08/08/2014

:00:08. > :00:13.Islamist militants in Iraq, launching an air strike in the north

:00:14. > :00:18.of the country. This is thought to be the moment American warplanes

:00:19. > :00:25.struck in Iraq for the first time since 2011. President Obama said it

:00:26. > :00:28.was time to act. When we have the unique capabilities to help avert a

:00:29. > :00:32.massacre, I believe the United States of America cannot turn a

:00:33. > :00:37.blind eye. We can act, carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential

:00:38. > :00:41.act of genocide. Aid is finally delivered to a community trapped by

:00:42. > :00:46.the fighting. Britain says it will assist in air drops. We'll be

:00:47. > :00:55.looking at what the action means for Iraq. Fighting resumes in Gaza after

:00:56. > :00:57.a three-day ceasefire ends. A ten-year-old boy is killed.

:00:58. > :00:59.The World Health Organisation declares the Ebola outbreak in West

:01:00. > :01:03.Africa an international emergency. How much is too much for breast

:01:04. > :01:05.cancer treatment? The NHS says no to a ?90,000 drug.

:01:06. > :01:08.And sun, sea and sanctions - why more parents than ever are being

:01:09. > :01:20.fined for taking their children out of school to go on holiday.

:01:21. > :01:27.Bromley's waste mountain, how hundreds of thousands of pounds have

:01:28. > :01:31.been spent fighting fires there. And guilty of terror charges, the

:01:32. > :01:45.man who tried to flee the country on the Eurostar.

:01:46. > :01:52.Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. Almost three years

:01:53. > :01:55.after withdrawing its troops from Iraq, the United States has carried

:01:56. > :01:59.out military action against Islamist militants in the north of the

:02:00. > :02:02.country. Just hours after President Obama authorised their use, the US

:02:03. > :02:05.launched an airs trike targeting fighters from the Islamic State,

:02:06. > :02:12.formerly known as ISIS, who now control large areas of Iraq and

:02:13. > :02:16.Syria. The attack hit artillery used by the militants near Irbil. Earlier

:02:17. > :02:21.this week, the Islamists took Qaraqosh, Iraq's biggest Christian

:02:22. > :02:24.town. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people from the minority Yazidi

:02:25. > :02:30.sect remain surrounded and trapped on Mount Sinjar, without food or

:02:31. > :02:33.water. Today, the Government here said British forces would assist in

:02:34. > :02:38.carrying out air drops as part of the humanitarian effort to the

:02:39. > :02:41.Yazidi community. In a moment we'll get the latest from Washington, but

:02:42. > :02:50.first here's our diplomatic correspondent, James Robbins. For

:02:51. > :02:54.months the extremists of ISIS now calling themselves simply Islamic

:02:55. > :02:58.State have been pumping out video as they seize more and more of Iraq,

:02:59. > :03:03.threatening the break-up of the country. But now for the first time

:03:04. > :03:09.the Islamists have come under direct American attack. The Pentagon says

:03:10. > :03:15.two F/A-18 aircraft dropped laser-decided bombs on middles

:03:16. > :03:19.shedding Kurdish forces. These are thought to be first pictures of an

:03:20. > :03:23.American strike. America acted because this city of Irbil is under

:03:24. > :03:28.threat. There are US personnel there, but President Obama keeps

:03:29. > :03:33.stressing the limits of his action. To stop the events on Irbil I've

:03:34. > :03:37.directed our military to take targeted strikes against ISIL

:03:38. > :03:42.terrorist convoys should they move towards the city. But Washington is

:03:43. > :03:46.also committed to helping religious minorities facing massacre by the

:03:47. > :03:50.Islamists. These pictures of the Yazidi people fleeing for their

:03:51. > :03:55.lives on to a barren mountain without food or water shocked the

:03:56. > :03:58.world. Today, speaking from the mountain, one of their leaders

:03:59. > :04:04.stressed their vulnerability. TRANSLATION: The clashes now is very

:04:05. > :04:08.close from where I stand and now there is clashes among the final

:04:09. > :04:13.line of resistance. They will kill all of us and we don't think we have

:04:14. > :04:17.enough time. Now the first supplies have reached some of the Yazidi.

:04:18. > :04:20.Iraqi authorities say these pictures, although impossible to ver

:04:21. > :04:25.fireworks show a helicopter delivering aid. The Yazidi religion

:04:26. > :04:29.is older than Christianity or Islam but is enough to make them targets

:04:30. > :04:34.of the extremists who overran their town. When we face a situation like

:04:35. > :04:38.we do on that mountain, with innocent people facing the prospect

:04:39. > :04:43.of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help, in

:04:44. > :04:48.this case a request from the Iraqi Government, and when we have the

:04:49. > :04:51.unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, I believe the United

:04:52. > :04:56.States of America cannot turn a blind eye. Facing this crisis let's

:04:57. > :05:00.look first at the plight of the Yazidi people, forced to flee their

:05:01. > :05:05.homes and seek refuge here high up on the barren slopes of the

:05:06. > :05:11.mountains above sin iar. Iar. Sinjar. They took the only road up

:05:12. > :05:14.the mountain. We have reports that some essential supplies have

:05:15. > :05:21.apparently been delivered from the air in an effort to keep them alive.

:05:22. > :05:26.What if the Islamist extremists pursue them up the mountain? The

:05:27. > :05:31.hope is is they will be spotted and attacked by American aircraft. The

:05:32. > :05:35.other minority under threat by jihadists the Christian community.

:05:36. > :05:39.Qaraqosh has already fallen. Among those Christians who do escape, some

:05:40. > :05:44.have reached the Kurdish city of Irbil. As Christian refugees

:05:45. > :05:48.streamed into Irbil, passing Kurdish forces defending the city, Iraq's

:05:49. > :05:54.persecuted minority are urging the outside world to do more to protect

:05:55. > :05:58.them. In Brussels some of the extended families of the Yazidi

:05:59. > :06:03.trapped on the mountainside appealed for action to eend what they cool a

:06:04. > :06:07.genocide. In London, an emergency meeting of Ministers authorised

:06:08. > :06:12.British military involvement in relief missions to drop aid but not

:06:13. > :06:15.in any sort of combat mission. Our focus is on assisting that

:06:16. > :06:21.humanitarian mission and in using our military in support of the

:06:22. > :06:25.Americans, in terms of refuelling and surveillance and no one pin

:06:26. > :06:31.their mission and to add to it with food drops of our own. The focus of

:06:32. > :06:36.aid drops will be the Yazidi on the mountain. Their desperate plight has

:06:37. > :06:43.come to symbolise the wider threat to an entire region.

:06:44. > :06:46.Let's speak to David Willis, who's at the White House and, in a moment,

:06:47. > :06:53.to Jon Brain who's at RAF Brize Norton. David, this is the US back

:06:54. > :06:57.in action in Iraq. What sense do you get of what sort of campaign this is

:06:58. > :07:02.going to be? The White House is stressing a limited response, no

:07:03. > :07:04.boots on the ground. This will be targeted air strikes designed to

:07:05. > :07:08.protect American interests on the ground in Iraq. One defining feature

:07:09. > :07:12.of this administration has been the fact that the man with the most

:07:13. > :07:18.powerful military at his disposal has been the man most reluctant to

:07:19. > :07:20.use it. Remember he pulled back from mounting air strikes on Syria

:07:21. > :07:25.following the use of chemical weapons there. This time he's been

:07:26. > :07:30.left with little option, but this is a well-trained and well-armed Army.

:07:31. > :07:34.He is up against the potential of mission creep here, American then

:07:35. > :07:40.back in Iraq. But the question tonight is for how long. Jon, at RAF

:07:41. > :07:47.Brize Norton, what can you tell us about Britain's involvement in the

:07:48. > :07:50.relief effort? Well, this is where Britain's contribution to that

:07:51. > :07:54.relief effort will be leafing from. We understand this weekend military

:07:55. > :07:59.transport planes will be taking off from here loaded up with ?2 million

:08:00. > :08:03.worth of emergency supplies for the people trapped on the mountains in

:08:04. > :08:07.Sinjar. That will include things like clean water, tents and

:08:08. > :08:12.tarpaulin for shelter and sop ar lighting. As well as that the

:08:13. > :08:17.Government is fast-tracking another ?5.5 million of funding to charities

:08:18. > :08:21.already on the ground and to the International Red Cross. In addition

:08:22. > :08:25.there'll be assistance to the Americans in terms of refuelling and

:08:26. > :08:29.surveillance, but it is again being stressed that no military

:08:30. > :08:41.involvement will be contributed to by the British. Thank you.

:08:42. > :08:44.A ten-year-old boy has been killed in Gaza shortly after a three-day

:08:45. > :08:48.ceasefire ended this morning, and in the last hour three more people have

:08:49. > :08:50.been killed in the south of Gaza. Peace talks between the Palestinians

:08:51. > :08:53.and Israelis ended without agreement and Israel has said it will not

:08:54. > :08:57.negotiate while the rocket fire continues. From Gaza, our Middle

:08:58. > :09:09.East correspondent James Reynolds reports. Ten-year-old Ibrahim was

:09:10. > :09:15.killed this morning. Hit by an Israeli air strike outside a mosque.

:09:16. > :09:24.He'd been playing with his friends. He went to pray at the mosque. They

:09:25. > :09:30.struck him and blew his head apart. Gaza's Shifa hospital may be the

:09:31. > :09:33.safest place in this strip of land. These families who have lost their

:09:34. > :09:41.homes have camped out in the hospital's grounds. Kamal sleeps

:09:42. > :09:44.here with his wife and they are seven children.

:09:45. > :09:52.TRANSLATION: There are so many dead bodies in my neighbourhood I decided

:09:53. > :09:56.to take my family and come here. Shoppers at Gaza's market have taken

:09:57. > :10:00.their chances to go and gets supplies.

:10:01. > :10:06.TRANSLATION: If there are rockets falling we'll have to stay at home.

:10:07. > :10:09.We won't be able to work any more. Here Mutya shops for the 27 members

:10:10. > :10:19.of his immediate family. stop destroying this country. If you

:10:20. > :10:27.come to my home and see my home, my home was four floors, but now it is

:10:28. > :10:30.on the land. The ceasefire's been broken, so people here are having to

:10:31. > :10:34.go back to living day by day. They'll have to buy as much as they

:10:35. > :10:40.can right now, because they don't know what will happen tomorrow. The

:10:41. > :10:46.immediate future of the people of Gaza may be decided through further

:10:47. > :10:56.truce talks in Egypt. Before then, they have to prepare for anything.

:10:57. > :11:00.Our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet is joining

:11:01. > :11:04.us from Jerusalem. Egypt is calling on both sides to return to talks.

:11:05. > :11:07.What chance is there of that? It is widely believed that both sides

:11:08. > :11:12.would like a return to talks. Certainly the people of Gaza would

:11:13. > :11:16.like negotiations to start. But the Israeli delegation returned back to

:11:17. > :11:20.Israel today, they would have done anyway for the start of the Jewish

:11:21. > :11:25.Sabbath, but there is no plans for them to return. They will not

:11:26. > :11:29.negotiate under fire. Even when it comes to resuming the talks, if and

:11:30. > :11:33.when they do, and we believe at some point they'll go back to the

:11:34. > :11:37.negotiating table, Israel will not accede to the demands of the

:11:38. > :11:43.Palestinians. They are asking for a lifting of the seen, ever Gazan

:11:44. > :11:48.wants and-a-half but Hamas wants a sea port and Israel will not accede

:11:49. > :11:52.to that. And how free will the movement of people and food be in

:11:53. > :11:58.and out of the Gaza Strip. Right now the two sides are very far apart.

:11:59. > :12:01.Thank you. The Disasters Emergency Committee

:12:02. > :12:06.has launched an appeal for those affected by the Gaza conflict. The

:12:07. > :12:09.broadcast will be shown by the BBC and other TV networks this evening.

:12:10. > :12:17.There's more information at www.dec.org.uk.

:12:18. > :12:22.A drug that can extend the lives of some women with an advanced form of

:12:23. > :12:25.breast cancer has been rejected for use on the NHS in England because

:12:26. > :12:28.it's too expensive. The National Institute for Health and Care

:12:29. > :12:31.Excellence says a course of Kadcyla costs ?90,000, making it impossible

:12:32. > :12:41.to recommend it for widespread use. Here's our health editor, Hugh Pym.

:12:42. > :12:45.It is a sensitive debate, which new drugs can the NHS in England afford?

:12:46. > :12:51.The regulator NICE has to decide. This time it is the breast cancer

:12:52. > :12:55.drug Kadcyla, a combination of Herceptin and chemotherapy medicine.

:12:56. > :13:00.Hayley from Derby is taking the drug. Under previous gruelling

:13:01. > :13:05.treatment her hair fell out and she was told she had only months to

:13:06. > :13:10.live. But on this drug she is more stable and it has given her extra

:13:11. > :13:14.time. I can have an extra six months with my children. That's priceless.

:13:15. > :13:19.You can't put a figure on to a young mum of 33 to your children, you

:13:20. > :13:23.can't put a figure on somebody's life. It's criminal. Hayley could

:13:24. > :13:27.get Kadcyla through the Government's cancer drugs fund, which is due to

:13:28. > :13:32.close in 2016, but the regulator NICE has decided it shouldn't be

:13:33. > :13:36.available on the NHS. NICE usually approves drugs costing up to ?30,000

:13:37. > :13:41.in a calculation reflecting the patient's length and quality of

:13:42. > :13:49.life. For cancer drugs it has a maximum rate of ?60,000. Kadcyla

:13:50. > :13:55.costs ?90,000 per parity and NICE has said that's too much. It can

:13:56. > :13:59.command a premium price, but even with that extra flexibility the

:14:00. > :14:03.price that the manufacturer wants to charge the NHS puts it well beyond

:14:04. > :14:08.anything that we could have supported. But Roche argue the drug

:14:09. > :14:12.is prescribened in many other European health services and it says

:14:13. > :14:17.it did offer to cut something off the price. Some people will feel

:14:18. > :14:24.?90,000 is a lot of money for a drug. Why can't you drop the price

:14:25. > :14:31.further? We feel it reflects the value it brings to patients. 15

:14:32. > :14:37.years of clinical trials went into developing Kadcyla and 30 years of

:14:38. > :14:41.research into the technology that makes Kadcyla unique. As new drugs

:14:42. > :14:44.come on stream there'll be more difficult decisions to be taken. The

:14:45. > :14:49.debate about what can be afforded to give a patient a longer life won't

:14:50. > :14:51.go away. The trial of the South African

:14:52. > :14:54.athlete, Oscar Pistorius, has ended, with the judge announcing she'll

:14:55. > :14:57.deliver her verdict on 11th September. The prosecution said Mr

:14:58. > :15:03.Pistorius had deliberately shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after

:15:04. > :15:05.an argument last year. But in his closing remarks, the defence

:15:06. > :15:09.barrister said while Oscar Pistorius had fired the shots, he had thought

:15:10. > :15:11.there was an intruder in the house and he should therefore face a

:15:12. > :15:20.charge of culpable homicide, not murder.

:15:21. > :15:27.The world health organisation has said a co-ordinated international

:15:28. > :15:29.response is needed to combat Ebola, as it declared the outbreak in the

:15:30. > :15:35.West Africa and international emergency. 961 people have died from

:15:36. > :15:42.the disease this year. The outbreak started in Guinea, and has spread to

:15:43. > :15:47.live beery, Cesaro Le?n, and most recently Nigeria. -- spread the load

:15:48. > :15:52.beery, Sierra Leone and most recently Nigeria.

:15:53. > :16:00.How do you defend the world against Ebola. It starts with more help for

:16:01. > :16:05.West Africa, the worst affected communities lack the basics,

:16:06. > :16:11.adequate detective clothing, trained medical staff and laboratory

:16:12. > :16:15.facilities. The world health organisation says only international

:16:16. > :16:19.support will bring the outbreak under control. This is an infectious

:16:20. > :16:25.disease which can be contained. It is not mysterious. This is something

:16:26. > :16:29.which can be stopped. This depends on identifying everybody who has an

:16:30. > :16:32.Ebola infection, and making sure that they receive the right

:16:33. > :16:41.treatment, and making sure that we stop the chain of transmission.

:16:42. > :16:46.Ebola is a viral infection, which originates in animals such as bats

:16:47. > :16:51.and chimpanzees. It spreads through humans through direct contact with

:16:52. > :16:55.blood and other bodily periods. It has an incubation period of up to 21

:16:56. > :17:01.days, and more than half of those infected have died. Fortunately,

:17:02. > :17:05.Ebola is not very contagious. Pneumonia and airborne infection

:17:06. > :17:11.kills 3000 children a day more than Ebola has in 40 years, is do other

:17:12. > :17:15.diseases. Rio de Janeiro the number of people who have died so far in

:17:16. > :17:19.this epidemic or perhaps ever from Ebola the number of people who have

:17:20. > :17:22.died are smaller than the number of people who die from the break

:17:23. > :17:26.everyday, so the numbers are small but the potential for an outbreak

:17:27. > :17:31.like this to go out of control and the spread, and for the numbers to

:17:32. > :17:35.ramp up is truly frightening. The threat to countries like Britain

:17:36. > :17:39.remains low, even if Ebola did come here via a sick air passenger,

:17:40. > :17:45.health officials are confident they could contain it, using isolation

:17:46. > :17:49.facilities like these. The WHO has not called for travel bans but is

:17:50. > :17:57.urging the greater health surveillance at airports in West

:17:58. > :18:00.Africa. In Liberia, soldiers are patrolling roadblocks limiting

:18:01. > :18:04.travel from the worst infected areas. It all adds to the fear among

:18:05. > :18:09.communities wondering when will the epidemic" of the time is just after

:18:10. > :18:12.a quarter past six. The top story this evening:

:18:13. > :18:17.America carries out an air strike on militants in Iraq, as President

:18:18. > :18:21.Obama says he fears a genocide of Christians and minorities.

:18:22. > :18:23.And still to come, The Rhythm of the Ancient Marriner,

:18:24. > :18:32.Sir Neville prepares to conduct the Proms at the age of 90.

:18:33. > :18:37.Later on BBC London, one way to beat the housing crisis, how these homes

:18:38. > :18:41.were built after six families clipped together in Stoke Newington.

:18:42. > :18:44.We look ahead to a weekend of road racing, in what is being called the

:18:45. > :18:54.world's biggest festival of cycling. New BBC research has found there's

:18:55. > :18:56.been a sharp rise in the number of fines issued to parents

:18:57. > :19:00.for term-time absences. The increase follows new government

:19:01. > :19:05.regulations, which now prevent head teachers in England from granting

:19:06. > :19:08.holidays for special circumstances. 64,000 fines were issued to parents

:19:09. > :19:09.during the last school year. That's a 70% rise

:19:10. > :19:32.on the previous year. Each fine can total up to ?120 per

:19:33. > :19:33.child, and around three quarters of local

:19:34. > :19:36.authorities responded to the BBC, some of the fines related to

:19:37. > :19:37.truancy or repeated poor attendance, but most were about holidays.

:19:38. > :19:40.Here's Alex Forsyth. The classrooms are closed, books

:19:41. > :19:44.stacked, pencils put away neatly. Families have flocked to the seaside

:19:45. > :19:47.but some parents have already been on holiday, taking their judgement

:19:48. > :19:50.out of school during term time. Thousands have been fined for

:19:51. > :19:54.unauthorised absence, because new rules mean headteachers can only

:19:55. > :19:59.grant leave in exceptional circumstances. But this couple who

:20:00. > :20:03.run a busy tearoom in Devon say closing during peak season would

:20:04. > :20:06.damage their business, so they took their teenage daughter out of school

:20:07. > :20:12.for a family holiday, and were fined. For what they say was an

:20:13. > :20:19.enriching trip to Thailand. It is an experience in itself. 97% attendance

:20:20. > :20:26.for that year, and they still say you can't take her out for five

:20:27. > :20:30.days. I mean, it is one week, is it going to make that much difference

:20:31. > :20:33.to a child's education? More than 200,000 parents have signed a

:20:34. > :20:37.petition objecting to the new rules, which only apply in England. One

:20:38. > :20:41.complaint is the cost of travel in the school holidays, so how do

:20:42. > :20:44.prices compare? Research showed earlier this year you could have

:20:45. > :20:50.booked a week-long family to Benidorm in mid-July for ?1250 but

:20:51. > :20:55.just two weeks later in the school holidays it would have cost almost

:20:56. > :20:59.?2000. That is almost 60% more. Many families have been away during the

:21:00. > :21:04.school holidays save the extra cost is a burden, but some parents see it

:21:05. > :21:09.as a price worth paying for their child's education. It is very

:21:10. > :21:13.expensive, but I do understand the other on the view, working in a

:21:14. > :21:18.school, that children do lose out on their education. These days, they

:21:19. > :21:20.get six weeks off and we just pay for it unfortunately. It is

:21:21. > :21:25.important that you stay in school so you can learn more and get a better

:21:26. > :21:28.job. Departing from the curriculum even for a short time can according

:21:29. > :21:35.to teachers make a difference. I don't think parents appreciate how

:21:36. > :21:39.much learning is missed, and how much learning is disrupted, when a

:21:40. > :21:44.child returns from holiday, they have missed out to do a certain

:21:45. > :21:47.written calculation in maths, the teaching assistant is then diverted

:21:48. > :21:52.to that child to do catch up work and I don't think that is fair. The

:21:53. > :21:56.government says teachers can set the dates to ease holiday demand at peak

:21:57. > :22:00.times, and fewer children are missing lessons as a result of its

:22:01. > :22:04.reforms, even if some parents think fines are unfair.

:22:05. > :22:07.They're household names, and now they're heading

:22:08. > :22:09.for the House of the Lords. A number

:22:10. > :22:12.of well-known faces are among 22 new peers announced by Downing Street.

:22:13. > :22:15.The list includes the former Marks and Spencer boss, Sir Stuart Rose,

:22:16. > :22:18.and the businesswoman, Karren Brady, who'll both sit on the Tory benches,

:22:19. > :22:23.plus the former Eastenders actor, Michael Cashman, a Labour supporter.

:22:24. > :22:28.Our Political Correspondent Vicki Young joins us from Westminster now.

:22:29. > :22:35.There are some well-known faces on that list, but there is controversy

:22:36. > :22:39.as well. Yes, the usual mix of political insiders and the more

:22:40. > :22:42.famous, like Karen Brady, vice chairman of West town football club

:22:43. > :22:46.and someone well-known to millions of fans of the apprentice, but a

:22:47. > :22:49.fixture on this list in recent years has been those who among other

:22:50. > :22:57.things have donated money to political parties of all colours.

:22:58. > :23:01.Michael Farmer has given the Tories almost ?6 million over the years. A

:23:02. > :23:05.spokesman said that he deserved his peerage for his extensive charity

:23:06. > :23:10.work. One omission, there are no UKIP appears, but one big talking

:23:11. > :23:13.point, there are now around 800 peers. They complain there is not

:23:14. > :23:14.enough room for them to sit down over there, let alone have any

:23:15. > :23:20.decent office space. Young joins us from Westminster now.

:23:21. > :23:23.A British businessman has been sentenced to two and a half years

:23:24. > :23:24.in jail for illegally obtaining Chinese citizens' records.

:23:25. > :23:28.Peter Humphrey, and his American wife,

:23:29. > :23:30.had been working in Shanghai for the British pharmaceutical giant,

:23:31. > :23:36.GlaxoSmithKline, investigating internal allegations of bribery.

:23:37. > :23:44.The court said Mr Humphrey will be deported back to Britain.

:23:45. > :23:47.Final collection times at up to 50,000 post boxes are to be

:23:48. > :23:50.brought forward to three o'clock. The plans, which are being

:23:51. > :23:53.introduced as part of efficiency savings, will involve delivery staff

:23:54. > :23:57.picking up the mail during their rounds. Royal Mail has promised to

:23:58. > :23:58.provide 2,000 new boxes, particularly in rural parts of

:23:59. > :24:08.Scotland and Northern Ireland. When Sir Neville Marriner takes to

:24:09. > :24:10.the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London this weekend,

:24:11. > :24:14.he will become the oldest conductor ever to lead a Prom.

:24:15. > :24:18.90-year-old Sir Neville began his musical career as a violinist,

:24:19. > :24:22.before founding his own orchestra and then picking up a baton.

:24:23. > :24:25.Our Arts Editor, Will Gompertz, went along to rehearsal to meet one

:24:26. > :24:36.of the most recorded conductors of all time.

:24:37. > :24:43.A casually dressed Sir Neville Mariner in the rehearsal room.

:24:44. > :24:51.Practising with his orchestra for Sunday's Proms performance of Henry

:24:52. > :25:00.V. The 90-year-old conductor could have retired years ago but explains

:25:01. > :25:06.why he has no intention of doing so. It is reasonably addictive. First of

:25:07. > :25:09.all that you are able to express yourself musically, so freely, and

:25:10. > :25:13.you don't have to practice an instrument. So it all goes on in

:25:14. > :25:17.your head and your heart. I am sure most people at the end of your

:25:18. > :25:23.working life would wish to have something like that. I would

:25:24. > :25:27.certainly feel pretty strange without that opportunity now.

:25:28. > :25:31.Neville Marriner made his Proms debut here in London's Royal Albert

:25:32. > :25:35.Hall back in 1963, playing violin with the London Symphony Orchestra.

:25:36. > :25:41.He returned couple of years later again playing the violin, but this

:25:42. > :25:45.time also directing his own chaebol struck, the Academy of St Martin in

:25:46. > :25:49.the. Then in 1970 he took to the Proms podium for the first time as a

:25:50. > :25:55.fully fledged conductor. Since when, he has never looked back.

:25:56. > :26:05.Here he is conducting in 1974, younger, certainly, but... But I

:26:06. > :26:11.have seen some of my early things and I think how incredibly tolerant

:26:12. > :26:17.the players were to put up with that sort of ridiculous clumsy gestures,

:26:18. > :26:24.and inarticulate. Why do you think they're so few female conductors in

:26:25. > :26:28.charge of the major orchestras? I have a feeling there is a certain

:26:29. > :26:32.audience resistance. There is something strange about the female

:26:33. > :26:43.figure of a conductor that, musically speaking, they are so

:26:44. > :26:50.gifted. The actor John hurt will join the orchestra on Sunday to

:26:51. > :26:50.speak Shakespeare's words. Sir Neville will conduct before moving

:26:51. > :26:51.onto next concert, in a career that sees his work diary already planned

:26:52. > :27:34.ahead for the next two We will start with this hurricane

:27:35. > :27:34.sequence that shows hurricane Bertha, it has the United kingdom

:27:35. > :27:35.written all over it. Quite a Bertha, it has the United kingdom

:27:36. > :27:35.rain, reports of flooding in some eastern parts of England. They will

:27:36. > :27:36.go away ever eastwards through the next few hours. Major towns it is

:27:37. > :27:40.holding up into double figures. It should be a better day into

:27:41. > :27:45.tomorrow, the Northern Isles might be wet and windy but for the bulk of

:27:46. > :27:50.the mainland, bright and breezy, good sunny spells. Maybe a few sharp

:27:51. > :27:53.showers cropping up in Northern Ireland to the afternoon, where we

:27:54. > :27:56.will find the temperature than 20 degrees in Belfast between those

:27:57. > :28:05.showers. The top temperature in the quarter, -- the south eastern

:28:06. > :28:08.corner, 23. Birth is still approaching, and we will begin to

:28:09. > :28:12.feel the first impact of that early in the morning in the south-west of

:28:13. > :28:24.the UK on Sunday. -- hurricane Bertha. Most of England and

:28:25. > :28:26.eventually eastern Scotland will see heavy rain. It begins to dry up in

:28:27. > :28:37.the south but at the same time those strong, gusty winds developing.

:28:38. > :28:47.Through Sunday and inch or two inches of rain, gales are possible

:28:48. > :28:49.around