the length and breadth of Britain

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over the next few months. It is almost a year since the

:01:06.:01:09.

Japanese tsunami. One family remembers the mother they lost and

:01:09.:01:13.

the home that disappeared. Coming our way - the largest solar

:01:13.:01:16.

storm in five years. Warnings about power supplies and navigation

:01:16.:01:26.
:01:26.:01:29.

Coming up on the BBC News Channel, more problems for Rangers. The

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Scottish Football Association has ruled that the chairman, Craig

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White, is not a fit and proper person to hold a position in

:01:36.:01:46.
:01:46.:01:54.

Good evening. Welcome to the BBC News at Six.

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The six soldiers killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan

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have been named. Five of them, from 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire

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Regiment, were 21 or under. Their sergeant was 33 and from 1st

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Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. Three of the soldiers

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were from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. Their families have been

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talking about their loss this evening. Our correspondent Ed

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Thomas reports from Huddersfield. The faces of the six British

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soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The First Battalion, the Duke of

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Lancaster's Regiment, has lost a 33-year-old Sergeant Nigel Coupe.

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The 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, has lost Corporal Jake

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Hartley. Two days short of his 21st. 20-year-old Private Anthony

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Frampton, described by a former teacher today as caring and

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compassionate. The youngest of the six, 19-year-old private Kershaw.

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20-year-old Private Daniel Wade from Warrington, and Private Daniel

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Wilford, the 21-year-old who was just 16 when he first enlisted.

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Today, some of the soldiers' families from West Yorkshire wanted

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to talk about those they had lost. Like the family of Jake Hartley. He

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joined the Army when he was 17. was kind, generous, heart of gold,

:03:17.:03:21.

and absolutely wicked sense of humour. He loved his family and

:03:22.:03:26.

friends. He had such a big group of friends, both in the Army and in

:03:26.:03:33.

civilian life. And it is just such a massive, massive loss. And then

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the family of Anthony Frampton, the son, brother and nephew who they

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used to call Anton. He was a legend to us. And to all who knew him. We

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are heartbroken. He was a lovely lad and he loved life, and it is an

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absolute tragedy that someone who loved life so much and gave so much

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to other people, and so much happiness to other people, his life

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has been cut short at 20 years old. Their base may have been in

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Wiltshire, but it is hearing Huddersfield where three of those

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who were killed called home. -- here in Huddersfield. This is

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Golcar on the edge of Huddersfield. Anthony Frampton was recruited from

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here. His death, and two of his colleagues from this town, is a lot

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for people here to taking. This morning, the first book of

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condolence was opened to all six who died, at St Peter's in

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Huddersfield. I am sure most of the families have great, great pride in

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their sons and grandson's and brothers and sisters, and that is

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balanced with the great pain of their loss. Not far from St Peter's,

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you reach the home of Private Daniel Wilford. Here, too, friends

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spoke of the pride they had in the soldier they called wealth. It is

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just too soon. It has not sunk in. He has been there four weeks. It is

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not long enough. He did not even get to fire his weapon, hideout.

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All six were killed in a massive explosion that destroyed their

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Warrior armoured vehicle. The Taliban have told the BBC they

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carried out the attack and are proud of it, and words difficult to

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understand thousands of miles away in Yorkshire. Anthony Bradley is

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the captain of Huddersfield army cadets. His grandson is serving in

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Afghanistan. He is proud, but he believes it is time for British

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troops to now come home. Every time we hear of a death, male or female,

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it is here, one of our own. And I do think now it is actually time we

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came out. Troops will come back in 2014. Tonight, at their base in

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Wiltshire, flowers and a final salute for the six who lost their

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lives in Afghanistan. Let's go to our correspondent

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Quinten Somerville, at the British Army base in Lashkar Gah in

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Afghanistan's Helmand province. What effect, if any, could this

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have on the mission in Afghanistan? George, you can see the effect on

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the men here, it is written on their faces. The mood here has been

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very grim. But you can also see the determination of the soldiers, that

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it will make no operational difference. That means they

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continue to go out on missions, they continue to look for Taliban,

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to try to disrupt the supply routes, just as those soldiers did. So that

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business, the business of fighting a war against the Taliban,

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continues. Eventually, there will be fewer British patrols. Not

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because of this loss, but because, increasingly, more control will be

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handed over to Afghan troops. And British troops will draw back to

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their bases, like Lashkar Gah, and give training and support to those

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Afghan troops, before returning home at the end of 2014. Thank you.

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The Prime Minister has confirmed within the last hour that an

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operation to rescue a British man who had been kidnapped in Nigeria

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has failed. Chris McManus was killed along with an Italian

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hostage, Franco Lamolinara. They were murdered by their captors.

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Both were engineers working for an Italian construction company. The

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men were seized in Kebbi, a state in the north-west of the country,

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last May. In the last half-hour, the Prime Minister, David Cameron,

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gave this reaction. Preparations were made to mount an operation to

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rescue the men. Together with the Nigerian government, today I

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authorised it to go ahead, with UK support. It is with great regret

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that I have to say that both Chris and Franco have lost their lives.

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We are still awaiting confirmation of the details, but the early

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indications are clear, that both men were murdered by their captors

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before they could be rescued. get reaction from our security

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correspondent, Gordon Corera. What do we know about this operation?

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Well, since the men were taken hostage last May, there has been an

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intensive effort to try to locate them and to try to rescue them, if

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that was the best option. There was some intelligence which came in

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recently which suggested both a location for them and a sense that

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maybe there was growing danger to their lives. On that basis, the

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operation was authorised to go ahead. A Nigerian operation, but

:08:39.:08:43.

with British support. We do not know the nature of that support yet,

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but clearly it failed tragically, leading to the deaths of the

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Italian and the Briton at the hands of their captors. Their captors, I

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understand, belonged to the group Boko Haram, a Nigerian jihadi Group,

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perhaps a splinter sale of that group, with potentially links to

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Al-Qaeda. But a group that have been increasingly violent in

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Nigeria in the last few years, which may have been seeking money,

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in this case to finance their violent activities.

:09:15.:09:18.

Ambitious plans for the future of rail travel have been published

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today. Ministers say they want to end "inflation-busting fare rises"

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by cutting �3.5 billion a year from the rail budget. They also want to

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ease congestion at the busiest times, and that could mean some

:09:30.:09:34.

commuters travelling at the peak of the rush hour facing another rise

:09:34.:09:44.
:09:44.:09:47.

It costs too much and the UK rail network should deliver a better

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deal for passengers and taxpayers - that was the Government's claim

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today, as it called annual savings of �3.5 billion to ensure a

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brighter future for the network. is not about throwing the jigsaw

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pieces up in the air again. It is about making sure the pieces fit

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together better and we challenge the industry to step up to the

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plate and start working to get rid of this huge inefficiency that has

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been identified. It is costing taxpayers and fare payers, and I do

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not want to see it continue. Ministers want some savings used to

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keep the lid on fares, and an end to inflation-busting increases

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within the next few years. Some peak-time fares might rise, while

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others will fall, to try to spread demand. Fare levels are certainly

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controversial with passengers. shocked by how much rail travellers

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costing in this country. Frankly, it is simply not worth it. I think

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they need to look at what transport means for the economy of this

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country, and whether, like other countries, we see it as a public

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good, rather than a profit-making machine. Other changes anticipated

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by the Government include fewer ticket offices, with more scope to

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buy tickets elsewhere, for example post offices. Smart ticketing will

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see greater use of pre-paid swipe cards, and they could be fewer

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train guards, as operators cut costs. People who work on stations

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could lose jobs. Passengers will be faced tickets. All of these are

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major concerns. One of the aims of the policy is to develop more

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joined-up management of the rail system. For example, getting train

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operators to work more closely with a Network Rail managers in their

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area to try to ensure there is minimal disruption for passengers

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in the event of engineering work. But delivering the changes, which

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applied to England, Wales and reads between England and Scotland, will

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not be easy. One of the main unions says the policy is vandalism,

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claiming 12,000 jobs are at risk, and it has warned of industrial

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action. The Queen began her Diamond Jubilee

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tour of the UK with a visit to Leicester today. Crowds lined the

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streets to welcome Her Majesty, who was accompanied by the Duke of

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Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cambridge. Over the next four

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months, she will travel right across the UK. This report from

:12:16.:12:21.

Nicholas Witchell contains some flash photography.

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10 years ago, the Golden Jubilee got off to a comparatively slow

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start. That was not the story today. The people of Leicester, a

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culturally diverse city in the heart of England, came out in their

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thousands to launch the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and to welcome her

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guest companion for the day, the Duchess of Cambridge. It is that

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cultural diversity that made Leicester the place to begin the

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Diamond Jubilee visits. Few cities demonstrate better the changes that

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have occurred in British society over the 60 years of her reign. At

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Leicester Cathedral, the Queen attended a special service at which

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representatives of the different faith communities joined Christian

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leaders. In a special addition to the programme, prayers were said

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for the six British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. We pray for those

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who died in Afghanistan yesterday from the Yorkshire and the Duke of

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Lancaster's Regiment. There were prayers, too, for the Queen, in a

:13:24.:13:34.
:13:34.:13:35.

Jubilee year. Your gift of love and joy and peace. Outside the

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cathedral, the Queen and the duchess stood side-by-side to

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receive flowers. The fact that the Queen invited the Duchess to join

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her today is a public endorsement of Kate's importance to the Royal

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Family now. At times, they worked as a Queen, the Queen taking one

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side of the crowd, the Duchess the other. -- they worked as a team.

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They went together to a fashion show at the Montfort University.

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The relationship appears to be an easy one, with the younger woman

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leaning across to chat. And then in the city centre, the Queen hoping

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perhaps that the new, will absorb some lessons. But there is perhaps

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something more to the Duchess' presence today. It is a subtle

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signal that, after 60 years, the Queen recognises the importance of

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bringing on someone who will be so central to the monarchy of the

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future. There was no doubt, though, who is still the star of the show.

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Not everyone is a monarchist, that is for sure, but this monarch

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appears to be as popular as ever. She's Our Queen of our country and

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I am proud of her. Coming to Leicester as part of the Jubilee

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tour, it is fantastic. It is an awesome moment, to celebrate it

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with her. The Palace's view on the day, it had been a welcome way

:14:53.:15:00.

Our top story tonight. Tributes from the families of the six

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British soldiers killed in Afghanistan as they are named by

:15:02.:15:12.
:15:12.:15:22.

The magic of Messi. What makes the Barcelona player so special.

:15:23.:15:26.

In the business news, Greece edges closer to a dealer with private

:15:26.:15:31.

creditors to avoid a default and interest rates stay at the historic

:15:31.:15:41.
:15:41.:15:43.

One year ago this Sunday, a huge earthquake shook the seabed 40

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miles off the coast of Japan. The country is still struggling to deal

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with the consequences. 15,000 people were killed in the tsunami

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that followed, with thousands more still unaccounted for. Our

:15:57.:15:59.

correspondent Damian Grammaticas has been back to Yuriagger on

:15:59.:16:03.

Japan's east coast to speak to one family who were caught up in the

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disaster. Shadows of the landscape. That's

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all that's left of this place, a void full of memories. For Tatsuya

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Suzuki, it's the memory of the smile his wife gave him in their

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two-storey house as they left what work. I just wish I could go back

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in time, he said, to that day. If only I could have saved her. He is

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burdened by guilt that he survived and his wife did not. As the Singh

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army swept in a, he managed to get their children to safe places.

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Seconds later, she was carried away by it. Today, his daughter, seven,

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and her little brother, four, are laughing again. It has taken a year,

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he says. Sometimes they cry out in their sleep. When I see the sadness,

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I struggle to know what to say. My heart aches. Alongside him, the

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Singh army killed 1,000 of their 7,000 people. One year on and the

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government is now burning the little that remains of this place.

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They have to build this Town Again and for hundreds of miles along the

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coast, it's the same story, dozens of communities which were raced

:17:31.:17:39.

planning to start anew. The first priority, though, is the unfinished

:17:39.:17:45.

task of accounting for everyone. More than 3,000 are still missing.

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At this school in Okawa, 70 children were swept away and four

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have not been found. This woman's mother disappeared along with them.

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Nothing moves on, he says, I have been following police teams like

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this all year but I can't find any trace of her. This pay used to be

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inseparable from their money. -- mother. They are doing well in

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their new school but their father feels trapped by the past. Even

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though a years gone by, nothing has really changed. Time has stopped

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for me. I'm still grieving. children never want to live here

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again but one day, he says he will move back. This place still feels

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like home. Labour says it's prepared to work

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with the government to introduce a mansion tax. But the Shadow

:18:43.:18:45.

Chancellor Ed Balls insists any money raised should be spent on

:18:45.:18:48.

halting cuts to working families tax credits and not on scrapping

:18:48.:18:54.

the 50p income tax rate. Speaking to the BBC, he said that with

:18:54.:18:56.

Britain's economy growing more slowly than its competitors, this

:18:56.:19:00.

month's Budget needs to stimulate growth. Here's our Political Editor,

:19:00.:19:10.
:19:10.:19:17.

Nick Robinson. Ed is here today for a reason. They

:19:17.:19:21.

may not understand, their mums and dads certainly will. This is

:19:21.:19:26.

getting very messy. The polite way to describe Labour's view of

:19:26.:19:30.

government plans to cut tax credits for 200,000 families who work part-

:19:30.:19:34.

time. The shadow chancellor says, from next month, they would be

:19:34.:19:40.

better off not working at all. do 16 hours and after increase them

:19:40.:19:44.

to 24 hours to find eight more hours. To supply going and say,

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give me a two more hours, they won't do it, and I suspect they

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will not work so we will lose it. The reality is, some people are

:19:55.:20:01.

better off not working. I left my work to look after her. But the

:20:01.:20:04.

cost to reverse the cut to tax credits is high, half a billion

:20:04.:20:09.

pounds a year. Where would Labour find the money? He's a great job to

:20:09.:20:13.

have here. On a visit to a factory in Birmingham Ed Balls insisted

:20:13.:20:16.

cutting less would help the economy grow more and therefore cut the

:20:16.:20:22.

deficit. What's more, he told me, he would back the Lib Dems idea for

:20:22.:20:27.

a new tax. Do you like the idea of a mansion tax on the most expensive

:20:27.:20:32.

properties? I supported it in the past. I think we need to look at it

:20:32.:20:36.

carefully. If the Chancellor want to go down that road, I will

:20:36.:20:41.

support him, but the issue is, what is the purpose? If the purpose is

:20:41.:20:46.

to help families facing higher VAT, fuel bills, for example boosting

:20:46.:20:53.

their tax credits, yes, but if the priority is to use the mansion tax

:20:53.:20:59.

only to help people on the highest incomes over �150,000, I say it's

:20:59.:21:06.

out of touch. Jeer at this factory, Ed Balls was told the company can

:21:06.:21:09.

see each green shoots of recovery and he says, though, thanks to

:21:09.:21:12.

government austerity, the country is not growing fast enough and

:21:12.:21:18.

strongly enough. Britain still needs a stimulus. I think it is

:21:18.:21:24.

essential right now, George Osborne has cut too far and too fast. The

:21:24.:21:29.

VAT rise hit confidence, we are borrowing more and his idea

:21:29.:21:33.

stimulus means more borrowing it is economic nonsense. Unless we get

:21:33.:21:37.

growth and unemployment falling, we will be borrowing more in the

:21:37.:21:43.

future. Are you saying the country can afford to cut VAT, and avoid

:21:43.:21:48.

the cuts you don't like in tax credits and in child benefit and

:21:48.:21:53.

deal with fuel duty? People will say, where will he find the money?

:21:53.:21:58.

Do you can do the tax credit James by closing stamp duty above

:21:58.:22:03.

properties above �1 million. Manton tax could pay for tax credits.

:22:03.:22:07.

There is a big economic issues. Growth has flat land, unemployment

:22:07.:22:12.

has gone up. �158 billion has been borrowed because everybody knows

:22:12.:22:17.

the economy is not growing, unemployment is rising. Ed Balls

:22:18.:22:21.

and Ed Miliband used to help Gordon Brown writers budgets and now, they

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can only wait and see what surprises the Chancellor has in

:22:25.:22:30.

store. The Bank of England has kept

:22:30.:22:34.

interest rates on hold again at 0.5%. They have now been at that

:22:34.:22:38.

level for three years. Analysts say rates are likely to remain

:22:38.:22:41.

unchanged for months. Good news for home owners and borrowers, but bad

:22:41.:22:47.

for savers. The best ever performance by a

:22:47.:22:51.

player in a top class game of football. That's how Lionel Messi's

:22:51.:22:53.

manager described his five goal, five star performance for Barcelona

:22:53.:22:58.

in the Champions League last night. Our Sports Correspondent Tim Franks

:22:58.:23:05.

has been looking at what makes Messi so magical.

:23:05.:23:11.

Lionel Messi is 5 ft 6, his stature is immense. This was goal No. 1

:23:11.:23:19.

against Bayer Leverkusen. It certainly feels that way. Goal two

:23:19.:23:28.

involved high-speed tiptoeing. Go free, listen to the crowd of. Not a

:23:28.:23:38.
:23:38.:23:39.

roar so much as a moan of pleasure. Goal for, an impossible angle. They

:23:39.:23:45.

worship him on the terraces. They worship him in the dug-out. He is

:23:45.:23:51.

the best, said his manager. I am lucky to be his trainer. He is a

:23:51.:23:56.

unique player. This is how you measure it. Barcelona in his last

:23:56.:24:01.

contract inserts a buy-out clause of 250 million euros. His last 211

:24:01.:24:06.

games, he scored one and an 86 goals and perhaps the most

:24:06.:24:10.

startling fact of all, he's still only 24. So where will history

:24:10.:24:15.

place in? So far, the only flaw in his record is the lack of World

:24:15.:24:21.

Cups. Pele won three. Diego Maradona or lead his country to the

:24:21.:24:29.

World Cup and England players to an embarrassment. He bears comparison.

:24:30.:24:33.

The way he evades tackles, going at speed with the ball seemingly tied

:24:33.:24:38.

to his toe is quite incredible. It shows bravery, he makes passes at

:24:38.:24:44.

the right time and to score goals. It's an end product. Which takes us

:24:44.:24:47.

to his 5th goal of the night, unprecedented in the Champions'

:24:47.:24:51.

League, and he still should have more than half his career ahead of

:24:51.:24:56.

him. Divine. There are warnings of disruption to

:24:56.:24:59.

satellite navigation systems and power grids tonight. A powerful

:24:59.:25:02.

solar storm is due to reach earth this evening. It's caused by

:25:02.:25:07.

eruptions on the surface of the sun called solar flares. There were two

:25:07.:25:10.

earlier this week, the largest of their kind. Here's our Science

:25:10.:25:19.

Correspondent, Pallab Ghosh. A storm on the surface of our sun.

:25:19.:25:25.

The most intense in five years. It was triggered by two giant solar

:25:25.:25:29.

flares earlier this week. And the continued activity could soon have

:25:29.:25:35.

an effect on earth. Which is why US government agencies are monitoring

:25:35.:25:40.

the situation closely. We are at least able to tell you that this is

:25:40.:25:46.

coming towards us. Beware, keep watching, don't get hysterical.

:25:46.:25:51.

hysterical they got. This from the US news networks. Good morning

:25:51.:25:55.

America and breaking news, a massive solar storm targeting the

:25:55.:26:00.

planet. How worried should we be? The sun is throwing a gigantic

:26:00.:26:03.

sheets of charged particles and often does this but the difference

:26:03.:26:07.

this time is they may be on a collision course for the earth. We

:26:07.:26:12.

will be protected by the Earth's magnetic field but the Solar Storm

:26:12.:26:15.

can electrify the upper atmosphere. And so cause power surges

:26:15.:26:22.

underground. In the past, surges have been so strong it entire

:26:22.:26:26.

cities have been plunged into darkness. And there could be

:26:26.:26:30.

disruption to the planets satellites. Which, in turn, could

:26:30.:26:35.

affect navigation computer and telecommunications systems. It is

:26:35.:26:38.

taken extremely seriously. We are moving towards a solar maximum, and

:26:38.:26:43.

expect these things to increase and we are already co-operating with

:26:43.:26:48.

the Americans on this. The Prime Minister and Barack Obama signed an

:26:48.:26:52.

agreement for co-operation in May last year. There are no reported

:26:52.:26:56.

incidents so far of power failures or communications problems. But

:26:56.:26:59.

there is a chance of a storm of might light up the Earth's

:26:59.:27:04.

atmosphere. And many people in northern Britain may be able to see

:27:04.:27:09.

an aurora in the night sky. Let's take a look at the weather

:27:09.:27:16.

You can only see it if you have got clear skies and sadly I think this

:27:16.:27:22.

could be the closest many of us get to see the aurora. Tonight, a lot

:27:22.:27:27.

of cloud of the northern half of the country. A chance of seeing it

:27:27.:27:30.

it it makes an appearance. More breaks in the cloud of tomorrow

:27:30.:27:34.

night perhaps. You can see the clouds swamping its way across the

:27:34.:27:38.

country. The cloud is thickest in the north-west of Scotland where it

:27:38.:27:42.

continues to bring outbreaks of rain through much of the night.

:27:42.:27:46.

Drizzly conditions elsewhere. And the coast of Wales, but for most, a

:27:46.:27:53.

dry night. No where near as cold as it is last night. 5-6 degrees

:27:53.:27:59.

across England and Wales. The rain increases in the night and this

:27:59.:28:04.

area will make for a soggy morning in north-west Scotland. Slowly

:28:04.:28:08.

heading towards Glasgow and Northern Ireland. England and Wales,

:28:08.:28:13.

much more cloud than today. Foremost, it will be a dry day, and

:28:13.:28:20.

things should dry up in the north- west Scotland. 15 degrees in

:28:20.:28:26.

Aberdeen. A damp afternoon in Glasgow. Not reaching Belfast until

:28:26.:28:31.

later that day, the rain. Drizzly conditions over the Pennines and

:28:31.:28:37.

the hills and coasts of Wales, but for most of England, dry and cloudy.

:28:37.:28:44.

Brightness, 12-13 Celsius. We keep a lot of cloud on Saturday, too,

:28:44.:28:48.

although we should get a few more breaks across eastern areas, so

:28:48.:28:54.

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