10/12/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tens of thousands gathered to remember the life of Nelson Mandela.

A more real service in Soweto. -- Memorial. They braved the rain to

celebrate the achievements of the man who fought for their freedom.

Nearly 100 world leaders travelled to South Africa to pay tribute to a

statesman like no other. Nothing he achieved was inevitable. In the arc

of his life we see a man who earned his place in history through

struggle, and shrewdness and persistence, and faith. A day for

reaching out to old enemies as the President of America and Cuba shake

hands. And capturing moment themselves. And the other main

stories on BBC News at Ten. Jailed for four years. The founder of the

French company which made defective breast implants is found guilty of

fraud. The French president mourns the loss of two soldiers. The latest

victims of violence in the Central African Republic. And insurance

companies and pension providers are heavily criticised for confusing

customers and charging high commissions.

Coming up in sports day on BBC News, action from tonight group matches in

the Champions League. All eyes on David Moyes at Old Trafford. United

desperate for a win at home. Good evening from Pretoria, where

Nelson Mandela's body will lie in state for three days starting early

tomorrow morning. Today there's been a memorial service in Soweto. Tens

of thousands of South Africans attended a four hour celebration of

Nelson Mandela's life despite being lashed by the rain throughout.

Barack Obama was one of about 100 world leaders to attend the service.

He described Nelson Mandela as a giant of justice. The day was a

mixture of the political and the personal with speeches from old

comrades in the fight against apartheid and eulogies from Nelson

Mandela's grandchildren. Our correspondent Andrew Harding was

there. 5am on a cold morning. And the

dancing is already begun. At the front of the queue, they have been

waiting half the night. I can't say in simple words how I feel. I'm over

the moon. A forecast of rain has prompted some elegant designs. They

look very fashionable. Thank you. Inside the World Cup stadium, old

liberation songs. And vuvuzelas. The soundtrack to this country's

tumultuous history. Nelson Mandela means different things to different

people here, even those born after democracy arrived. Everyone coming

together, yes. For one man. Other fiery activist celebrate the

militant who launched a strike. The generation of today, and the

circumstances of the country, we need the rabble callousness --

radical must of Mandela. It's like a family gathering but it's striking

how many people actually met the man. You think you are in the

presence of God, and yet he looks at you like you are God, and that was

the most fantastic thing. Then the famous arrived. I warm embrace for

Winnie Mandela and his widow Graca Machel, and then other icons from

Africa's liberation struggle including some controversially slim

power. -- still in power. In all, more than 100 world leaders, present

and past. Tony Blair, to FW de Klerk, South Africa's last apartheid

leader. Denmark's Prime Minister poses with some colleagues. The

relaxed atmosphere, then extending to this historic handshake between

leaders of Cuba and the USA. Mandela would have approved. As a roar of

approval for a kebab, but South Africa's current leader Jacob Zuma

can I ask for discipline, please? Also some celebrities who came to

know Nelson Mandela in his later years. Rain at a funeral is seen as

a blessing in South Africa. And, times, the blessings bucket down,

keeping parts of the stadium stubbornly empty. Then come the

speeches. When sadness and celebrations come... Poetry from

Mandela's grandchildren. An old friend chiding the ground. I want to

hear a pin drop. One man who captures the mood best. It was

precisely because he could admit to imperfection. Because he could be so

full of good humour. Even mischief. Despite the heavy burdens he

carried. That we loved him so. But what to do with that love now? There

are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle

for freedom but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And

there are too many of us, too many of us on the sidelines comfortable

and complacent and cynical. He goes down well but the stadium never

quite fills and, besides, this isn't the message they had come for. In

the crowd, you get the sense of speeches, the foreign dignitaries,

are almost aside the point. Nelson Mandela's funeral on Sunday is going

to be a small private affair, so today really is the People's chance

say goodbye. It's a date for the people in the world today. The

billion that will go to bed hungry. The oppressed. Those whose human

rights are violated, Mandela was a symbol for them. More than any

leaders. We commend his cell... It has been an emotional day here. A

damp but soulful sendoff. That stadium you have just seen what

the place where Nelson Mandela made a major speech when he was freed

back in 1990. Then, too, tens of thousands of people turned up. In

the crowd that historic day was a young couple. Today they return to

the stadium for the memorial service. Our South Africa

correspondent Nomsa Maseko has spent the day with them. Give the enemies

of peace and liberty is no space to take us back to the howl of

apartheid. Remembering the day they saw their hero speak. Former ANC

soldier and his wife were there the day after Nelson Mandela was

released from prison 23 years ago. I stated in 1964 that I and the ANC

are as opposed to black domination as we are to white domination. You

say you were sitting on the side? What was going through your mind at

that time when you saw Mandela walking into the stadium? When

Mandela was walking through towards the stadium, I just pulled out my

pistol and shot 20 bullets in the air. I felt like crying. Africa.

Africa. I wanted to see Mandela. When I came to the city, I told

myself I'm going to the stadium to see Mandela. He came to the stadium.

I was very happy. People were waving their hands like this. Mandela,

Mandela, Mandela. It was very nice. And today, they joined Presidents,

prime ministers and the world painted beauty Nelson Mandela.

Returning to the stadium where they had seen him speak all those years

ago. For thousands of people here, it's important that so many world

leaders are here to honour Nelson Mandela. It's about pride. And pride

is one of the things the mandate called Madiba gave them. Everybody

is very pleased. 1990, when Mandela was out. They came to remember the

man who gave them their nation. How could they possibly forget him?

Andrew is with me now. I was in the stadium today and it seemed strange

that Barack Obama's speed was the most emotional bond there. He nailed

it in a way nobody else would he did and I suppose it was a choice of

speakers. If you are looking to some of Mandela's life, his character, it

is odd, at least to choose the vice president of China, and the

President of Brazil, it seemed more like a group selected by government

committee is looking to really spell out South Africa's geopolitical

agenda. How embarrassing public current President Jacob Zuma should

be booed like that. Strange, some people will take offence but that is

a very raucous political culture, with elections coming up. The ruling

party, the ANC, after 20 years, in power, is looking a little tired and

Jacob Zuma himself, remember, is a controversial figure. He's always

headlines, often for corruption allegations, because of personal

life and recently because of allegations spent millions of pounds

of state money upgrading its own home. Andrew, thanks very much. I

will be back later in the programme but for now, it's back to you.

Thanks very much. Let's have a look at some of the date at the news now.

The founder of a French company that made faulty breast implants sold to

30,000 women around the world has been found guilty of fraud.

Jean-Claude Mas was sentenced to four years in prison by a court in

Marseille and fined 75,000 euros. Hundreds of his victims had gathered

at the court, including some of the British women whose implants

ruptured because of substandard materials. This report by our

correspondent Christian Fraser contains some flash photography. For

13 years, they cheated the system. And some 50,000 British women with

fitted with their substandard implants. Today, the founder of the

French company Jean-Claude Mas and three senior executives were finally

made to pay. The 74-year-old built his company into the third biggest

global supplier. When arrested, he was living in a sumptuous villa on

the French Riviera. Yet, during the trial, he claimed it was a

struggling pensioner living on ?1200 a month. This woman is a plaintiff

in the case and is anxious. After laugh scything dashed life-saving

cancer surgery in 2002, she was forced to have a ruptured PIP

implant removed. Today she has lumped all over her body doctors are

trying to diagnose. It starts here, criminal trial, and is not

considered a crime in the UK and that's really important. I think it

sends a message to the British that we are victims of crime. In 2011,

the French health ministers would pay for women to have the implants

removed. 17,000 came forward. But in the UK, where the Department of

Health has conducted a further review, this has been the advice.

The implants are not carcinogenic. PIP empires have doubled the rupture

rate but aside from local reactions such as swollen lymph glands and

tenderness, they are not fit to be any long-term health problems. Today

the government and hope this verdict would give British victims a sense

of justice. The abandoned factory I visited last year was littered with

discarded implants. The court heard they were manufactured with an

industrial silicon more commonly used for mattresses and seven times

more cheaper than the authorised gel. Prosecutors said the man in

charge of quality control and only a cooking diploma. Mr Mas sat

impassively on the front bench, shielded from public view by his

lawyers, who stood throughout, but he could not hide altogether. The

judge read out the names of scores of victims, women who we had

dismissed in police interviews as psychologically fragile. The

sentence - four years together with a 75,000 euros fine. Small

satisfaction for the victims, but in mind of the widespread suffering and

pain, a sentence that might seem unjustly lenient.

A specialist liver surgeon based at the University Hospital of Wales in

Cardiff has been suspended. A professional review of David

Berry's caseload found eight avoidable deaths following surgery.

The university health board has issued a unreserved apologies to

every family affected. Our correspondent Hywel Griffith is at

the hospital in Cardiff tonight, tell us more about this.

David Berry was an experienced surgeon who had worked here for

around 18 months before there were concerns and complaints reaching the

hospital about his work. He was suspended, we understand, in January

of this year. A full review of his work revealed that ten of us

patients had died, and of the ten eight would have been avoidable. In

medical terms, that means that if different decisions had been made

either before, during or after surgery, other doctors believe the

patients would have lived. The families involved were only informed

in September, I understand, but the case today became public after one

of the families came forward, the family of a 66-year-old cancer

patient who, a few days after surgery, severed organ failure. The

hospital tell us they are confident there are no risks to current

patients. Tomorrow they will open a helpline for families who may have

been involved. Thank you very much, Hywel Griffith

in Cardiff. Resident Hollande of France has visited the Central

African Republic for talks with the transitional leadership as the

violence escalates and more lives are lost. Some 1600 French troops

are now deployed in the country, trying to disarm militia groups who

have been fighting since a Muslim faction seized power back in March.

Two French soldiers were killed in the capital last night. It is not

known how many people have been killed by Muslim and Christian

fighters in the recent months. Thomas Fessy reports now from

Bossangoa, where the tensions are getting worse.

The face of a UN backed international force in the Central

African Republic, the French army has deployed here for a second

campaign on the continent this year. They were sent here to stop this,

bands of ill organised former rebels and civilians taking on each other

in an president did intercommunal clashes. -- unprecedented. Francois

Hollande made a quick stop tonight. His forces have suffered the first

casualties, two paratroopers. The French have made and unmade regimes

in this country, their former colony, but President Hollande has

insisted this intervention is to prevent the worst from happening.

TRANSLATION: It is dangerous, we know that, but it is necessary if we

want to avoid carnage here. These African peacekeepers will not

be holding out on their own anymore. The French are welcome

reinforcements to forcibly disarm militias. The hunt is on.

In the northern town of Bossangoa, residents are confined to separate

camps. This country has had a history of rebellions and bad

governance, but it has now slipped into a cycle of retaliatory

religious violence --. The French have brought some relief year, but

it will not bring these communities back together any time soon. A sign

of hope, we found Christian families amongst the Muslim displaced.

TRANSLATION: We always lived together, my husband was a Muslim,

and a Muslim neighbour helped me reach this camp when I was trying to

escape the fighting last week. Now that I am here, they are taking care

of me, I do not understand how we have come to this situation. Is it

too late to make sense of what is happening? Many say trust and links

have been broken. This man tells me communities will never live in

harmony ever again. This country never really was a functioning

state. The urgency to stop the violence is real before it is

entirely torn apart. The man in charge of a fireworks

display on the night of a motorway crash in which seven people died has

been cleared of breaching health and safety laws. Geoffrey Counsell had

been accused of allowing firework smoke to drift across an already

foggy section of the M5 shortly before the pilot in November of

2011. The judge at Bristol Crown Court today ruled that he had no

case to answer. The first same-sex weddings in

England and Wales can take place from the 29th of March last year,

earlier than planned. Couples will be able to marry in civil ceremonies

and in services with religious bodies that agree to it, and that

excludes the Church of England, which is barred from conducting the

ceremonies. Now, some insurance companies and

pension providers have been heavily criticised in a report by the

Financial Services Consumer Panel. They say the firms confuse customers

and charge high commissions, particularly when it comes to the

sale of annuities to provide an income from pension savings. The

panel says the revelation must be tightened to protect consumers from

unfair practices, as personal finance correspondent Simon Gompertz

explains. Every year, 400,000 people choose

pension annuities, like bad chip shop owners Margaret and Michael

would like to soon. -- Bach. The annuities are guaranteed incomes for

life board with a part of pension money saved while working. They are

fearful that the one they get dished up will not be enough to retire on.

We have been offered a pension each of ?20 per week, and I don't know

where we go, which is why we have not taken it, it is two and a half

years since we could have taken it out but we have not met you at it.

We don't know what to do. Today's report shows that one decision,

which annuity to get, can blight a whole retirement. Let's say you have

a pot of ?100,000, you could lose 40,000 quid of that part just by

making the wrong choice at the wrong time and going to the wrong firm.

People buying an annuity between a rock and a hard place. Half of them

just get it from the insurance company they saved with, and they

end up with 25% less, typically, than they should. The rest shop

around, some do well, but you can be ambushed with high charges of as

much as 6% of the pension, and this is a make or break decision. The

point with annuities is that it is a unique financial product. Once you

have bought it, you can never change it. It is unlike any other decision

that he will make, for example if you buy the wrong house, you can

change it. The Treasury says the financial regulator, the FCA, is

reviewing whether pensioners are taking a hit from the wrong annuity

decisions. Insurers insist they offer a fair deal. There is no

evidence in this report that they are making excessive profits. But

there is evidence that customers do need help and guidance when making

decisions about their income in retirement. The consumer panel is

demanding a full investigation, and it wants people like Michael and

Margaret, with small pension pots, to be allowed to take all the money

simply as cash when they retire. Now, David Cameron is being urged to

commit far more government resources to tackling dementia. The Prime

Minister is preparing to host an international conference starting

tomorrow involving health ministers from the major G8 economies. There

is an increasing view that a global plan is needed to deal with the

problem that is affecting tens of millions of people throughout the

world. Globally, one person is diagnosed with a form of dementia

every four seconds. However, no new treatment for the condition has been

found in the past decade, and in the UK the Government has promised to

increase spending on research to ?66 million by 2015, still a fraction of

the amount that will be spent on cancer research every year. Medical

correspondent Fergus Walsh has more details.

Robbing the mind and ravaging the brain, never before has there been

such a spotlight on dementia. Jeff Payne has Alzheimer's. The disease

is still in its early stages. This test is checking his fading

short-term memory. His brother died of dementia, and he and his wife

have no illusions about what the future holds. I am in denial,

actually! We have not been dwelling on the future, other than

recognising things will not get better. We have a fairly vivid

impression of the state I will reach in a few years' time. Dementia is an

umbrella term for a range of diseases affecting the brain. By far

the most common is Alzheimer's, a build-up of abnormal proteins

leading to nerve cell death throughout the brain. Over time, it

shrinks thematically, affecting nearly all its functions. The

symptoms include memory last, mood changes, reasoning and communication

problems. Drugs can ease some symptoms, but there is no cure. Now,

in the UK, the number of people with dementia is set to double in the

next 40 years from around 800,000 now to an estimated 1.7 by 2050.

Over the same period, the global total is expected to travel from 44

million up to 135 million by 2050. The global cost of dementia is at

least $600 billion per year. There are fears that future demands could

overwhelm health services. New treatments are urgently needed. Jeff

Payne is one of 200 patients testing a diabetes drug, injected once a

day, which lab tests Digest or slow the progression of Alzheimer's. --

suggest. One third of people over the age of 60 are likely to get

dementia or Alzheimer's disease. However, if we were to look at the

funding available for research into Alzheimer's disease, it is eight

times less than what we get for cancer. At the G8 Summit, more cash

will be pledged for dementia research, though it will still be

well short of that spent on cancer. The buzzword will be collaboration,

on a global scale between researchers, drug companies and

governments, to push for elusive new treatments to fight dementia.

More now on tonight's main story, the national memorial service in

South Africa for Nelson Mandela, let's joined George in Pretoria.

Banks, Huw, and welcome back on what has been a day for remembering

Nelson Mandela's extraordinary achievements.

Tens of thousands of South Africans braved the pouring rain to attend a

memorial service at the FNB Stadium in Soweto. They joined Nelson

Mandela's family in mourning his passing. There were dozens of world

leaders, past and present, who came to pay tribute to the former

president. And it led to some unlikely moments of diplomacy, like

the handshake between President Obama and his Cuban counterpart.

There were guests also from the world of entertainment and fashion.

And there was even time for images like this, as David Cameron and

Barack Obama posed for a picture with Denmark's Prime Minister.

I am joined now by world affairs editor John Simpson. John, today was

a day for a membrane Nelson Mandela, but also a chance for this country

to take stock, to see if it has lived up to the ideals set by Nelson

Mandela. -- for remembering. I cannot think, I was racking my

brains to think of another world leader whose death would attract 100

or so otherworldly Des. I can't think of anybody, frankly. -- other

world leaders. That is a measure of his greatness, they all want a

little bit of that greatness for themselves, that is why they were

here. But will his legacy be followed up by anybody? I thought in

that magnificent speech that Barack Obama gave, I have never heard him

give a better speech, there was that moment when he challenged them all

the there, not just to come and praise Mandela, but to follow him,

to do what he had done. And, you know, it ain't going happen! It is

not going to be the pattern of the future that everybody starts

forgiving other people and following along with the Mandela line, that is

not going to happen. The other thing, I think, is the position of

South Africa itself. The main speakers were the Chinese, the

Indians, and so one, they were not western countries. Nelson Mandela's

view was wider than that. All right, John, thank you. That is all from us