16/01/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10 owe clokpm: a major - - 10.00pm: a major hostage crisis

in Algeria. Several British nationals are told.

Dozens of workers to be held. The group claiming responsibility has

links to Al-Qaeda and the Government says it's monitoring

events closely. The safety of those involved and their co-workers is

our absolute priority. And we will work around the clock to resolve

this crisis. But some reports suggest that one

British worker may have been killed in the attack. Also tonight:

Mate, your car is on fire. Get out of the car. A helicopter crash in

central London. Two people have died. Many others had a narrow

escape. I just saw smoke building up. Loads of fires. Three cars on

fire. People just running and screaming everywhere. We saw it

coming out of the sky it. Came down. It went behind the block of flats

and hit the road. We heard a massive explosion. President Obama

unveils sweeping new proposals to introduce gun controls. More bad

news from the high street as blockbuster goes into

administration. When was the last time you saw Bin

Laden? And why the Hollywood take on the search for Bin Laden is

proving so controversial. In Sportsday, Wayne Rooney scores

on his return from injury, but is it enough to see Manchester United

through to the fourth round of the Good evening. British workers are

among those being held by Islamist militants at a gas facility in

Algeria. The crisis is being monitored by the Cabinet emergency

committee but Downing Street says it's too early to speculate on

whether the attack is linked to the French military operations in

neighbouring Mali. The facility, which is partly run

by BP, is near the town of In Amenas.

At a remote BP gas plant in the deserts of Algeria, a well-planned

raid took place early this morning. Jihadist militants arrived in jeeps,

seized the complex and kidnapped dozen of foreign workers, including

several Britons. Two people are reported to have been killed.

The lead kidnapper is believed to be this man, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a

veteran Algerian jihadist who's made millions from hostage randsoms

and cigarette smuggling across is a haryan borders.

It's strigered a series of crisis meetings in London -- it's

triggered a series of meetings, where COBRA has been convened three

times today. The number of British hostages is thought to be in single

digits. The incident took place in an eastern part of aljeer. A

terrorist attack on an oil compound with oil workers. A number of

people are held hostage there. This does include a number of British

nationals. This is, therefore, an extremely dangerous situation.

evening the US State Department confirmed Americans are amongst the

hostages. We are obviously closely monitoring the situation. We are in

contact with Algerian authorities and our diplomatic counterparts in

Algiers, as well as with BP's security office in London. This

Algeria hostage crisis is focusing minds right across Whitehall.

What's not yet clear is what exactly are the kidnapper's real

motives? Ultimately this boils down to two possibilities: is it about

money? Previous kidnapping by kidnappers in the area have

generated millions in randsoms. Or is it about politics, like the

release of jihadist prisoners from jail or more toppically, the

current conflict in Mali? The French military's actions there to

push back rebels linked to Al-Qaeda has led to threats of retaliation

against Western interests this. Could be part of that retaliation,

or it could have been planned weeks ago. Either way, Algeria and

several other countries are now faced with an unexpected hostage

stand-off they will's be trying desperately to resolve without

bloodshed. Frank is with me. These people facial first night in

cappivity. What is your reading of things now -- people facing. It is

a stand-off. The Algerian government has deployed forces

which have surrounded the whole facility. My understand something

that the militants are controlling only a part of the facility. They

have released nearly all the Algerian hostages, but they are

keeping the foreigners. The non- Algerians, who number a few dozen,

probably less than 41 as has been claimed. The Algerian authorities

are telling them, through negotiations - there is no way out.

You are not going to be able it get these people out of the country to

Mali, as you want, and take dozen of Western hostages to Mali. That's

not going to happen. They are trying to persuade them to put down

their weapons to find a formula to resolve this without bloodshed.

David Cameron had a conversation with his opposite number, the Prime

Minister in Algeria today. My understand something that probably

no bloodshed was asked for, but we don't know exactly. And a lot of

nationalities involved. The Americans, probably the French. An

Irishman, Japanese and so on. So there is a lot of pressure on

Algeria to resolve this. They haven't had to deal with something

on this scale for a very long time. We should expect to see a lot of

statements coming out, connecting it with Mali it. Maybe connected

with mally. There is one already saying - we have succeeded, we have

taken this, we have stopped the French offensive in Mali. I think

that's optimistic. It may be really all about money-making and ransom

demands. A helicopter crash in central

London has claimed the lives of two people. 12 people were injured when

the helicopter crashed into a crane in very foggy weather. Peter Barnes,

described by colleagues as a highly-experienced pilot, had asked

to be diverted mid-flight because of bad weather. Today police have

named the other victim as Matthew Wood, 39 from Sutton in south

London. Richard Bilton has this report.

Mate, your car is on fire. Get out of the car. In the heart of London,

at the height of the rush-hour, a street full of flames.

This is burning fuel and wreckage from a helicopter that plunged on

to a busy road. It seemed like it was being to miss but then the

rotor seemed to hit it. It then dipped a bit. It then smashed right

into the crane and cut the cab in half. I turned the corner and heard

a massive bang of an explosion. I looked to my left-handside. I saw

smoke building up. Loads of fires. Three cars on fire. People running

and screaming everywhere. helicopter has come down on the

route I was about to walk to work. And it wasn't just those on the

streets that were scared. The helicopter crashed within metres of

Vauxhall Station, packed with commuters. As it was coming down,

the train went past and the helicopter driver must have steered

out of the way from the tracks. think that? Yeah, as it came down,

a train was coming across. Within minutes, an enormous emergency

operation had begun. The fires were quickly extinguished, but the

wreckage remained. This is as near as we have been allowed to get. But

you can get a real sense of the chaos that was created here when

the helicopter hit the crane up there and debris came crashing down.

Two people died here. The helicopter pilot, and a passerby.

Others were injured but senior officers say the consequences could

have been even more severe. Given the time of day in London and what

has happened, this is an absolute tragedy for the people involved,

and certainly for the families of the two people killed, but it is

probably miraculous that it wasn't much worse.

One escape was the crane driver. Colleagues say he would normally

have been in his cab. The best thing about it was the crane driver

is late for the first time in years, otherwise he would have been in the

crane. So, he had some luck. what exactly happened in the skies

above London. The helicopter, a twin-engineed AugustWestland took

off from Redhill Airport in Surrey. It was going to Elstree in

Hertfordshire, north of the capital. At some point close to the Thames,

the pilot made a request to divert and land at Battersea helicopter

port because of dense mist. At 8.00am it struck a crane on top of

one of the Europe's tallest skyscrapers, St George Wharf. It

crashed nearby a few hundred metres from the headquarters of MI6 and

about half a mile from the Houses of Parliament. The helicopter pilot

was Pete Barnes. He was hugely experienced, as a passenger and air

ambulance pilot. He is a member of the team. He had

a laugh with us, you know. He was very, very careful. Just a general

really nice, capable guy. This is the first helicopter crash fatality

in London since records began in 1976. Weather seems likely to be a

factor. Pilots still largely rely on what they can see and this

morning mist was in the air. But it is what happened on the ground that

London will remember. Fire and fear in the morning rush-hour.

President Obama has explained his plans for major changes to gun

control in the United States, including a been on assault rifles.

His announcement was made in the wake of the shooting of 20 children

and six teachers at a school last month but Mr Obama needs the

support of Congress to make his plans a reality and to withstand

the opposition of the National Rifle Association.

Mark Mardel reports. The massacre of these 26 innocents

in Newtown, slaughtered with an assault rifle has changed the mood

of the nation accord together President. He pulled out all the

stops for this. On the stage, youngsters who've urged him to

change the law. In the audience, parents of murdered children. He

needs to wring the heart strings of his country to challenge its gun

culture. For Americans of every background it stand up and say -

enough, we suffered too much pain and care too much about our

children to allow this to continue, then change will come.

Immediately, he signed 23 orders, mostly smallscale, mainly

tightening existing legislation. Real change will need new laws

which many in Congress will oppose. The new gun controls the President

wants would mean a ban on semi- automatic assault weapons, a limit

to the number of bullets a magazine can hold, and background checks for

everyone buying a gun. Are the President's kids more important

than yours? The powerful National Rifle Association has already put

out a hard-hitting advert. He is just another elitist hypocrite.

White House has called this repugnant and cowardly. But it is

the sort of sentiment you will hear at gun shows like this one in

independent ania. This is the type of gun used at Sandy Hook. People

told me they are good for killing vermin, fun to shoot. They believe

banning them would be against their constitution. We feel we are being

penalised for the mistakes of the view. The second amendment has

given us the right to keep and bear arms. We feel we are under attack

by the politicians in Washington who have that 24-hour, seven day a

week security and protection, that we don't.

They would say Chicago, just over 100 miles away, proves their point.

Some tough laws don't stop the nightly killings. The sheer horror

of Newtown focused the eyes of the world on America and its gun laws,

but this is the nightly reality. Last year alone 506 people were

shot dead in this city. This father of two was one of last

year's victims. No-one knows why he was killed. His mother has a plea

for the politicians. To come out here and help us. I don't have

peace. It's been eight months for me. Why is this happening? Help us.

The President says new laws would help, but he's taken on a fight

that goes to the heart of America's A British soldier, who was injured

in Afghanistan on Monday has died in hospital in Birmingham. The

serviceman from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster Regiment was

injured in the Lashkar Gah province. The Government of Pakistan has

threatened action to end a protest near the Parliament building in the

capital Islamabad. Thousands of protesters have taken to the

streets demanding the resignation of the government following the

warrant issued yesterday by the Supreme Court for the arrest of the

Prime Minister on corruption charges.

Now Blockbuster has become the latest High Street store to go into

administration putting more than 4,000 jobs at risk of the the DVD

and video rental business is another victim of competition with

online retailers and digital down loads. It's the third major High

Street chain to collapse in a fortnight.

It's the latest in a string of retail casualties, the business of

renting DVDs and games has got tougher and tougher, so Blockbuster

has called in administrators to salvage something and stave off the

possibility of going bust. Blockbuster used to get along

nicely renting what seemed hi-tech at the time videos. But so much has

changed since the online revolution. The recent history has been

troubled but somehow Blockbuster has soldiered on, though for

shoppers today's news didn't seem a great shock. It was always nice to

go and have a look at blockbuster or HMV to find something to watch

or listen to. But times are changing. We do everything on the

internet, on the computer. I don't know when the last time was I came

out to physically get a film or anything like. That I think it's

very sad because they provide a good service. I have been a client

for something like 20 years. this is yet another example of a

High Street chain buckling in the face of intense online competition.

In Blockbuster's case video streaming ah, available through

internet based subscription services. The rivals include mail-

order rental operations. The last few months have seen high profile

closures. Comet went into administration in November with

more than 6,500 jobs going. Jessops threw in the towel last week with

nearly 1400 jobs lost so far. HMV is in administration, still trading,

but with more than 4,300 jobs at risk. So why have three, including

Blockbuster, hit the buffers since the new year? In the Autumn there's

hope, Christmas is ahead. In January, the reality strikes - bad

Christmas, a long time until next Christmas and will the lenders and

suppliers support them through that very long time? The answer in these

three cases is no. Tonight Blockbuster stores were still

trading, over half are said to be making money. Administrators are

looking for a buyer and more than 4,000 staff can only hope the door

stays open for a rescue. Coming up on tonight's programme:

More trouble for Boeing's flagship Dreamliner as Japan's biggest

airlines ground the fleet for safety checks.

A group of Conservative MPs has backed calls for Britain to

renegotiate links with the European Union and to reclaim powers over

social and employment law. Fresh Start, which claims it has the

support of more than 100 Tory MPs, says it wants the UK to stay in the

UK. The manifesto is published as David Cameron prepares to deliver

his statement on European policy on Friday. Any new settlement will

depend on the response of the other EU member states.

A home furnishings fair in Frankfurt, this is the single

market and what many British people value most from the EU.

products we offer, the quality of the products we offer, we need the

European market. But the EU is changing, heading for much closer

union and David Cameron is looking for a new relationship with Europe.

Come to Finland, the frozen north to see how difficult the Prime

Minister's task will be. Finland is an ally of the UK. It too has its

sceptics, but its Europe minister cannot see Britain seizing back

wide powers from Brussels. I think some crumbs can be brought back,

but the bulk of European integration, the internal market,

will always remain the same. I don't think there'll be any

concessions on that. Take Germany, it wants Britain to stay in the

club. The two countries share a similar economic outlook. But read

the papers and you sense the frustration with Britain demanding

to be a special case. At least German people would like to see

Britain make up their mind, whether they want to stay in, with not such

a long list of opt-outs and special deals or whatever. To say well,

we're part of the deal or we're not. Germany is signalling it might work

with Britain in reducing some relations from Brussels, but it's

unlikely to support Britain opting out of legislation. Come to the

Netherlands, another close ally. The government here wants to bring

back some powers from Brussels too. What it won't do is support Britain

if it acts alone. We are in favour of repatrioting a few powers from

Brussels to the member states, but not just for one country, not just

for the British, not just for the UK, but for all 27 member states.

If even here there are doubts about Britain being able to win back

significant powers, then head down the road to Brussels or Paris and

you'll hear a much harder line. No to cherry-picking they say, no to

Europe a la carte, no to Britain being regarded as a special case.

So when the Prime Minister speaks here on Friday about forging a new

relationship with Europe, it will mark the start of a long, tough

negotiation. What does that mean for David

Cameron, the kind of pressure that there is on him to bring back some

kind of settlement for some of his own Conservative colleagues? Let's

talk to James Landale at Westminster. James, how do you see

the position for Mr Cameron now as he approaches this speech? It's not

the fact that he's under pressure that matters. It's the fact that

he's under pressure from so many different quarters. Some want a

referendum to stay in or pull out of the European Union. Others are

keen on changing the relationships, like these who published this today

saying we need to repatriot employment law, pull out of

cooperation on policing and a greater veto over financial

regulations. Other more pro- European Conservatives tomorrow, in

a letter to the Prime Minister, warned that talk of referendums and

renegotiation could damage the single market. Labour, for its part,

says that the promise of a referendum would condemn Britain to

five years of economic uncertainty. Ed Miliband the Labour leader

tomorrow will say that Mr Cameron is taking the UK to the edge of an

economic cliff. As we've just seen from that report, the Prime

Minister faces a pretty uphill task coming up with something that's

sellable to the rest of Europe. His speech on Friday has many audiences.

It's unlikely that he will satisfy them all. David Cameron has a track

record as a good finisher, of extricating himself from tricky

positions and this is just the start of a very long debate.

James, thanks very much. The aircraft manufacturer Boeing

has been warned by experts to move urgentsly to deal with concerns

about its flagship airline the 787 Dreamliner. Japan's two biggest

airlines have grounded their fleets of 787 after one of the planes was

forced to make an emergency landing. It's the latest in series of

problems. Our correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes explains. This

picture is the last thing Boeing's bosses wanted to wake up to this

morning. One of their shiny new Dreamliner aircraft stranded beside

a runway in western Japan. Passengers scrambling to evacuate

down emergency slides. No-one was hurt. They were clearly shaken.

TRANSLATION: As we were going down for the emergency landing, the

cabin attendant's voice was shaking. I realised this was pretty bad news.

It's certainly bad news for Boeing. The 787 Dreamliner was launched

last year with huge fanfare. It was a revolution in the skies. An

aircraft woven from carbon fibre, lighter, stronger and more

efficient than any before. And it sold like nothing before too, more

than 800 orders, including British Airways and Virgin. The 787 has

been beset by problems. Six incidents in the last ten days

alone. First, an electrical fire, then two fuel leaks, brake problems,

a cracked windscreen and finally, today's emergency landing. Despite

all this, experts say the plane is still fundamentally safe. Boeing

obviously, to them, it's a very big investment. I think they will be

concerned but not overduly concerned. To put things in

perspective, the aircraft hasn't been grounded globally. The type is

still flying with passengers. If it wasn't safe to operate, then this

would stop. The experts in the airline -- and the airlines may say

these are just teething problems, but it's the public that buy the

tickets. They want to be 100% certain that a plane is safe before

they get on board. Right now, here in Japan, public confidence in the

787 has been badly shaken. Investigations have started to find

out how some supermarket beefburgers in the UK and Ireland

contained horse meat. Tesco has cleared shelves of products from

one supplier, Silvercrest, after a batch of beefburgers contained 29%

horse meat. Iceland, Aldi and Lidl have also withdrawn some products.

The Prime Minister said the situation had been completely

unacceptable. Zero Dark Thirty, the Hollywood

dramatisation of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden has drawn controversy and

acclaim in equal measure. The film has been nominated for five Oscars,

but some US politicians have criticised the hint that torture

may have played a part in discovering Bin Laden's location.

Our arts editor Will Gompertz spoke to the film's director, Kathryn

Bigelow. Third floor, north-east corner. This is Maya played by

Jessica Chastain the hero of Zero Dark Thirty. She's' young, head-

strong CIA operative obsessed with hunting down Osama Bin Laden.

can't run a global network of interconnected cells...

director and script writer say their story is informed by

journalistic research and based on first-hand accounts of actual

events. I think we both look at it as a first draft of history. This

is a story that certainly is debated and I say hopefully will

continue to be debated. I am bad news. I'm not your friend. I'm not

going to help you. I'm going to break you. Some have criticised the

film's depiction of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques

saying it sends a clear message that torture yields results. Others,

that the torture shown was never perpetrated. You've got people in

the CIA saying that that stuff just didn't happen. There's no

discounting Abu Ghraib. Those images are out there. That was

people in the military behaving badly, it wasn't the CIA.

question. But obviously, this is a kind of, you know, a very, it's a

very complex and unfortunately, people are anxious for, all right I

get the impression for a black and white rendering of those events.

The black sides existed. There's very little information about them.

So, you know, as, I mean, that's a part of that story. That's a part

of that history and again to have eliminated it or owe mitt today

would have been rewriting that history. You know there's been all

this heat around the movie. To hear sensible people expressing deeply-

held concerns, in hindsight do you wish a couple of lines or nuances...

I wouldn't change the film at all. I stand by it totally. I'm very

proud of it. Zero Dark Thirty is an early telling of the story of the