:00:00. > :00:08.Sentenced to 35 years - the rock star, Ian Watkins, is jailed for a
:00:09. > :00:13.string of horrific sex attacks on very young children.
:00:14. > :00:20.The former Lostprophets singer used his fame to get the children of his
:00:21. > :00:28.fans. The judge said the case was so horrific that it broke new ground.
:00:29. > :00:30.He is a highly dangerous and manipulative individual who preyed
:00:31. > :00:33.on his victims in a calculated manner. Now an international appeal
:00:34. > :00:37.has been launched across Europe and America to find victims. Detect two
:00:38. > :00:40.fear there could be more. Also tonight: The biggest drop in
:00:41. > :00:42.unemployment for a decade, as it falls by almost 100,000 to 2.39
:00:43. > :00:45.million. Plans to limit benefits for new
:00:46. > :00:48.migrants to Britain are fast tracked, two weeks before Romanians
:00:49. > :00:52.and Bulgarians get the right to work here.
:00:53. > :00:55.The homeless charity, Crisis, says they are preparing to feed and
:00:56. > :00:59.shelter more people than ever before over Christmas.
:01:00. > :01:10.And the great train robber, Ronnie Biggs, has died at the age of 84.
:01:11. > :01:16.Coming up in the sport on BBC News, Boris Decker is a surprise choice
:01:17. > :01:19.for Novak Djokovic to be his new head coach. Becker will travel to
:01:20. > :01:33.all four Grand Slam tournaments with him.
:01:34. > :01:39.Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. The rock star, Ian
:01:40. > :01:42.Watkins, former lead singer of the Lostprophets, has been sentenced to
:01:43. > :01:48.35 years for a string of sex offences on very young children. The
:01:49. > :01:51.judge told Cardiff Crown Court that he had dealt with many horrific
:01:52. > :01:54.cases in the past, but this one "broke new ground". 36-year-old
:01:55. > :01:57.Watkins was described as a determined and committed paedophile
:01:58. > :02:04.who had used his fame to get access to the children of his devoted fan.
:02:05. > :02:12.What he had done, said the judge, plumbed new depths of depravity.
:02:13. > :02:18.Our correspondent is outside Cardiff Crown Court.
:02:19. > :02:23.Ian Watkins started to visibly shake as the judge handed down his
:02:24. > :02:26.sentence. Side him in the dock, the two mothers he had convinced to hand
:02:27. > :02:33.over their children and joining with the abuse, two women who started off
:02:34. > :02:40.as fans of his band, two in the judge said had been seduced by
:02:41. > :02:44.Watkins' power and status. An international rock star, adored
:02:45. > :02:50.by his fans. Ian Watkins used his fame to be no -- manipulate others
:02:51. > :02:56.while always keeping a veneer of normality. Whenever it gets too
:02:57. > :03:01.much, just come home, have a cup of tea. Today, Watkins arrived at court
:03:02. > :03:07.in a prison van, knowing he will not see home again for many years. His
:03:08. > :03:11.actions have caused shock and revulsion. He is a dangerous and
:03:12. > :03:15.manipulative individual who preyed on his victims in a calculated
:03:16. > :03:18.manner. It is beyond belief that adults would commit such appalling
:03:19. > :03:22.acts against children and young people, and our thoughts remain with
:03:23. > :03:27.the victims and those close to them. In the dock, Watkins remained
:03:28. > :03:31.impassive as the court heard how he showed no contrition for his abuse
:03:32. > :03:47.of children. In a phone call recorded in prison, he said:
:03:48. > :03:53.but a trial may have exposed long-term concerns about Watkins. A
:03:54. > :03:59.former partner says she warned the police about him in 2008. I am
:04:00. > :04:03.furious, because repeatedly, I would be either going to the police
:04:04. > :04:07.station or I would be on the phone to them, saying, you need to do
:04:08. > :04:14.something, and giving them details and names of victims, people I
:04:15. > :04:18.suspected to be involved as well. South Wales police is one of three
:04:19. > :04:24.forces now being investigated over those claims. Did Mr Watkins'
:04:25. > :04:28.celebrity status have any impact on the way in which the forces
:04:29. > :04:33.responded to the allegations? We have to get to the bottom of that.
:04:34. > :04:37.Ian Watkins' actions have sickened not only his fans, but his
:04:38. > :04:43.bandmates, who have called for any other victims to come forward. The
:04:44. > :04:47.police said their ongoing investigation is now international.
:04:48. > :04:51.There are enquiries going on in Germany and the United States. I
:04:52. > :04:54.believe he has offended in those countries and possibly more in this
:04:55. > :05:02.country. I have never seen anything like this in my 28 years of service.
:05:03. > :05:09.The ongoing investigation means Ian Watkins may soon have two return to
:05:10. > :05:14.court, as the full scale of his abuse unfolds.
:05:15. > :05:20.As you saw, Ian Watkins' actions have called real -- caused real
:05:21. > :05:23.anger and dismay. The question to be answered in the new year is whether
:05:24. > :05:26.he could have been prevented from abusing and whether he could have
:05:27. > :05:28.been caught by the police several years ago.
:05:29. > :05:34.There has been a sharp drop in unemployment - it is down to its
:05:35. > :05:38.lowest level for four years. The number of people out of work fell by
:05:39. > :05:45.99,000 between August and October to 2.39 million. It was the biggest
:05:46. > :05:48.drop in a decade and took analysts by surprise. The figures also showed
:05:49. > :05:51.that the number of those in work has gone up by quarter of a million
:05:52. > :05:54.compared with the previous three-month period. But in Northern
:05:55. > :05:58.Ireland, the number of unemployed rose slightly. Our chief economics
:05:59. > :06:06.correspondent has been looking at the figures.
:06:07. > :06:11.A growing economy brings an expanding workforce, and that is
:06:12. > :06:14.playing at this high-tech printing business. More companies want to
:06:15. > :06:18.advertise, so they ordered display artwork from firms like this, which
:06:19. > :06:23.means more staff are needed. So here, they have taken on nine new
:06:24. > :06:28.employees this year, increasing the workforce by nearly 10%. My
:06:29. > :06:32.confidence is as high as it has been for the last five years. We have
:06:33. > :06:36.seen sustained activity that has had no drop-off in any areas. In that
:06:37. > :06:41.respect, in terms of employment and investment, it is as good as it is
:06:42. > :06:47.for me. Good news was the way the prime minister described the figures
:06:48. > :06:52.in the Commons today. There are 250,000 more people in work, youth
:06:53. > :06:57.unemployment is down, long-term unemployment is down, unemployment
:06:58. > :07:01.among women is down. But the Labour leader highlighted what he saw as
:07:02. > :07:05.weaknesses in the latest numbers. It is good that the economy is creating
:07:06. > :07:11.more jobs, but too many of them are part-time, low-paid or insecure. One
:07:12. > :07:14.of those who is part-time but once full-time work is Spencer, who
:07:15. > :07:20.graduated this year and was hoping to land a job, but has so far only
:07:21. > :07:25.managed to get some freelance work. It has been tougher than I expected.
:07:26. > :07:30.I thought I would have a job I now, but it has been difficult. I have
:07:31. > :07:35.had a cup love interviews -- a couple of interviews, but not a paid
:07:36. > :07:40.full-time position yet. Overall, there was positive news for most
:07:41. > :07:43.part of the job market. There is one bit they are watching particularly
:07:44. > :07:47.closely at the Bank of England, the implement rate, the percentage of
:07:48. > :07:51.the work force looking for jobs. The bank says it will not consider
:07:52. > :07:55.raising the cost of borrowing until the implement rate comes down. The
:07:56. > :08:05.Bank of England Governor Mark Carney set out threshold at 7%. It seemed
:08:06. > :08:08.it might take three years for the unemployment rate dropped to 7%.
:08:09. > :08:13.Today we learned it was down to 7.4, lower than expected. So now there is
:08:14. > :08:18.speculation that interest rates could even rise next year. The bank
:08:19. > :08:22.has made clear that it will consider a range of factors before deciding
:08:23. > :08:25.to raise rates. Meanwhile, companies like this can only press on and hope
:08:26. > :08:27.there is no unexpected change to the script.
:08:28. > :08:30.The UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, has said David Cameron's plan to ban EU
:08:31. > :08:34.migrants from claiming benefits in their first three months in the UK
:08:35. > :08:36.is "too little, too late". The government is rushing through
:08:37. > :08:39.legislation, so the ban will apply from one January, when millions of
:08:40. > :08:45.Bulgarians and Romanians will have the right to work in the UK. The
:08:46. > :08:47.prime minister said the move sends out a clear message, as our
:08:48. > :08:55.political editor Nick Robinson reports.
:08:56. > :08:59.They are waiting and watching in Dover. This town is the first stop
:09:00. > :09:08.for many who come to Britain to make this country their new home. Downing
:09:09. > :09:11.Street has announced that restrictions to make new European
:09:12. > :09:14.Union migrants wait three months before they can apply for out of
:09:15. > :09:18.work benefits will come into force on the 1st of January. In two weeks,
:09:19. > :09:23.anyone from Romania and Bulgaria will be a tad come here and work,
:09:24. > :09:28.just as Meyer came from Poland a decade ago. She says new arrivals
:09:29. > :09:34.should wait longer than three months before they can claim benefits.
:09:35. > :09:40.Three months is too short a period. I don't think that will put the ball
:09:41. > :09:45.off coming. It is people's views of the Poles here that often shapes
:09:46. > :09:49.their attitude to the future. There are no jobs for interest people, let
:09:50. > :09:55.alone others. They are hard-working and go for it. People in this town
:09:56. > :09:59.wonder whether today's announcement will make any difference to how many
:10:00. > :10:03.come here. Sceptics say there was no official answer, because it is all
:10:04. > :10:11.really about politics. We don't know if there is a problem. We know that
:10:12. > :10:14.if there is a problem, it is small. It may not be there at all. These
:10:15. > :10:20.look like phantom policies to address a phantom problem . What
:10:21. > :10:23.Israel is public anxiety about immigration, which is why the prime
:10:24. > :10:29.minister has taken to talking about it a lot. Today, immigration
:10:30. > :10:33.officers showed him the scene of a dawn raid on illegal immigrants. 14
:10:34. > :10:38.people were crammed into this three-bedroom West London house. But
:10:39. > :10:41.was today really just for the headlines and cameras? The
:10:42. > :10:46.announcements today make a difference, because there is a right
:10:47. > :10:51.to go and work in another European country, but there should not be a
:10:52. > :10:54.right to just go and claim benefits . The prime minister says he is
:10:55. > :10:58.sending a signal by changing the benefit rules. It is clear that the
:10:59. > :11:03.signal is meant for people here as much as people in Eastern Europe.
:11:04. > :11:09.But dozens of his own backbenchers say that is not enough. What he is
:11:10. > :11:12.proposing, which will probably be found illegal by the European Court,
:11:13. > :11:16.is spitting in the wind when it comes to the problems we face.
:11:17. > :11:20.Today, the Sun called on the government to get tougher and
:11:21. > :11:23.published a poll which suggests that if many more come here, the public
:11:24. > :11:29.would vote to get out of the EU, music to the ears of UKIP. If Mr
:11:30. > :11:33.Cameron wants to regain the trust of the British people, he has to go to
:11:34. > :11:37.Brussels tomorrow and see, we will not end the transitional
:11:38. > :11:41.arrangements and open the doors. Will this Westminster row make much
:11:42. > :11:46.of a difference to who makes it in Dover in two weeks' time? Almost
:11:47. > :11:48.certainly not. For good or for ill, our borders are not about to be
:11:49. > :11:51.closed. Specialist teams are searching a
:11:52. > :11:55.graveyard in Didcot in Oxfordshire in connection with the missing
:11:56. > :11:58.teenager, Jayden Parkinson. Jayden, who is 17, was last seen two weeks
:11:59. > :12:02.ago. Her former boyfriend, 22-year-old Ben Blakeley, has been
:12:03. > :12:08.charged with her murder. Officers say they have secured a specific
:12:09. > :12:11.grave after receiving a tip-off. The search may take several days.
:12:12. > :12:16.Russian MPs have backed an amnesty that may include some of the
:12:17. > :12:19.country's best-known prisoners. It is expected to come into force in
:12:20. > :12:22.the next few days and covers 20,000 prisoners including the protest
:12:23. > :12:25.group Pussy Riot, who could be freed by the new year, and the so-called
:12:26. > :12:31.Arctic 30, including six Britons, who were detained on a Greenpeace
:12:32. > :12:35.ship. They are currently on bail, but can't leave Russia.
:12:36. > :12:38.The brother of a British doctor found dead in a Syrian prison has
:12:39. > :12:42.accused the Foreign Office of not doing enough to help him. Abbas
:12:43. > :12:44.Khan, a surgeon from south London, was arrested in Syria last year
:12:45. > :12:49.after entering the country to help victims of the civil war. The Syrian
:12:50. > :13:02.authorities say he committed suicide. But the Foreign Office says
:13:03. > :13:07.his death amounts to murder. Abbas Khan spent 13 months in Syrian
:13:08. > :13:11.prisons. The British surgeon, father of two children, wrote anguished
:13:12. > :13:15.letters home about his suffering. His family says Britain washed its
:13:16. > :13:21.hands of his case. The Foreign Office treated his case with
:13:22. > :13:25.disrespect. There has been a great deal of inaction. They have rotated
:13:26. > :13:31.the family throughout and dragged their heels for no reason -- they
:13:32. > :13:35.have placated the family. We feel that because he is a British Muslim,
:13:36. > :13:43.he was treated differently from any other member of British society.
:13:44. > :13:47.Britain pulled its diplomats out of Damascus last year. The Foreign
:13:48. > :13:52.Office insists it worked through other embassies here and was in
:13:53. > :13:59.frequent contact with the family. This is a tonic a. Today, the Syrian
:14:00. > :14:05.government released more details of how Doctor Khan died. Self inflict
:14:06. > :14:09.it hanging, no signs of violent struggle or use of force. It says
:14:10. > :14:14.the family did not accept these findings, they could conduct their
:14:15. > :14:18.own autopsy, and offer the family rejected. There was also criticism
:14:19. > :14:22.of Britain from Syria's government. Their deputy foreign minister
:14:23. > :14:25.condemned the politicisation of this issue at the hands of the British
:14:26. > :14:32.prime minister and other officials and demanded that British officials
:14:33. > :14:37.cease their misdirection and exploitation of this human issue to
:14:38. > :14:41.serve British political interests. A war of words between London and
:14:42. > :14:45.Damascus is escalating, but what will be the political fallout?
:14:46. > :14:48.Resident Assad managed to emerge even stronger after the chemical
:14:49. > :14:55.weapons attacks in August, widely blamed on his forces. So what will
:14:56. > :15:01.be the diplomatic amateur for the death of a British surgeon? Abbas
:15:02. > :15:06.Khan says he entered Syria trying to save lives in the northern city of
:15:07. > :15:07.Aleppo. His tragic death is now part of a much bigger battle between
:15:08. > :15:20.Syria and the West. Our top story: The former
:15:21. > :15:24.Lostprophet singer Ian Watkins is sentenced to 35 years for offences
:15:25. > :15:29.against children. An apple a day can really keep the
:15:30. > :15:33.doctor away! In Sportsday: England cricket coach
:15:34. > :15:38.Andy Flower is refusing to be drawn on his future following England's
:15:39. > :15:40.Ashes defeat. He says he won't make any decisions until the end of the
:15:41. > :15:51.five-match series. The homeless charity, Crisis, says
:15:52. > :15:55.they're preparing to feed and shelter more people than ever before
:15:56. > :15:59.this Christmas. From Monday, they'll have 9,000 volunteers serving up
:16:00. > :16:03.food over the festive season. And for the first time, they're opening
:16:04. > :16:07.a centre in Edinburgh. New figures show that in the last three years in
:16:08. > :16:11.England, there's been a 34% rise in the number of people left homeless.
:16:12. > :16:15.In London it's almost double that - with a 62% increase in those
:16:16. > :16:18.sleeping rough. Crisis say they are expecting to feed 4,000 people over
:16:19. > :16:23.Christmas at their centres in London, Edinburgh and Newcastle.
:16:24. > :16:30.Jeremy Cooke has been talking to some of those living rough on the
:16:31. > :16:34.streets of London. A Northern lad alone on the streets
:16:35. > :16:40.of the capital. Graham is from Carlisle. We found him homeless in
:16:41. > :16:44.Victoria - frightened. It is terrible. Awake all night, sleep
:16:45. > :16:49.through the day, if you can get to sleep through the day. You are just
:16:50. > :16:53.walking about, really. We are interrupted. A reminder that out
:16:54. > :16:58.here violence is never far away. He's been beaten up. He is bleeding
:16:59. > :17:02.and confused. REPORTER: Why don't you go home,
:17:03. > :17:07.Graham? I haven't got a home, mate. He won't sleep until the safety of
:17:08. > :17:11.daylight. We are moving, too. To Westminster, the heart of the
:17:12. > :17:15.capital. The homeless numbers are rising across the country. Worst in
:17:16. > :17:21.London. The number of rough sleepers here has increased by more than 60%
:17:22. > :17:25.in two years. In each bundle, in each door way, there is a person, a
:17:26. > :17:30.unique life story. REPORTER: Would you mind if I join
:17:31. > :17:37.you for a second? Sit right down there. I stink, though! Alcohol is
:17:38. > :17:47.my problem. That is my problem. I've got cirrhosis of the liver. I'm
:17:48. > :17:52.still drinking. It's all too familiar to outreach worker Becky
:17:53. > :18:00.Winter. Little pockets of chaos and sadness... She deals with the street
:18:01. > :18:04.sleepers. She knows mental health issues drives this face of
:18:05. > :18:08.homelessness. Every time you put someone on the pile, another one
:18:09. > :18:12.falls off! This is a small part of the big picture. High and rising
:18:13. > :18:17.rents are now forcing more and more people to leave their homes. It is
:18:18. > :18:20.the speed of decline into homelessness which can be so
:18:21. > :18:25.shocking. A year ago, Tony lost his job as a night porter and the
:18:26. > :18:30.accommodation that went with it. Within weeks, he was sleeping rough.
:18:31. > :18:34.You don't expect that. It is not something that any normal human
:18:35. > :18:38.being would expect to experience. REPORTER: People are pretty tough.
:18:39. > :18:43.They say you should have managed yourself better, come? They can say
:18:44. > :18:47.that, but the reality is it is hard. And there's a saying that you are
:18:48. > :18:52.one wage packet away from homelessness. That applies to us
:18:53. > :18:58.all. A sobering thought, especially out here, with the festive season
:18:59. > :19:03.meaning little more than cold and lonely nights.
:19:04. > :19:06.Councils in England have been told that the amount of money they will
:19:07. > :19:10.get from the Government next year will be cut by almost 3%. Ministers
:19:11. > :19:14.say the settlement is fair to all parts of the country and they called
:19:15. > :19:18.for more efforts to tackle waste. It gives councils an average of just
:19:19. > :19:24.over ?2,000 per household. Mike Sergeant reports from Newcastle.
:19:25. > :19:28.Newcastle thinks it's had a raw deal, as do many of the big cities
:19:29. > :19:32.in England. Today, the council leader got an e-mail saying the
:19:33. > :19:36.budget would shrink again next year. When I saw the figure, my heart
:19:37. > :19:39.sank. This raises some serious questions about the long-term
:19:40. > :19:43.viability of local government. It is not just bad news for Newcastle, it
:19:44. > :19:48.is bad news for most councils around the country. Amanda Dyer lost her
:19:49. > :19:51.job at Newcastle Council this year. Unemployment may be falling
:19:52. > :19:55.nationally, but in local government it is a different story. We knew
:19:56. > :19:59.there were going to be some cuts, but we didn't think they would be as
:20:00. > :20:01.severe as deleting a whole service that had been around for a long
:20:02. > :20:05.time. REPORTER: What did you think when
:20:06. > :20:12.they told you? Absolute devastation. Services are under pressure, too. A
:20:13. > :20:16.long campaign to keep the City Pool open-ended in failure. This is a
:20:17. > :20:20.stark illustration of how the moon knee -- the money has been drained
:20:21. > :20:26.out of some parts of local government. In many areas, services
:20:27. > :20:32.have been maintained, or improved, despite reductions in funding. And
:20:33. > :20:36.Ministers said today was a good news today. This year's settlement is
:20:37. > :20:41.fair to all parts of the country, rural or urban, district or county,
:20:42. > :20:47.city or shire. Councils can deliver sensible savings while protecting
:20:48. > :20:52.frontline services. Many communities are already finding new ways to keep
:20:53. > :20:56.moving. A Newcastle dance centre has had to find other sources of funding
:20:57. > :21:00.as the council money disappears. The Government wants all local
:21:01. > :21:04.authorities to keep council tax down and keep the most important services
:21:05. > :21:09.going. That may not be possible everywhere.
:21:10. > :21:12.The Bank of England is to issue plastic bank notes in 2016 after
:21:13. > :21:16.more than 300 years of paper currency. The polymer notes are said
:21:17. > :21:21.to be cleaner, more durable and harder to counterfeit. The ?5 note
:21:22. > :21:28.with Winston Churchill on it will be first in circulation, followed by
:21:29. > :21:31.the ?10 note featuring Jane Austen. One of Britain's most notorious
:21:32. > :21:36.criminals, Ronnie Biggs, has died at the age of 84. He was jailed for his
:21:37. > :21:41.part in the ?2.5 million Great Train Robbery of 1963. After escaping from
:21:42. > :21:45.prison, Biggs spent more than 30 years on the run - most of it in
:21:46. > :21:51.Brazil - before returning to Britain and jail in 2001. Duncan Kennedy
:21:52. > :21:56.reports. The singing scoundrel, Ronnie Biggs
:21:57. > :22:02.rocking it in Rio in his years as Britain's most notorious fugitive.
:22:03. > :22:07.He was one of the 15-strong gang who stopped the Glasgow to London mail
:22:08. > :22:14.train in August 1963 and robbed it of ?2 million. Equivalent to ?40
:22:15. > :22:17.million today. Biggs' role was to provide the driver to move the train
:22:18. > :22:21.that the gang had stopped down there to this point here. The trouble was
:22:22. > :22:26.the man he came up with simply couldn't do it so someone in the
:22:27. > :22:31.gang hit the real driver Jack Mills and forced him to move the loco to
:22:32. > :22:37.this point while the rest of the gang off-loaded the money. The next
:22:38. > :22:43.thing I remember I was on my knees on the floor. Mills never recovered.
:22:44. > :22:48.Within weeks, most including Biggs were picked up and were later jailed
:22:49. > :22:53.for up to 30 years. In keeping with the audacity of the crime, Biggs
:22:54. > :22:57.made a pantomime escape from Wandsworth Prison by scaling the
:22:58. > :23:04.wall and jumping down into a waiting truck. He ended up in Brazil, but
:23:05. > :23:09.his ?150,000 cut from the robbery soon ran out so he turned himself
:23:10. > :23:18.into a celebrity criminal, relishing and embellishing his minor role in
:23:19. > :23:22.the heist with no remorse. It's given me a little place in history,
:23:23. > :23:28.shall we say? I have made a mark for myself. For admirers, it was Biggs'
:23:29. > :23:34.establishment-stubbing charm that helped manufacture his cheeky chappy
:23:35. > :23:37.image. It didn't matter if it was a police officer, another crook, or
:23:38. > :23:54.some rock star, they fell in awe of this guy who had no heirs and
:23:55. > :23:58.graces. Ill-health forced him home. He was a criminal part of a violent
:23:59. > :24:02.gang and the Great Train Robbery was an unpleasant crime in which real
:24:03. > :24:09.people were hurt and stolen of their property. By coincidence, the BBC is
:24:10. > :24:15.screening this film tonight. Unlike the raid itself, the drama gives
:24:16. > :24:19.Biggs a walk-on part. Rogue, or rascal? Ronnie Biggs, seen here
:24:20. > :24:24.earlier this year, was a villain of the old school, a chancer who ended
:24:25. > :24:32.up in an iconic robbery and a small corner of criminal history.
:24:33. > :24:36.An apple a day keeps the doctor away - that's what millions of us were
:24:37. > :24:40.taught as children. And it turns out it may well be true. Researchers say
:24:41. > :24:43.that if everyone over the age of 50 ate one a day, 8,500 deaths from
:24:44. > :24:54.heart attacks and strokes could be avoided every year in the UK. Jon
:24:55. > :24:59.Kay has been finding out more. So the proof of the proverb is in
:25:00. > :25:03.the eating. At this market in Somerset today, news that the
:25:04. > :25:09.Victorians seem to have been right. Lovely. Six of those. It is an old
:25:10. > :25:13.wife's tale. Apple a day keeps the doctor away. We had free milk when
:25:14. > :25:16.we were children, so why not a free apple? Cut down on the pills and eat
:25:17. > :25:18.more fruit. REPORTER: Are you buying fruit? I
:25:19. > :25:24.am. REPORTER: Are you buying apples
:25:25. > :25:28.today? Yes. You will live forever! Hopefully! Researchers from Oxford
:25:29. > :25:33.University claim that if you are over 50, an apple a day can give you
:25:34. > :25:37.the same kind of health benefits as statins, the drugs commonly given to
:25:38. > :25:41.reduce cholesterol. The scientists aren't saying stop taking the
:25:42. > :25:45.tablets, but they are saying it's further proof that we should all be
:25:46. > :25:50.eating more fruit. If everybody over the age of 50 were to eat an extra
:25:51. > :25:55.apple a day, it would reduce the number of deaths from heart attacks
:25:56. > :26:02.and strokes by 8,500. Researchers looked at apples because they
:26:03. > :26:05.contain antioxidants and health-boosting compounds. There is
:26:06. > :26:10.no reason why other types of fruit couldn't be just as good for us.
:26:11. > :26:14.But, despite public health campaigns, two-thirds of us still
:26:15. > :26:18.aren't having the recommended five a day. And 10% of us don't eat any
:26:19. > :26:26.fruit and veg at all. That includes older people. As you get older, you
:26:27. > :26:30.don't eat so healthy, or I don't. It is the fact of getting it and
:26:31. > :26:38.cooking it and things like that, you know. Five a day? No. Not five. No.
:26:39. > :26:43.Christ, if I had five a day, I wouldn't have time to do anything
:26:44. > :26:47.else! Scientists say it is not just that apples are good for us, but
:26:48. > :26:53.eating one fills us up so we are less likely to snack on junk
:26:54. > :26:56.instead. Time for a look at the weather.
:26:57. > :26:59.There's some terrible weather heading to the UK?
:27:00. > :27:06.Yes, the weather has been going downhill all day, Sophie. A
:27:07. > :27:11.combination of some potentially damaging winds and a short spell of
:27:12. > :27:19.heavy, almost hoR don tall rain. It's all -- horizontal rain. It's
:27:20. > :27:22.all driven by this area of low pressure. Squally winds, together
:27:23. > :27:28.with that heavy rain sweeping through. We have the amber wind
:27:29. > :27:30.warning for the Met Office. Gusts of 80mph, possibly more. Maybe the
:27:31. > :27:33.worst of the winds should have cleared all but the Northern Isles
:27:34. > :27:37.by the morning. The rain will have gone. Then a different sort of day.
:27:38. > :27:41.Still windy, sunshine and showers. Wintry showers and not just in the
:27:42. > :27:45.north. We will see a lot of sleet and snow showers coming in to the
:27:46. > :27:51.North West of Scotland and across Northern Ireland. Not many showers
:27:52. > :27:53.probably across Argyll Bute, more particularly across Dumfries and
:27:54. > :27:57.Galloway and the Borders. We will see a lot of dry weather across the
:27:58. > :28:01.eastern side of England and through the Midlands with some sunshine.
:28:02. > :28:04.More showers to the west and those are getting more organised later in
:28:05. > :28:07.the afternoon. It will feel cold everywhere. We have to keep an eye
:28:08. > :28:12.on this band here. It is a mixture of rain, hail and some snow. Not
:28:13. > :28:17.just snow up over the hills as well. It leaves Wales behind, runs across
:28:18. > :28:19.Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, through the Midlands, possibly further south.
:28:20. > :28:22.Don't be surprised if there is some snow falling for the rush hour
:28:23. > :28:27.tomorrow. More snow showers in the north and maybe some icy patches on
:28:28. > :28:31.Friday morning. We start dry and bright across England and Wales. It
:28:32. > :28:34.will turn wet and windy across Scotland and Northern Ireland. The
:28:35. > :28:38.reason why - yet another big area of low pressure. It will drive wet and
:28:39. > :28:42.windy weather southwards across the whole of the UK, during the second
:28:43. > :28:45.half of Friday. It continues very wet in the south on Saturday.
:28:46. > :28:50.Further north, sunshine and showers and blustery winds. There is no
:28:51. > :28:53.let-up. Thank you. That is all from the BBC News at Six. Goodbye. Now we
:28:54. > :28:54.join the