17/01/2014 BBC News at Six

concern is growing. We need to look at the wide range of possibilities

of what might have happened. It is of grave concern that such a young

child has been missing for such a long time.

Mikaeel Kular has been missing since Wednesday night when his mother put

him to bed. Officers say there was a possible sighting of him yesterday

morning but it's not confirmed. Also tonight, Ed Miliband pledges to

break up the big high street banks if Labour wins the next election.

The pensioner who might have lived if he hadn't been left waiting over

40 minutes for an ambulance. The otter pups and other wildlife

struggling to survive, as flooding continues to devastate parts of the

UK. And the Japanese soldier who refused

to believe World War II was over, and fought on for 29 years, has

died. On BBC London: Thousands of

commuters are left stranded after disruption to services in and out of

St Pancras. And the legal row which has blocked

the government turning a school into an academy.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News At Six.

Hundreds of police officers on foot, on horseback, with sniffer dogs and

helicopters, all helped by local volunteers, are searching for the

missing three-year-old Mikaeel Kular. The police say they are

investigating the possibility he may have gone missing following what

they call a "criminal act". There has been a potential sighting of the

boy at 8.30 yesterday morning, but it's not been confirmed as him. The

police have praised the local community spirit but say they are

deeply concerned. There has been no confirmed sighting of Mikaeel since

he was put to bed by his mother two days ago at their home in Edinburgh.

In the hunt for the little boy, all police forces have been put on alert

across the UK. Our Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon has the

very latest for us in Edinburgh now. A countrywide alert, but the focus

of that search still remains very much centred on the area around

Mikaeel's home in the north of Edinburgh, and police are adamant

that community help here is vital. Dei two in the search for Mikaeel

Kular. Hundreds of volunteers responded to an appeal for help. The

young, those with families, mothers with their prams. If that was

yourself, you would hope that everybody else would be doing the

same for you. With mums, it really hits home when kids go missing.

Searchers, standing shoulder to shoulder, dressed for the weather.

Some doing their job, others donating their time and energy.

Police have organised locals into this systematic search of the

Edinburgh shoreline. It was checked carefully for clues yesterday, but

once again they are sweeping the area, slowly, carefully, looking for

any signs, any indication as to where Mikaeel has gone. On one

side, the city, and the other, the fourth. Fanning out across the

foreshore, searching shrub land and trees. I will stay as long as I am

needed to might. To find the little boy. Side. What do we know so far?

Mikaeel Kular was last seen when his mother put into bed at nine o'clock

on Wednesday evening. The next morning, he had vanished. Police

began searching for him shortly afterwards and by yesterday

afternoon a UK -wide appeal for information was issued. Police are

investigating claims that a child matching Mikaeel's description was

seen on this street on the morning he disappeared, and they are keeping

an open mind about why he went missing. It is, however, entirely

possible that Mikaeel has become the subject of a criminal act. And our

investigation has been established as a twin track, to ensure that that

eventuality is being and will be fully explored. At Mikaeel's

Nursery, parents expressed their shock. He is in my son's class. I

can't imagine going through that, getting up and not finding him

there. It is just awful. It seems surreal, observed that a little boy

could walk out of the house. My son is the same age and there is no way

he could get his coat and his shoes on. From fliers handed out locally

to digital billboards across Britain, Mikaeel's images

everywhere. There is grave concern that this little boy has now been

missing for almost 48 hours, and his family are desperate to get him

home. With the police talking about the

possibility of a criminal act, does this mark a change in emphasis in

the investigation? I think more information is slowly coming from

the police but they are keen to emphasise that they are keeping an

open mind. There is nothing to confirm either way why Mikaeel has

gone missing. Their priority, of course, is to find them -- the

little boy. They are also trying to work out whether someone else was

involved in his disappearance. He is just three years old, two feet tall.

They will be trying to ascertain whether he has the strength to open

the door in the secure building behind me, where he lived, with a

secure entry system. They will be trying to work out whether he could

have left of his own accord, or whether someone else was involved.

Some more details on the timeline this evening. They say Mikaeel has

not been seen at his nursery since Christmas because of a poorly chest.

So we know a little more about the past couple of weeks. It is what has

happened over the past 48 hours that they are now trying to work out.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has outlined his plans to break up

Britain's high street banks if his party wins the next election. He

says it's time for a "reckoning" with the industry, and that a Labour

government would create at least two so-called "challenger banks", by

forcing some of the Big Five to sell off branches. The government says

it's done that already. Our political editor, Nick Robinson,

reports. Please welcome Ed Miliband. A movie

star entrance for the Labour leader today, staged a party determined to

present him as man enough to stage a showdown with Britain's vested

interests. We need a reckoning with our banks, not for retribution, but

for reform. That word, reckoning, is the one that they use in the movies

when there is a list of misdeeds to avenge. Misdeeds that Ed Miliband

listed. Insecure jobs, house prices out of reach, bills too high, thanks

not serving the real economy, and David Cameron and George Osborne one

congratulations how well they are doing. The return of economic

growth, he said, would not solve those problems. If they really

believe that a few months of better statistics are going to solve the

cost of living crisis, they only go to show they have absolutely no clue

about the scale of the problem, or the scale of the solutions required.

And today's big Labour solution is a plan to break up Britain's August

banks. In Britain, 85% of the small-business lending market is

controlled by just format the banks. -- by just four banks. That is one

of the most concentrated patterns of ownership in the world. So what is

his plan for the reckoning with the big banks? A Labour government, he

said, would order an immediate enquiry by competition authorities.

A new cap would come on the size that any bank could reach. The aim

would be to create two big new competitor banks, challenger banks.

Watching the Labour leader in Essex, the boss and the workers of a small

IT firm which struggled to raise the funds they needed to expand their

business. He talked a lot of sense today, as to what he would do, and

tackling the banks and tackling lending to small businesses is

crucial. Very crucial. I think a lot of it could be rhetoric, just giving

us what we want to hear. And I am quite sceptical. The Prime

Minister, and a visit to a road scheme in Norfolk insisted that the

coalition was already acting to produce more banking competition. We

have been clearing up the mess made by balls and sorting out our banking

system, and it is much stronger than Labour. What really need is a whole

new plan. I certainly agree we need competition to support business in

the recovery, but he is not reinventing the wheel. We have

already created two challenger banks out of RBS and Lloyds. At this

London brewery, Ed Miliband heard a welcome for his banking plan.

Tonight, perhaps he will raise a glass to one more eye-catching

policy announcement which he will hope the electorate like the taste

of. Great, really nice. Given the anger of many voters, the next

election is sure to be what they call it the movies a day of the

canning. The fight is over who it will be with. Will it be, as the

Labour leadership hope, with the powerful banks and the energy

companies, or as the Tories wish, with Labour's record?

A woman who accuses the Coronation Street actor William Roache of

raping her has told Preston Crown Court she was so humiliated she kept

it a secret. She told the jury that the actor, who is 81, raped her

twice at his homes in Lancashire in 1967. Mr Roache denies two counts of

rape and five counts of indecent assault. The trial continues.

A soldier who killed his 20-month-old daughter after

surviving an attack in Afghanistan in which five of his fellow soldiers

died has been jailed for six years. Lance Corporal Liam Culverhouse, who

was a Grenadier Guardsman, admitted causing the death of Khloe Abrams at

an earlier hearing. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale joins

me from outside the court. This is a deeply distressing case, and one in

which the judge said Post traumatic stress disorder played a part. Yes,

Liam Culverhouse's lawyer said he had never properly been treated for

that. That said, the judge when he was sentencing made the point that

despite his injuries, mental and physical, from Afghanistan, he was

still culpable for the death of baby Khloe. We heard that Liam

Culverhouse had a violent temper, but also expressed concern about

being left alone with his children. Baby Khloe was taken to hospital at

seven weeks old, suffering from multiple fractures to her skull, her

limbs and her body. And we now know that she is somebody who died in

that incident. Now, we are told there is a serious case review going

on at this moment which will seriously ask some of those

questions about why the warning signs weren't picked up earlier.

Thank you very much. An inquest has heard that a man who

died after waiting 42 minutes for an ambulance to arrive might have

survived if paramedics had reached him earlier. 74-year-old Fred Pring,

from Flintshire, lay dying while his wife called 999 four times. It's

emerged an ambulance had been stuck at the local hospital for nearly

five hours waiting to drop off a patient. Our correspondent Sian

Lloyd reports. Fred Pring was described as a quiet

family man who had to leave the gardening job he loved when his

health began to fail. He had a serious heart condition but still

enjoyed going out and about. They were good times, although they did

not last long enough, because obviously that was the last couple

of years of his life. In the early hours of the 21st of March last

year, he suffered severe chest pains and his wife called for an

ambulance. It was awful watching him in such pain and struggling for

breath. And he kept telling me to get them to hurry up, which, you

know, it's just sort of not much you can do except ring. And they just

didn't come. The inquest heard recordings of four calls Mrs Pring

made to the Welsh Ambulance Service. In the first call, the operator told

Mrs Pring, we are organising help. Ten minutes later, Mrs Pring sounded

very anxious. The operator said, they are coming as quickly as they

can. Mr Pring's groans of pain could clearly be heard. His wife said, he

is in agony. At 1:38am, Mrs Pring phoned again. He is barely

breathing, she said. The operator replied, I am organising help for

you. It will be there as soon as it can. At 1:51am she made the final

call. It's too late, he's gone, she said. The chief executive of the

Ambulance Service told the inquest it had underperformed and promised

it is making improvements. He has previously apologised to Mrs Pring.

We can't give a comment today because we haven't had the verdict

from the coroner. We'll see his report and we will comment on

Monday. The Welsh Ambulance Service said because of delays in getting

patients out of ambulances and into A units, including this one in

Wrexham, they simply did not have enough ambulances to get to Mr Pring

on time. Six vehicles were waiting outside the hospital. One suffered

almost a five-hour delay. Other crews were on non-disturber bull

meal breaks. In Wales, patient transfer times into a and E are the

longest in the UK. The Ambulance Service has constantly struggled to

meet its target of responding to calls within eight minutes. The

coroner will record its findings on Mr Pring's death on Monday.

Our top story this evening. As hundreds join the search for the

missing three-year-old Mikaeel Kular, police say he may have gone

missing following a criminal act. A new manager for the England

women's football team. We go behind the scenes at their winter training

camp. Later on BBC London. A claim that

disabled passengers struggle to access the Tube because of staff

shortages. And London's only hope in Europe. We

join Saracens in training for their Heineken Cup clash this weekend.

Now to the bad weather which has battered the country over recent

weeks. The storms have left local councils struggling to repair the

damage to roads. They've estimated the bill at ?400 million in England

and Wales alone. And there's no let up, it seems. There was more misery

for commuters this morning. These drivers in Essex were struggling

through flood water. Now the BBC has seen the first major study, by the

Environment Agency, of the impact on some of Britain's most important

wildlife habitats. 48 sites of special scientific interest have

been severely affected. It's thought it's the worst damage ever recorded.

Our science editor, David Shukman, explains.

Seal pups in a rescue centre, separated from their mother by a

violent tidal surge. Now cared for by the RSPCA, these pups are lucky

survivors. An unknown number were swept away. Baby otters, find --

found on a road, also believed to be victims of flooding. And on the

Norfolk coast, the RSPB filmed one of the many birds that didn't get

away. What's emerging is how wildlife has suffered in this winter

of storms. This is worse than anything we have ever seen before.

This tidal surge was the highest ever recorded in many parts. The

impact these wildlife sites is, in some cases, devastating. Up and down

the coast, nature reserves have been ruined. Sea water now flows through

breaches in the flood defences. This wrecked embankment is just one of

countless examples of the damage. Even now, the full extent isn't

known. This is one of many places where the sea has just punched a

hole right through the defences. Salt water now lies in what used to

be a freshwater habitat. There are hundreds of breaches like this

around the country, so tough choices lie ahead about where to repair and

where to give up. A nature reserve like this depends on freshwater to

survive. So where sea water has flooded in, plants, insects and fish

that make up the ecosystem are all put at risk. The big worry is what

this means for the famous bird life here. Some birds can adapt, but

others rely on the food chain provided by freshwater. It's not

just about losing some invisible insects. It is about losing the base

of a pyramid that includes all the other species as well. Nature has a

way of bouncing back, but we will not know for sure just how quickly.

Repairs to a broken barrier. This is to guard houses, not wildlife.

There's a limited budget, and not everything can be protected. Marie

Strong is the County Council for the area and she said that the priority

for flood defences are clear. The first priority has to be homes and

businesses, because that is people's livelihood. But so does the

wildlife. Around here, that has an effect on tourism, so that does has

to follow. Wildlife can be resilient, but the challenge this

winter has been exceptional, and it's not over yet.

President Obama has announced changes to the way the US gathers

its intelligence. In a speech in Washington, he said surveillance had

helped America repel threats for decades, but there needed to be

checks and balances to make sure the liberties of ordinary people were

not sacrificed. He said US agents should no longer be able to store

details about millions of calls, texts and emails.

The bottom line is that people around the world, regardless of

their nationality, should know that the United States is not spying on

ordinary people who don't threaten our national security. We take their

privacy concerns into account in our policies and procedures. This

applies to foreign leaders as well. And our North America editor, Mark

Mardell, joins me from Washington. This is presumably President Obama

trying to draw a line under the concerns about America's spying?

Well, he's trying to, but rather than put a lid on it, he's given the

pot of vigorous star. He's trying to be balanced and judicious. He's

saying the US must try to carry on collecting this huge amount of

information for its national-security. There haven't

been abuses, he says, but he can see why people are not happy. So he's

going to stop the current programme, and replace it by... Well, that's

the bit he didn't get to. He's given his Attorney-General 60 days to come

up with some fresh ideas. Then it will go to Congress. This whole

debate will carry on. In the meantime, he does hope that people

will be reassured by his general tone, saying that privacy is

important. But we haven't got the actual details yet.

Prince Harry is to take up a new role in the army as a staff officer,

after completing his current attachment flying attack

helicopters. He'll be based at Horse Guards in London. Captain Wales' new

responsibilities will include helping to organise major ceremonial

events such as state visits and Trooping the Colour.

Now to women's football, where England have their first new manager

for 15 years, and are hoping for a fresh start. They've played their

first match under their new boss, Mark Sampson, drawing 1-1 against

Norway in Spain. Our sports correspondent, Natalie Pirks, has

been with the squad at their training camp in La Manga.

A New Year, a new dawn for England's within. This is the first

chance Mark Sampson has had to meet all his new players, to get to know

them, to set out his specific vision of how his lionesses should act.

With great passion, pride, commitment. These things are

non-negotiable. We are at the start of a really exciting journey. We are

looking forward to the challenges we know we're going to face. Last

summer's European championship was a challenge to far for Hope Powell.

For 15 years, she ruled over the women's team, but when they failed

to win a single game in the tournament, she was gone. Women's

football had moved on, and left England trailing in its wake. The FA

have put over ?8 million into women's football, to make sure

England are at the level of other nations. The support over in America

is on another level. It's a different life. Those girls are

number one in the world, and they get great coverage. They are like

rock stars. Young girls have these role models out there, and I hope

England can get towards that. I hope to help do that. Most of her

team-mates must still work and study elsewhere to get -- to make ends

meet, even taking time of two travel with England. As the game evolves,

that is starting to change. Nice and brave. Let's go! Their training camp

ended with a friendly against last year's European finalists. But even

as late Norwegian equaliser couldn't stop Sampson leaving Spain happy,

happy that the commitment looked in safe hands.

A Japanese soldier who refused to surrender after the end of World War

Two and spent 29 more years continuing the fight alone has died

aged 91. Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda finally accepted the war was over in

1974, but only after he was persuaded to come out of the

Philippine jungle by his former commanding officer. Rupert

Wingfield-Hayes reports from Tokyo. This is the moment, in March 1974,

when lieutenancy wrote in odour -- lieutenants Hiroo Onoda finally

walked out of the Philippine jungle. 29 years after the end of World War

Two. For nearly three decades, he had resisted all attempts to

persuade him the war was over. Leaflets were dropped from the air,

messages broadcast over megaphones, all to no avail. Finally, his

wartime commander flew to the Philippines, walked into the jungle,

and ordered Lieutenant Governor odour to -- Lieutenant Onoda to come

out of the jungle. He explains why it took him so long. I was ordered

to conduct gorilla warfare and not to die. I had to follow orders. In

Tokyo, Lieutenant Onoda was met by cheering crowds. At the bottom of

the steps, his elderly parents. The last time they'd seen their son he

was 22 years old. Now he was 52. The surrender made headlines around the

world, and he was welcomed home as a hero. But the Japan he'd returned to

had completely changed. The emperor was no longer the god he'd promised

to die for, and Tokyo had become a massive metropolis of 20 million

people. He didn't like it at all. A year later, he headed to Brazil,

where he bought a cattle ranch. But he came back to Japan often, and 90,

he was still teaching schoolchildren his secrets of. Lieutenant Onoda was

the last relic of a lost age. To some fanatics, and to many more, a

hero. Time for a look at the weather.

The heavy showers that brought the flooding earlier are fading away,

but instead, we are looking at this cloud in the west, and this cloud

coming up from northern France to bring some rain overnight. As that

cloud moves northwards, we will not get too much rain in the south-east,

but as the night goes on, the rain in Wales and the South West will

develop more widely and will turn heavy. Ahead of that advancing cloud

and rain, the northern half of the UK could see some frost, missed and

ice. Rain continues on and off for most of the day in Wales and the

South West of England. It will be quite wet in Northern Ireland. The

eastern side of England will turn dry in the afternoon. The rain sets

in through the afternoon across central and southern parts of

Scotland, and some heavy rain at times in Northern Ireland. After

some patchy rain moves northwards across the eastern side of England,

the afternoon will be dry but rather cloudy. Rain on and off across Wales

and the south-west. We could get over an inch of rain, which could

lead to some localised flooding. The rain clears away to Northern

Ireland, then we will see this belt of rain pushing eastwards overnight,

bringing clearer skies for Wales, the west Midlands and the West

Country. The rain by Sunday is sitting in the north-east of

Scotland. We will see a view sharp showers in Wales, Northern Ireland

and the far south-west, but for many, a brighter day. Could well be

the best day of the weekend. Saturday, the risk of some heavy

rain, particularly in the western side of the UK. Sunday, some

sunshine and a few showers out to the west.

Just time to bring you up-to-date on our top story, and the continuing

search for the missing Edinburgh three roles, Mikaeel Kular. Robert

Hall is at the police station where the search is being co-ordinated.

On the one hand, you have a search for a missing person. You saw these

hundreds of volunteers today, who turned up after an appeal by the

police this morning. Perhaps more than the police would have wanted.

They spent the day in very difficult conditions, alongside professional

teams, searching near Mikaeel Kular's home. Then you have the

growing intensity of more resources coming in. The deputy Chief

Constable talking tonight about the possibility of criminality. Up until

now, they said they had no evidence of a criminal act. They are bringing

in more detectives, more uniform search teams. We have a collective

effort and will to achieve a breakthrough here, but as yet,

despite all that, the news that they want has eluded both the police and

Mikaeel Kular's community. That's all