:00:04. > :00:11.24 hours of continuous rain, trains cancelled and roads closed, just as
:00:11. > :00:21.the Christmas getaway begins. More than 300 flood warnings and alerts
:00:21. > :00:21.
:00:21. > :00:26.in England, Wales and Scotland - and there's more to come. We will
:00:26. > :00:29.be having people in the incident rooms and out on the ground, right
:00:29. > :00:37.over the Christmas period. Several motorists have been rescued from
:00:37. > :00:42.their vehicles - only just in time for those inside. Two documents, we
:00:42. > :00:44.managed to get them out before the car went under completely. Also on
:00:44. > :00:47.tonight's programme... Back in court - the mother still trying to
:00:47. > :00:50.delay her seven-year-old son's urgent treatment for cancer. The
:00:50. > :00:53.bargain hunters are out in force - just as well, because latest
:00:53. > :00:56.figures show November was a flat month in the shops. He got a pay-
:00:56. > :01:02.off worth nearly half a million pounds - MPs say the BBC's former
:01:02. > :01:12.boss was rewarded for failure. And the Domesday scenario - why people
:01:12. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:19.around the world believe tomorrow The later on Sportsday, England
:01:19. > :01:29.have lost their first Twenty20 international against India by five
:01:29. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :01:43.Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.
:01:43. > :01:46.There are more than 300 flood warnings and alerts for parts of
:01:46. > :01:49.England, Scotland and Wales tonight. After 24 hours of near continuous
:01:49. > :01:53.rain, with the ground saturated after the rainfall of the last few
:01:53. > :01:58.weeks, trains have been cancelled and roads closed. Several motorists
:01:58. > :02:08.have been rescued from their cars. One of the worst-hit counties is
:02:08. > :02:13.
:02:13. > :02:18.Hampshire. From there, Robert Hall Another miserable day among so many.
:02:18. > :02:23.Dark skies over the New Forest, and puddles which merged into streams
:02:23. > :02:27.flowing across the roots to work and Christmas shopping. Early
:02:27. > :02:33.risers had been met with persistent rain and roads which could so
:02:33. > :02:37.easily catch out the unwary. The New Forest Fords, so quiet in the
:02:37. > :02:40.summer, presented a particular risk. One police community support
:02:40. > :02:45.officer rescued a father and daughter from this vehicle near
:02:46. > :02:50.Brockenhurst. I was on a routine patrol, coming across the Ford.
:02:50. > :02:55.could see two occupants trapped in the vehicle. We managed to get them
:02:55. > :02:59.out before the car went under completely. They are now very cold.
:02:59. > :03:03.The message, repeated so often in recent weeks, is still not getting
:03:03. > :03:09.through to drivers, who are driving too fast, or failing to take
:03:09. > :03:13.account of the effect. We have got people driving through water like
:03:13. > :03:17.this. Please do not do that, it is incredibly dangerous. Please stay
:03:17. > :03:24.at home, do not like a journey unless you absolutely have to. If
:03:24. > :03:29.you do have to, drive safely. Further to the west, a severe flood
:03:29. > :03:33.alert was issued in the village of Wallington, near Fareham. Council
:03:33. > :03:38.teams were trying to strengthen a cracked retaining wall, as high
:03:38. > :03:43.tide approached. Villagers prepared to evacuate. Remembering the damage
:03:43. > :03:47.caused by floods in 2000, they did what they could to protect their
:03:47. > :03:52.belongings and homes. UK and do as much as you can do, then you just
:03:52. > :03:57.wait and hope that these things will not be tested. If they are
:03:57. > :04:01.tested, I hope they work. As the rain fell, the volume of calls for
:04:01. > :04:05.help rose. Fire crews have been helping councils will have to keep
:04:05. > :04:09.the floodwater moving in Cornwall. Environment Agency teams have been
:04:09. > :04:13.mobilising to prepare flood defences on the River Severn and
:04:14. > :04:17.the River Avon. Communities on the Somerset Levels were once again
:04:17. > :04:21.watching their farmland disappear across the flood plain. Muddy
:04:21. > :04:26.Waters were spilling across roads which have barely been open in
:04:26. > :04:30.recent weeks. Right across the country, the ground is saturated.
:04:30. > :04:37.We have had rain over the last few weeks, more rain this week, and it
:04:37. > :04:40.is looking like an unsettled picture for the coming days.
:04:40. > :04:45.the rain continues, bringing with it flood warnings extending into
:04:45. > :04:50.the weekend, and the threat of travel disruption too much of the
:04:50. > :04:56.UK, just when we needed it least. And we can talk to Robert in
:04:56. > :05:01.Wallington now. I was interested to hear the man from the Environment
:05:01. > :05:05.Agency saying that they were on alert dogfish till Christmas?
:05:05. > :05:08.That's right. And really, the preparations in Wallington, where
:05:08. > :05:12.we have a severe flood alert, are mirrored in communities across the
:05:12. > :05:16.country. They are likely to be needed. The problem is that the
:05:16. > :05:22.rain has stopped. But it never stops for long enough to allow the
:05:22. > :05:26.groundwater to recede. Whilst the roads made clear, there is still
:05:26. > :05:30.the potential risk of the weather turning bad. If you look at the Max,
:05:30. > :05:33.as I have this afternoon, you can see bands of rain and strong wind
:05:33. > :05:37.coming in. In Scotland, they are saying there could be coastal
:05:37. > :05:41.flooding, all of this at a time when so many of us are preparing to
:05:41. > :05:46.set off to visit friends and family. The message we are getting is, it
:05:46. > :05:49.will not be white, it will be wet, and you could face disruption, so
:05:49. > :05:52.you need to take care. Sally Roberts, the mother who wants
:05:52. > :05:54.to delay her son getting what doctors believe is life-saving
:05:54. > :05:57.treatment, has been back in court today. Seven-year-old Neon is
:05:57. > :06:00.recovering from an operation to remove a brain tumour - after a
:06:00. > :06:10.judge at the High Court overruled his mother earlier this week. But
:06:10. > :06:14.as Branwen Jeffreys reports, Neon now needs further treatment. Sally
:06:14. > :06:19.Roberts spent yesterday in hospital with her son. Today, she was back
:06:19. > :06:23.at the High Court to take on both doctors and her former husband. Her
:06:24. > :06:28.son is just seven. He has got a common type of brain cancer.
:06:28. > :06:32.Doctors want to give him the standard UK treatment, described as
:06:32. > :06:38.the gold standard, because it offers more than 80% survival. And
:06:38. > :06:42.his dad agrees. But Sally does not want her son treated with these
:06:42. > :06:46.machines, which target invisible cancer cells with radiation. She is
:06:46. > :06:54.worried about the side-effects. Experts say these are well known
:06:54. > :06:58.and can be minimised. Radiotherapy could affect a child's ability to
:06:58. > :07:02.learn, which might mean that they need more help in school. It can
:07:02. > :07:05.also affect the hormone levels in the brain, but this is less of a
:07:05. > :07:11.problem because it can be monitored and corrected if necessary. On 25th
:07:11. > :07:16.October, Neon had an operation to remove a brain tumour. Radiotherapy
:07:16. > :07:20.and chemotherapy will went to follow. But Sally Robertson her son
:07:20. > :07:23.went missing. After a hearing at the High Court on 7th December, the
:07:23. > :07:28.High Court was told that more tumour had been filled in the same
:07:29. > :07:34.place. On the 18th, the judge ordered another operation on her
:07:34. > :07:39.Achilles. That happened yesterday. And today, Sally Roberts requested
:07:39. > :07:43.a further delay to the court case. The judge rejected the application
:07:43. > :07:47.for further delays. He said, there is not the luxury of time in this
:07:47. > :07:52.case, and he added that there needed to be decisions made about
:07:52. > :07:56.the treatment for Neon. The role of the judge is to consider the
:07:56. > :07:59.child's welfare and best interests. Although he will clearly listen to
:07:59. > :08:05.the concerns of the parents, he will be looking at the medical
:08:05. > :08:10.evidence as well. The benefits of treatment, which in this case are
:08:10. > :08:13.considered to be life-saving, will be balanced against the risks, and
:08:13. > :08:21.he will ultimately decide what option is in the best interest of
:08:21. > :08:25.the child. Tomorrow, Neon's mother would get one more chance to try to
:08:25. > :08:33.produce evidence of a credible alternative. Then, it will be up to
:08:33. > :08:36.the judge to decide what happens Sales on the High Street are flat -
:08:36. > :08:39.that's according to the latest figures on how we spent our money
:08:39. > :08:41.last month. They make grim reading for many stores, who are worried
:08:41. > :08:44.that customers are reining in their Christmas spending. Our business
:08:44. > :08:53.correspondent is in London's Oxford Street, where many shop owners will
:08:53. > :08:57.be hoping the last-minute rush will make a difference. Emma. That's
:08:57. > :09:01.right. It is certainly busy here, despite the rain, but there was
:09:01. > :09:04.little Christmas cheer in these figures today from the Office for
:09:04. > :09:07.National Statistics. They were from November, a time when retailers
:09:07. > :09:12.would be like in to see things ramping up for Christmas. And then
:09:12. > :09:16.we had other survey evidence from yesterday, suggesting that business
:09:16. > :09:20.was worse than usual for this time of year. So, our people tightening
:09:20. > :09:27.their belts, or are they waiting right until the last minutes? I
:09:27. > :09:31.have been gauging the mood. discounts and bargains are
:09:31. > :09:35.everywhere. The battle for Christmas trade is well under way,
:09:35. > :09:39.yet again - anything to get us to part with our cash at this crucial
:09:40. > :09:43.time for retailers. So, how are we spending this Christmas? Here in
:09:43. > :09:48.Leicester, people we spoke to did not seem to be cutting back, but
:09:48. > :09:53.they were not splashing out, either. I started a lot earlier than I
:09:53. > :09:58.would have done before, so I can still do it the same. Yes, probably
:09:58. > :10:02.spending the same, but over a longer period. To be honest, when
:10:02. > :10:06.you're out and about, you see people spending. I think they are
:10:06. > :10:10.just being a bit more cautious, trying to get more value for money.
:10:10. > :10:15.We have curbed it a little bit because we have got a little wan.
:10:15. > :10:23.So, the signs are that we are leaving it even later this year.
:10:23. > :10:27.But things are in full swing here. Last weekend, we had our busiest
:10:27. > :10:31.weekend for three years, so you can really feel it now. Visitor numbers
:10:31. > :10:35.are growing all of the time, it has been really good. But will that
:10:35. > :10:38.translate into sales, and more importantly, profits, for
:10:38. > :10:46.retailers? Experts are not predicting that much of a boost to
:10:46. > :10:52.the economy, if this year is anything to go by cacked retail has
:10:52. > :10:55.been pretty flat for the whole of the year. History shows that this
:10:55. > :11:00.time of year is genuinely in line with the rest of the year. It is a
:11:00. > :11:03.bit unrealistic to expect anything different, frankly. This is the new
:11:03. > :11:08.economic reality. But it is a different story when it comes to
:11:08. > :11:11.Christmas online. With a couple of clicks, it has never been easier to
:11:11. > :11:18.shop, and retailers know that is where the future growth lies. We
:11:18. > :11:23.are spending more than �700 million a week, which is 8% more than last
:11:23. > :11:28.year. Online now makes up nearly 11% of all retail spending, a
:11:28. > :11:32.record. But it has been at the expense of the high street. For
:11:32. > :11:37.many retailers, it has been another tough year, and for some, even more
:11:37. > :11:42.is riding on Christmas than normal. HMV is fighting once again for
:11:42. > :11:46.survival. Last month may have been slow, but when it comes to
:11:46. > :11:50.Christmas, it is the finish that really matters, and there is a
:11:50. > :11:54.weekend of crucial trading ahead, which could make all the difference.
:11:54. > :11:58.Now, with Christmas falling on a Tuesday, that is effectively two
:11:58. > :12:08.extra days of trading. But of course, we will not know the full
:12:08. > :12:09.
:12:09. > :12:11.story of how Christmas went until A former Radio One producer has
:12:11. > :12:14.vehemently denied allegations put to him by police investigating sex
:12:14. > :12:17.abuse claims against Jimmy Savile and others. Ted Beston, who's 76
:12:17. > :12:19.and from Bromley in south London, was released on bail yesterday
:12:19. > :12:22.after being questioned by officers on suspicion of sex offences.People
:12:22. > :12:28.left disabled by the drug thalidomide in England and Scotland
:12:28. > :12:32.are to receive support worth �94 million over the next 10 years.
:12:32. > :12:35.There has been mounting criticism over the BBC about its pay-off to
:12:35. > :12:38.its former Director-General. A committee of MPs called it a
:12:38. > :12:43.cavalier attitude to public money. There have also been criticisms of
:12:43. > :12:47.the way the BBC is run, and the way it handled the dropping of an
:12:47. > :12:51.investigation into Jimmy Savile. David Sillito reports. For those in
:12:51. > :12:55.charge of the BBC, the papers made grim reading today. Chaos,
:12:55. > :13:01.confusion, melt down, the verdict on how it handled the dropped
:13:01. > :13:03.investigation into Jimmy Savile was damning. So, too, is a new report
:13:03. > :13:13.into the �450,000 pay-off for former Director-General George
:13:13. > :13:14.
:13:14. > :13:18.Entwistle. The BBC chairman, Chris Patten, claimed that this had to be
:13:18. > :13:24.paid in order to avoid a costly legal battle. This looks wrong, and
:13:24. > :13:28.it might have been a better call to say, OK, we will challenge him to
:13:28. > :13:32.take the BBC to court. In its defence, the BBC chairman, speaking
:13:32. > :13:37.on BBC Radio for, said his hands were tied. He said the treatment
:13:37. > :13:41.being meted out was a little shabby, given that he had explained...
:13:41. > :13:45.we had not done the settlement there and then, we would have had
:13:45. > :13:50.to do a more costly settlement, with a constructive dismissal, and
:13:50. > :13:54.probably an unfair dismissal, on top of that.. The BBC is still
:13:54. > :14:01.digesting the Pollard report, and those stinging criticisms about its
:14:01. > :14:08.inability to deal with a crisis, find out facts, and, crucially, its
:14:08. > :14:15.lack of leadership. And one of those leaders, the BBC's Head of
:14:15. > :14:22.News, Helen Boaden, today returned to work. That is for this to decide,
:14:22. > :14:25.I am just going in to do my job. How can you wrist or trust in BBC
:14:25. > :14:32.News? It is still the most trusted news organisation in this country.
:14:32. > :14:36.I have to go... Nick Pollard said that during the Savile crisis, her
:14:36. > :14:40.department had been in virtual meltdown. The pressure is now on
:14:40. > :14:43.for some real change. The important thing is that there needs to be a
:14:43. > :14:47.fundamental overhaul of the entire management structure of the BBC,
:14:47. > :14:50.which does not mean shifting a few people around. And of course, the
:14:51. > :14:55.BBC will have to brace itself in the coming months for more
:14:55. > :15:02.revelations. The second inquiry, looking back over 40 years of the
:15:02. > :15:08.BBC and Jimmy Savile, has only just Our top story tonight: 24 hours of
:15:08. > :15:11.continuous rain. Trouble on the roads and rail just as the
:15:11. > :15:21.Christmas getaway begins. Coming up: The Gloucestershire
:15:21. > :15:39.
:15:39. > :15:43.woman spared the death sentence for Are elderly cancer patients being
:15:43. > :15:46.denied treatment simply because of their age? A leading charity says
:15:46. > :15:49.they are and that thousands of lives could be saved every year if
:15:49. > :15:53.the NHS focused on the health of individual patients. A new study
:15:53. > :16:02.suggests that far too many elderly patients are written off as too old
:16:02. > :16:06.to treat. Our health correspondent, Dominic Hughes, reports. The older
:16:06. > :16:12.we get, the more likely we are to develop cancer, but older patients
:16:12. > :16:16.are less likely to get access to treatments such as surgery,
:16:16. > :16:25.radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The accusation is that in some cases
:16:25. > :16:29.people miss out because of age discrimination. 81-year-old Les was
:16:29. > :16:34.diagnosed with cancer but was concerned that the doctor seeing
:16:34. > :16:40.him was more concerned about his age than his illness. I was quite
:16:40. > :16:43.angry that age was an issue and it seemed to be coming before the
:16:43. > :16:48.diagnosis of the problem. The thought ran through my mind that
:16:48. > :16:53.perhaps I wasn't going to get the treatment because of my age. So how
:16:53. > :16:58.do you in ensure that doctors and other medical staff treat
:16:59. > :17:03.patientsing could to their fitness and not their age. Here on
:17:03. > :17:07.Merseyside they've been working to try to ensure that older patients
:17:07. > :17:12.get the treatment they need. The idea is pretty simple - a detailed
:17:12. > :17:16.assessment of the patient's fitness and assistance at home to help them
:17:16. > :17:21.cope with the sometimes demanding treatment, judging each case on its
:17:21. > :17:27.own merits. Maybe 20 years ago a 70-year-old patient might have had
:17:27. > :17:32.other medical conditions that meant they weren't able to tolerate
:17:32. > :17:35.treatments, but nowadays 70-year- olds are fitter and able to
:17:35. > :17:39.tolerate treatments. Leaders within the NHS recognise that this is a
:17:39. > :17:45.problem that needs to be addressed. I think there is a measure of
:17:45. > :17:47.ageism within the NHS. I do not think that is intentional ageism,
:17:47. > :17:52.but unintentional, and that means that patients are being treated on
:17:52. > :17:56.the basis of their age, not on the basis of their fitness for
:17:56. > :17:59.treatment. Cancer survival rates in the UK are improving, but there is
:17:59. > :18:01.still a significant difference between those diagnosed when they
:18:02. > :18:05.are relatively young and the elderly. Experts say a growing
:18:05. > :18:10.number of older people are now well enough to be diagnosed with cancer
:18:10. > :18:13.and still survive. A second arrest has been made by
:18:13. > :18:16.police investigating the aftermath of the row between officers in
:18:16. > :18:18.Downing Street and the former Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell. Mr Mitchell
:18:18. > :18:21.resigned his Cabinet post after the argument. He admitted swearing at
:18:21. > :18:31.officers, but denied calling them plebs. Our home affairs
:18:31. > :18:32.
:18:32. > :18:36.correspondent, Tom Symonds, reports. The closed-circuit television
:18:36. > :18:40.pictures show what happened in the darkness of Downing Street that
:18:40. > :18:45.night, but not what was said. Andrew Mitchell continues to insist
:18:45. > :18:49.he did not call the police plebs. His reputation hangs on the police
:18:49. > :18:52.investigation, and now a second arrest has been made. Officers
:18:52. > :18:58.investigating the circumstances surrounding a police officer's
:18:58. > :19:04.claim to have witnessed an incident in Downing Street in September 2012
:19:04. > :19:10.have arrested a man on suspicion of intentionally encouraging or
:19:10. > :19:13.insisting the commission of an indictable offence. This is a live
:19:13. > :19:18.fast-moving criminal investigation. Scotland Yard have said little more
:19:18. > :19:22.about this arrest, but it is likely to be connected with information
:19:22. > :19:25.police received last week and the subsequent arrest of a serving
:19:25. > :19:30.police officer. Detectives want to know if he was involved in a
:19:30. > :19:34.conspiracy with someone else. This officer is accused of falsely
:19:34. > :19:38.claiming he witnessed the incident from a position here on the
:19:38. > :19:43.pavement outside Downing Street. The cameras suggest that no-one was
:19:43. > :19:46.close enough to easily overhear what happened. Now the suggestion
:19:46. > :19:51.that Andrew Mitchell just might the wronged party has led to
:19:51. > :19:55.Conservative fury at campaigning by the police against him. The police
:19:55. > :19:59.must be above politics in our country. The Police Federation
:19:59. > :20:03.decided to become a lobbying, an extremely aggressive lobbying body
:20:03. > :20:08.determined to get a Minister, and a Cabinet Minister. Certainly the
:20:08. > :20:12.Police Federation didn't hold back from using the P word in their
:20:12. > :20:15.campaigning against cuts. But following recent events, the tone
:20:15. > :20:19.has softened. I'm going to wait to see what happens in relates to the
:20:19. > :20:23.investigation. If he has been done a calumny in relation to what's
:20:23. > :20:30.happened I will be one of the first in the queue to apologise. Under
:20:30. > :20:32.the shadow of that possible calumny - a false acquisition in case you
:20:32. > :20:37.were wondering - Andrew Mitchell visited his local police station
:20:37. > :20:40.today. The pictures confirm that efforts were being made to keep
:20:40. > :20:42.things civil. People left disabled by the drug
:20:42. > :20:46.Thalidomide in England and Scotland are to receive support worth �94
:20:46. > :20:49.million over the next ten years. It'll help over 380 people as they
:20:49. > :20:52.get older. The health of a 50-year- old affected by the drug is
:20:52. > :20:54.comparable to that of an 80-year- old, according to the Thalidomide
:20:54. > :21:01.Trust. Grants for those born disabled and living in Wales and
:21:01. > :21:04.Northern Ireland will be announced in the near future.
:21:04. > :21:06.A 56-year-old woman from Gloucestershire has been spared the
:21:06. > :21:09.death penalty at her trial for smuggling drugs on the Indonesian
:21:09. > :21:14.island of Bali. Lindsay Sandiford is facing a possible 15-year jail
:21:14. > :21:16.term instead. She was arrested in May after officials found nearly 4
:21:16. > :21:26.kilos of cocaine in her luggage. From Bali, Karishma Vaswani sent
:21:26. > :21:30.
:21:30. > :21:35.this report. I should warn you it contains flash photography.
:21:35. > :21:41.Covering her head from the glare of the cameras, as she entered the
:21:41. > :21:45.courtroom. 56-year-old Lindsay Sandiford listened intently to her
:21:45. > :21:48.translator as an Indonesian prosecutor read out his demands.
:21:48. > :21:53.Lawyers could have asked for the death sentence for the mother of
:21:53. > :22:01.two from Gloucestershire, but instead they demanded 15 years,
:22:02. > :22:05.saying she's co-operated with the police. Still, Mrs Sandiford was
:22:05. > :22:10.visibly agitated after the court proceedings. Throughout the trial,
:22:10. > :22:16.she's said she was coerced by the others involved in the case into
:22:16. > :22:20.bringing the cocaine from Bangkok to Bali. Mrs Sandiford was arrest
:22:20. > :22:26.inside May when she entered Bali airport as a tourist. Police parade
:22:26. > :22:31.her in front of the cameras, with the 4.8 kgs of drugs they say they
:22:31. > :22:37.found in the lining of her suit case. And this is the woman plgs
:22:37. > :22:41.Sandiford says forced her into it. Rachel Dougall from Brighton.
:22:41. > :22:44.Initially Bali police thought this mother of a six-year-old was a
:22:44. > :22:49.major player, but today they sentenced her to a year in prison
:22:49. > :22:55.for the charge of failing to report a crime, saying her involvement was
:22:55. > :22:59.minor. I'm just happy to be reunite with
:22:59. > :23:03.my baby. Thank you. But for Lindsay Sandiford the wait isn't over yet.
:23:03. > :23:07.Her investigate is still a few weeks ago. Lindsay Sandiford's
:23:07. > :23:13.trial and that of the three other British nationals involved in the
:23:13. > :23:17.case here in Bali has put the international spotlight on
:23:17. > :23:21.Indonesia's strict drug laws. The maximum penalty here is death by
:23:21. > :23:24.firing squad. This peaceful holiday spot draws millions of tourists to
:23:24. > :23:30.its shore every single year. Authorities want to ensure that
:23:30. > :23:34.nothing ruins that image, and they won't hesitate to enforce the law.
:23:34. > :23:37.One of the men accused of stabbing a Cardiff student to death in a
:23:37. > :23:40.contract killing that went wrong has said in court that he can't
:23:40. > :23:43.explain how the teenager's blood came to be on his shirt. Amir
:23:43. > :23:53.Siddiqi was murdered by two masked men who had gone to the wrong
:23:53. > :23:54.
:23:54. > :24:00.address. Hywel Griffith is at Swansea court. As I understand it,
:24:00. > :24:03.the two accused blame each other for the killing? Yes, both Ben Hope
:24:03. > :24:08.and Jason Richards blame the other man for the botched contract
:24:08. > :24:11.killing in April 2010 that claimed Amir Siddiqi's life. Today in court
:24:11. > :24:17.Jason Richards said he had waited for years for the opportunity to
:24:17. > :24:21.explain his innocence. He turned towards members of Amir's family in
:24:21. > :24:26.the Public Gallery as he said, "I did not commit this murder, I did
:24:27. > :24:34.not kill their son, I wasn't part of it." However, when asked how
:24:34. > :24:40.some of Amir's blood came to be on his shirt, he said, "I honestly
:24:40. > :24:46.cannot explain it." The defence barrister said Mr Hope had been
:24:46. > :24:51.asleep during the killing having taken a dose of heroin, and had no
:24:51. > :24:55.part in the plot. Both men deny Amir Siddiqi's murder and deny
:24:55. > :24:58.attempting to murder Amir's parents as he tried to protect their son.
:24:58. > :25:02.Thank you. Football - the draw has been made
:25:02. > :25:04.for the last 16 of the Champions League, and British clubs will be
:25:04. > :25:07.facing stiff opposition. Manchester United will take on Real Madrid.
:25:07. > :25:12.Celtic will play the Italian side, Juventus, and Arsenal will face
:25:12. > :25:15.last year's beaten finalists, Bayern Munich.
:25:15. > :25:18."The end is nigh" has been the prophesy of choice for doomsters
:25:18. > :25:20.down the ages, and it seems that millions around the world now
:25:20. > :25:23.believe it's really true. According to Mexico's ancient Mayan calendar,
:25:23. > :25:33.the world will end tomorrow. So, with 24 hours left, here's Nick
:25:33. > :25:40.
:25:40. > :25:47.Higham on whether this could be the Whatever else it may be, the end of
:25:47. > :25:50.the world is good for business. Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, site of
:25:50. > :25:56.the ancient Mayan civilisation is enjoying a tourist boom, but the
:25:56. > :26:00.locals say it is not the world that's ending, just one period in
:26:00. > :26:07.the Mayan calendar. TRANSLATION: What's ending is a cycle called a
:26:07. > :26:13.baktun. And another baktun is beginning, which you can see here.
:26:13. > :26:21.After every 52 cycles, the length of a back tungs our calendar is
:26:21. > :26:25.renewed. In China one inventor has created an end of the world pod for
:26:25. > :26:29.those planning to survive the Armageddon. In Britain there are
:26:29. > :26:33.parties. I could do a party but if the end of the day is tomorrow, the
:26:33. > :26:38.party's not going to happen, so get one last one in. No-one knows what
:26:38. > :26:43.the end of the world what might be like, but John Martin had a good
:26:43. > :26:47.try at imagining in this painting. There are predictions as to when it
:26:48. > :26:56.might be. The Seventh Day Adventists predicted the end of the
:26:56. > :27:02.world in 1874. Sir Isaac Newton thought it would be 2000, but
:27:02. > :27:06.Harold Camping predicted tend of -- the end of the world six times
:27:06. > :27:10.between 1994 and 2011. He was wrong every time France this village has
:27:10. > :27:17.been sealed off by police and surrounded by journalists after
:27:17. > :27:22.rumours spread that the local mountain would prove a safe haven
:27:22. > :27:26.tomorrow. The locals feared an union salute of end of the world
:27:26. > :27:32.survivalists. You came here for the fun of the story? The same of the
:27:32. > :27:36.journalists. We came to meet some crazy people and maybe see some
:27:36. > :27:41.UFOs if we are lucky. Though it might take more than a UFO to
:27:41. > :27:45.survive this if it turns out the myians were right after all.
:27:45. > :27:49.-- Mayans were right after all. If we are still here tomorrow, what
:27:49. > :27:53.we are still here tomorrow, what will the weather be like? I'm
:27:53. > :27:59.hoping it will be drier for most parts, but only briefly. There are
:27:59. > :28:05.severe weather warnings out in the UK for the weekend. For the next 24
:28:05. > :28:09.and 36 hours it is for eastern Scotland. After the last 24 hours
:28:09. > :28:14.of rainfall we've got one severe flood warning and numerous warnings
:28:14. > :28:22.out in England and Wales and Scotland. No surprise, look at the
:28:22. > :28:27.radar picture. 50-70mm, two to three inches in many parts. Will it
:28:27. > :28:31.keep falling. With significant snow over the hills, but it does dry up
:28:32. > :28:36.a little in the south. We could have problems with the rains
:28:36. > :28:40.running into the rivers and the rivers continuing to rise. We may
:28:40. > :28:43.have mist, fog and potentially ice in western areas first thing. Still
:28:43. > :28:48.the rain continues for most of Scotland throughout the day. Snow,
:28:48. > :28:54.significant snow on the hills as well. Some fairly unpleasant
:28:54. > :28:57.conditions for eastern Scotland, the likes of Angus, Aberdeenshire,
:28:57. > :29:00.Perth, Kinross and sterling. A drier and brighter day for Northern
:29:01. > :29:06.Ireland and many parts of England and Wales. It is just a brief
:29:06. > :29:11.window of drier weather. The river levels may continue to rise,
:29:11. > :29:16.despite the rain having eased The South West, that's tomorrow night's
:29:16. > :29:21.rain, which will take hold across the country by Saturday. Sweeping
:29:21. > :29:25.its way northwards. An intense band of rain for six to nine hours for
:29:25. > :29:29.many parts, particularly the South West, up into Yorkshire. Strong