14/03/2014 BBC News at Ten

cabinet minister Tony Benn has died. You have changed the constitution of

this country by your own power. An MP for more than 50 years and

tireless campaigner for socialism, he is remembered across the

political divide. Tony Benn, you always knew what he stood for and

who he stood up for, which is why he was admired across the political

spectrum. The country has lost a great campaigner and writer, and

someone whose words will be followed keenly for many years to come, so a

sad day for British politics. We'll look back at the life of a man

whose passion for his often divisive brand of politics remained undimmed

to the end. Also tonight: Handshake but no deal

- talks between Russia and the US fail to find any common ground over

Ukraine. The shocking image of Oscar

Pistorius splattered with his girlfriend's blood shown at his

trial for her murder. An automatic signal from the missing

Malaysian airliner suggests it flew on for five hours after air traffic

control lost contact with it. Lord Windermere has lifted the Gold

Cup. A rank outsider becomes the toast of

Cheltenham. In Sportsday, Nicolas Anelka shocks

West Brom by announcing he's leaving. The club dispute this and

expect their verdict on his quennelle gesture next week.

Good evening. Tony Benn, the leading voice of the

radical left in British politics for more than 50 years, has died. He was

88. There have been tributes from across the political spectrum today

for the former Labour cabinet minister. He has been hailed by his

supporters as a fearless fighter for what he believed in, irrespective of

whether it was popular. Even his opponents have praised him as

magnificent campaigner and orator. His family said simply that they

were comforted by the memory of his long, full and inspiring life.

Here's our political editor, Nick Robinson.

We will not accept the cuts that they are trying to make. No protest,

no demo, no march was quite complete without Tony Benn. He joked that age

had transformed him into a national treasure, where once the power of

his rhetoric had led to him being proclaimed the most dangerous man in

Britain. Transfer all of the powers back from a common market commission

to the House of Commons also within a matter of weeks. People, he said,

only started being nice to him when he became harmless. There were

people who agreed and disagreed with him even within my own party, but

people at my the sense of conviction and integrity that shone through

from Tony Benn. Dash-macro people add mired. I disagree with most of

what he said that he was or was engaging and interesting and you

were never bored when reading or listening to him, and the country

has lost a great campaigner and writer. Anthony Wedgwood Benn was

born into the establishment. The modern face of the Labour Party in

the 1960s was the sum of a Viscount, who had to fight in the courts to

announce his title so he could run for election and become plain Tony

Benn MP. You have defeated the courts and changed the concert

Jewish and of this country by your own power. Benn was not always a

radical. As a minister in the 1970s, he unveiled Concorde as a symbol of

the new high-tech Britain which Labour promised to create. But he

concluded that he and his party had failed to change society because of

all the policies which he claimed Labour's leadership had simply

refused to implement. Reflation of public sector spending, ruled out.

Substantial cut in arms expenditure, ruled out. The immediate

intervention of... Anti-Europe, antinuclear weapons,

pro-nationalisation, he won the argument but failed, just, in a bid

to become Labour's deputy leader. Tony Benn, 49.574. Denis Healey,

50.426. Labour soon split. Some on the right left to form a new party.

Those who stayed, like Denis Healey, will never forget the legacy of

division. There was quite a lot of bitterness, really, because I felt

he was doing the party enormous damage, and I'm sure he was at that

time, by the way he behaved, not just his views. But, as I say, all

that disappeared in later life. Michael Foot led Labour to its worst

ever election defeat, on a manifesto mocked as the longest suicide note

in history. The left lane and the splitters, the Right blamed Benn. He

was prophetic in the way that he spoke, seeing the great vision, but

it belonged to the past, essentially. For such a modern

minded man, technically, he was quite old-fashioned, politically. He

longed for society that had gone. The tide of ideas was not with him

but in Parliament he continued the fight. The Humphrey Applebys of

every country in Europe have got together and they say, you can't do

this, Minister, because we have agreed with the Dutch that if they

do this the Belgians won't object to what the Italians have said to the

people. So the Minister has no power anyway. Benn, one of the generation

of politicians who fought in the war, chose to leave the Commons to

fight for his ideas, joking that he could now spend more time on

politics, where it matters, beyond Westminster. If there is anybody

here from new Labour, your money will be re-funded if you leave

quietly. And through all of this, he kept a diary, and unmatched

chronicle of post-war British politics and his philosophy. The

real division in society is between the people who create wealth by

working, and those who own the wealth. And those who own the wealth

have far too much power, and they use it to control those who create

the wealth. After the last of eight volumes was published, he spoke

about life and death. At my age, you do ask yourself how long you have

got and what it will be like when you die. And my wife said she

thought death was a great adventure. She was dying of cancer for five

years, and her courage when she knew her time was up was very great and

impressed me very much. And so I learned from her how to die, and I

have thought a lot about it. But I'm not afraid of dying at all. Tony

Benn, who died this morning. And Huw Edwards has a special

programme on Tony Benn's life later tonight - Tony Benn, Labour's Lost

Leader, on BBC Two at 11.10pm. A day of talks between Russia and

the US in London ended with Russia's Foreign Minister saying the two

countries have no common vision over the crisis in Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov

insisted there's no plan to invade the country, despite a build up of

Russian troops on the eastern border. US Secretary of State, John

Kerry, said America will not recognise Sunday's referendum in

Crimea over whether the region should remain in Ukraine. Our

diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall has more.

An intensive six hours of talks in the sunshine at the US ambassador's

London garden. At stake, the future of relations between the West and

Russia. But at the end of it, no narrowing of the gap over Ukraine's

future. The urgency is the referendum planned for Sunday in

Crimea, which means the region could either break away from Ukraine, or

even opt to join Russia, which Kiev and the West say would be illegal

and a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty. With preparations

underway, there seems little chance of calling it off. But John Kerry

flew to London for one last try, and to warn his Russian counterpart that

if Crimea is effectively annexed by Russia, there will be grave

consequences. We believe that a decision to move forward I Russia,

to ratify that vote sufficiently would in fact be a back door

annexation of Crimea, and that it would be against international law.

But Mr Lavrov said disagreements remained, and he indicated that if

Crimea votes to join Russia, Moscow will not stand in its way. Can you

be clear, Mr Lavrov. After Sunday's referendum, do you expect Crimea to

become independent, or to become part of the Russian Federation?

TRANSLATION: As for the referee -- the referendum on Sunday, I and

President Putin have said we will respect the choice of the Crimean

people and we will make our position clear once the outcome is known. It

is clear these last-ditch talks have got nowhere and there is nothing the

West can do if the Russian speakers of Crimea want to break away from

Ukraine and join Russia. And the stage is set for new Western

sanctions against Russia next week and a deterioration further in East

-West relations, with who knows what consequences. And immediately, a

further worry, the violence that exploded in eastern Ukraine last

night. Mr Lavrov today said that Russia had no plans to intervene,

but his Foreign Ministry warned that Russia reserves the right to protect

its compatriots, a worrying hint of possible things to come.

Our World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, is in Simferopol. The

Russian Foreign Minister was not giving much away at talks in London

today, but attention will be focused on the referendum in Crimea on

Sunday and Russia's response to it. Absolutely. I don't think there is

any doubt what the result is going to be. I don't know whether you can

see this, but this is essentially the ballot paper, a version of it,

which has been put out. You can get it in public buildings. There are

just two questions. One, do you want to be part of Russia, and a waffly

question saying, do you want to go back to the 1992 arrangements where

Ukraine and Crimea were part of the same thing? There is no question of

saying, I just want to stay in Ukraine. And I don't think there is

any doubt about the answer. And I am sure that Western countries have

realised this, and they are not really focusing on Crimea now at

all. They are assuming, whatever they say, they are assuming that the

real danger is, will Russia move into East Ukraine. The trouble in

some cities there has shown they could well have a pretext for doing

so. And rather ominously, the Russian government has taken to

saying it reserves the right to defend the lives of Russian

citizens. Well, that is precisely what they said just before they

moved into Crimea. I think, Fiona, we are in for a pretty dangerous

couple of weeks now. Thank you. It's emerged that a Conservative

peer killed in a helicopter crash in Norfolk last night had started legal

proceedings against the manufacturer of the aircraft. Lord Ballyedmond

was one of four people who died when the helicopter came down in deep

fog. He was suing AgustaWestland, claiming his helicopter had

technical defects. Sian Lloyd reports. In a field, only 500 yards

interest from where it took off, the remains of AugustaWestland

helicopter. It crashed just after 7. 30pm last night in fog. James

Tattle, who works nearby, saw the aircraft moments before it crashed.

The helicopter came over the back here. It was pitching, like at a 45

degree angle. I thought he was in trouble. I thought he was coming

down lower because of the weather atmosphere. We had been doing our

work and it just went out of sight. On board was 70-year-old, Lord

Ballyedmond, a multimillionaire entrepreneur who founded a

pharmaceutical company and had been a politician in the Irish

Parliament. Tributes have been paid to the Conservative peer. He started

off basically with nothing. He built a huge business. He became the

richest man in Northern Ireland. The salaries he paid his employees put

?50 million per annum into the Northern Ireland economy. The

helicopter was a common site at Lord Ballyedmond's estate, Gillingham

Hall. This footage was taken last week. The peer had raised concerns

about possible defects with the helicopter. The manufacturer,

AugustaWestland, said it couldn't comment, due to the ongoing

investigation. But it did say there could be many possible causes

including tech nubbal and human error.

-- technical. It is not known yet if the weather played a part. When

emergency services arrived last night, visibility was poor. And

police have been at the site all day, preserving the crash scene

while air accident investigators carried out their work. They'll be

looking at what caused this crash. An experienced pilot, who lives

nearby, said he was surprised that it had been flying. There are

visibility criteria when taking off and landing. If the fog was as bad

as it was in Beckles at the time, I was surprised he would take off in

something like that. The bodous of the four men have now been removed.

-- the bodies. Two pilots and a member of o Lord Ballyedmond's staff

were also on board. The job of looking for evidence at the scene

goes on. A week after the Malaysian Airlines

777 airliner went missing, it's emerged that it could have flown on

for up to five hours after air traffic controllers lost contact

with it. 13 countries are now engaged in the ever-widening search.

It disappeared over the South China Sea shortly after it left Kuala

Lumpur, en route to Beijing. Now there's a suggestion the plane may

have been deliberately flown across the Malay Peninsula towards the

Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. The search area has now been

extended to cover 27,000 square nautical miles. 57 ships and 48

aircraft are searching the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea and the

Malacca Straits. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from

Malaysia. In Beijing today the hostility towards Malaysia Airlines

officious was palpable. One of the most important things that Malaysia

Airlines has been doing throughout this event is not speculating. But

no-one here is satisfied with that explanation. How can their loved

ones have simply disappeared? It is incomprehensible. Trans Sonic We are

very disappoint -- Translation. We are very disappointed with the

Malaysian Government. Until we get accurate information, we'll continue

making wild guesses. Astonishingly, a week on, there is still no trace

of Flight MH 370. But today, the BBC learned that the

plane continued sending out a signal via satellite for five hours after

rude oar contact was lost. -- radar. In the last 24 hours we have seen a

significant shift of resources of ships and aircraft from the original

search area in the gulf of Thailand, on the far side of the Malay

Peninsula, over to here, to the straight of malaka and even far out

into the Indian Ocean. The latest to join this shift has been the US

Navy, which is sending one of its destroyers up here today. What we

don't know, what still remains very unclear is why. Cap particular Nick

Huzlun was a Malaysian Airlines pilot for 35 years and is a personal

friend of the missing plane's captain. If it seems possible it

turned around and flew back over the peninsula and out into the Indian

Ocean, what scenario are we talking about now? It keeps on flying for a

certain period of time while the communications system is not

functioning, whether it is disabled or not, we do not know, but not

functioning, it rauss a flag. Everything is working. -- it raises

a flag. The aeroplane is working well, flying under control - why are

you not talking to me? Why are you not talking to me? There is a loud

whisper is talking in my ears about human intervention. Malaysia's Prime

Minister joined prayers for the missing today. But many here now

think his government knows much more about the fate of flight MH 370 than

it is letting on. In March 2011, a demonstration began

in the southern Syrian town of Deraa against the government of President

Assad. It sparked a civil war that three years on is still raging.

Since the conflict began, an estimated 140,000 people have died.

6.5 million people have been displaced from their homes within

Syria and 2.5 million have fled the country. Increasingly, the various

groups opposing President Assad are fighting amongst themselves. The

Kurds in the north-east clash daily with Islamist and other rebel

groups. Jim Muir gained rare access to the region, near the town of

Kamishli and sent this report At the trial of Oscar Pistorius,

Killed by a suicide bomber. Another fighter is given an

emotional funeral. He is among more than 500 from the Syrian Kurdish

militia who have dude in the struggle with Islamic extremists,

not the Assad regime. This part of Syria is controlled by the Kurds. We

had a rare glimpse of women fighters who make up part of the Kurdish

force. The family of the man who died,

blamed foreign Jihadis and those who send them. "You cold-blooded

British, you are sending us all the scum of Britain, the scum of Europe

and all in the name of Islam. They grow their beds but they have

nothing to do with Islam." This group, even more extreme than

Al-Qaeda, are on the offensive here. This mosque was virtually demolished

what enthey attacked this village recently. It belonged to a sector of

Islam they don't like. This was not some random damage here. This was

wholesale and systematic destruction of the mosque. There is virtually

nothing left. They even burned a pile of Korans, for most Muslims,

the ultimate insult. The Kurds are now back in control of that village,

but it is still deserted. The group are only a few miles away. This

struggle is also about who controls the oil that abounds here. Gangs

fight over it at night. By day, home-made mini refineries lake this,

pump out pollution. This nearby village was occupied last year by

the official Al-Qaeda group in Syria. Kurdish forces drove them

out. The villagers say they were glad to see the back of them.

No, no, no, when they attacked, the whole village fled. They ruined

everything. We certainly don't want them back. If they were here, you

wouldn't last five minutes. They would probably kill you in my house.

The Kurds showed us a jail for captured mill tabts a group of

prisoners were paraded for our camera. -- militants. We were called

they were all Syrians from Al-Qaeda but we were not allowed to speak to

them but we were shown various papers, found, we were told, on the

body of Islamist fighters killed in recent battles. Evidence of outside

involvement in Syria's war. This is a war within a war. Kurds

fating Islamic extremists while the regime watches on. -- fighting.

Like the wider war, it shows no sign of ending as Syria plunges

ever-deeper into conflict and disintegration.

At the trial of Oscar Pistorius, the court has been shown shocking

photographs of the athletes' splattered with his girlfriend's

blood. The pictures were taken by the South African police an hour

after he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp at his

home on Valentine's Day last year. Andrew Harding reports from the High

Court in Pretoria. Nor court today, a haunting image, Oscar Pistorius in

the hour or so after he killed Reeva Steenkamp. Blood on his shorts.

Ex-Holocaust on his face. He'd already carried his girlfriend's

body downstairs. -- exhaustion on his face.

He had already carried his girlfriend's body downstairs. The

first policeman on the screen described pis pus pis. - Oscar

Pistorius. He was very emotional.

It has been an uncomfortable week in the courtroom for Oscar Pistorius.

His defence team have often made it seem as if the South African police

were on trial. Today investigators were accused of stealing, of lying

in statement and contaminating vital evidence. We are trying to find out

who moved it. So, the end of another bruising but inconclusive week.

Visually impaired skier, jade et are inton and her guide, Caroline Powell

have won a fourth medal in Sochi, making them the most successful

British women in the history of the Paralympic Games. The pair added a

silver medal in the super-baned event to bring their tally to three

silvers and a bronze. A rank outsider came from last in

the field to claim victory in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham today. Lord

Windermere, whom bookies valued at 20-1, took the race in a photo

finish. Our Sports Correspondent, Joe Wilson, watched the action.

Cheltenham knows that just to ride requires nerves of steal and bones

ready to be broken. Horses are not predictable. Daryl Jacob found

himself flung on to a TV camera at 2. 35. Horse fine, jockey fractured

elbow. Ruby Walsh, a broken arm. The Gold Cup began with those two

jockeys in hospital. There were two horses expected to

dominate. Defending champion, Bob's Worth, who never got near the lead

and Silviniaco Conti, pounding on at the front but fading. In the final

seconds it was wide open. A mass finish of outsiders, led by a

nostril by Lord Windemere. The winning jockey, Davey Russell, a

big prize after a dozen years of ups and downs of a professional jockey.

He is just part of the team. Well Jim Culloty has now won the Gold Cup

as a trainer. He won it three times as a jockey on board Best mate.

Riding the horse is easy but when all you can do is watch, blissful

agony. Boil it down to why people love to

come racing, for 30 seconds like that. I hate finishes like that. I

wish he won 20 lengths. Friday's racing also featured another horse

fatality. That risk will never disappear but for the thousands that

come here, the Gold Cup provided the drama the festival was invented for.

That's all from