17/08/2012 BBC News at Ten

A chorus of international condemnation greets the jailing of

three young Russian women who criticised Vladimir Putin. The

women, members of the punk band Pussy Riot, were sentenced to two

years in prison. They were convicted of blasphemous

hooliganism after singing a protest song inside a Moscow cathedral. The

husband of one of them says it's a threat to free speech. Effective

political protest won't be tolerated in Russia, it will be

brutally crushed. We'll be assessing the impact of the verdict

which has divided opinion in Russia. Also tonight:

Police investigate whether Ian Brady has disclosed in a letter the

burial place of one of his victims. Keith Bennett is the only victim of

the Moors murderer whose body has After riot police in South Africa

shoot dead 34 protesting miners, President Zuma sets up an official

inquiry. The Government apologises for

understating how many playing fields have been sold - and then

And jubilant crowds welcome back to Sheffield their golden girl,

Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC News Channel, Jonny Bairstow leads

England's fight back in there must win a final Test against South

Good evening. In a trial that's provoked controversy and

international condemnation, three members of a Russian punk band have

been sentenced to two years in prison. The women from the band

Pussy Riot were found guilty of hooliganism and religious hatred

after singing an anti-Putin song inside a Moscow Cathedral earlier

this year. There have been protests in support of the women around the

world but it's a case which has divided opinion inside Russia, as

our Moscow correspondent, Daniel The former world chess champion,

Garry Kasparov, making a break for freedom before being re-arrested

and brutally manhandled back into a police van. The scene outside the

Moscow trial this evening, as feelings among the opposition ran

high. Free Pussy Riot was the chant from the crowd as they wait for

news from the court. Inside, the three defendants were led into the

courtroom in handcuffs, which stayed on them throughout the

verdict. Young political artists, they found themselves in the middle

of one of the ice controversial trials in recent Russian history.

Branded as blasphemers and enemies Their crime was to sing parts of

this anti Vladimir Putin protest song in Moscow's main cathedral. It

was an act that offended millions of Russians, as the song was laced

with bad language and sung in one of the most sacred parts of the

Church. As the judge, whom the courtroom cameras did not show,

gave each of them two years in appeal colony, the women smiled.

That's OK, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova could be seen saying to the

defendants -- co-defendants, despite the harsh conditions they

can expect in a prison far from home. Outside court, her husband

was more angry. It is the second sign that effective political

protest will not be tolerated in Russia, it will be brutally crushed

and people involved in it will be prosecuted and arresting every

possible way. -- and harassed in every possible way. One protester

wave a flag to then you song, which we could hear inside the court. --

to their new song. Even those who did not approve were in despair.

all of us, even those who did not like the Pussy Riot action, and I

did not, it was a blatant disruption of justice. It was an

Inquisition. That is a far from universal view in Russia. There

were even those who thought the judge had not gone far enough.

think it was a fair trial, though I wanted them to get a longer

sentence, and I hope they repent, because if they had been released,

they would have lost their souls. But now they have time to think in

jail. Tonight, the British Government, the United States and

the European Union joined an international chorus of

condemnation, saying Pussy Riot's two year sentence was

disproportionate to their crime. Daniel joins me now from Moscow.

The case has focused attention on free speech in Russia? Quite

serious criticism from overseas, focusing on whether Russia is

sticking to its international obligations in terms of providing

free speech and providing these women with a free trial. The

question is whether Vladimir Putin will be all that bothered about

that. He is focusing on domestic problems and his focus there.

Shoring up Conservative Russia's far from Moscow -- Russians. Many

will support that these women have gone to jail. In terms of criticism

from the West, they will see that as a positive sign. More worrying

is that there are signs from -- of a rift in the elite in Moscow.

Particularly one who he reminds -- regards as an ally, is said it was

a blow to the credibility in the Russian people. I think that is a

sign that Vladimir Putin might be in a bit of trouble on this.

Police are investigating whether the Moors murderer, Ian Brady, has

finally disclosed the burial place of one of his victims. It follows

claims by his mental health advocate that he passed her a

sealed envelope with details of the location of 12-year-old Keith

Bennett's body. She was arrested yesterday and her house - and

Brady's cell - were searched. Detectives are now examining a

number of documents but concede it could be a ruse by Brady. Judith

Moritz reports. It is nearly 50 years since 12-

year-old Keith Bennett was murdered. In all that time, his body has

never been discovered. His remains are hidden somewhere on Saddleworth

Moor, but to the distress of his family, they haven't been found.

The one man who could locate Keith is his killer, Ian Brady. Brady and

his accomplice, Myra Hindley, murdered five children in the mid-

1960s, burying three of them up on the moors. Keith Bennett's body is

the only one that is still lost. Now Ian Brady is said to have

written a letter from his cell at Ashworth Hospital on Merseyside,

disclosing the location of the remains. The claim, which is being

investigated by police, was made by Jackie Powell, Ian Brady's mental

health advocate and an executor of his will. Yesterday she was

arrested and her house search. Jackie Power had previously told

the team from Channel 4's cutting Today, Keith Bennett's family said

this was an important development, but that they didn't want to raise

their hopes. His mother, Winnie Johnson, has often said her only

wish is to find her son's body. She is now gravely ill. She spoke to me

at the end of last year. He got away with the other ones, they

found the other ones but they did not find Keith and that is the main

asset for me. I want him found, and I want him found before anything

happens to me. Winnie Johnson has been to the moors herself before.

Her supporters have welcomed this development, with some reservations.

Any human being in this situation with a grieving mother would have

provided information sooner rather than later. Obviously, we don't

know how long he will live, we don't know how long we need Johnson

will live. For this information to come at this late stage, in the

circumstances, seems rather strange. This is a former detective who once

worked on the case. He said the remains will be hard to find as the

Mormons have shifted over the years. The only things that have saved --

stayed the same body rock formations. How on earth you could

pinpoint something from 1964, to 2012, is beyond me. The police have

not come back here to search the moorland yet. They are still

looking for the letter amongst documents they had seized. Those

who know Ian Brady says it may not even exist, and that he is well

The South African President has set up an inquiry after police officers

opened fire on several thousand striking miners yesterday - killing

34 people. President Zuma said such events shouldn't happen in a

democracy. The country's police chief said officers had had to use

"maximum force to defend themselves" and claimed the miners

were "armed with dangerous weapons". As our Africa correspondent, Andrew

Harding, reports, there have been more protests today outside the

British-owned Lonmin Marikana platinum mine.

The crime scene today. This can be a violent country, but democratic

South Africa has never experienced anything like this. Here is what

happened. An increasingly deadly showdown between striking miners

and the police reached a climax yesterday afternoon. The tear gas

failed to disperse a crowd armed with clubs and Spears. Suddenly,

the police say, they came under Three minutes later, dozens of

civilians lay dead and wounded. A policeman picks out a gun,

allegedly one used to attack them. Trouble had been brewing here for

days, with a small militant union trying to make a name for itself,

seemingly. More mainstream groups have blamed it for provoking the

violence. Did the South African police handle this appropriately?

The militant group stormed towards the police firing shots and

wielding a danger for weapons. Police intervened and were forced

to eat utilise maximum force to defend themselves. But at the mine

today, the wives and mothers of the dead and wounded confront the

police. Stop shooting our husbands! You could argue that what happened

here was a murky union turf war gone spectacularly wrong. But there

is a much larger point. South Africa's economy is floundering.

Inequality is growing, the poor are losing patience, and the result is

more militancy, more angry populism, and almost inevitably, more

bloodshed. The pattern and mine is owned by a British company. There

is fantastic wealth below the ground here -- the platinum mine.

For many South Africans, not much sign of it up top. 20 years, nearly,

after apartheid, for you, nothing has changed? Nothing has changed

for all. Democracy is just a word like a page flying in the sky.

There is hope and a chance that the killings will provoke some

meaningful changes. But don't count The Department of Education has

apologised for publishing inaccurate figures about how many

school playing fields have been sold off under the current

Government. Today Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, insisted that

playing fields were better protected than at any time before.

But a member of the panel that advises on the sale of sports

fields expressed concern that its judgement was being disregarded.

Our political correspondent, Ross This is where it so often begins

for Olympic champions, the school playing field. No surprise, then,

that as the games ended, David Cameron was asked how many had been

sold off under his government, and he had the official figures to hand.

In the last two years, 21 playing fields have been sold, 14 of those

were because the school had closed. By there was a problem. David

Cameron's fact provided by the Department for Education were wrong.

In fact, 31 English school playing fields have been approved for sale

since the election, and on five occasions, his education Secretary

Michael Gove ignored MPs who opposed sales.

To be due mislead the public over school playing fields? Absolutely

not. Did you overrule the committee? Playing fields are

better protected under this government than before. This school

in south-west London was one of those where that committee said

land it should not be sold, only to be could be by Michael Gove, who

decided it should. It would be nice to have Michael Gove here with

Justin -- Justine Greening, the local MP, and may be the prime

minister, just to look around and see what is being lost. It is

decisions about schools like this that proved so controversial both

in local communities and national politics. Some of the land being

sold off here is used for tennis and football. The council says

there will be new facilities, but this is a school that needs money

from a sale because its buildings are badly in need of repair. Some

want to make sure schools are not selling land to make ends meet.

There is not a great deal of money it available other than for the

essentials, and we don't want to see the sale of playing fields

becoming a trend. The opposition are demanding more details about

this affair, although the disposal of more than 200 playing fields was

agreed under the Labour government. But the scrutiny now is on how the

minister made his decisions and on how the Department for Education

got its figures wrong on such a sensitive issue.

Coming up: four helicopters and a string quartet - the modern opera

bringing a new meaning to the phrase "high art".

The man who Sir Alex Ferguson hopes will bring the Premiership title

back to Manchester United was unveiled to fans at Old Trafford

today. Robin Van Persie said he could not wait to get started. But

on the eve of the English football season, the head of the Premier

League has conceded that today's footballers may have worked to do

on their image after unfavourable comparisons with the Olympian

spirit displayed in recent weeks. This report contains flash

photography. Another new season, another new signing.

Manchester United has captured Robin Van Persie, a tanner reminder

of why Premier League football remains so popular. Fleeting

loyalty. When I have to make hard decisions, I always listen to the

little boy inside me and what he wants. The epic climax to last

season. Manchester City's astonishing last-gasp triumph, when

they wrestled the triumph away from Manchester United captured the

sheer drama of the Premier League more than any other moment in his

20 year history. That competitive edge has helped the Premier League

securing new domestic TV deal worth more than �3 billion over three

years. Matches at grounds like this are now broadcast in 212 countries,

and watch in 720 million households around the world. It was goal

difference. It would not happen again. Robin has decided to stay in

this country. He could have gone abroad. Does that prove that this

remains the best league in the world? Are I think it is the best

league in the world. This so what is different about the Premier

League this season? Well, there are three newly-promoted clubs -

Southampton, Reading and West Ham United. And plenty of new faces,

including Chelsea's �32 million signing Eden Hazard, Arsenal's new

German striker Lukas Podolski and Liverpool's new Italian forward,

Fabio Borini. But the League faces a challenge, too, the positive TVs

around in the nation's most successful ever Olympic team has

left football with an image problem. Only today, Rio Ferdinand became

the latest player to be fined by the FA for making improper comments

on Twitter in the aftermath of the John Terry trial, another

opportunity for unfavourable comparisons to be made with the

Olympic spirit. You could argue that it is all very different and

therefore, comparisons should not be made. I am not arguing that.

There is a stark contrast being made, and that has to be addressed.

We are not complacent about it. We are working on it. But it is a

difficult one to crack, because football is clearly different.

greatest show on earth has been and gone. Now the richest is back. But

even for the Premier League, following on from the summer of

sport could be its greatest challenge to date.

To 24 hours after the United Nations observer mission pulled out

of Syria, activists claimed 130 people have been killed. With the

fighting continuing, brokering a ceasefire has been described as an

impossible mission, and that was by the last man to try, UN envoy Kofi

Annan. Now the job has gone to a veteran Algerian diplomat who says

he is not confident he will succeed either, but the Syrian people

should not be abandoned. This is the Syria confronting D new

UN peace envoy. These pictures are impossible to verify, but are

thought to show rebels in Aleppo today as relentless fighting

continues. President as a's regime was able to strike from the air and

still has greater firepower, but neither side is giving way or

talking any other language than war. Enter Lakhdar Brahimi, 78-year-old

Algerian diplomat taking on the search for peace which Kofi Annan

gave up on earlier this month. Lakhdar Brahimi has tackled huge

tasks before in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Haiti and South Africa,

but he thought long and hard before taking on Syria as it plunges into

civil war. The United Nations can't give up on Syria, of course, but

Kofi Annan's resignation has highlighted the difficulties it

faces. Lakhdar Brahimi, the new man in the job, the one his predecessor

called Mission Impossible, said bluntly that these missions have to

be undertaken and might fail, but we are sometimes lucky. Estimates

suggest that around 20,000 people have already died over the past

year and a half in Syria, although there is no definitive figure. The

humanitarian crisis is huge, with the UN reporting that up to 2.5

million people need help. It is a very difficult situation. We all

know that a political solution is required and we want the fighting

to stop. But while those political discussions go on, we must do all

we can to meet the needs of these millions who need help.

overwhelming reality of Syria is violence and the destruction of

great swathes of the country. The new envoy faces persistent

international division, and no sign but those fighting are looking for

compromise. It is one of the most ambitious

operas ever written, five hours long, and featuring a string

quartet Strangelove from four helicopters. Stockhausen's Mittwoch

Aus Licht, or "Wednesday from light", is to be performed for the

first time in its entirety next week, in a disused chemical plant

in Birmingham. It is part of the London 2012 Festival, it has cost

thousands of public money to stage. Our arts editor went along to the

rehearsals. This is opera, on a grand scale. It

is unusual and complex, both musically and in terms of

protection, which is why it has never been staged before. Bull is a

five-hour, 6 part operatic extravaganza -- Mittwoch Aus Licht

is a five-hour extravaganza staged by Stockhausen. It is challenging

in all respects. The fourth parties bizarre opera. It is called a

helicopter String Quartet, which requires each member of a string

quartet to play the really complicated score while flying in a

helicopter and responding to the movement of its rotor blades. Good

luck, guys. So, what is it like to perform? It is amazing to play,

because it is unique music. It is not like anything else I have

played before, because every line of music is made up of notes from

the four different instruments. So it is like one of those stories

where everybody says one word in order to make up the story. It is

quite an extreme concept. Stockhausen, who died in 2007, was

an unconventional composer. He was also a pioneer of electronic music.

His work was not always appreciated by traditionalists, but it was a

source of inspiration for musicians across genres and decades, from the

Beatles to Blur. Apart from his 12 po and exploration, put into the

mix loops, repetition, distortion, silence, you know, all the things

that modern music has sought have grown out off, he is very much at

the vanguard of what we all grew up with. Today Jean this work is very

demanding, logistically and financially, but the man who has

taken on the task is convinced the opera is worth it. It is the value

that matters, not the price. And the value is extraordinary. It is a

wonderful piece, joyous, involving an enormous atmosphere of

excitement. People are coming from over the world to Birmingham to see

it. Stockhausen saw this piece as a musical celebration of global

harmony and collaboration, sentiments shared by the Olympic

movement, which helps explain why the Birmingham Opera Company felt

that this was the summer to give Mittwoch Aus Licht its world

premiere. In cricket, England got off to a

poor start on the second day of the third Test at Lord's, losing four

early wickets to South Africa. But a partnership of 124 between Ian

Bell and Jonny Bairstow clawed England back into the game. They

ended up on 208 for five, 100 runs behind South Africa's first innings

total. She was one of THE faces of Team GB.

Jessica Ennis won gold in the women's heptathlon at the Olympics,

and was watched by millions. This evening, she received a rapturous

welcome when she returned to her home city of Sheffield. The crowds

were encouraged to wear something gold to honour her achievement.

For many, Jessica Ennis was the face of Team GB. In Sheffield, the

crowds dressed in red, white, blue and most importantly, gold. They

were selling gold medals on the streets here. But 18,000 people

agreed - there is no substitute for the real thing. The thank you so

much, every single one of you here. If I could thank you individually,

I would, but there are so many of you! You have been incredible.

city watched as she achieved her long-held dream. Co it is a perfect

day for Jessica Ennis! In Sheffield, there are others with hopes of

being hot on her heels in the future, especially at the English

Institute of Sport, where the Olympic champion trains. Her eyes

or Jess Ennis training here, and that made me think I want to be in

heptathlon when a Mulder. This was just at the age of 14. Some here

can claim credit for helping her on the way to gold. I have seen just

develop from a year seven student after an Olympic gold medallist. As

a teacher, it is a great honour to have had some part to play. During

the Games, they gathered at big screens in Sheffield to cheer