25/02/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten: Britain's most senior Roman Catholic is resigning

as head of the church in Scotland. Cardinal Keith O'Brien is accused

of inappropriate behaviour towards priests. He contests the

allegations. He decides not to take part in the conclave to elect a new

Pope, as Scotland takes in the news. I don't think it would be right if

the circumstances of the reds iing nation were to overshadow almost 50

years as a priest and all of the substantial work he's done for his

church and his country. We'll have the latest from the Vatican on the

impact of the news. Also tonight: Nick Clegg says there's been no

cover up on claims of sexual misconduct by a senior colleague as

the police start to investigate. A special report on the plight of

Syria's children and the conditions that they endure. The atmosphere

here is appalling, it's dark. It's dank and it's suffocating.

IKEA becomes the latest retailer to find itself caught in the horsemeat

scandal. And making history - Daniel Day-

Lewis is Best Actor for the third time.

My fellow nominees, my equals, my betters, I'm so proud to have been

included in as one amongst you. And coming newspaper Sportsday:

Tributes to Bobby Moore on the 2078 anniversary of his death. As West

Ham face Spurs in the Premier Good evening. Britain's most senior

Roman Catholic Cardinal Keith O'Brien is resigning as head of the

church in Scotland following allegations of inappropriate

behaviour towards priests. He contests the allegations. The

Cardinal announced he would not be taking part in the forth coming

conclave to elect a new Pope. Our correspondent Robert Pigott reports.

For a decade and more, he's been one of Scotland's biggest

personalities and one of its strongest voices. Then came

allegations that Cardinal O'Brien behaved inappropriately towards

four priests in his care during the 1980s and suddenly he's out of

office. Today, Cardinal O'Brien stayed behind closed doors. In a

statement he acknowledged his poor health, but made no attempt to

rebutt the allegations against him. Instead he said, "For any good I've

been able to do I thank God. For any failures I apologise to all

whom I have offended." I choose to be the supreme Pontiff... A few

days ago, Cardinal O'Brien was the Catholic Church's elder statesman

due to fly to Rome to help choose the next Pope. Today his ten years

as leader of the Scottish Catholic Church ended with a simple

statement from Vatican officials. The holy Father accepted on

February 18th, the resignation from the office of Archbishop of St and

Druze of Cardinal O'Brien. The First Minister said he heard

the news of the resignation with great sadness. The allegations

against Cardinal O'Brien have to be properly investigated. That's right

and proper. But I don't think it would be right if the circumstances

of the resignation were to overshadow almost 50 years as a

priest and all of the substantial work he's done for hills church and

his country. The claims against Cardinal O'Brien were clearly

intended to coincide with his imminent retirement. His accusers

evidently decided to publicise them after the Pope's resignation to

stop the Cardinal taking part in the election. Once they become

public knowledge it puts immense pressure on the church. Obviously

there are already discussions going on about the circumstances of the

Pope's resignation, what's going to happen next. It simply would be a

distraction from that. More that a distraction it would cast a shadow

over his participation in the conclave. Although Cardinal O'Brien

himself took the decision to step down, it was pressure from the

Vatican evidently concerned about the nature of the allegations

against him that was decisive in making the decision. I understand

that once Cardinal O'Brien was made aware of the level of concern in

Rome about the situation near Scotland, he felt he had no option

but to tender his resignation. To many Catholics the popular, down to

earth Cardinal O'Brien embodied the church in Scotland. Many invested

great trust in him and will have been pained at his rapid departure

in the face of what remain serious allegations.

Live to Rome and our special correspondent Allan Little. Let's

talk more about the speed of the Vatican's response and what it

tells us with just days to go before the Pope's formal retirement.

It is striking how quickly the Vatican acted to close this

controversy down. That's a measures of how seriously it has been felt

here. It's the latest body blow to the church at the worst possible

time. There are other cardinals who are come together conclave next

month, whose reputations have been compromised or damaged by previous

scandals. But for the most part they involve cardinals accused of

covering up the misdemeanours of others. In this case Cardinal

O'Brien stands accused of misdemeanours of his own. It's

clear the Vatican did not want that, those allegations going into the

Sistine Chapel, into the heart of the process to elect the new Pope.

Bear in mind, that the Pontificate has been besieged by scandal almost

since the beginning. He's never been able to escape it. The Vatican

don't want the new Pontiff starting with a similar taint of scandal at

the start of it. That is why the Vatican has moved so quickly, an

institution not used to moving quickly, has moved very quickly

indeed to close this down, even before the accusations have been

properly aired, even before Cardinal O'Brien has had a chance

to respond to them. Thanks very much.

Scotland Yard is to investigate whether criminal activity took

place following allegations of sexual impropriety against the

senior Liberal Democrat Lord Rennard. The party leader has

admitted he heard concerns about his colleague's conduct five years

ago, but said that none of the claims had been specific. Lord

Rennard has denied the allegations. Our political editor Nick Robinson

reports. Nick Clegg finds himself in the spotlight tonight, after

Scotland Yard announced that its officers will meet party officials

tomorrow to discuss allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards

women, made against Lord Rennard, the Liberal Democrats former chief

executive. The Lib Dem leader is under pressure to explain why he

first said he knew nothing about those allegations, only later to

admit he had, after all, known something. I've got absolutely

nothing to hide. Why would I? I happen to know some of these women

very well. Compare and contrast his defence of his own actions with the

on-air confession made moments later by the party President.

one thing I probably can tell you without having to go through due

process is that we screwed this up, as a party. It's been a tough job.

There have been difficult times... Lord Rennard is hardly a household

name, except, that is, in Liberal Democrat households. When he

retired at the party's chief executive, he was hailed as their

election-winning supremeo. I'd also like to pay my own tribute to Chris.

Chris, I can honestly say if it wasn't for your guidance and

encouragement, I wouldn't have been elected as an MP, let alone now be

leading the party. Rennard insists he has done nothing wrong and

indeed that no complaints were ever made against him, until, that is,

last week. You may wonder why Westminster is in such a lather

about what a party official did or did not do more than five years ago.

Part of the reason is that the Lib Dems keep changing their story

about who knew what when. On Friday, when the allegations were first

made, they said Nick Clegg knew nothing. Then last night he said he

had been aware of general concerns of what he called a non-specific,

indirect nature. This morning he made clear that he hadn't known

anything, but clearly some party officials had. And now some former

party workers are adding to Clegg's discomfort. It's incredibly

confusing. The Liberal Democrats seem to be inventing a new language.

I'm not sure what an indirect, non- specific complaint is. All this

with just days to go before the voters of Eastleigh in Hampshire

are invited to decide whether to back the Liberal Democrats or the

Conservatives or known of the above. I understand that people want

instant wisdom with hindsight, instant judgments and sanctions. We

had a number of women who have subsequently spoken out with

frustration who need to be listened to, because they weren't listened

to. We need to get to the truth. Tonight, the promise of two

separate party inquiries didn't stop the questions following the

Deputy Prime Minister all the way to a Government meeting in

Amsterdam. A new jury has been sworn in for

the retrial of Vicky Pryce, who's accused of taking speeding points a

decade ago for her then husband Chris Huhne, the former Lib Dem

Cabinet minister. Last week, her original trial was stopped after

the jury failed to reach a verdict. Miss Pryce denies perverting the

course of justice. IKEA is the latest company to be

affected by the horsemeat scandal. It's withdrawn a batch of meatballs

in 13 countries after a consignment sent to the Czech Republic tested

positive for horse. Nestle has confirmed it has found horse DNA in

meat from a second supplier. Jeremy Cooke reports. Another week,

another household name dragged into the horsemeat scandal. This time

it's IKEA, a sample of their frozen meatballs in the Czech Republic

proved positive for hars meat. Now all meatballs have been withdrawn

against much of Europe, including Britain. A statement said, "IKEA is

committed to serving and selling high quality food that is safe. We

do not tolerate any other ingredients than the ones

stipulated in our recipes or specifications." Shoppers in

Coventry welcomed the decision to remove meatballs from sale. It's a

good thing that they've removed it, if there's a scare with it. They

need to do that. But like you say, it's not going to stop me from

eating it, that's for sure. could have been eating it for years

for all we know. Obviously they're doing it in the public interest. So

fair dos to them. It's not just IKEA. Today's news emphasises this

is an international scandal affecting much of Europe. Every day,

it seems, there's another positive test for horsemeat, another

embarrassment for one of our major retailers.

As EU ministers arrived at an emergency summit in Brussels came

word that the European giant Nestle had found horsemeat in produce from

a second beef supplier. The UK Environment Secretary believes

organised crime is at work. My real message to all my colleagues is

they must all get information into Europol so we get to the bottom of

this and get the criminal conspiracy stopped. As the

investigations continue, companies caught up in the scandal are

fighting to protect their image and reputation. Big name brands on a

mission of damage control. Early results from Italy's election

have taken many observers by surprise. At least a quarter of the

votes counted so far have been secured by a former comedian, Beppe

Grillo. The former Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has done much

better than expected as the centre- right parties battle it out with

the centre left. There's likely to be no clear winner and there could

be days of talks to create a coalition. This report has flash

photography. This man on his way to vote today

has caused a political earthquake in Italy. Beppe Grillo is a

comedian who has raged against Italy's political establishment.

He's anti-austerity and wants to hold a referendum on the euro. One

in four Italians have voted for his protest movement. His strong

showing is leading to huge uncertainty as to who will form the

next government. Initially, as the votes started to be counted, it

seemed that the centre left was on course to form a coalition

government. At their headquarters, they declared a majority of

Italians had voted for the centre left. It was soon clear, however,

that Silvio Berlusconi and his allies had done well in key regions

in the north. An hour later another official took to the stage to say

the situation was very serious for Italy. The country was heading for

political deadlock. It may well be that here at the Chamber of

Deputies, the lower house, that the centre left is the dominant party,

but just down the road at the Senate, Silvio Berlusconi and his

allies are performing strongly and it all raises the question as to

whether there really can be a credible and stable government. The

most likely outcome is a hung Parliament. Support for Silvio

Berlusconi held up well. He won't form a government, but he retains

influence. The centre-left candidate Pier Luigi Bersani is

likely to try and form a coalition with the former Prime Minister,

Mario Monti, who had a disastrous campaign. Officials are predicting

Italy will have to go to the polls If we don't have the numbers to

govern, then we will have to do it have a hung parliament shortly.

Boat is in large numbers rejected authority and papal reformers --

boat is in large numbers. All of these reforms will probably go up

in smoke. Certainly the markets will be unhappy, and the European

institutions will be unhappy. this election, and in particular,

comedian Beppe Grillo, has sent a message to European leaders. A

candidate from nowhere, tapping in to a country's rage against

austerity and corruption. Coming up And a 50th birthday gift, as the

latest Bond film is honoured at the The human cost of the conflict in

Syria is measured not only by loss of life - more than 70,000 people

are thought to have died so far - but also by the number of homeless

and refugees. Some 900,000 have fled to neighbouring countries. But

within Syria, the UN says four million people are in need of

assistance and the situation is increasingly desperate for many

children. Our correspondent Ian Pannell, and cameraman Darren

Conway, have just returned from Northern Syria, and this is their

High on a cliff face in a beautiful valley, two small children will

lead the way to their new home. They were forced to run away from

their village when it was attacked by government forces. So this is

now where they live. They live in a cave. It is cold, dirty and damp

inside. They have been living like this for weeks, and able to escape

across the border and to afraid to return home. -- unable to escape.

Their days are spent gathering wood and water and trying to keep warm.

The hardest thing is getting water up here. For drinking, cooking and

washing. Life is so hard, but we have to deal with it. The world has

forgotten about us. This isn't a Millions of Syrians have been

driven from their homes by the war. Many have fled across the borders

to safety, but most are trapped. Refugees in their own country. The

world has pledged millions of pounds in foreign aid, but very few

we met had received any. And in a conflict where rockets are fired at

will, they are never really safe. If you want to know what that feels

like, watch the girls hands clench in fear as the area is suddenly

Where will the shells land? When will it stop? Syria's children know

these questions well. I feel like we are going to die. My sisters and

I get really afraid. We hide. It has been a year since we left home,

and I hope we can go back. We have to ask people for lots of things

and we have to keep moving. We don't have money. We don't have

anything. The country is locked in a savage civil war and it is the

civilians who have consistently suffered the most as conditions

steadily grow worse. Some people are so desperate they have actually

been forced to make their homes in underground tunnels like this. You

see matting on the floor, bedding, pillows, even a child's car seat.

As many as 20 families will cram into this tight space when the

shelling the start. In the last 24 hours, the government attacked this

area and this is essentially where people came to live and to hide.

The atmosphere here is appalling. It is dark, dank and suffocating.

We were taken to see another tunnel in the middle of an orchard. An old

Roman burial chamber. They are, in the gloom, were seven small boys in

hiding. -- there, in the gloom. Their father had been killed in

there fighting and their mother had gone looking for food, but that was

hours ago, and the boys were still waiting, cold, hungry and scared.

It is bad here, said Mohammed, we are afraid of the bombing and

shelling. That is why we are staying here. The boys asked when

their mother would be coming back. It was an impossible question to

answer, and as we left, they sat Bridget Kendall is with me.

Confronting with that harrowing evidence, what is the international

community saying it is prepared to do? It is harrowing, and there has

just been another big explosion in Damascus denied. In fact, these

bombs happen all the time, we just don't report all of them any more.

But this time the government and opposition are reporting serious

fighting and yet Morgan fire and shelling which is making more

people homeless. -- yet more gunfire. The un Secretary of

straight -- US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has been to see William

Hague and David Cameron and what to do in Syria was high on the agenda.

On Thursday they have an important meeting with Syrian opposition

leaders in Rome, but that was nearly derailed because the Syrian

National Coalition said there was no point turning up to meet Mr

Kerry because nothing ever came out of the international meetings. He

was put in the extraordinary position of having to make a public

plea, at his news conference, and then to get on to the phone to

persuade them to meet him. He says he has new ideas to, as he puts it,

change the calculation on the ground. We know what the opposition

hope it means, but for the first time Western powers will be willing

to give them weapons directly. That is tricky for the West. EU

sanctions mean it is difficult to deliver arms to Syria, because it

is against the sanctions. And many people argue that if you are on the

opposition the arms could get into the wrong hands or just make the

violence worse for those poor civilians we have seen. Bridget,

thank you very much. The Chancellor, George Osborne, has

rejected calls for a new government approach to tackling the debt and

reviving the economy. He's been criticised by Labour following the

decision by Moody's, a credit rating agency, to remove Britain's

AAA status. But Mr Osborne claims the situation would be 'much worse'

if the coalition abandoned its efforts to reduce borrowing, as our

chief economics correspondent Hugh The occupant of Number 11 Downing

Street is the guardian of public finances. Britain has had a top-

notch AAA rating since the 1970s, by one agency has taken it away,

and it has happened on the watch of George Osborne. Today he had to go

to the Commons to give an explanation. He said the rating

decision showed why he should continue with his policies. We can

either abandon our efforts to deal with our debt problems and make a

difficult situation very much worse, or we can redouble our efforts to

overcome our debts, make sure the country can earn its way in the

world, and provide for our children are a very much brighter economic

situation than the one we inherited from our predecessors. For Labour,

Ed Balls said the Chancellor's arguments did not make sense.

it is clear that his warnings of disaster, rising mortgage rates,

market mayhem, if we downgrade is has not come true. So what other

excuse does he have for sticking to the plan? He has gone in a weekend

from saying he must stick to the plant have avoided downgrade to

saying that the downgrade is the reason he must stick to the plan,

Mr Speaker. The big question about how the Moody's downgrade decision

announced on Friday affect the financial markets when they opened,

and the answer was they took it in their stride. The rating agency had

been -- move had been widely expected. The UK fiscal position is

in a bad shape, but the economy is growing slowly. Everybody knows

that, so it wasn't a surprise that the rating agency reacted on the

back of it. 4 Number 11, the key factor may be how the AAA effects

the political fortunes rather than the wider debate.

An operation to rescue the veteran explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, is

underway in Antarctica. The adventurer, who is 68, was part of

a team trying to walk across the continent in winter, something

that's never been done. Sir Ranulph is suffering from severe frostbite

after taking off a glove to The actor Daniel Day-Lewis has made

history at the Oscars by becoming the first man to win the Best Actor

award three times. The British-born star, who'd been the overwhelming

favourite, was recognised for his role in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for her performance in Silver

Linings Playbook, and Argo won best film, as Alastair Leithead reports

It was music, music, musicals at this year's Oscars with some stars

showing off their fancy footwork. But the night belonged to Daniel

Day-Lewis. He made it Academy history, becoming the first man

ever to win the third best actor Oscar. My fellow nominees, my

equals, my betters, I am so proud to have been included as one among

stew. He made fun of how deeply he throws himself into his roles.

wife Rebecca has lived with some very strange men. They were strange

as individuals, and probably Adele gave a stirring performance

of Skyfall. She won the Oscar for Best Original Song, the first time

eight James Bond theme has won a gong. -- a James Bond theme. It was

a short, but emotional thank you. MGM, Paul Epworth, oh, God, thanks

for believing with me all the time, and my man, I love you, baby.

Jennifer Lawrence won best actress but stumbled collecting the award.

She took it all in her stride. was really embarrassing, but thank

you. Ang Lee won Best Director for Life of Pi, which took four awards,

more than any other film. Thank you, Academy. They are was a surprise

guest who made the announcement for best picture, live from the White

House. Argo! They Affleck was not nominated as a director, but this

was enough -- Ben Affleck. Anyone who did anything this movie gets

banks. After that show, the parties when on -- went on into the night.

Everyone was talking about Daniel Day-Lewis. Just fantastic. What can

you say to three Oscars, you know? Good job. I am happy for him and he

is a dignified gentleman. A record- setting night and some happy new

owners of little gold statuettes. That is it from other awards season,

no more back-slapping and fancy frocks, red carpets or acceptance

speeches for another year. There was no runaway winner, just lots of