30/12/2013 Midlands Today


30/12/2013

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industry. We are back

:00:00.:00:07.

Good evening. West Bromwich Albion say their striker Nicolas Anelka

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will continue to play for the club despite his controversial goal

:00:14.:00:17.

celebration on Saturday. Jewish groups around the world say they've

:00:18.:00:20.

been offended by his gesture which they liken to a Nazi salute. But

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Anelka continues to defend his actions.

:00:24.:00:30.

Disgusting. Just one headline from many in the national newspapers.

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West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka is headline news. It's not

:00:39.:00:42.

his football but his goal celebration. It's called the

:00:43.:00:45.

quenelle and is the trademark of the controversial comedian Dieudonne.

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Many consider it an inverted Nazi salute and jewish groups around the

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world say they've been offended. Anything which is associated with

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the Nazi party is something which he ought to know would have probably

:01:02.:01:15.

put him in a concentration camp 70 years ago, rather than on a football

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field and Anelka made the gesture after scoring at West Ham on

:01:19.:01:21.

Saturday. That is the lesson he needs to learn. Perhaps we all need

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to learn that from this Last night defending himself on a social

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networking site. Incident as well. He wrote, I am not anti`semitic or

:01:27.:01:30.

racist and I totally stand by my gesture. In a statement, he

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continues to strongly deny any intention to cause offence. The club

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say he will be available to play in the next few games. But there is no

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sense of any apology. The club held a pre`match press conference today

:01:42.:01:43.

but Anelka's gesture dominated despite the press officer's requests

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to stick to the football. The club says it acknowledges it has been

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absurd but it does and says `` say he says sorry. Can we move it on,

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thank you? Nicholas is training as normal. He's been out there today,

:02:04.:02:08.

training like you did last week. The football Association are continuing

:02:09.:02:11.

their investigations but he could still face Newcastle united on New

:02:12.:02:17.

Year's Day. One of the country's biggest plant

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nurseries is calling for tighter controls on tree imports to combat

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disease. Hundreds of thousands of saplings have been destroyed in the

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Midlands this year, due to ash dieback.

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The dead of winter. The aftermath of a deadly disease is evident. More

:02:35.:02:39.

than 300 larch trees have been filed. The airborne disease was

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found here in September. It is the furthest east it has spread to land

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there is no guarantee it has been eradicated. When the Forestry

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Commission comeback in the spring, we might find it has moved on from

:02:53.:03:03.

this patch. It may have moved to the other trees within the site. 62

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acres of bilberry have also been affected and precautionary member ``

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measures are being taken. We could have a similar problem at Sutton

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Park. What we have done is identified that there is a threat.

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The Rangers there are all organising the rhododendrons being removed.

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That is the most likely hosts the cheese. `` host species. Ash dieback

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has also been a headache. This forest nurseries near Shropshire is

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the biggest in the country. It has had to destroy 800,000 ash saplings.

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The nursery's owner says a tighter control on imported trees is needed

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to disease spreading. We should be introducing what the Australians do

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and putting in warranties. You cannot tell by looking at the tree

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whether or not it is hosting a disease because you may not see the

:04:00.:04:05.

symptoms. In the soil, it's hard to detect. Inspection does not work.

:04:06.:04:10.

The nursery is playing its own part in trying to combat disease by

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establishing this orchard. The trees have been grafted with different

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genetic characteristics. Scientists hope at least one will prove

:04:19.:04:23.

resistant to Ash dieback. If these infections are not overcome, parts

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of our landscape may look very different in years to come.

:04:27.:04:30.

The man who was found dead at a house in Staffordshire at the

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weekend has been named as 44`year`old Anthony Hughes. Police

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were called to the house in Newcastle`under`Lyme on Saturday

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night. Mr Hughes, died from head and facial injuries. Two men have been

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charged with murder and were remanded in custody till later this

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month. Three other men have been bailed pending further inquiries.

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A university's becoming a world leader in developing diamond

:04:51.:04:54.

technology. The University of Warwick has been awarded more than

:04:55.:04:57.

?7 million to work with synthetic diamonds. The technology's already

:04:58.:05:01.

in use in manufacturing. Scientists believe it could also be used in

:05:02.:05:06.

treating cancers. Picture a diamond and many of us

:05:07.:05:09.

will have this image. The classic sparkler. But think again. Here's

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another physicist by the name of Newton. And he's about to give us a

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sneak peak of something just as precious. You think of the silicon

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chip. 50 years ago, people were developing silicon to be used with

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electronic devices. We are now developing diamonds to deliver new

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technologies, new capabilities. The University of Warwick is growing

:05:36.:05:38.

synthetic diamonds not for shops, not for your finger. They're leading

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the UK's research into diamond technology. Here is a piece of

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synthetic diamond and here is a block of ice. Watch this because as

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I pushed down not very hard at all, the heat is transmitting through my

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fingers and literally carving the ice easily. Its thermal conductivity

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is five times better than copper. Diamonds get used in everything from

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drill bits to quantum computers, hip joints and optical windows.

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Obviously, it's important to understand that characteristics of

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the material. So these odd looking diamonds are grown in the lab and

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have essentially the same chemical composition as mined natural

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diamonds. It's hoped that by identifying the smallest of

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molecular defects, they can apply it to all sorts of things, even

:06:25.:06:33.

medicine. You have the ability not just to measure the temperature of a

:06:34.:06:37.

patient but in principle, you can measure the temperature of a patient

:06:38.:06:39.

but in principle, you can measure the temperatures of individual cells

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and then decide which is a cancerous cell and then heated up to kill it.

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This research will allow the university to recruit 60 new PhD

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students, who'll share their findings with other UK universities.

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So this isn't about the bling, synthetic diamonds are fast becoming

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science's best friend. There've been howling winds and

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lashing rain across the region today. In Kingstanding in Birmingham

:07:01.:07:08.

this morning, a large tree was blown down, narrowly missing a house.

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Firemen had to cut a route into the house, so that the three people

:07:12.:07:14.

inside could be checked over by ambulance staff. No`one was injured.

:07:15.:07:18.

So is there more stormy weather to come as we head for 2014? Here's

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Shefali to tell us. Unfortunately yes. There are

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currently numerous flood alerts in force but only one flood warning for

:07:27.:07:29.

the river Severn at Tewkesbury. But of course with the ground so

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saturated, it's not the best of situations to be in with the sort of

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forecast we're looking at for the coming week The pattern unfolding

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this week is one of rain. Heavy at times followed by heavy blustery

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showers but for the time being at least it is dry out there and quite

:07:44.:07:47.

calm with the skies clearing enough for a touch of frost in rural parts

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initially before the cloud thickens up from the West later in the night.

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It is looking quite wet for the morning. A narrow band of rain

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spread secretly eastwards and that will leave us with much drier

:07:59.:08:01.

conditions by the afternoon. Maybe even some sunshine. Again, quite

:08:02.:08:06.

mild with highs of nine to 10 Celsius with moderate south`westerly

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winds. As we welcome in the New Year tomorrow night, I'm afraid we have a

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rash of lively showers developing. It could just start to quieten down

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by about midnight but for New Year's Day, I'm afraid it is looking very

:08:18.:08:21.

wet and quite windy. Showers by Thursday.

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I will be back with our latest news just after 10:15pm. Goodbye.

:08:24.:08:38.

Another day off strong winds, heavy rain and flooding. At least things

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are quiet at the moment. The rain has cleared off and the wind is

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lighter. There might be some ice in Scotland, but through the night the

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wind picks up, lifting temperatures, but more heavy rain pushing in. The

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rain band is not quite a significant us today, but it will leave surface

:09:02.:09:05.

water flooding. Some heavy bursts clearing Northern Ireland by first

:09:06.:09:11.

light. It reaches the east coast by the time we get to lunchtime, after

:09:12.:09:16.

a few morning showers. The wind is falling lighter, easing down from

:09:17.:09:22.

the gusty nature. A bit of sunshine through the afternoon. The

:09:23.:09:24.

temperature is a bit higher than they should be at this stage of the

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year. Some showers to finish the day in the West. They will push East on

:09:30.:09:36.

a blustery wind. Some of you will end the year on a dry note. The

:09:37.:09:40.

greatest chance of

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