:00:13. > :00:18.plant in Texas. Residents nearby said it was like an earthquake. A
:00:18. > :00:28.father and son thought they were watching an out of control fire and
:00:28. > :00:28.
:00:28. > :00:33.then this. You OK? I can't hear! I can't hear. Let's get out of here.
:00:33. > :00:39.Please. The search and rescue operation continues. Officials say
:00:39. > :00:46.hundreds of people could be injured. Just a major explosion. The windows
:00:46. > :00:49.came in. The roof came in. The ceiling came in. I worked my way out
:00:49. > :00:58.to get more help. Up to 15 people could be dead. We will have the
:00:58. > :01:02.latest. Also tonight: President Obama joins
:01:02. > :01:06.the people of Boston for a service to remember the victims of the
:01:06. > :01:11.marathon bombing. Guilty of raping an 11-year-old
:01:11. > :01:14.girl. He had attacked a child before but was not registered as a sex
:01:14. > :01:23.offender. Enough is enough - the words of a
:01:23. > :01:26.paralysed man who is taking up the legal battle for the right-to-die.
:01:26. > :01:30.One of Britain's greatest Olympians says his last race is over. Sir
:01:30. > :01:36.Chris Hoy confirms he is quitting cycling.
:01:36. > :01:46.I will be here with Sportsday later in the hour. It is Monte Carlo and
:01:46. > :02:04.
:02:04. > :02:08.bust for Andy Murray. He is knocked News at Six. Up to 15 people are
:02:08. > :02:12.thought to have been killed by a huge explosion at a fertiliser plant
:02:12. > :02:16.in Texas last night. It flattened buildings in the town of West and
:02:17. > :02:21.survivors have said the blast was like a tornado. Officials say
:02:21. > :02:30.hundreds could be injured. A search and rescue operation was still under
:02:30. > :02:35.way this morning. The first sign of fire, filmed on a
:02:35. > :02:43.phone from what seemed to be a safe distance away. But this was a huge
:02:43. > :02:50.explosion. You OK? Dad, I can't hear. Cover your ears.Let's get out
:02:50. > :02:54.of here. Please. The blast was felt many miles away. Voluntary
:02:54. > :02:59.firefighters were among the dead. Darkness complicated the rescue
:03:00. > :03:03.operation as the extent of the damage became clear. Fires raged
:03:04. > :03:10.across the town. Homes, buildings within a mile around the fertiliser
:03:10. > :03:14.plant, were levelled by the blast. Dozens of homes and an apartment
:03:14. > :03:20.block collapsed. There was a major explosion. The windows came in. The
:03:20. > :03:27.roof came in. The ceiling came in. I worked my way out to get some more
:03:27. > :03:34.help. We lost all communication because the power went out.
:03:34. > :03:39.pressure was pushing me back. were injured. The local sports
:03:39. > :03:43.stadium was used to treat those who needed urgent help. A fleet of
:03:43. > :03:48.emergency vehicles queued to pick up those caught in the blast and thet
:03:48. > :03:52.them to the hospitals treating the injured. -- and get them to the
:03:52. > :03:58.hospitals treating the injured. A nursing home was in the radius of
:03:58. > :04:02.the blast. Some were trapped. rest home was gone. You had to
:04:02. > :04:06.remove the sheet rock that was on top of them. The ceilings were down.
:04:06. > :04:14.There was a water leak, so you were standing in water, wires were
:04:14. > :04:19.hanging down. We evacuated the one wing. The plant was in West, a few
:04:19. > :04:24.miles from Waco. The blast was felt up to 45 miles away. On the edge of
:04:24. > :04:28.town, the plant was close to a school, homes and a care home. It is
:04:29. > :04:33.thought that the company had 20 tonnes of ammonia stored on the
:04:33. > :04:38.property. The extent of the damage in the area immediately around the
:04:38. > :04:42.factory is shocking. The explosion tore through homes. The authorities
:04:42. > :04:46.have been going door-to-door looking for survivors. I can tell you there
:04:46. > :04:52.is nothing out of control there at this point. There is no fire out of
:04:52. > :04:56.control. There is no chemical escape from the fertiliser plant that is
:04:56. > :05:03.out of control. They are working to contain everything that they have in
:05:03. > :05:09.that area and are doing a fantastic job in very harsh circumstances, in
:05:09. > :05:16.a very rough terrain. This is what's left of the fertiliser factory. What
:05:16. > :05:22.is smouldering behind us here first caught firs and then exploded --
:05:22. > :05:26.first and then exploded. Investigators are combing through
:05:26. > :05:35.what is left of the factory, trying to establish what caused the fire
:05:35. > :05:39.and then the explosion which had such a devastating impact.
:05:39. > :05:46.Staying in America, President Obama businessman has attended a memorial
:05:46. > :05:55.service for the victims of -- President Barack Obama has attended
:05:55. > :06:02.a memorial service for the victims of the Boston bombings. Let's join
:06:02. > :06:06.Ian Pannell now in Boston. Thank you very much. As you say,
:06:06. > :06:10.there have been developments. This morning, the FBI said there are two
:06:10. > :06:14.people that they would like to talk to. They are not being regarded as
:06:14. > :06:18.suspects, but they are people that they would like to trace. In the
:06:18. > :06:23.last few minutes, President Obama gave a rousing speech in the church
:06:23. > :06:29.behind me. He paid tribute to those who died, those who were injured and
:06:30. > :06:32.those who had rushed in to try and help. He reflected that sense of
:06:32. > :06:36.bewilderment here in Boston that what happened on Monday doesn't make
:06:36. > :06:41.any sense. It's been a week Boston will never
:06:41. > :06:45.forget. From early morning, crowds gathered at the Cathedral of the
:06:45. > :06:51.Holy Cross. Waiting to see their President. Wanting to remember the
:06:51. > :06:56.dead and wounded. And share thoughts of what happened that day. It's
:06:56. > :07:00.terrifying. It is terribly sad. I know someone who was hurt and is in
:07:00. > :07:05.a critical condition. It is terrifying. It hits close to home. I
:07:05. > :07:11.feel, like, it is in our own backyard this time and Boston has
:07:12. > :07:16.not experienced anything like this before. The President came here to
:07:16. > :07:19.honour the victims and kfRlt those whose lives will never be the same.
:07:20. > :07:25.-- comfort those whose lives will never be the same. Once again having
:07:25. > :07:32.to speak for the nation in a time of mourning. Your resolve is the
:07:32. > :07:40.greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act. If they sought to
:07:40. > :07:44.intimidate us, to terrorise us, to shake us from those values, the
:07:44. > :07:52.values that make us who we are as Americans, well it should be pretty
:07:52. > :08:01.clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. Investigators
:08:01. > :08:05.say they have a strong lead, a potential suspect. They have CCTV
:08:05. > :08:10.footage of a man dropping a bag off at the scene of one of the
:08:10. > :08:15.explosions. And they are analysing this - a photo that shows a bag next
:08:15. > :08:21.to a postbox near the finish line. This is the same scene seconds
:08:21. > :08:25.later. It is one of thousands of leads the FBI must now sift through.
:08:25. > :08:28.Today is an opportunity for the people of Boston to come together to
:08:28. > :08:32.pray and to reflect. It is a moment to remember those who lost their
:08:32. > :08:39.lives and the many who suffered terrible injuries. It is also a
:08:39. > :08:43.chance to thank those who selflessly rushed to the scene. Like this
:08:43. > :08:48.woman, a paediatrician and marathon runner, who dashed in to treat the
:08:48. > :08:57.wounded at the finish line, a real hero whose emotions today are of
:08:57. > :09:03.guilt. In some way, these people died because of me. I mean, they
:09:03. > :09:09.were there cheering for me at the finish line. They were there to get
:09:09. > :09:15.me through. They lost their lives and they lost their limbs. I have
:09:15. > :09:19.such sorrow. Was it my fault? Was it because of me? Had they not been
:09:19. > :09:23.there, they would have been alive. In a country where people often feel
:09:23. > :09:27.immune to the dangers of the outside world, the bombings have left many
:09:27. > :09:37.feeling less sure, less safe as they struggle to make sense of the attack
:09:37. > :09:43.on the marathon. A man has been convicted of raping
:09:43. > :09:46.an 11-year-old girl as she made her way home from school. The Old Bailey
:09:46. > :09:50.heard that 18-year-old Opemipo Jaji subjected the girl to a three-hour
:09:50. > :09:57.ordeal. The jury was told that he had a previous conviction but he was
:09:57. > :10:02.not put on the sex Sex Offenders Register.
:10:02. > :10:06.18-year-old Opemipo Jaji, seen here, is a brutal sex offender. When he
:10:06. > :10:10.raped a little girl, he was already known to the authorities. It was the
:10:10. > :10:16.second time he had carried out such an attack. Today, a jury at the Old
:10:17. > :10:22.Bailey took less than four hours to convict him. He posed great danger
:10:22. > :10:26.to young females. Despite the great weight of evidence against him, he
:10:26. > :10:34.has never admitted his culpability. That forced the victim to give
:10:34. > :10:40.evidence. Like other teenagers, Opemipo Jaji posted this YouTube
:10:40. > :10:44.footage of himself, but he was far from ordinary. He can be seen on the
:10:44. > :10:50.left-hand side of the CCTV footage. It was recorded in November last
:10:50. > :10:54.year, shortly before he spotted his victim on board this bus in Enfield.
:10:54. > :11:01.He followed his young victim to this park as she made her way home after
:11:01. > :11:05.school. He gagged her, threatened her with a knife and subjected her
:11:05. > :11:09.to a three-hour ordeal after which she needed surgery to recover. This
:11:09. > :11:14.wasn't the first time he had attacked in this way. In February
:11:14. > :11:18.2011, he robbed and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl. As a
:11:18. > :11:25.young offender, he was sentenced to less than a year's detention. It
:11:25. > :11:27.meant that he was not put on the Sex Offenders Register. A year later, he
:11:27. > :11:33.admitted downloading indecent images of children and was given a
:11:33. > :11:37.supervision order. He was with his probation Officer 19 minutes before
:11:37. > :11:42.his last attack. The prosecuting authorities welcomed the verdict but
:11:42. > :11:46.were reluctant to comment on whether he had been adequately supervised.
:11:46. > :11:49.dangerous sexual offender has been brought to justice. I would like to
:11:49. > :11:54.thank the 11-year-old victim and her family for their strength and
:11:54. > :11:57.courage in supporting this prosecution. Tonight, questions
:11:57. > :12:01.remain over why Opemipo Jaji was free to attack for a second time.
:12:01. > :12:05.The Ministry of Justice will review how he was monitored, why he was not
:12:05. > :12:09.offered treatment and whether he should have been placed on the Sex
:12:09. > :12:16.Offenders Register. He will be sentenced in June and could face
:12:16. > :12:19.life imprisonment. Four men from Luton have been jailed
:12:19. > :12:25.for between five and 16 years after pleading guilty to terrorism
:12:26. > :12:30.offences. The men talked about using home-made bombs and guns and two of
:12:30. > :12:34.them discussed blowing up a TA base in the town. Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed
:12:35. > :12:38.Ahmed, Umar Arshad and Syed Hussain pleaded guilty in March.
:12:38. > :12:41.Doctors are warning that more than a million schoolchildren in England
:12:41. > :12:45.could be vulnerable to measles because their parents failed to
:12:46. > :12:49.complete their vaccinations during the MMR scare a decade ago. They
:12:49. > :12:54.warned a generation of children are now in secondary school where there
:12:54. > :12:58.is a greater risk of the disease spreading.
:12:58. > :13:01.A paralysed man who wants doctors to end his life without fear of
:13:01. > :13:06.prosecution has spoken publicly for the first time about his legal
:13:06. > :13:16.campaign. Paul Lamb says he's in terrible pain and his life is
:13:16. > :13:16.
:13:16. > :13:21.intolerable, but he is unable to end it without medical assistance.
:13:21. > :13:25.Paul Lamb has been paralysed from the neck down and suffering chronic
:13:25. > :13:30.pain for 23 years. He needs full-time help for almost
:13:30. > :13:37.everything, having just minimal use of one hand. He describes his life
:13:37. > :13:44.as "tedious" and "pointless". pain is horrendous. I just - I'm
:13:44. > :13:51.getting less. I stay in this room. I stay in here all winter. I have no
:13:51. > :13:57.desire to go out most of the times. I just - my will has gone. This was
:13:57. > :14:03.a fit and active Paul Lamb before a car crash in 1990. Now, unable to
:14:03. > :14:10.end his own life, he wants a doctor to kill him. In law, that amounts to
:14:10. > :14:15.murder. He's taking up the legal battle fought by locked yin sufferer
:14:15. > :14:19.Tony Nicklinson. It is such a shame he had to die the way he died.
:14:19. > :14:26.passed away last year, days after the High Court rejected his bid to
:14:26. > :14:31.change the law. He wanted doctors to be protected from prosecution, where
:14:31. > :14:34.patients were in intolerable situations and wanted to die. When
:14:34. > :14:40.Tony Nicklinson's case came to the High Court last summer, the judges
:14:40. > :14:44.said that it raised some of the most profound, ethical, moral, social and
:14:44. > :14:51.religious issues, but only Parliament and not the courts could
:14:51. > :14:56.change the law. Any change to the law will be strongly opposed.
:14:56. > :15:06.vulnerable people will feel pressure, whether that is real or
:15:06. > :15:08.
:15:08. > :15:16.imagined to end their lives. Some campaigners for the disabl d want a
:15:16. > :15:20.different focus. --Disabled want a different focus. It should be about
:15:20. > :15:24.re-evaluating why people want to die and what can we do to improve the
:15:24. > :15:29.quality of lives of individuals such as Paul Lamb so he was a change of
:15:29. > :15:39.mind? Paul Lamb will take his case to the Court of Appeal next month.
:15:39. > :15:42.
:15:42. > :15:47.Persuading it to change the law operation continues after a massive
:15:47. > :15:56.explosion at a chemical plant in Texas. Officials say hundreds of
:15:56. > :16:00.people can be injured. Still to come: The first woman to conduct
:16:00. > :16:04.The Last Night Of The Proms. Later on the BBC News Channel, I will be
:16:04. > :16:14.here with Sportsday including the latest from Bahrain as Formula One
:16:14. > :16:21.
:16:21. > :16:25.prepares to race again in the Great Britain's most successful
:16:25. > :16:30.Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy, has announced his retirement from
:16:30. > :16:35.competitive track cycling at the age of 37. He has won six Olympic
:16:35. > :16:41.Gold medals and 11 world titles, but say it's "beyond him" to carry
:16:41. > :16:47.on to next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He is British
:16:47. > :16:51.sport's own Mr Incredible. For the last decade, Sir Chris Hoy has
:16:51. > :16:55.dominated Olympic track cycling. The home of Scottish rugby was an
:16:55. > :17:01.unlikely setting, today he called time on a career which was supposed
:17:01. > :17:07.to end in more glry at next summer's Commonwealth Games in gas
:17:07. > :17:11.glow gsh glory. I have had time to reflect on the last 20 years of my
:17:11. > :17:14.career. I have got everything out. I don't have any more to give. I
:17:14. > :17:18.wouldn't be going there to be competitive. I would be turning up
:17:18. > :17:28.to get the tracksuit and wave to the crowd. That is not what I
:17:28. > :17:28.
:17:28. > :17:35.wanted to do. Hoy first tasted Olympic success in Athens in 2004,
:17:35. > :17:41.the starting point for a revolution in British cycling. In London he
:17:41. > :17:45.guided Team GB to another goldrush on the track. What sort of shape is
:17:45. > :17:50.British cycling in, as you leave the sport? British cycling has
:17:50. > :17:54.never been in better health than it is just now. You know, you look
:17:54. > :17:57.back over the years and see where it has come from, it's almost
:17:58. > :18:01.unbelievable how far it has come as a sport. To have been part of that
:18:01. > :18:05.journey, I'm proud of that. That is one of the biggest things I take
:18:05. > :18:10.from my career, I have been part of this amazing transformation in the
:18:10. > :18:16.sport. After more than a decade at the top of cycling he boy bows out
:18:16. > :18:20.as one of the giants of British sporting history with six Olympic
:18:20. > :18:26.gold medals is the most successful Olympian this country has produced
:18:27. > :18:33.and is arguably the greatest. That debate may never be settled. There
:18:33. > :18:37.was support from one of British cycling's original trailblazers.
:18:37. > :18:43.have great talent coming up. It's the time to celebrate what he has
:18:43. > :18:49.done, what has gone before. It was an amazing career. He is the most
:18:49. > :18:56.iconic best representative of British sport - EVER! He says
:18:56. > :19:04.it's's time to hand over to a new generation. Few are likely to tower
:19:04. > :19:06.over his sport as he did. There's been another downbeat assessment of
:19:06. > :19:10.the British economy from the International Monetary Fund. It's
:19:10. > :19:14.head, Christine Lagarde, said growth figures in the UK "weren't
:19:14. > :19:17.looking good". Her comments follow those of the orgs's chief economist
:19:17. > :19:24.who said on Tuesday that the Government was "playing with fire"
:19:24. > :19:32.by squeezing budgets in a flat economy. It's a big debate right
:19:32. > :19:36.now, how to get the economy going. The Chancellor says bringing down
:19:36. > :19:38.borrow something essential for the economy to thrive. This week the
:19:38. > :19:46.International Monetary Fund's top economist suggested the UK needed
:19:46. > :19:51.to ease up on austerity and focus more on boosting growth. Today, his
:19:51. > :19:57.boss, the IMF chief said they aren't reached a final view, that
:19:57. > :20:03.would come in the next month or so. The growth numbers are certainly
:20:03. > :20:08.not particularly good. So, in a sense, this is a continuum of the
:20:08. > :20:13.position, what has changed is, clearly, the quality of the numbers.
:20:13. > :20:17.The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, at a growth conference today, last
:20:17. > :20:22.month backed the idea of more investment to back the economy. He
:20:22. > :20:26.had this reaction. They argued for more flexibility. We have been
:20:26. > :20:30.flexible, we will be flexible, that is a common sense approach to the
:20:30. > :20:34.problem. We work -- the Government does it bit much we have a major
:20:34. > :20:37.deficit problem and we have to continue to deal with it. The Bank
:20:37. > :20:42.of England is another key partner in keeping a stimulus going. Labour
:20:42. > :20:45.said the questions raised by the IMF proved the Government should
:20:46. > :20:50.change course. What more does George Osborne need to hear when
:20:50. > :20:55.even the IMF are saying that they are anxious about economic growth.
:20:55. > :21:00.He has to start stimulating the economy and his extreme austerity,
:21:00. > :21:05.the path of cuts and tax rises are actually choking off the recovery
:21:05. > :21:10.and the growth that we need to repair the public finances. At the
:21:10. > :21:13.Treasury they are waiting for figures neck week showing how the
:21:13. > :21:19.economy performed in the first three months of the year. Any
:21:19. > :21:22.growth will come as a relief. Any contraction will mean the second
:21:22. > :21:27.successive quarter of decline putting the UK technically back in
:21:27. > :21:32.recession. Latest retail sales figures showed a downturn in March
:21:32. > :21:36.because of the cold weather. Over three months there was growth. It
:21:36. > :21:40.might be a positive side for the consumer side of the economy. The
:21:40. > :21:47.Chancellor will keep his fingers crossed that the next growth
:21:47. > :21:51.figures and the IMF check will be crucial tests of his policies.
:21:51. > :21:59.Michael Gove has called for school children to have longer school days
:21:59. > :22:09.and shorter school hoi days. He said that English students are at a
:22:09. > :22:09.
:22:09. > :22:14."significant handicap" when compared with with students in east
:22:14. > :22:17.Asia. Joining me now is Reeta Chakrabarti. Unless he is proposing
:22:17. > :22:20.legislation to standardise the changes across schools in England
:22:20. > :22:23.it would run into opposition from parents who might have some
:22:23. > :22:28.children off at one time and other children off at another time. From
:22:28. > :22:32.what I understand, I don't think Michael Gove is proposing something
:22:32. > :22:39.as sweeping as that, she talking about reforms coming in about the
:22:39. > :22:42.way teachers work and Heads can pay them more for extra duties that
:22:42. > :22:50.could mean an extension to the school term. A few schools do this
:22:50. > :22:55.already, but they are in a real minority. An American woman will
:22:55. > :22:59.make history at the world's largest and longest running classical music
:22:59. > :23:07.festival, the BBC Proms, this year. Marin Alsop will be the first woman
:23:08. > :23:13.to conduct the famous Last Night of the Proms. The mass celebration of
:23:13. > :23:22.classical music that is The Last Night Of The Proms. This year, for
:23:22. > :23:26.the first time in 11 years a woman will hold the baton and leading the
:23:26. > :23:35.orchestra, Marin Alsop. I'm proud to be the first woman to conduct,
:23:35. > :23:38.but I'm also sad that it's 2013 and there can be first for women -- 118.
:23:38. > :23:48.We have to create more opportunities for women to be seen
:23:48. > :23:57.
:23:57. > :24:00.It is here at the Royal Albert Hall where Marin Alsop will take to the
:24:00. > :24:03.stage for The Last Night Of The Proms when she will be an exception
:24:04. > :24:07.that proves the rule. When it comes to professional conducting, it is a
:24:07. > :24:17.man's world. Almost all the great orchestras, both here and abroad,
:24:17. > :24:22.
:24:22. > :24:26.For a whole number of reasons I suspect why composers and
:24:26. > :24:31.conductors who are women have been slow to cut through. You can only
:24:31. > :24:41.work with what you have. What is encouraging now is that will are so
:24:41. > :24:46.
:24:46. > :24:52.many women composers and conductors beginning to come through. In the
:24:52. > :24:59.institutions we don't have many women who are teachers, professors
:25:00. > :25:07.and so on. If that changed, if the balance changed a little bit it may
:25:07. > :25:13.help to inspire women composers. Highlights of the 2013 season
:25:13. > :25:23.include the return of Nigel Kennedy, a Proms premier of Wagner's Ring
:25:23. > :25:26.
:25:26. > :25:32.Cycle and Marin Alsop first Last Night. It's time for the weather
:25:32. > :25:36.Night. It's time for the weather now with Helen Willetts. We have
:25:36. > :25:40.had thunderstorms, heal and the showers will ease this evening. The
:25:40. > :25:44.heavy rain across Scotland, that is heading southwards. It will give
:25:44. > :25:51.wet conditions through the night for parts of England and Wales.
:25:51. > :25:55.Behind it, it turns colder, north- westerly wind setting in. We could
:25:55. > :25:58.have a widespread ground frost tonight, not a problem in the south.
:25:58. > :26:05.It will be a grey and damp start tomorrow morning. The April
:26:05. > :26:08.sunshine is getting stronger, it will work its way through the cloud.
:26:08. > :26:12.There will be showers in the afternoon. It will be a nicer day
:26:12. > :26:15.in Scotland. Showers still for Northern Ireland, promising than
:26:15. > :26:19.today. It will feel warmer, more sunshine coming through.
:26:19. > :26:24.Temperatures into the low teens. The western side of England and
:26:25. > :26:29.Wales decent weather, a few showers to the west country. Most of the
:26:29. > :26:34.day's showers, by the afternoon, will be in central and eastern
:26:35. > :26:40.areas. Quite cool here, the odd sharp one around, not as heavy as
:26:40. > :26:44.today. They will fade quickly. Tomorrow night colder still. Ground
:26:44. > :26:49.frost right across the country, mist and fog. It will set us up for
:26:49. > :26:55.a nice day on Saturday. The weekend for all of us will start dry.
:26:55. > :26:58.Strong April sunshine to help us by day. Even by the end of play on
:26:58. > :27:03.Saturday the next weather system is knocking on the door of the
:27:03. > :27:09.highland and western and northern isles of Scotland. On Sunday the
:27:10. > :27:14.rain will work southwards. At the moment, it looks for the marathon