14/05/2014 BBC News at Six

The death toll in the Turkish mine disaster rises -

The death toll in the Turkish mine a hundred and 20 still trapped.

Rescuers have brought some out alive but hopes are fading for those men

still stuck far below ground. Is he alive or dead? That is all I want to

know. We need one piece of hope. We'll bring you the latest from the

mine in western Turkey where relatives face another agonising

night of waiting. Also tonight: The teenage cancer

sufferer Stephen Sutton whose fundraising efforts inspired people

worldwide has died. Unemployment falls to a five year

low but interest rates are unlikely to rise for some time yet.

A former journalist at the News of the World admits hacking Kate's

phone 155 times when she was dating William.

And controversy at Cannes. The film about Grace Kelly that's been

criticised by her family and the critics.

On BBC London: He groomed teenage girls on Facebook but escaped jail.

Now Timothy stories sentence could be reviewed.

?50,000 for the family of a murdered man in their battle against police

corruption. Good evening. The Government in

Turkey has declared three days of national mourning after nearly 250

miners were killed in an explosion and fire at a coal mine in the West

of the country. A further 120 are thought to be still trapped inside.

It's not known whether they are alive or dead. Carbon monoxide

poisoning killed many of the miners after a power unit blew up two

kilometres underground, shutting down ventilation systems. Oxygen is

now being pumped into the mine and rescue teams are still searching for

survivors. Hundreds of worried relatives have gathered for the

agonising wait for news of their loved ones but hopes are fading for

those left underground. Our correspondent James Reynolds has

spent the day at the mine in Soma. Some of the images in his piece are

distressing. The earth of western Turkey gives up

its survivors slowly. This morning rescuers saved if you miners from

the fire below. It began when a power unit exploded deep

underground. For the past 24 hours we have been waiting hopefully to

get our friends out alive. That is all that we wish. At night rescuers

found the first bodies. Many of these miners choked on carbon

monoxide. More than 100 of their fellow workers may still be trapped.

This woman's husband is underground. God help us, she cries. She has

joined dozens of mining families in the grounds of the hospital. Here

they wait. My son was two months from retirement, she tells me. He

plans to come back home and settled. This family is waiting for news of

their 26-year-old grandson. If he alive or dead? That is all we want

to know. We need one piece of hope. For these family members, this has

become a vigil. They are desperate to find out what has happened to the

miners still trapped underground and there is nowhere else for them to

go. Rescue teams continued to look for the lost miners using all the

technology they could find. But they have yet to break through. The

mind's owners insist that it passed all of its safety checks. Words that

will mean little to those inspecting this overnight tomb. What more do we

know about what caused the accident and how difficult will it be to

reach the miners trapped underground? David Shukman has been

looking at the options. A minor stunned that he is still alive, his

father overwhelmed with relief. This is a disaster on an horrific scale.

The miners emerging from underground are lucky ones. Among the tears, and

hopes for better news, a mounting sense of anger that this was ever

allowed to happen. Protests against the Government erupted in several

parts of Turkey. Had been warnings about safety at the mine a few weeks

ago. Feelings are running extremely high. The mining company said it

passed recent inspections, but right now that is not helping. Thousands

of people have gathered at the entrance to the mine. The nightmare

is the obstacle standing in the way of rescuing survivors. The mine is

deep and nobody can be sure where people are trapped. Most seriously,

the power supply was cut off, putting the lifts and lights out of

action. The ventilation system has stock, which is critically

important. They are pumping in fresh air but oxygen levels have dropped

because oxygen is getting sucked in. The lack of ventilation also means

that levels of carbon monoxide have been writing, which is potentially

toxic. And all the time, the smoke build-up reduces visibility. Mining

experts say it can be avoided. With decent ventilation, measures to

control coal dust, which involves putting stone dust into the mine,

all very well known for decades now. And there is no reason other than

incompetence why coal mining should lead to this sort of death toll in

this day and age. Amid the trauma and the grief, the mining company is

adamant that it maintained high standards of safety. The

investigation is now being launched will put that to the test as the

full scale of the horror unfolds. David Shukman, BBC News.

James Reynolds is in Soma now. It is still a very confusing picture at

the mine. It is not clear how many people are trapped below ground and

whether they are alive or dead. We simply don't know that. All we can

do is watch what is going on on the hillside

do is watch what is going on on the rescue operation behind me. We see

several ambulances and occasional bursts of activity. Then for a long

time with the people sitting around on plastic chairs not doing very

much. Certainly no word has reached the families of any more survivors.

No word has reached them of anymore confirmed victims. Families simply

sit and wait. What is fascinating is this. In the last few minutes

wafting up the hill has been the sound of chanting, families

targeting against the Government, saying they should resign. This is a

test for the country's Prime Minister. He wants to stay in power

for many more years and how he acts right now could define that

ambition. Families certainly want him to do much more. What we have

learned about disasters in recent years is this. When everybody else

loses hope, it is the families that will continue to have hope until the

bodies come out. Thank you. Unemployment has fallen to its

lowest level for five years, down to 6.8%. And there's been more positive

economic news with the governor of the Bank of England saying gross

domestic product, the value of all the UK's goods and services, is now

close to pre-crisis levels. When it comes to interest rates though, Mark

Carney suggested they're likely to remain low for some time. Here's our

economics editor Robert Peston. Yes, Britain is getting back to

work. The economy jogging along again. And 375,000 of new jobs

created in the last three months, self-employment, like this busker in

Reading. Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in five years to

2.2 million, a sharp fall of 130,000. As for numbers in work,

they are at an all-time record. What is a risk assessment? Here at the

college, the longer term unemployed of all ages are trying to acquire

the skills useful for today's economy, because there are more

vacancies in the UK than at any time for five years. There is no reason

why anybody should be unemployed. for five years. There is no reason

queueing up. Employers are telling us what they want and we are writing

a five-week course and getting ten or 15 people on the course and they

get employed if they have the right skills. HAP governor of the Bank of

England? Well, actually, he does not want us to get carried away with

optimism. -- a cheerful governor? It is like making it through the

qualifying rounds of the World Cup. It is a major achievement but not

the ultimate goal. The real tournament, the one in football is

about to begin, but for us it is just beginning in the economy. The

prize in the economy is strong, just beginning in the economy. The

sustainable and balanced growth. In South Wales, things do not

apparently feel that much better than they did. The Bank of England

since the economic recovery is really quite strong. Are you feeling

that recovery here? really quite strong. Are you feeling

If you look around here, a lot of people will reflect that. There are

so many empty shops. Are you feeling the recovery here? Yes, in my

personal life, yes. Do you think in the recovery here? Yes, in my

your life things feel better? Not that the moment in this area.

Because things are a that the moment in this area.

pleasant, the Bank of England says interest rates will have to start

rising again sometime. Tommy Cooper, we all know his great catchphrase,

just like that. But the Bank of England could have its way and

interest rates when they rise will not soar just like that. Any

increase would be slow and gradual. And when will that interest rate

rise be pulled out of the Bank of England's hat? Probably not for at

least a year. Robert Peston, BBC News.

There were dire predictions that the number of Romanian and Bulgarian is

working in the UK would rise dramatically once employment

restrictions were lifted back in January. In fact the number has

fallen since then by 4000, a reduction that the Prime Minister

described as notable. But there are still 29,000 more Romanians and

Bulgarians working here than this time last year. And overall the

number of people from across the EU working in the UK has increased,

prompting a fierce political row ahead of European elections a week

tomorrow. Here's our political editor Nick Robinson. Do you

remember the day when our borders opened to Romanians and Bulgarians?

The day when Victor, the first to arrive, was greeted by waiting

cameras and MPs? Do you remember the warnings that he would be the first

of tens of thousands perhaps more who would make Britain their home?

Well, guess what. They didn't. Not yet at least. The employment of

Romanian and Bulgarian actually went down in the first three months of

this year. There are many Romanian and Bulgarian people working here.

140,000, the and Bulgarian people working here.

say, like this man who runs a restaurant in Tottenham. But the

numbers actually fell by 4000 since the 1st of January. I am not

actually surprised. I knew it would happen like this. Who wanted to come

before? They are already here. happen like this. Who wanted to come

person who could be surprised if UKIP's Nigel Farage. He used to

issue stark warnings that we were opening our doors to 29 million

people. If I was a Bulgarian, I would be packing my bags now wanting

to come to Britain. There is a risk that the numbers that come over the

next few years could far exceed the 50,000 estimate. With control

Britain's borders at the centre of the European elections next week,

the big parties lined up to attack you get's warnings. There has been a

lot of scaremongering and people should be reassured that the lifting

of border controls did not result in a large influx of people. These

figures are very different to what some people predicted before

Christmas and it shows the importance of having a sensible

debate about this and not just shrill claims. Not surprisingly, the

UKIP leaders having none of it. Whether it comes from Romania,

whether it comes from the eurozone, regardless of where it comes from,

the figures coming into Europe are going up year on year are going up

at a staggering pace. With regards to Romanian and Bulgarian people,

were you wrong at all? No. What he is talking about is visible on the

roof of this building. There has been a big increase in the number of

other Europeans coming here, including Polish people. How long

have you on the other guys been here? Eight years. My friends seven

months. He has just come. So you needed to pick up the phone to

people from home to come over? If they are mates and they need the

work, I can get work for them. Ministers point out there are more

jobs for British people as well as other Europeans. They also have

Nigel Farage in their sights. He was wrong with his warnings. It is right

to be concerned but he was wrong. What I can say as a minister for

employment and what we have significantly done is ensured that

it is UK national is now getting the jobs. UKIP were right to say that

you simply cannot stop the flow of people coming from the rest of the

EU, which is up. And that is right, we can't. We are part of Europe.

Today's statistics certainly don't end the debate on immigration. They

just give it yet another polish. Nick Robinson, BBC News, South

London. Our top story this evening...

The death toll in the Turkish mine disaster rises - 250 dead and it's

thought 120 are still trapped. And still to come... How Chinese

tourists are spending more here than visitors from anywhere else in the

world. The capital's tech sector is

booming, but will these local children ever get to work in it?

Plus party time for Europe - ahead of the elections, we ask if London

Plus party time for Europe - ahead likes the idea of Europe more than

the rest of the country. Stephen Sutton, the teenage cancer

sufferer who raised more than ?3 million for charity, has died.

Stephen's high-profile campaign to raise funds caught the public

imagination and went viral on the internet. Today his mother said, "My

heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain for my

courageous, selfless, inspirational son." Sian Lloyd reports.

Unfortunately some bad things do happen. My cancer is this. What I

always stress is how we react to it is what matters. This is Stephen

Sutton when he set out to make a difference and he did just that. I

want to spend as much positivity as possible, to show people what it's

like to have something go wrong with your life but not to be defined by

it. After being diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 15, he put together a

bucket list of things he wanted to do. Skydiving. And there was crowd

surfing and playing drums at Wembley, but top of the listless

fundraising for other teenagers with cancer. He began with a modest

ambition of raising ?10,000 but after he posted this picture and a

message on social media sites, his story resonated with people across

the. Incredibly, more than ?3 million has been raised and the

figure is still rising. He began fundraising while in school, where

he is remembered as being a remarkable pupil. We are obviously

feeling the impact and it's tough for everybody who knew him. But

there is no option other than to celebrate such an exceptional young

person. It's the right thing to do. Stephen's story attracted support

from celebrities and the Prime Minister, who met him recently. He

was determined not to waste a minute, an hour or a day and I

cannot think of anyone I have met who wanted to leave every minute. --

to live. He was still fundraising and raising awareness for cancer in

the days before he died. His mother said her heart was bursting with

pride but baking with pain for her courageous, selfless, inspirational

son. Stephen Sutton who died today aged

19. A former News of the World royal

editor has admitted that he hacked the Duchess of Cambridge's phone a

155 times before she married Prince William. Clive Goodman told the jury

at the hacking trial that he also hacked the phones of Prince William

and Prince Harry on many occasions. Our home affairs correspondent, Tom

Symonds, is at the Old Bailey. This is the first time the scale of

the hacking of a phone has been made clear, isn't it? That is right.

Clive Goodman was back in court today after an illness. He is not

charged personally with phone hacking and won't be because he

admitted it in 2006. His editor, Andy Coulson, is, and so this

evidence was quite important. What Clive Goodman said is that he

accepted full record showed that he accessed Kate Middleton's phone 155

times, William's phone 35 times and Harry's nine times. That happened in

the mid-2000s, when William and Kate were becoming close and Harry's

personal life was of interest to the tabloids. It included personal

messages between Kate and William. Clive Goodman accepted that the

records showed that he had accessed Kate Middleton's phone, for

example, on Christmas Eve, 2005, Christmas Day, 2005 and Boxing Day

of that year and he carried on accessing her phone messages in

August, 2006, when he was arrested. He denies the charges he faces

involving paying public overshot or confidential information. -- public

officials for confidential information.

The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has been put on hold, after the

judge ruled that the athlete should undergo a month of mental health

checks. The prosecution made the request after a psychiatrist, called

by the defence, said Mr Pistorius suffered from an anxiety disorder.

He denies the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, saying

he shot her believing she was an intruder.

With just over a week to go until the European elections An

Independence From Europe party has launched its election campaign. Led

by former UKIP MEP Mike Natrass, the party's policies include a

commitment to leaving the European Union and developing closer links

with the Commonwealth. New figures demonstrate the growing

importance to the UK of tourism from China. The UK tourist authority

Visit Britain says 196 000 Chinese visited the UK last year. -- 100

96,000. Together they spent nearly half a billion pounds and on average

they spent four times as much as a visitor from anywhere else in the

world. But could the UK be doing more to attract the Chinese in

greater numbers? Our China editor more to attract the Chinese in

Carrie Gracie has been in London and Paris to find out.

Great British institutions, great British weather. Exactly what

Chinese tourists have been told to expect. He has come 5000 miles for

this photo opportunity. Chinese outbound tourism is the

fastest-growing market in the world. They come to Europe. Our job is to

make sure that when they come to Europe they come to Britain. There

is no royal family in China and for the new middle class, foreign travel

is still a novelty. They are hungry to see everything they can see at

home. But before we start celebrating the number of Chinese

tourists in the UK, or how much they are spending, stop, think, glance -

Chinese tourists love France and the Alps. The number of Chinese tourists

in France is nearly ten times as many in the UK on the number is

growing faster. These big spenders love luxury goods and high taxes

back home make for a shopping frenzy in Europe. There are plenty more

where these visitors came from. 2012, we had 23.3% increase and we

expect the same type of increase for the next few years. On visa allows

entry to 26 European countries and many find it frustrating that the UK

insists on a separate visa. I can come to Europe and take the train

and go to London. Never came to be outdone by France, Britain is trying

to speed up visas. But the Chinese are still voting with their feet.

to speed up visas. But the Chinese The message - if you want to see us

on the other side of the channel, put out the welcome mat.

The Cannes film festival opens today with a gala premiere of one the

festival's more controversial films. Grace of Monaco, which looks at the

life of Grace Kelly has been slammed by the critics, and her family have

called it called a farce with no basis in reality. It stars Nicole

Kidman, who's been talking to our arts editor Will Gompertz in Cannes.

Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace of Monaco. The Australian actress plays

the late American actress shortly after she had left Hollywood's Hills

for monocle's majesty. We meet her when she is toying with the idea of

having a final fling with her first love - acting. I've never had the

chance to do a role where it's glamorous and vulnerable and a

roller-coaster of emotions. Did she find a role challenging? Yes, yes.

Physically and, you know, the dialect, every part of it I had to

study and research her. You swam ashore from the motor boat driven by

that little French girl. Do you want a leg or a breast? I don't know

about you, but I am more of a legman. I do not think there is any

part of this film that appears to the current Royal family of Monaco.

They have called it a farce and accused the producers of exploiting

their family name. When Prince Rainier is portrayed as a bully it

is fiction and real people are hurt by it. Nicole Kidman knows high it

feels to have your fiver Private lives speculated upon. So given that

it has cost controversy, would she have performed differently? No. What

matters is if it is any good. Judging by the critics' negative

response, it appears on that front, it fails.

Time for a look at the weather... Here's Tomasz Schafernaker.

A cracking day across England and where. Many of us are looking at the

weekend for barbecues and walks in the park. It is warming up over the

next few days and it could be the warmest weather of the season. This

has not been the case across Scotland and Northern Ireland today.

We have had a weather front so it has been more cloudy. The vast

majority of the country, across England and Wales, we have seen

scattered clouds and it has been a beautiful day and a beautiful and to

the day with just a few clouds here and there. To the south of the

country overnight, partly cloudy, to the north, overcast with spots of

rain, mist and hill fog. Last night in Scotland, there was frost.

Tonight, it is too cloudy. Into tomorrow, for England and Wales, it

is going to be a bit more cloudy. More cloudy during the day. Across

Scotland and Northern Ireland, the opposite is true. A brighter day. In

Belfast, temperatures up to as high as 90 degrees. As -- as high as 19

degrees. Later in the week, more clout in the far north-west of the

country, but for most of us on Friday, a beautiful and to the

working week. The highs will be warming up to around 22, maybe 23

Celsius across the south-east and the Midlands. Even on the North Sea

coast, as high as 20 degrees. At the weekend, split fortunes. If you are

in Edinburgh and Belfast, a bit of rain. For the south of country,

looking pretty promising. Enjoy the weather while it lasts. A reminder

of our main story... The death toll in the Turkish mine disaster has

risen, over 200 dead and 120 are still trapped.