29/08/2012 BBC News at Six

At the Olympic Park - hours away from tonight's Paralympic opening

ceremony. The torch is on its way after a 24 hour relayed through

London's landmarks. The Paralympics is the game of the possible. It is

about what you can do rather than what you cannot. There will be

60,000 in the stadium tonight. More than 2.5 million tickets have

already been sold. We are really excited. It is raining, but it is

not dampening the spirits. I cannot wait to get inside and see the

stadium and the athletes. biggest Paralympics ever - we will

have the latest on the sporting prospects and the ceremony.

Also tonight: Should the rich pay more to help the economic recovery?

Nick Clegg calls for a temporary tax rise for the wealthiest in

society. Hurricane Isaac makes its way

inland after hitting Louisiana, bringing heavy rain and winds of up

to 70 miles an hour. Andrew Strauss, one of England's

most successful cricket captains Good evening. Welcome today News at

Six from the Olympic Park, we are just hours away from the opening

ceremony. The Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be

here. They will be joining more than 60,000 people in the stadium.

The Paralympic flame is on its way after its 24 hour journey through

London. Our correspondent has been tracking it every step of the way.

Outside Britain's first traditional Hindu temple, colour and excitement.

The crowds around this magnificent building have been waiting for a

glimpse of the Paralympic flame since dawn. The delay had

heightened their excitement. Unlike the Olympic relay, this flame had

been carried through the night, past the sleeping communities of

Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire and into London's suburbs. The

teams had conquered their own disabilities, often with the help

of others. Among them, the family members who gave up their time to

ensure wheelchair racer, Hannah Cockroft achieved her dream. Be it

is amazing to be here. I'm amazed they are so many people here.

proud I can be part of all this. She will be racing at the

Paralympic Games, it is all coming together, it is great. Winding its

way towards the West End, the procession drew in the UK's first

UK women's cricket team at Lord's. Posed for a photocall at London Zoo.

And tracked pass some of the most iconic Sykes, accompanied by iconic

figures who have shown us hope and determination can triumph over

despair. In Trafalgar Square the cheers rang out for Dame Tanni

Grey-Thompson and boxer, Michael Watson. I feel very appreciated

with the love that comes into my life. It brings back a lot of

memories. When things looked helpless, there is always hope.

the rain fell, progress slowed, but the enthusiasm of the crowds was

unabated. Even before the opening ceremony, a worldwide audience has

engaged in this sporting spectacles. I hope what people get from the

Paralympic Torch Relay is, the Paralympics is the games of the

possible, it is about what you can do, rather than what you cannot.

This really is a sprint, rather than a marathon. But the weather

has thinned out the crowd. But also there is a need to travel at a more

gentle pace. The convoy is two hours late, and despite every

effort, there has been great difficulty catching up. Plans are

in place to ensure delays do not affect tonight's timetable. The

flame which was born last night, were like the way to a contest

likely to move us all. The opening ceremony will be a show

called A enlightenment and it will feature Professor Stephen Hawkins

in a starring role. Alongside a host of artists and local children.

Some of those taking part have been talking to James Pearce, outside

the stadium now. It has been quiet for the past 17 days. It is not

tonight. The smiles, excitement is back and the momentum generated by

the Olympics has continued. Nearly 2.5 million tickets have been sold

for the Paralympics. Here we go again - the gates are open for

London 2012, Park two. The red, white and blue is back, the

Paralympics are about to begin. These are the people many of the

spectators will want to watch, ParalympicsGB, the official name of

the British team. Being here now is what stuff dreams are made of. You

cannot put it into words. To be here, captain of the team for

wheelchair rugby is a fantastic achievement. At Trinity School in

Dagenham, a very exciting gathering. These pupils with learning

difficulties are heading to the Olympic Park. This is the day they

had been waiting for, weeks of rehearsals are over. Tonight they

will perform at the opening ceremony. We have been sworn to

secrecy. We are doing the Robin Hood story with the box. Most of

the secrets remain intact. world awaken to the Paralympic

Games and the Paralympic movement. But now we are moving into

sustained growth. A premium sports competition with incredible

athletes. Not just from their performance, but the type of people

they are. Meanwhile, the pupils from Trinity School are on their

way. They are not the only ones who are excited - these Paralympics

will be the biggest and looks set to be the best.

There are few hundred tickets on sale for the opening ceremony, the

most expensive, �500. He might not be a sell-out, but these games are

a sell-out. That is unprecedented. As far as what we can see in the

opening ceremony, we will see Professor Stephen Hawking. We will

see some gold and wheelchairs travelling with athletes on board,

down from the orbit and into the stadium ahead of the lighting of

the torch. It should be spectacular. We can talk to great hunter, the

man in charge of ParalympicsGB. The competition starts tomorrow. What

is the mood like a month the team? Expectation. Opening ceremony this

evening, so some of the team members will be participating.

Those who are not competing in the first couple of days. Those who are

competing, will be be reasonably early night, up early tomorrow

ready for the competition. Team GB had an amazing performance, does

that add to the pressure on your athlete? No, it is a huge

inspiration. They know how well the Olympic team did, our paralympian

is are hugely proud and want to suppress the target of 103 medals.

It will be tough, but I think they are ready. Thank you. I will be

back with more from the Olympic Park later, but for now back to

Kate Silverton with the rest of the news.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has called for an emergency

tax on Britain's wealthiest people, saying the rich should shoulder

more of the UK economic pain. But the Chancellor has warned against

driving away the wealth creators and businesses are saying they will

lead the economic recovery. This is James Landale.

Russia of the rich pay more tax as the rest of us face more cuts? As

the years of austerity stretch ahead, Nick Clegg said yes. He

declared people with considerable wealth have to make an extra

contribution. In other words - a short-term tax to squeeze the

better off. This proposal is that we have for some years, a limited

time, other taxes that apply to people's wealth and of their income

as a way of making sure people who can afford to pay to help us out of

the economic mess, make a contribution. The Liberal Democrats

have argued those owning large properties should pay more tax. A

mansion tax was considered at the last Budget. Mr Clegg wants to go

further and tax wealth in more ways, an idea he hopes will prove

distinctive has hit his party's troubles in the polls. They could

be a new Inheritance tax, where the rich pay more money they inherit. A

new tax and the value of people's land, not just houses. And a so-

called tycoon tax which caps how much rich people can shelter from

the taxman. The Government has admitted it is likely to cut

welfare by another �10 million after the next election. The Lib

Dems think it will only be fair for people who drive cars like this, to

pay a bit more tax at the same time. But the man who decides tax policy

is sceptical. Yes, the rich should pay their share, but? I one not

write my budget months before it is delivered. But are we must not

drive away wealth creators and businesses this country needs to

compete and earned its way in the world. And that is the only way we

will create jobs for everyone. Political opponents say this is a

policy for his party conference, a plan that lacks detail, designed to

boost his flagging support among voters and the Lib Dems. He is

chasing headlines, placate some angry Lib Dem supporters and former

voters at a time when they are exasperated by the fact what he is

doing in Government, the opposite of what he is saying. A new debate

over tax has begun. A call from Nick Clegg the portion shouldn't

face austerity alone. But there is no detail as how much more tax he

wants the rich to hand over. They have been two major security

alerts at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Miss communication was

blamed after two fighter jets were scrambled to escort a passenger

plane from Spain, amid fears of hijacking. Part of the airport were

evacuated following the discovery of an unexploded Second World War

bomb. Hurricane Isaac is moving slowly in

LAN, after hitting the post of Louisiana overnight, bringing heavy

rain and winds gusting up to 100 miles an hour. Water has flooded

defences in New Orleans which is battling The City seven years after

New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina.

With daylight, came the first hint of the power of Hurricane Isaac. As

predicted, it struck New Orleans, battering its suburbs, cutting

electricity to hundreds and thousands of people, causing

widespread wind damage. The storm hit as darkness fell, adding to the

uncertainty as high winds battered the city and a wide stretch of

coastline either side. Isaac strength and just before it struck

land. Many people had decided to sit out the storm, confident it

wouldn't be as big as Hurricane Katrina which devastated the city

seven years ago today. The storm slowed down as it made land and

became more unpredictable. Winds were gusting at 100 miles an hour.

But it is the water people are afraid of. The fact you have the

storm surge being pushed in by the hurricane and the volume of water

that is coming down. This storm is moving slowly and it is this heavy

rain which could cause flooding. One small community just outside

the city's newly reinforced club defences it was inundated, as water

rushed over a levy. The flood reached some rooftops in

Braithwaite and dozens of people needed to be rescued as the water

level rose. It is horrible. Nobody has got a house in Braithwaite.

were trying to leave, but trying to drive, you could not see anything

in front of your face. It is hard to know the extent of flooding

until the storm passes, but the authorities were confident the

flood defences around New Orleans would halt. All along the Louisiana

and Mississippi coast, behind winds and storm surge threatened

widespread flooding. It is not Hurricane Katrina, but it is a big

storm and people are hoping it will soon be over.

The top story tonight: Organisers of the London Paralympics are

making final preparations for tonight's opening ceremony, which

gets under way in just over two hours.

Coming up - a defiant Ahmed Ghailani of Syria gives an

interview about the conflict raging in his country, blaming a foreign

conspiracy and dismissing calls for Later in business, Ryanair's bid

for Aer Lingus will be investigated by competition authorities. He's

been one of England's most high- profile cricket captains, but today

Andrew Strauss announced his resignation and his retirement from

all forms of the sport. He said his decision to quit was not related to

the row involving England's premier batsman, Kevin Pietersen, who was

dropped for sending provocative texts to members of the South

African team. He said it was more to do with his form. This report

from our sports correspondent, Joe Wilson, contains some flash

photography. Leading from the front, that's how Andrew Strauss described

his role. So often that's what he did. Sadly, he's spent much of this

year going backwards. England lost to South Africa and slipped off top

spot in the world rankings. Today, he had the air of a man relieved to

retire. In truth, I haven't batted well enough for a long period of

time now and I think for a captain it perform properly it's important

that you are not a passenger in the side, but also that people aren't

speculating as to whether you should be in the side or not.

Despite his recent problems, his career as a batsman was excellent.

Spanning 100 Test matches he scored over 7,000 runs, making 21

centuries. One short of the all- time record, but his value as a cap

-- captain was even greater. England beat Australia at home and

away to retain the Ashes and they became officially the number one

Test team. A tough act to follow indeed for the new captain,

Alastair Cook. I've got huge boots to fill following Straussy, who has

done an incredible job. It's a sad dressingroom yesterday when we

found out. That speaks volumes for what he's done for the side.

big challenge is a familiar one, a thorny one - what to do about Kevin

Pietersen. Can he possibly be rehabilitated into England's

dressingroom after he lost the trust of the last captain? Remember

the provocative texts he sent about players. He's not been forgiven.

Now there is a new man there, perhaps they can gets heads around

the table. Alastair Cook said nothing had changed and so did

Andrew Strauss. It's a very close decision as to whether he goes on

back into the team. As for Strauss, well, after his final media

conference, he was applauded by journalists.

APPLAUSE That doesn't happen often. At the

very least, he deserves a dignified exit. The former editor of the News

of the World in Scotland, Bob Bird, has been charged with attempting to

pervert the course of justice. The allegation relates to a defamation

case involving the newspaper and the former MSP Tommy Sheridan.

James Cook is at Govan Police Station in Glasgow. James, remind

us of the background to this. dates back to a series of fairly

lured stories, which Bob Bird's newspaper published about the

former Scottish Socialist Party leader, as far back as 2004. Mr

Sheridan sued the newspaper and ultimately won in a defamation case

in 2006 and it was that case which was the focus for the police who

were questioning Mr Bird today. He was detained at home here in

Glasgow at around 7.30am. He was brought here where he was

questioned for nearly four hours and he was then formally arrested

and charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice. He

gave this brief statement. Just wanted to say I'm really sad and

disappointed that things have come to this today. I've always tried to

do the right thing in my career, throughout my 40-odd years in

journalism and I will be denying the charges laid against me. Well,

of course, Tommy Sheridan himself was later jailed for perjury as a

result of his evidence at that case and two other former News of the

World men, editor in Scotland, Douglas White and the Prime

Minister's Director of Communications, Andy Coulson, who

used to edit the newspaper, also face charges in relation to that

perjury case. Now, they all three men involved in this, deny the

charges and it's now up to Scottish prosecutors to decide how to

proceed. Thank you. In a separate development, a former Times

journalist has been arrested on suspicion of computer hacking.

Patrick Foster's arrest relates to a report in 2009 talking about the

NightJack blog. In Syria, President Assad has given an interview saying

he needs more time to defeat rebels fighting to overthrow him. Speaking

to a pro-government television channel, Mr Assad also dismissed an

idea of creating safe havens for Syrians forced from their homes by

the violence. Here's our diplomatic correspondent, James Robbins. The

fighting in Syria rages on. There is no end in sight to civil war

between the regime and rebels. The daily death toll is regularly over

100. So now, on a pro-government TV station, the President is trying to

seize back the initiative. TRANSLATION: I can cut short all

the explanations with one sentence. We are moving forward. Packically

the situation is better. He needs to convince those still loyal that

they are winning, not losing Syria's civil war. The situation on

the ground is better now, he says, but is it? What started as peaceful

protests 18 months ago in Deraa was met with overwhelming force and has

become an increasingly bloody contest. Even today, there are

reports of violence in Damascus and Aleppo and across the country.

Another big challenge is from defectors. The President dismisss

that as self-cleansing of the Government. When Syria's Prime

Minister fled three weeks ago it did add to the sense of a regime in

trouble, particularly so soon after Assad's brother in law and others

key to fighting the rebels were killed by a massive bomb. Syria's

current Prime Minister flew to Iran today, a nation which is an

important ally, but the UN used this summit meeting to urge Iran to

help make peace in Syria, not war. Iran has a very important role, a

crucially important role to play in the region, particularly when it

comes to a civilian situation. These are some of Syria's most

vulnerable, refugees stranded in No Man's Land as Turkey struggles to

build more camps. Amid deep international division and no end

to the fighting President Assad hopes that time may still be on his

side. Mitt Romney has been officially confirmed as the

Republican candidate to challenge President Obama in the US election

in November. At the party's convention in Florida- his wife Ann

said her husband would move heaven and earth to make America a better

place to live. Her speech was part of a campaign to improve Mr

Romney's appeal to women voters. For more on the Paralympics, let's

go to George at the Olympic Park. Thanks Kate. Welcome back to east

London, where it all gets under way in just over two hours. The Queen

will be here for the opening ceremony and hopes are high for the

organisers and the athletes. There been a delay in getting the torch

on schedule and a second breakaway flame is on its way. David joins me

now. Tonight will set the tone. That's right, as with Danny Boyle's

opening, almost a month ago, which seems hard to believe, that really

set the momentum for the entire event which followed. Get it right

tonight and the Paralympics organisers will feel they're off to

a flying start. Ultimately, this is about world-class sport and the

organisers will hope that once tomorrow comes it's the world-class

sport and the unforgetable sporting moments that people will start to

focus on. We'll talk about those moments. There will be some

disciplines that none of us will have seen before. Inevitably many

of the 2.5 million people who will come here and to the other venues

around London, won't have seen par limb picks or disability sport

before. There are many more events and many more classifications. For

example, there are 29 different 100 metres finals in athletics and

there are 148 gold medals up for grabs in swimming. Compare that

with 34 in swimming in the Olympic Games, so people are going to be

quite challenged by this, but I think what's beyond doubt is the

public enthusiasm for world-class competition. We've seen that with

the Games and you can see it tonight with people flooding in.

The next ten days, London will again be at the sent are of the

sporting world. Thank you. You can follow the opening ceremony this

evening at 8.30pm on BBC Radio 5 as well as BBC online. And you can see

it live on Channel 4. Let's take a look at the weather now with Nick

The weather has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the torch

relay this afternoon. This is today's rainfall. One band of rain

and gusty winds sweeping east and lots of heavy and thundery showers

following on behind. If you avoided one of these, well done. Things now

starting to improve. There may still be a shower or two over the

next couple of hours in London, but for the opening ceremony it is

looking mainly dry this evening. Just a slim chance of a passing

shower. Showers elsewhere across the UK. This area south across the

east of Scotland, there will be showers in Yorkshire and Wales and

western England and along the south coast and rurally, there will be a

chill as some of us dip into single figures. Into tomorrow, more will

escape dry. Early rain in south- east Scotland and into Yorkshire

will clear. Afternoon showers in central and eastern England. To the

north and west it will be dryer, but don't expect warmth in the sun

across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. You will look

at the temperatures and you'll think, is that it? Yep. Into the

mid-teens. You have the sun, and it will appear across the country in

the afternoon. The odd showers into the Midlands though, and thunder in

East Anglia and the south-east. Fading as we head to the evening. A

chilly night for all on Thursday night. On Friday, rain is back to

Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of northern England. To the south,

though, it's dry and bright. That north and south split survives into

the start of the weekend. Sun further south. One final words -

the rain is nowhere near the scale of what Hurricane Isaac is

delivering in Louisiana and Mississippi. Up to 500 millimetres,

close to 20 inches in the next couple of days. Rain only just

starting. It will rain for many starting. It will rain for many

more hours to come. A reminder of tonight's main news - organisers of

the London Paralympics are making final preparations for tonight's