:00:00. > :00:08.Iraq says it has launched air strikes against the Islamist
:00:09. > :00:12.militants who say they're planning to take Baghdad.
:00:13. > :00:16.Iraq's Ministry of Defence has released footage of strikes
:00:17. > :00:18.in the north of the country, after fighters linked to Al Qaeda seized
:00:19. > :00:27.the cities of Tikrit and Mosul. President Obama says he won't rule
:00:28. > :00:31.anything out. There will be some short-term immediate things that
:00:32. > :00:32.need to be done militarily. Our national security team is looking at
:00:33. > :00:35.all the options. the cities of Tikrit and Mosul.
:00:36. > :00:37.As Iraq's government promises a fightback,
:00:38. > :00:42.hundreds of thousands of refugees are forced to flee their homes.
:00:43. > :00:48.They are waiting to see what the government response will be in what
:00:49. > :00:51.they fear is a massive onslaught of artillery and air strikes. As long
:00:52. > :00:55.as they believe that will happen, they will remain here in safety.
:00:56. > :00:57.are forced to flee their homes. Also tonight...
:00:58. > :00:59.New measures to tackle the backlog of passport
:01:00. > :01:01.applications, as the Home Secretary admits there's no big solution.
:01:02. > :01:03.Taking the heat out of the housing market.
:01:04. > :01:06.The Bank of England's given new powers to stop banks
:01:07. > :01:08.making risky mortgage loans. And I'm Brazil,
:01:09. > :01:14.where the opening ceremony of the World Cup is about to get underway.
:01:15. > :01:19.But there's been more violence as protestors clash with police
:01:20. > :01:26.over the amount of money being spent on the tournament.
:01:27. > :01:31.As fans gather ahead of tonight's kick off, FIFA insist
:01:32. > :01:34.everything is ready to go. On BBC London.
:01:35. > :01:36.City Hall says it has confidence in the Met to root out corrupt
:01:37. > :01:39.officers. And the campaign to stop photos
:01:40. > :01:40.of children being published without a parent's consent,
:01:41. > :02:02.launched by Paul Weller's wife. Good evening and welcome to the
:02:03. > :02:05.BBC News at Six. Iraq says it has launched air
:02:06. > :02:09.strikes against Islamist militants advancing on the capital, Baghdad.
:02:10. > :02:12.They're targeting the ISIS fighters, linked to Al Qaeda,
:02:13. > :02:19.who're already in control of the major cities, Mosul and Tikrit.
:02:20. > :02:22.President Obama has spoken for the need of immediate short-term
:02:23. > :02:27.military action in Iraq. the major cities, Mosul and Tikrit.
:02:28. > :02:30.The Sunni militants are now within about 80 miles of the capital
:02:31. > :02:32.after taking Iraq's second city of Mosul on Monday.
:02:33. > :02:34.The cities of Fallujah and Tikrit have also now fallen
:02:35. > :02:37.into their hands, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
:02:38. > :02:40.The Kurdish military has moved in to take control
:02:41. > :02:41.of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk after the national army fled.
:02:42. > :02:56.Paul Wood is in Iraq. It is a chaotic and fast-moving
:02:57. > :03:00.situation. President Obama's remarks will be taken as evidence that the
:03:01. > :03:03.Americans are considering drone strikes. The Iraqi government has
:03:04. > :03:07.certainly requested them in the past and it's highly likely they have
:03:08. > :03:11.asked them again, now that so much territory has slipped from their
:03:12. > :03:14.grasp. Just a few miles from where I'm speaking, the jihadis are
:03:15. > :03:19.consolidating their grip on Mosul. They have announced a 16 point
:03:20. > :03:22.Sharia law code, for instance, women may not leave the house and is
:03:23. > :03:28.modestly dressed. They've also threatened to destroy shrines,
:03:29. > :03:32.exactly the kind of thing that raises fears of a sectarian war
:03:33. > :03:35.here. They are pushing towards Baghdad and meanwhile, here in this
:03:36. > :03:43.part of Iraq, more frightened people have arrived. In the Kurdish
:03:44. > :03:48.countryside a safe haven for the Middle East's latest displaced
:03:49. > :03:53.population. They left Mosul with little, so all the familiar
:03:54. > :03:59.machinery of an aid operation cranks into gear. Many fled because they
:04:00. > :04:05.are afraid of the counterattack the Iraqi government has threatened to
:04:06. > :04:11.recapture Mosul. But many are here, too, because they feared the
:04:12. > :04:18.jihadis. The family of a murdered policeman. Three old era's father
:04:19. > :04:23.was shot and killed a year ago. They were terrified of ISIS even before
:04:24. > :04:30.the jihadis swept into Mosul. The guns growing louder, they left their
:04:31. > :04:38.bread baking in the oven ran. Bush work describes a harrowing escape.
:04:39. > :04:42.TRANSLATION: The Army discarded the uniforms because of ISIS snipers.
:04:43. > :04:52.Then the snipers fired that everyone, soldiers and civilians.
:04:53. > :04:56.The initial glut of terrified people has abated somewhat but there's
:04:57. > :04:59.still a steady flow through this, the first Kurdish checkpoint they
:05:00. > :05:04.encounter from Mosul. Behind them they leave the beginnings of what
:05:05. > :05:07.ISIS calls its Islamic emirate. The jihadis want nothing less than to
:05:08. > :05:15.redraw the map of the whole Middle East. In Mosul, ISIS rally the
:05:16. > :05:20.faithful. We have vanquished the Americans and their allies, he
:05:21. > :05:26.declares. God willing, we will establish a state ruled under the
:05:27. > :05:33.Koran. You are soldiers of Islam and Samarra, Tikrit and in Baghdad. The
:05:34. > :05:39.camera phone of an ISIS guard shows the Iraqi army's captured soldiers.
:05:40. > :05:44.They are humiliated in defeat. But the government fightback has begun.
:05:45. > :05:50.This is cockpit video from Iraqi planes bombing Mosul, as the Prime
:05:51. > :05:57.Minister promised they would. In the capital, government loyalists rushed
:05:58. > :06:01.to join up. Baghdad is majority Shi'ite, it's barely conceivable it
:06:02. > :06:05.could fall. But a sectarian civil war is one possible outcome of this.
:06:06. > :06:12.Another is that Iraq ceases to be a single country. Paul Wood, BBC News.
:06:13. > :06:15.Paul Wood is in Iraq. So what's behind the current
:06:16. > :06:18.bloodshed in Iraq, and how has the Iraq government attempted to
:06:19. > :06:20.deal with the problem of sectarian violence in the country?
:06:21. > :06:23.Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.
:06:24. > :06:35.Street battle this week. Iraq as a nation risks falling apart. This
:06:36. > :06:40.unverified footage appears to show Shia militia men fighting the Sunni
:06:41. > :06:49.jihadist is of ISIS, an Al splinter group. Both Syria and Iraq are
:06:50. > :06:55.experiencing violent insurgencies, increasingly sectarian. Mostly
:06:56. > :06:58.between Sunni and Shia Muslims. The Sunnis, he used to rule Iraq,
:06:59. > :07:03.concentrated in the north and west and they now feel dispossessed. ISIS
:07:04. > :07:08.is a fanatical Sunni group, present in both Iraq and Syria. In Iraq,
:07:09. > :07:12.it's been helped by the Sunni resentment against the government.
:07:13. > :07:17.In January, their fighters took the town of Fallujah, this month they
:07:18. > :07:21.had taken Mosul, Iraq's second city. From there, they pushed south to
:07:22. > :07:25.take Tikrit. All of this could be the genesis of a new Islamist
:07:26. > :07:31.mini-state right in the heart of the Middle East. The only force that can
:07:32. > :07:37.match them in northern Iraq is the Kurds. Today they took over the oil
:07:38. > :07:41.town of Kirkuk, to stop it falling into the hands of the fanatic ISIS.
:07:42. > :07:47.ISIS fighters are now threatening the capital, Baghdad, itself divided
:07:48. > :07:54.between Shia district in green and Sunni district in bed, where they
:07:55. > :07:59.will have some supporters. Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has
:08:00. > :08:03.been in power for eight years. He has won fair, democratic elections
:08:04. > :08:07.but his rule has been controversial. In 2011 he rejected a deal that
:08:08. > :08:10.would have kept US troops in Iraq for support. He has concentrated
:08:11. > :08:17.many of the key ministries in his own hands and, as a Shia, he is
:08:18. > :08:21.distrusted by much of the Sunni minority for not sharing enough
:08:22. > :08:26.power. So will all this fighting drug in foreign powers? Iran has
:08:27. > :08:31.hinted it may help the Iraqi government, but NATO and Britain are
:08:32. > :08:35.saying no to military involvement. We are very concerned about the
:08:36. > :08:38.hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced. Britain, with
:08:39. > :08:43.our very largely monetary and budget, we may be in a position to
:08:44. > :08:47.assist with that we're looking at now. But we will not be getting
:08:48. > :08:51.involved militarily. But it looks like America will. Tonight,
:08:52. > :08:56.President Obama says the US is considering short-term military
:08:57. > :09:00.action to defend its ally, Iraq. In our consultations with the Iraqis,
:09:01. > :09:06.there will be some short-term, immediate things that need to done
:09:07. > :09:11.militarily. Our national security team is looking at all the options.
:09:12. > :09:17.But this should also be a wake-up call for the Iraqi government. There
:09:18. > :09:23.has to be a political component to this. Iraq needs help. This
:09:24. > :09:28.government promotional video belies the fact Iraq's Armeec simply run
:09:29. > :09:33.away from the fighters of ISIS. But if those ISIS militants do push on
:09:34. > :09:36.to Baghdad, they may well overreach themselves and their sudden success
:09:37. > :09:43.could be curtailed. Frank Gardner, BBC News. Our correspondent is in
:09:44. > :09:49.Washington. We heard President Obama speaking earlier. What do you make
:09:50. > :09:54.of his comments? A key part of what President Obama had to say, there
:09:55. > :09:57.was a lot of talk about, military, technical and intelligence, there
:09:58. > :10:02.were no options of the table. We talked about short-term military
:10:03. > :10:07.action, whether national security interests of the were threatened in
:10:08. > :10:10.the US and UK feel that ISIS represents a threat to its national
:10:11. > :10:14.security interests. We've heard that from the intelligence communities in
:10:15. > :10:18.both London and Washington in the past. What does that mean? I agree
:10:19. > :10:22.with my colleague, it either means probably drone or perhaps S4C
:10:23. > :10:29.strikes from US bases housed in Turkey. Interestingly, President
:10:30. > :10:32.Obama has come in for a lot of criticism for his policies with
:10:33. > :10:35.regards to Syria and elsewhere in the region. People have accused him
:10:36. > :10:40.of failing to respond strongly enough, failing to support the other
:10:41. > :10:48.side. As far as the Iraqis are concerned, they want more help.
:10:49. > :10:50.Frank Gardner reports. The Home Secretary, Theresa May,
:10:51. > :10:52.has announced new measures to deal with a backlog of around 30,000
:10:53. > :10:55.passport applications. People who need to travel abroad
:10:56. > :10:58.urgently will now have their applications fast-tracked free
:10:59. > :10:59.of charge, and more staff are being drafted in.
:11:00. > :11:03.Labour says the Government's handling
:11:04. > :11:04.of the matter has been a shambles. Our deputy political editor
:11:05. > :11:15.James Landale is outside a passport The Government says officers like
:11:16. > :11:19.these have been bombarded with more applications for passports than at
:11:20. > :11:23.any time in 12 years. Some blame the economic recovery, others blame a
:11:24. > :11:27.decision to stop embassies issuing passports overseas. Either way,
:11:28. > :11:29.Labour claims the government anticipated this last summer and
:11:30. > :11:34.failed to act. The Home Office denies that but is now promising to
:11:35. > :11:40.act. Although the detail is a work in progress. Summer has arrived, the
:11:41. > :11:45.beach is beckoning, time to get some sun. But before getting here, some
:11:46. > :11:51.of us will have to spend time here... Quite a long time. The
:11:52. > :11:55.Government says 97% of passports are issued on time, but 30,000 are
:11:56. > :12:00.taking longer than three weeks. And perhaps here is why. At this office
:12:01. > :12:04.today the computer went down. Some of the helplines weren't working.
:12:05. > :12:10.One unhappy customer sent us a photo from inside showing just how busy it
:12:11. > :12:15.was. I've got to pay another ?128, I've already paid ?72 online plus
:12:16. > :12:18.how much it cost in to London, I'm not happy. I've e-mailed, e-mailed,
:12:19. > :12:23.faxed, I've got everything that I've done all in my bag ready. I just
:12:24. > :12:27.hope they manage to give me a passport today. A few days ago The
:12:28. > :12:33.Home Office was denying there was a backlog. Not any more. What is
:12:34. > :12:40.necessary is not a grand political gesture. What is necessary is the
:12:41. > :12:44.slow, careful consideration we have been giving, which will now lead to
:12:45. > :12:48.urgent action by the passport office. She said people will be able
:12:49. > :12:52.to fast-track their applications for free, if they have an urgent need to
:12:53. > :12:57.travel. Expats will be able to get a one-year extension before renewing
:12:58. > :13:00.their passport. And there will be emergency travel documents for
:13:01. > :13:03.children who need to get back to the UK. But she blocked plans by
:13:04. > :13:08.officials at this and other offices to be lax checks on overseas
:13:09. > :13:13.applicants. She said The Home Office could take direct control of the
:13:14. > :13:18.passport office. Labour were not impressed. This has been a sorry
:13:19. > :13:22.shambles from a sorry department and Home Secretary who can't even bring
:13:23. > :13:27.herself to the word. Government incompetence means people are at
:13:28. > :13:31.risk of missing their holidays, their honeymoons, their businesses.
:13:32. > :13:35.Here at the passport office, the waiting continued. It's a good idea
:13:36. > :13:42.to get the ones in the UK fast tracked as. Everyone has their
:13:43. > :13:47.holidays booked. It's not an excuse, it's a service they are
:13:48. > :13:51.supposed to provide for UK citizens. It does strike me as being a bit of
:13:52. > :13:55.a panic mission by the Government in relation to something that perhaps
:13:56. > :13:58.should have been foreseen. The politics of passports can be toxic.
:13:59. > :13:59.If voters think the Government can't do something as simple
:14:00. > :14:03.If voters think the Government can't do something as as is your passport,
:14:04. > :14:06.they can begin to question its confidence and a Home Secretary's.
:14:07. > :14:16.It is little wonder Theresa May has been forced to act fast.
:14:17. > :14:20.James Landale is outside a passport The Bank of England is to be given
:14:21. > :14:23.new powers to set limits on the amount people can borrow, in
:14:24. > :14:25.relation to their income, to buy a house. The Chancellor, in his
:14:26. > :14:29.Mansion House speech tonight, will say that if there is evidence of a
:14:30. > :14:32.housing bubble, the Bank will be able to impose a cap to stop banks
:14:33. > :14:35.making risky mortgage loans. Our business editor Kamal Ahmed reports
:14:36. > :14:41.on the latest fears that the UK's housing market is running out of
:14:42. > :14:44.control. The chancellor donned a hard hat today not to protect
:14:45. > :14:48.himself from people who could not afford a home but two to a housing
:14:49. > :14:51.development in London. Tonight, George Osborne will announce new
:14:52. > :14:57.powers to cool down Britain's housing market as prices rise by 8%
:14:58. > :15:02.here. Now the Bank of England will be the judge and jury on how much
:15:03. > :15:05.people can borrow. I'm acting against future risks in the housing
:15:06. > :15:09.market by today giving the Bank of England new powers to intervene and
:15:10. > :15:14.control the size of mortgages compared to family incomes and house
:15:15. > :15:18.values, and I'm also taking new steps so we build many more homes in
:15:19. > :15:23.our towns and cities. I am told that the Jansen believes rates could be
:15:24. > :15:29.tackled following warnings from the International Monetary Fund and the
:15:30. > :15:33.European Union. -- the Jansen. This morning Vince Cable told the BBC he
:15:34. > :15:37.was appalled that banks were lending so much. If you lend people five
:15:38. > :15:41.times their income and something goes wrong, there will be serious
:15:42. > :15:46.trouble, and it is just feeding prices so that people on an ordinary
:15:47. > :15:51.income cannot get into the market. The UK housing market is certainly
:15:52. > :15:54.mixed. In London, where prices are rising quickly, first-time buyers
:15:55. > :15:59.borrow nearly four times their income to buy a home. For the whole
:16:00. > :16:05.of England, that figure drops to 3.5 times. In Scotland, it is just under
:16:06. > :16:10.three times. Northern Ireland is similar at 2.9 times. This is what
:16:11. > :16:15.the Chancellor is worried about, residents who are so keen to get on
:16:16. > :16:18.or up the housing ladder they push themselves to far. When interest
:16:19. > :16:23.rates rise, as they are likely to next year, people could be left in
:16:24. > :16:26.houses they cannot afford. With parts of Britain overheating, buyers
:16:27. > :16:31.argue they have to borrow much more than they earn to have any hope of
:16:32. > :16:35.affording a house. But for people like Tom and his girlfriend Rachel
:16:36. > :16:38.from Bristol, a mortgage of four times their income could cause
:16:39. > :16:44.problems if interest rates rise. If it goes up to 3.5%, I don't know how
:16:45. > :16:47.it's going to affect me, but it's going to make repayments higher, and
:16:48. > :16:53.everything else is going up, petrol prices. It's going to be had and
:16:54. > :16:57.worry me. As the Mansion House is prepared for the Chancellor's big
:16:58. > :17:02.speech, evidence is emerging that the housing market is actually
:17:03. > :17:07.cooling. Bankers believe rate rises could will lead to a fall in prices,
:17:08. > :17:09.and then it would be a question of not stopping a bubble butt rescuing
:17:10. > :17:17.small mortgage holders. Our top story this evening:
:17:18. > :17:18.The Iraqi government launches air strikes against Islamist militants
:17:19. > :17:26.who are trying to seize Baghdad. President Obama says there is a need
:17:27. > :17:30.for short-term military action. And why you the unique camouflage of
:17:31. > :17:31.these World War I battleships is being recreated in this Liverpool
:17:32. > :17:35.dock. who are trying to seize Baghdad.
:17:36. > :17:38.Later on BBC London, the capital's first dental hospital
:17:39. > :17:40.in 40 years opens its doors, training the next generation
:17:41. > :17:43.of dentists and transforming patients' lives.
:17:44. > :17:50.And the other World Cup scrap, who will have this year's
:17:51. > :17:53.biggest football song? In Brazil, police have clashed
:17:54. > :17:58.with protestors near the stadium in Sao Paulo just hours
:17:59. > :18:01.before the World Cup kicks off. Brazil take on Croatia in Sao Paulo
:18:02. > :18:04.tonight in the first of 64 matches in the tournament.
:18:05. > :18:07.But before that, tens of thousands of people have gathered
:18:08. > :18:08.in the stadium to watch the opening ceremony, which begins shortly.
:18:09. > :18:18.Ben Brown is in Brazil. Ben.
:18:19. > :18:22.Yes, Sophie, Brazil is a football crazy nation, but also an angry
:18:23. > :18:25.nation at the moment. For the last year there have been strikes and
:18:26. > :18:30.demonstrations here against the eye watering cost of this tournament,
:18:31. > :18:33.and today more protests just before the first match, violent clashes
:18:34. > :18:37.between riot police and demonstrators, the last thing the
:18:38. > :18:39.organisers wanted the watching world to see. Chief sports correspondent
:18:40. > :18:48.Dan Roan reports from Sao Paulo. With the wait over and the world
:18:49. > :18:55.watching, this was the last thing Brazil wanted. Just hours before the
:18:56. > :18:59.start of the World Cup year, further clashes in Sao Paulo between
:19:00. > :19:07.authorities and a small group of protesters angry about the huge cost
:19:08. > :19:08.of staging the tournament. Riot police used stun grenade and fired
:19:09. > :19:19.rubber bullets. They treated a teacher like an
:19:20. > :19:25.animal, this man says, they have ignored his civil rights, they
:19:26. > :19:29.dragged him like an animal. Here at the stadium preparing to host the
:19:30. > :19:33.glittering opening ceremony and the curtain raiser between the hosts and
:19:34. > :19:38.Croatia, a heavy security presence amid concerns that the protests may
:19:39. > :19:42.reach here as kick-off approaches. What was billed as the dream World
:19:43. > :19:45.Cup has arguably become the most controversial ever, but now the
:19:46. > :19:50.action is finally about to start here in Sao Paulo, the authorities
:19:51. > :19:52.will be desperately hoping that this football mad country gets behind the
:19:53. > :20:02.event. In a country where football is
:20:03. > :20:06.religion, these were the scenes outside the stadium today a full six
:20:07. > :20:10.hours before kick-off. We have to think about all the good things that
:20:11. > :20:13.the World Cup will bring to the country, you know, so we are very
:20:14. > :20:21.excited about having the World Cup in Brazil. We are really happy to be
:20:22. > :20:26.here and make part of this party, we can say! Last-minute work at
:20:27. > :20:29.night's venue, just one of the stadia that FIFA has been most
:20:30. > :20:34.worried about. These temporary stands have never been tested at
:20:35. > :20:41.full capacity. Is Brazil ready? For the World Cup? For sure. I mean it
:20:42. > :20:45.took a lot of planning, we had hard times, but we are sure we have
:20:46. > :20:47.covered all major angles of the World Cup preparation and all
:20:48. > :20:52.infrastructure needed to guarantee the success of the event, and
:20:53. > :20:56.present the world with a very festive atmosphere, a carnival
:20:57. > :21:00.atmosphere in Brazil. Meanwhile, the Brazilian team prepares to carry the
:21:01. > :21:05.hosts of a nation. To say expectation is high would be an
:21:06. > :21:09.understatement. Only willing it will make a good World Cup, that is the
:21:10. > :21:13.standard of this nation. Whenever they go to the World Cup, they have
:21:14. > :21:19.to win it. And then after, they have to win it well, because they will
:21:20. > :21:24.always get compared to the previous stars. This is a date many thought
:21:25. > :21:28.would never come, but a World Cup mired in problems and unrivalled
:21:29. > :21:34.passion is here, ready or not, Brazil's moment in the son has
:21:35. > :21:38.arrived. It is not just the anger at the most expensive World Cup ever,
:21:39. > :21:42.the race against time to get the stadium ready, the deaths of
:21:43. > :21:44.construction workers, but also allegations of corruption against
:21:45. > :21:49.FIFA. There is a sense that football is a sport needs this event to be a
:21:50. > :21:52.success. The best chance of that happening is if Brazil wins tonight
:21:53. > :21:56.and carries on winning and lifts the trophy for a sixth time. The nation
:21:57. > :22:00.will tonight hold its breath and hope that happens, and if it does,
:22:01. > :22:04.it is hard to not believe that this could be, in spite of everything,
:22:05. > :22:06.one of the most memorable World Cups ever. All right, Dan, thanks very
:22:07. > :22:09.much indeed. England are preparing for their
:22:10. > :22:21.first match in Manaus on Saturday. They will face not only Italy, but
:22:22. > :22:25.searing heat, impressive humidity and a pretty ropey page. --
:22:26. > :22:31.oppressive. Natalie Pirks is in Manaus for us this evening.
:22:32. > :22:36.It is just after one o'clock, and it is 30 degrees, 70% humidity, it is
:22:37. > :22:40.oppressively hot, but England play at six o'clock, when it will
:22:41. > :22:41.hopefully be cooler. Nevertheless, running around for 90 minutes will
:22:42. > :22:47.be a test. first match in Manaus on Saturday.
:22:48. > :22:50.Life is played out at a more sedate pace in the rain forest.
:22:51. > :22:53.In the gateway to the Amazon, they are so relaxed that two days
:22:54. > :22:56.out, the builders are still here. Inside, though, Manaus, not known
:22:57. > :23:01.as a hotbed of football, now has an arena fit for a gladiator.
:23:02. > :23:04.It is undeniably impressive. Well, when England and Italy sit
:23:05. > :23:08.here on Saturday, it's the heat and humidity of Manaus that will
:23:09. > :23:10.hit them first, but there have been concerns over the state
:23:11. > :23:13.of the pitch. As you can see,
:23:14. > :23:16.they are working frantically to get it ready for Saturday, and to be
:23:17. > :23:20.honest, it doesn't look nearly as bad as we were led to believe.
:23:21. > :23:23.Still, the parched surface is not quite up to where England
:23:24. > :23:26.have been training in Rio. But like for Manaus's officials,
:23:27. > :23:29.the World Cup is for some a dream realised, not least
:23:30. > :23:32.for former factory worker turned striker Rickie Lambert,
:23:33. > :23:37.who has journeyed from League Two to Liverpool and England.
:23:38. > :23:42.I didn't think this chance would come, to play in a World Cup.
:23:43. > :23:45.I've got it, and I'm going to make sure that I take my chance and
:23:46. > :23:51.whatever minutes I get, that's the most important thing, and that's
:23:52. > :23:56.where I'll be trying to do my best. The World Cup is tantalisingly
:23:57. > :23:57.close for him and England fans. # Roy Hodgson is taking us
:23:58. > :24:03.to Rio, to Rio... # The intrepid travellers amongst them
:24:04. > :24:07.are starting to arrive and getting to know this remote city
:24:08. > :24:09.of two million. Travelled up the Amazon last week,
:24:10. > :24:25.three days from Colombia and we're here in Manaus.
:24:26. > :24:28.Definitely the most remote place I've ever gone to watch football.
:24:29. > :24:30.As the heat rises here, so will fans' nerves.
:24:31. > :24:32.In two days' time, the atmosphere won't be anywhere near as calm.
:24:33. > :24:41.Natalie Pirks, BBC News, Manaus. Grow not long to go before that
:24:42. > :24:45.first match, certainly the Brazilian government hoping that some of the
:24:46. > :24:48.anger and resentment we have seen today will dissipate once the
:24:49. > :24:50.football gets going. Sophie, back to you.
:24:51. > :24:53.Natalie Pirks, BBC News, Manaus. The wife of the comedian Rik Mayall,
:24:54. > :24:56.who died this week, says he suffered an acute cardiac event after
:24:57. > :24:58.returning from a morning run. He was found dead at his home in south west
:24:59. > :25:06.London on Monday lunchtime. His They were warships painted not
:25:07. > :25:09.in gun metal grey but in reds, oranges and greens, all to confuse
:25:10. > :25:12.German U-boats during World War I. 2,000 so-called dazzle ships
:25:13. > :25:14.were camouflaged in this way, and now the technique's been
:25:15. > :25:16.recreated as part of the Liverpool Biennial of contemporary art.
:25:17. > :25:19.From the Albert Dock, Will Gompertz reports.
:25:20. > :25:22.A retired Mersey pilot ship is having a make over
:25:23. > :25:25.in a dry dock in Liverpool. Out goes the boring old paint job,
:25:26. > :25:27.and on with an eye-catching new coat.
:25:28. > :25:33.And presto, the 777-tonne Edmund Gardner has
:25:34. > :25:36.become what was known in World War I as a dazzle ship,
:25:37. > :25:39.a floating piece of optical art designed to protect
:25:40. > :25:41.Britain's merchant ships from German U-boats
:25:42. > :25:45.that had them under siege. We wanted to launch the 14-18 NOW
:25:46. > :25:48.arts programme with a major public art commission for everyone to see
:25:49. > :25:51.that reflects on one of the most extraordinary stories of the First
:25:52. > :25:56.World War, the dazzle ships that were painted, many of them,
:25:57. > :26:00.right here in Liverpool. The Venezuelan artist responsible
:26:01. > :26:04.for the new dazzle ship design hadn't known about their existence
:26:05. > :26:07.until recently. TRANSLATION: For me,
:26:08. > :26:10.it was a big revelation that artists painted the ships
:26:11. > :26:15.in World War I, because it was
:26:16. > :26:18.of immense beauty and efficiency. It was also to see something
:26:19. > :26:21.that was made to be beautiful and promote something
:26:22. > :26:24.other than death. The British artist Norman Wilkinson
:26:25. > :26:28.came up with the idea of dazzle ships in 1917 when serving
:26:29. > :26:31.as a Royal Navy volunteer. He realised there was no camouflage
:26:32. > :26:35.that could conceal a ship, but there was one that might
:26:36. > :26:38.confuse the enemy. Wilkinson was working on the basis
:26:39. > :26:41.that a U-boat commander had a very short amount of time
:26:42. > :26:46.in which to race his periscope, look through it, identify his target
:26:47. > :26:50.and fire his torpedo. If he took too long, he would be
:26:51. > :26:54.spotted and his submarine sunk. Wilkinson's garish dazzle camouflage
:26:55. > :26:58.was designed to disorientate the U-boat commander,
:26:59. > :27:02.causing him to dither and miss. The contrasting stripes,
:27:03. > :27:06.bold curves and vivid spirals were decided to make it difficult
:27:07. > :27:09.to gauge the ship's direction of travel and speed.
:27:10. > :27:12.Did it do the job that it was supposed to do?
:27:13. > :27:15.We still don't really know the answer to that, we don't know how
:27:16. > :27:18.confused the U-boat commanders were, but we do know that the sailors
:27:19. > :27:20.on board the ships themselves loved their unique designs,
:27:21. > :27:25.and there was a keen boost to morale.
:27:26. > :27:28.When Picasso saw the dazzle camouflage, he immediately took
:27:29. > :27:31.credit for the idea, saying it was inspired by his Cubist paintings.
:27:32. > :27:36.Mother nature might argue that she got there first
:27:37. > :27:39.with her op-art design for zebras. Either way, these eccentric floating
:27:40. > :27:41.artworks are now a colourful part of Britain's maritime history.
:27:42. > :27:56.Will Gompertz, BBC News, Liverpool. A day of contrasts across the United
:27:57. > :28:01.Kingdom, you can see all this cloud bringing some rain and a cooler
:28:02. > :28:05.field to things in the north, but with the sunshine for England and
:28:06. > :28:11.Wales, 26 in the London area, a little bit warmer than it will be in
:28:12. > :28:13.Sao Paulo. Clear skies across much of England and Wales tonight, missed
:28:14. > :28:22.in rural spots, further north that rain into the morning, and it will
:28:23. > :28:25.be an unpleasant rush-hour, but the rain fizzles out into northern
:28:26. > :28:29.England, and then the cloud melts away, lots of sunshine to start the
:28:30. > :28:34.day across most of England and Wales. A warm day in the South, 17
:28:35. > :28:37.or 18 degrees at eight o'clock in the morning, lots of sunshine,
:28:38. > :28:42.setting up for another warm day across the southern half of the
:28:43. > :28:45.United Kingdom. Cloud will increase across England and Wales into the
:28:46. > :28:49.afternoon, but still fine, sunny and warm with light winds. That rain
:28:50. > :28:54.across the north of the UK becomes lighter into the afternoon, but we
:28:55. > :28:57.keep the temperature contrast, 26 or 27 is possible in the London area,
:28:58. > :29:04.pretty warm for central and eastern areas. We are not going to keep that
:29:05. > :29:09.warmth everywhere, low to middle 20s in some areas, but by Saturday the
:29:10. > :29:12.middle teens for many places, so a drop in temperatures through the day
:29:13. > :29:18.on Saturday as this cool northerly wind brings in a weather front.
:29:19. > :29:22.Further west, feeling more pleasant. Sunday is a similar sort of day,
:29:23. > :29:28.cool and breezy down the eastern side, most places fine and dry, and
:29:29. > :29:30.further west winds are lighter, temperatures up to about 20
:29:31. > :29:33.degrees. It is that little bit cooler through the weekend, but the
:29:34. > :29:35.weather is looking pretty good for