03/08/2011 BBC News at Ten

. Once he ruled over Egypt with an iron fist, today Hosni Mubarak

appeared in court. He was wheeled in on a hospital trolley. He is

charged with corruption and ordering the shooting of protesters.

TRANSLATION: All the accusations, I deny them all.

In Cairo, in the country and around the region, they watched the first

major trial of the Arab uprising. When I saw him today, I felt it is

the first step to a long way to justice.

We will be asking how this unprecedented trial of an Arab

leader is seen in the Middle East. Also tonight.

The hacking scandal spreads. Heather Mills says a Mirror Group

journalist admitted the messages from Sir Paul McCartney were

intercepted. Tens of thousands face uncertainty

after holidays for U goes into administration.

A warning about Britain's defence capability. MPs say cutbacks

Rangers see red in Europe. They have two men sent off as they crash

Good evening. Hosni Mubarak, the man who once ruled supreme over the

Arab world's most populous nation, was wheeled into a Cairo courtroom

today on a hospital trolley. He denied charges of corruption and

ordering the killing of protesters in February. The televised session

was watched by millions in Egypt and around the region, the most

potent symbol to date of the changes unleashed by the Arab

Uprising. More on the regional impact in a moment, but first our

world affairs editor, John Simpson, who was in court for the

It was to be a day of reckoning. Soon after dawn, as the

preparations were completed and the demonstrators gathered, ex-

president Mubarek was brought from his hospital at Sharm El-Sheikh to

the Cairo police academy that used to be named after him.

The Egyptian press was full of stories that he was too ill to be

brought into court, that he would be kept in the academy's hospital

wing instead. There was intense excitement in the courtroom as the

lawyers, police and journalists waited. And then through the heavy

steel bars of the dock, we caught the first glimpse of him and

realised he was being wheeled in in a bed. His sons, who is also in the

dock here, stooped to kiss him. At the sight of the ex-president,

there was an instant of of utter sigh lance. -- sigh lance and then

from around the court an audible intake of breath. The man who

controlled everyone's lives in Egypt for so long had finally been

brought to book. The charges against him were read out.

Financial corruption and ordering the killing of demonstrators which

carries the death penalty. TRANSLATION: All the accusations, I

deny them all. Mr Mubarek's lawyers wanted him to go back to hospital.

The judge, who has a reputation for being independent minded said he

had to stay in court. Emotions rose high. The prosecutor claimed Mr

Mubarek had wanted the largest possible number of demonstrators to

be shot down. Some of the defence lawyers wanted the present Egyptian

leader to be called as a witness. Bringing the new power structure

into the case. This is going to be a difficult trial to control.

Outside the court too, the passions were running high. Mr Mubarek still

has supporters here. There will be a lot of people here who are

absolutely delighted, overjoyed, feel it is their revenge on their

former leader and for everything he did, but at the same time I'm sure

also the spectacle of an 83-year- old man going through this process

also create a certain amount of sympathy as well. But the fiercest

anger came from the relatives and friends of people who had been

killed and injured in the revolution. When the trouble

started today, the police in their clean, white uniforms just ran for

it. Six months ago at the height of the revolution, it was the police

who were shooting down the demonstrators in the streets.

Around 850 people died in all, one of them lived here in a poor area

of Cairo. An 18-year-old. The flat is full of photos of him and you

can see he was gentle and unworldly, but he got caught up in a demo and

the police shot and killed him. Today, naturally his family were

glued to the television, watching their former president being tried

for ordering the killings of people like him.

TRANSLATION: I'm happy, but I have still got this fire burning in me.

I want to see Mubarek get what he deserves. He killed the best people

of Egypt just so his son could take over if him.

It has been a momentous day here. In other parts of the Middle East,

presidents are still ordering their forces to shoot down demonstrators.

But they won't be able to just As John was saying Hosni Mubarak's

trial is being watched by lead leaders and public alike throughout

the Middle East. James Robbins has been looking at Mr Mubarek's

transition from president to prisoner. No wonder Hosni Mubarak's

fall has transfixed the Middle East. A leader courted and supported by

American presidents, credited with bolstering Middle East peace and

countering extremism, now brought low by his own people's rage

against the brutality and Hosni Mubarak was thrust into

Egypt's presidency in October 1981 when Anwar Sadat was assassinated

beside him stability became the obsession at the expense of all

political opposition. President Mubarak pleased Washington by

sticking with the peace treaty with Israel. He put thousands of Islamic

radicals behind bars, many without trial and many were tortured. To

the House he seemed an indispensable ally well worth

supporting, but in Egypt, his whole regime became associated with

corruption and brutality. After 30 years in power, it took only 18

days of popular anger with Tahrir Square at its heart to bring

President Mubarak down and set him on the road to trial. Today, Hosni

Mubarak's court appearance gripped audiences across the region. This

is Jordan, so could other leaders face a similar fate and is it right

to treat a former president like this? TRANSLATION: We support his

being put on trial because he harmed Egyptian people. He

committed murder and crimes. What he did is shameful.

This trial has come at a time when his health mean a man of 80 years

old doesn't have to face justice. He spent his life serving Egypt.

Arab satellite channels ran blanket coverage across the region, but in

some countries notably Syria, Libya and Yemen, State TV did not show

this sort of live coverage. The scenes in the dock are the stuff of

nightmares for Colonel Gaddafi or President Assad. But it is Egypt

which is most likely to be changed by this trial. We have only just

started this trial yet and I don't think one can be sure yet whether

it will appear to be fair and straightforward, but let's assume

that it does appear to be fair and straightforward and it will help

the process of building a new national feeling, consciousness, in

Egypt. So Egypt's ex-president has been

confirmed as the big political casualty of the Arab Spring so far,

but that does not mean that other leaders in region relying on force

will inevitably suffer Hosni Thank you.

Our world affairs editor John Simpson joins me now from Cairo.

John, it must have been extraordinary to be there in court

as this man was brought so low? It was, George. It was the most

remarkable thing. The excitement, the sort of pent up feelings of

just about everybody there. It was quite interesting even people like

senior police officers were clearly excited at the pros prospect of

seeing their former leader and at hearing his voice and you couldn't

help feeling that it was that sense that this was a man who had ruled

over them pretty fiercely for 30 years and they actually did really

want to see him brought low. So the excitement in the court was

something I don't think I'll ever forget. I've seen Saddam Hussein's

trial in Iraq five years ago, but it wasn't like this at all. I mean

I think the difference was that Saddam Hussein was brought down

effectively by western powers invading his country whereas here,

Mr Mubarek was brought down by his own people after only 18 days of

demonstrations. John, that drama aside, how

important is this for the Arab uprising as a whole? Well, I think

it is pretty clear that the Arab uprising is starting to fade in

lots of places. I mean everywhere just about except Libya, the powers

in control are still very much in control. But I condition help

thinking, obviously Syria is the country that would be most affected

by this and I'm absolutely certain that the Assad regime there must be

looking at this with great nervousness because after all if it

is possible for the demonstrators to just pull out the stops a little

bit more and for the Army to be less effective in shooting them

down then Mr Mubarek's fate could be President Assad's fate too.

As the drama unfolded in Egypt, the violent crackdown on protesters in

Syria has prompted condemnation from the UN Security Council

tonight. Human Rights activists say tanks and and troops moved into the

the town of Hama. Foreign journalist are not allowed into

Syria. So Jim Muir sent this report There was shelling, machine gunfire

and panic as the tanks moved in. Activists videos on the internet

said there were gunmen on roof tops to keep people off the streets. The

tanks seemed to meet little resistance as they ground into the

city centre. Residents said the attack was unprovoked.

Today, in the morning, about 5am, the landlines, cellphones, internet

has been blocked completely. There was a big fire shot and bomb in all

direction of the city. Action seems to have put the

Government back in control of Hama. Its 700,000 or so people seem to be

more or less behind the uprising. Even before the final assault, Hama

was burying its dead. Nobody knows how many died today, but last time

a revolt was crushed there in 1982, The famine which has gripped parts

of southern Somalia has spread. According to the United Nations,

the entire south is likely to be declared a famine zone within the

next six weeks. Much of the area is controlled by Islamist militants

who have banned food aid in the region.

The Italian Prime Minister has been addressing Parliament on the

country's debt crisis amid calls from opposition parties for him to

step down. Silvio Berlusconi said Italy had a solid economic

foundation. More phone-hacking allegations have

emerged - this time about the Mirror group. Heather Mills has

claimed in a BBC interview that a senior Mirror Group journalist

admitted hacking a highly sensitive voicemail left for her by Sir Paul

McCartney before they were married. Our home affairs correspondent Matt

Prodger reports. Heather Mills, best known for her

four-year marriage to Sir Paul McCartney, the subject of tabloid

stories for many years - she once said they'd almost driven her to

suicide. Tonight she alleges ten years ago a senior journalist at

Mirror Group newspapers admitted hacking a voice message by Sir Paul

following an argument. She said the journalist quoted parts of the

They were obviously very private conversations about issues we were

having as a couple, then I said, "I'll go to the police." He said,

"OK. We did hear it on your voice messages. I won't run it."

journalist she said she had spoken to was not Piers Morgan, then the

editor of the newspaper. However, a question appears to be one Mr

Morgan admits listening to. Five years ago he wrote this in a

If Ms Mills' recollection is correct, the message Mr Morgan

listened to had been hacked and a fellow journalist from Mirror Group

newspapers had tried to use it to get a story. Tonight Piers Morgan

said Heather Mills' account was unsubstantiated and once again

denied sanctioning phone hacking or knowingly publishing a story

obtained from it. One former Mirror Group employee said it was

widespread. James Hipwell worked there as a business journalist

before he was stacked, then later convicted, of a share-tipping scam.

Well, when I was there, it was an accepted technique to get a story.

There were a lot of people around me who were hacking into

celebrities' phones or celebrity PR's phones to get stories. From

Mirror Group's headquarters tonight, its parent company repeated a

statement that all its journalists work within the law and the Press

Complaints Commission code of conduct. Other prominent people,

including footballer Rio Ferdinand and TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson

also believe they were hacked by the Mirror Group.

You can see more on this story after this programme on Newsnight

on BBC Two. $NEWLINE Coming up on tonight's programme:

They're out, and it's only August - nine-man Rangers' angry exit from

the Champions League. Spending cuts to the armed forces

may leave them unable to do what's asked of them after 2015. That's

the warning from the Commons Defence Committee, who've rejected

David Cameron's assurance that Britain retains a "full spectrum"

of defence capability. Our defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt looks

at the changing face of Britain's armed forces over the years. For

centuries Britannia really did rule the waves - the Royal Navy a key

part of establishing this island nation's role on the world stage.

Even if the HMS Arc Royal of the Second World War was sunk by an

enemy U boat. In today's harrier force were put out of action not by

the enemy but by defence cut last year. The UK won't be able to

launch aircraft from its own carrier for nearly a decade. By

2020, the Army too will shrink by 20,000 soldiers, or one in five.

The RAF and Navy will lose around 5,000 people each from much smaller

forces. All of this means taking risks, and respected MPs have

expressed serious concerns. main aim of the review was to

produce a coherent, comprehensive force structure by the year 2020,

and we feel grave doubts as to whether the Government has got in

place the plans to achieve that. Among the force's current

commitments are Afghanistan, with some 10,000 personnel from all

three services, and now Libya, where the RAF, the Royal Navy and

the Army Air Corp are in action. They're still defending the

Falklands as well as fight piracy and drugs. MPs warn too the forces

risk not being able to take on new taxes, something the Government

disputes. We have been able to operate in Libya, for example,

while we have been deployed in Afghanistan, and we have been able

to bring in even more assets than we were asked for by NATO to that.

So it's still clear we're able with the world's biggest defence budget

to mount operations to a greater extent than most of our European

allies. But capability gaps such as those left by the scrapping of the

nimrod MRA4 will make Britain more dependent on our allies. The

committee warns that cuts to both defence and diplomacy will diminish

the UK's influence on the world stage, so what do those who have

represented Britain abroad believe? Having an aspiration to be a

serious player politically and of course militarily is fine, and I

think it would be a very bad thing for our country if we lost our

ambition, lost our aspiration, but there's a borderline between having

ambitions and having illusions, and I think we should be careful that

we don't cross it. The warning today was clear - the UK will need

to spend more on defence if its military punch is not to be

seriously weakened. Part of the Sellafield Nuclear

Plant in Cumbria is to close, putting 800 jobs at risk according

to the union, Prospect. The Mox fuel manufacturing plant, which

supplied the Fukushima power station in Japan, has been badly

affected by the disaster there. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

says it will help to find the plant's workers new jobs at the

site. Tens of thousands of British

holidaymakers have had their plans wrecked after a tour operator

specialising in packages to Turkey went into administration. People

who've booked to go away with Holidays 4U or Aegean Flights -

including those who expected to leave this evening - were told not

to go to the airport. From Manchester, Chris Buckler reports.

Today was supposed to mark the start of this family's holiday.

Instead, they found themselves at the airport with no-where to go.

And the company they've booked with had gone out of business.

How do you feel about all of this? A bit annoyed, really, let down,

because we - SOBBING

We were all doing this as a family. The clear upsets of those who won't

get away is matched by the concern of the almost 13,000 Holidays 4U

passengers thought to be abroad. The company has 20,000 future

bookings, including family holidays, which means the number of people

affected could be twice or three times that. This is a company with

a turnover of �35 million. This is going to be a terrible time for

50,000 people who now have to run around and try and find alternative

holidays. They will find there is a sudden spike in demand, so the

other companies are putting their prices up. On the Holidays 4U web

site, it promises flights to better weather have been replaced with a

new gloomy message, simply stating that the company is now in

administration. The travel business over the last couple of years has

had a tough time. It has been tough economically. We understand that

this business in particular had a difficult June and July so far, so

trading conditions have definitely contributed. No more passengers

will fly out, but this evening, some of the firm's final customers

returned home. Many only finding out what had happened as they

landed. We were very lucky, then, put it that way. One man received

an e-mail from the company as he took his seat on the plane home.

We're glad they run the plane. Hurry up and take all. We're glad

to get back to Manchester safely. There have been assurance for those

still abroad - they will get back safely. As for those who have still

got to go on their holidays - well, they should get their money back,

but they might have to wait. On the departures board, there was no

mention of the 9.00am flight that was supposed to leave for Turkey.

Thousands of holiday plans have been ruined, and the only journey

this family could make was the one home.

The chief constable of Cleveland Police, Sean Price, and his deputy,

Derek Bonnard, have been arrested as part of an investigation into

alleged corruption. Chief Constable Price, who has led the Cleveland

force since 2003, and his colleague are being questioned along with a

woman at a police station in North Yorkshire. Our correspondent Danny

Savage is in Middlesbrough now. Bring us up to date on this one.

Well, George, tonight, sources have told me that the Chief Constable of

Cleveland Police and his deputy are still in custody as they, and

witnesses, are questioned as part of this inquiry. There has been a

police investigation ongoing now for three months into allegations

of corruption at the Cleveland Police Authority by past and

present members, and this morning detectives from that inquiry

arrested the Chief Constable, Sean Price, and his deputy, Derek

Bonnard. They were detained on suspicion of misconduct, abuse of

position and corrupt practise. And they have been questioned at a

police station in North Yorkshire all day and suspended from duty as

well. Now, Sean Price has been the chief here since 2003. He has

worked his way up through the ranks of Merseyside Police and

Nottinghamshire Police, but he's no longer. He has been replaced for

the time being. The Police Federation say today's arrests here

have come as a massive shock, and this is very unusual. It's perhaps

more than 50 years since a Chief Constable has been arrested on

suspicion of a crime, and the people here in this area are now

facing the prospect of their senior law keeper being arrested by fellow

officers as this inquiry continues. George? Danny, thank you.

The UK border force and the Serious Organised Crime Agency have

uncovered a record �300 million worth of cocaine hidden in a luxury

yacht headed from the Caribbean to the Netherlands. Officers boarded

the boat in Southampton after close cooperation between the British

agencies and their French and Dutch counterparts. The cocaine -

weighing in at over a tonne - is said to be 90% pure. Six men have

been arrested. Football - and it may just be the

beginning of August, but Rangers won't play any part in this

season's main Champions League competition. They did manage a draw

in their second-leg qualifier against Malmo in Sweden, but ended

the game with just nine players and lost 2-1 on aggregate. Andy Swiss

watched the action. The furrowed brow said it all. For

the Rangers' boss, the Champions' League millions was the tantalising

prize, but his team, which began a goal down against Malmo, was soon a

man down. Steven Whitaker hurling the ball and seemingly chucking

away Rangers' chances. But despite that and the absence of

their fans - who had been banned from the game - they hit back.

Yelovic with a volley. The aggregate score now level. What

followed was not exactly pretty - a niggly, bad-tempered affair, which

became even uglier after the break. This elbow left Rangers with just

nine men, and his opponent on a stretcher. Malmo also had a player

sent off, but with ten minutes left, Hamaad's brilliant strike sealed