26/12/2016 South Today - Oxford

Good evening. the news where you are. Goodbye.

As we've been hearing, people have been paying tribute

to George Michael, who died at his home in Goring on Thames yesterday.

Peter Cooke spent this morning in the South Oxfordshire village,

where people have been laying flowers outside the singer's home.

# Kindness

# In your eyes... #

He was an international pop star,

but to locals in Goring, he was just George.

It was here at his home at south Oxfordshire

that George Michael died yesterday aged 53.

South Central Ambulance Service

were called to the property just before 2pm.

His manager has said the former Wham! star

died of heart failure, but a postmortem will be held

to discover the exact cause of death.

He'd lived in Goring for nearly 20 years

and was well liked by his fellow villagers.

Yes, it's a sad day for Goring, and he'll be missed.

Always said hello, never been too pretentious, just a nice guy.

Just a sad day.

Goring people would just let him be, basically,

which is the attitude around here,

but that doesn't take away from the huge impact he had

over the course of this lifetime with his music.

Mary runs the local pub and said the singer enjoyed

the privacy the area offered.

It was slightly surreal to begin with, to be honest.

Obviously, you don't expect that such a music legend

is going to walk through your door.

But he never wanted any special treatment.

He was very respectful of others around him, as well as of us,

and he was a pleasure to have.

Fans around the world are still reeling from news of his death.

However, it's here in this south Oxfordshire village

where he will be missed and mourned by those who knew him so well.

Peter Cooke, BBC South Today.

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder

after a man was found dead in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Police were called to the Rose Inn on Pier Street just after midnight

yesterday after reports that a man had been assaulted.

A 57-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

An elderly couple have lost their home in Worthing

after it was engulfed by fire yesterday.

The pair, in their 80s, were lighting candles

near the Christmas tree when it went up in flames.

Fire and ambulance crews were called to the house

in Durrington Hill just after 1pm.

The couple and one other were taken to hospital

suffering minor burns.

A woman has spent Christmas in an Iranian jail

while her family had to celebrate in Fleet without her.

Nazanin Zagari Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian charity worker

accused of trying to overthrow the state,

a charge she's always denied.

Today was her 38th birthday.

Matt Treacy has been speaking to her family.

Are you being a good girl?

Separated for nine months, Richard's two-year-old

has been looked after by Iranian grandparents

while her mum is in prison.

So it's kind of online parenting at this point,

and we probably speak on Skype not every day but most days.

But yeah, obviously she's adapted to her new environment,

and she's a little Iranian baby now and speaks Farsi fluently

and is so much bigger than she was when she went.

And can't speak English, really, now,

so she doesn't really understand, but she knows that her home is here.

There are still presents under the tree

for the two who couldn't come, but Sunday was still a special day.

We did get a Christmas present this year,

in that Nazanin was allowed a family visit to the prison

and was allowed to phone me.

Talking to Nazanin, it's just husband and wife again,

and, yeah, she's not happy, she wants to come home.

Those phone calls remind me the gap there is between us,

and how much time has passed.

This time last year, we were just a normal family,

having a normal Christmas, you know, opening lots of presents,

eating lots of nice Christmas food.

So this year it's quite a surreal experience for us.

He does have his down moments, obviously,

and we tend to find them...

We realise, when he's down, he's very, very quiet.

And it's terrible to think of her in a dark cell

the size of a double bed, that's it, as far as we know.

Nazanin is hoping to appeal against her five-year sentence

in the New Year.

Matt Treacy, BBC South Today, Dleet.

It's been a busy afternoon of football across the region.

Bournemouth lost out to Premier League leaders Chelsea.

The final score was 3-0 there.

In the Championship, Reading beat Norwich City 3-1.

Disappointment, though, in League One

for both Oxford United and MK Dons, both lost 1-0,

while Swindon lost their game against Milwall.

It ended 2-0 there.

Portsmouth had a better afternoon away at Newport, winning 3-2.

It's been warm weather for swimmers with a number of charity swims.

Hundreds charged into the sea at Bournemouth yesterday

for the ninth annual White Christmas Dip

in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Much braver than me. Will it stay mild?

Here's Ian Fergusson with the weather.

Hello, a very good evening to you, and we're going to find,

with high pressure now dominating the pattern,

that tomorrow brings a fine day.

We are into a return of some cold nights, mind you,

many areas getting down below freezing tonight,

particularly away from the coastal fringe.

In fact, there could be some parts of Oxfordshire

as low as about minus five by first light tomorrow.

The odd patch of fog around, most areas will be clear that tomorrow,

and indeed most areas will be effectively clear of cloud.

It's looking a beautiful day all round,

just light and variable winds, and not a drop of rain in sight.

Another cold night to come tomorrow,

and the threat of fog tomorrow, or even freezing fog,

is going to be that bit more widespread by Wednesday morning.

Temperatures tomorrow, chilly, yes,

pleasant enough in the sunshine, getting up to about 5-7 Celsius.

Bye-bye.

That's it from us for now.

Enjoy the rest of your Boxing Day, goodbye.