11/04/2014 BBC News at Ten

16 years after the deadliest terrorist attack during the Northern

Ireland Troubles, a 43-year-old man appears in court.

Seamus Daly is accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh bombing in

August 1998. The car bomb went off in the town centre on a busy

Saturday afternoon. Relatives of the victims were in court. We have to

know the truth about what happened and we have to see those responsible

being brought before the courts, with proper evidence and sentenced.

Also on the programme tonight: The Co-Op apologises to its customers

after announcing its biggest losses in history.

Oscar Pistorius tells his murder trial that he didn't hear his

girlfriend shout or scream as he fired at the locked toilet door.

An emotional reunion for Ed Miliband on his first major foreign policy

trip as Labour leader. And Sue Townsend, the woman behind

Adrian Mole, has died at the age of 68. In Sportsday, the latest from

the Masters as Bubba Watson reminds everyone how he won at Augusta two

years ago, with an impressive second-round 68 today.

Good Evening. Almost 16 years after the Omagh bombing a key suspect has

appeared at a criminal court to face charges. Seamus Daly, a

self-confessed member of the Real IRA, was arrested on Monday. He is

accused of detonating a massive car bomb in Omagh town centre on a

sunny, Saturday afternoon in 1998. 29 people died. More than 300 were

wounded in what was the deadliest bombing in Northern Ireland's

Troubles. Seamus Daly was first linked to the crime by a BBC

Panorama investigation in 2000. Last year he was found liable for the

attack in a landmark civil case. But he's always denied any involvement.

Our Ireland Correspondent, Chris Buckler is live in Omagh tonight.

The Omagh bombing is in many ways a difficult crime to even comprehend.

29 people killed in a single explosion in a single town on a

single day. Seamus Daly has been identified as a suspect before but

he has always denied any involvement in causing the explosion. Today, in

court, we learned the first details of the police's case against him.

The streets and shops of Omagh are rarely quiet. And it was all-too

busy on 15th August 1998. The bombing here killed 29 people. It

stands out, even among the decades of violence that scarred Northern

Ireland. It was a day that ripped the heart out of this town. For some

families, even today, every time they walk into this town centre, it

brings back vivid images and dreadful memories, of a day when a

shopping trip ended in nothing less than horror. Today, amid tight

security, Seamus Daly was driven to court in Dungannon and charged with

all 29 murders. While he stood in the dock in

handcuffs, a Detective Inspector laid out the case against him. He

said the police have telephone, witness and forensic evidence but

Seamus Daly's lawyer said there was significant weaknesses in the case.

Watching the heated exchanges in the court room was Michael Gallagher,

whose son Aidan was killed in the bombing. Over the past 15 years I

have spent a lot of time in courts in Dublin and in Belfast and with

the civil action take taking almost ten years, it can be

soul-destroying. 14 years ago, the BBC's Panorama programme secretly

filmed the man who has now been charged. I would like to ask you

some questions, please, about the Omagh bombing. Seamus Daly has

always strongly denied any involvement in the bombing. But

Panorama claimed he did play a role. Seamus Daly has a conviction for

membership of the Real IRA. He pleaded guilty at the special

criminal court in Dublin a few years ago. He is a committed dissident

republican. In Omagh, remembrance is more important than responsibility.

The names of all 29 victims are engraved in stone in the town's

memorial garden, where mirrors have been built, to reflect light into

the town, but this is a place where people will always feel the shadow

of the bombing. The Co-op Bank has apologised to its

customers after announcing losses of ?1.3 billion, the largest in its

history. The bank said it did not expect to make a profit this year or

next. But it revealed that the Bank's Chief Executive will receive

a ?2.9 million pay package, including a performance-related

bonus. The figures come as the bank struggles with bad debts and failed

ventures. Here's our Business Editor Kamal Ahmed.

It's been a disasterous year for the Co-Op Bank. Its takeover the

Britannia Building Society ended with a bill of over ?1 billion. Then

the bank's Chairman was forced to quit and later face allegations of

drug-taking. Today it announced the loss of ?1.3 billion. The Chief

Executive, brought in to rescue the bank, Niall Booker, will be paid

?2.9 million a year. He announced further cost-cutting ahead with the

closure of 44 branches and the possibility of more redundancies.

Our members who work in bank branches across the country are very

concerned about what the future holds for the group. There's been a

lot of change. We have lost over 1,000 jobs in the last few years,

and the real fear is that there'll be more job losses to come.

Many customers have remained loyal to the bank and all deposits are

guaranteed up to ?85,000. But others, like Andrew Baird, who

runs a solar panel business in Northern Ireland, have decided to

move their business elsewhere. It seems to be more focussed on

competing with the Barclays, and the HSBCs of this world and that does

seem to be at the expense of good, rigorous financial control, strong

governance and so it has seemed to have lost all control and lots its

way. The Co-Op Bank, it is still dealing with problems of the past.

It is said it will withhold up to ?5 million from former executives.

It'll also pay ?412 million in compensation for previous mistakes.

Now, it needs to look to the future. An ethical review will promote

community banking. It also wants to raise ?400 million to secure the

business. Analysts say there are still tough decisions to be made. We

can only hope that that's the end of the bad news - we have had the news

about the extra ?400 million and there isn't anything else to find in

the closet. We've got to trust that the management know what they are

doing and there is a chance of recovering the position from here

but it is still going to take a long time and it is going to be a

difficult thing to rebuild the capital base. Attention now turns to

the Co-Op Group results next week. The supermarkets and pharmacies'

owner is expected to reveal heavy losses and a new set of problems for

Britain's troubled cooperative movement.

The South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius, has faced a third day of

intense cross-examination at his murder trial in Pretoria. He told

the court he didn't hear his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, shout

or scream as he grabbed his gun and fired at the locked toilet door last

year. Mr. Pistorius denies murder and says he thought there was an

intruder in his house. From Pretoria, Andrew Harding reports. At

the end of a punishing week, another session of cross-examination. Oscar

Pistorius repeatedly accused of lying about how and why he shot

Reeva Steenkamp. As usual, no video images of the athlete giving

evidence were allowed. Prosecutor, Gerrie Nel asked him why he didn't

talk to his girlfriend and check where she was, the moment he felt

they were in danger that night. When you have got your gun, you were

right next to her. I was overcome by fear. I had to keep my eyes on the

passage and I had to arm myself. I spoke to Reeva and I said to her,

"Get down, call the police." A reasonable person would have looked

where Reeva was. You just grabbed the gun. On your own version, you

did not find out if she was OK or scared. Pistorius argued of it

instinct that prompted him to rush from the bedroom to the bathroom to

confront intruders. I find your instinct strange. Instinct would

have made sure Reeva is safe. My lady, I think everybody's instinct

was different. Your instinct wasn't to make sure she was safe. I thought

she was. Pistorius's sister, Amy, listened intently. The prosecutor

returned again and again to the exact moment he fired those four

shots, insisting of regardless of whether he thought his girlfriend or

an intruder was hiding in the toilet, his aim was to kill. You

shouting, you screaming, three metres from her. Did she scream at

all whilst you shot her four times? Are you sure, Mr Pistorius that

Reeva did not scream after the first shot? I wish she'd let me know she

was there. After you fired the first shot, did she scream? I don't think

I would have heard after the gunshot that went off, my ears were wringing

Reeva Steenkamp's mother Never took her eyes off him.

The leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond will tomorrow

tell his party's conference if Scotland votes for independence he

intents to start negotiating within days. It is the SNP's last

conference before September. Nicola Sturegon, the deputy leader, said

the campaign was unstoppable. It is 80 years this week since their

party was founded and they believe themselves finally on the threshold

of their founding purpose. Alex Salmond has dominated the party for

decades but for the faithful, the rising star is his deputy.

Today, she appealed beyond the confines of the SNP, in the belief

that many disaffected traditional Labour voters are now tempted to

vote yes. To every Labour voter in the country, I say this - the "yes"

campaign is not asking you to leave your party. Instead, it offers you

the chance to get your party back. A Labour Party free to make its own

decisions, no longer dancing to a Westminster tune. The polls put the

anti-independence independence campaign ahead but the gap has

narrowed markedly. Rural Aberdeenshire is one of the most

prosperous parts of Britain. Tough territory for those advocating

radical change but even at this livestock market, we found mixed

views. I'm voting no. REPORTER: Why? Well, there is a lot of things you

don't know what can happen if you vote yes. There are dozens of

questions that remain unanswered and we are told by Mr Salmond, oh, this

is all to be negotiated but negotiations doesn't say which way

the answers are going to come. If we don't GP independent, not just for

our generation -- if we don't go independent, but for future

generations down the line to come, will be sorry. Tomorrow, Alex

Salmond will tell the conference that in the event of a "yes" vote he

intents to start negotiating independence within days, certainly

before the end of September. He also says he wants to appoint a team of

negotiators from Scotland drawn from across the political spectrum.

People from all political parties, and from none.

Again, the SNP attempt to broaden the appeal of a "yes" vote bound the

boundaries of its own traditional support. With the message - you

don't have to like the SNP to vote "yes". They'll have to make big

in-roads into Labour territory if they are to win in September. For,

in Scotland, politics are famously tribal, and old loyalties die hard.

"Don't underestimate me" - that's the message from the Labour leader,

Ed Miliband, to his political opponents. Speaking during a

three-day visit to Israel, he told the BBC that he is ready to be Prime

Minister. He said his family's experience of persecution had given

him a mission "to help mend a broken world". Our political editor, Nick

Robinson, reports. These are the faces, the names, the

people behind the grimmest of all statistics. The 6 million Jews

killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust. Amongst them, Ed

Miliband's grandfather. The Labour leader and his wife Justine have

come to Israel to connect with his past, as well as to talk about the

future of the Middle East. It is a trip the man who might be prime

minister in a little over a year's times as he will not forget. It was

awful, if I'm honest. It is awful because you see the suffering. It is

awful for anybody, seeing that suffering. But it was incredibly

painful for me. They presented me at the end with a document which I have

got here about my family history, about my grandfather who I never

met, who died in one of the camps. He says this is more than history,

it is the key to understanding the values his parents, refugees who

both came to Britain, gave to him. They inculcated in me a sense of,

you have got to try and repair the broken world in the way that you

can. How broken the Middle East is, you can see from here. On the top of

a hillside just above the Gaza Strip, Justine and Ed Miliband were

shown where the rockets are fired which rain down on this Israeli

town. They send thousands of rockets to our land, just to kill the

people. This is no ordinary playgroup. The kids here are only

safe because they don't play under the deep blue sky, but under a roof

of thick reinforced concrete. It has brought it home to me. We have a

three and a four-year-old at home who play. And they have a choice to

go outside, so I was struck by it. Last night, the Labour leader met

Israel's prime minister Netanyahu. Tomorrow, he will travel from

Jerusalem to the West ranked to meet the leader of the Palestinian

Authority to discuss stalling peace talks. This is his first major trip

as opposition leader. He has not been to the White House or Beijing

or Delhi or Berlin. But he told me his foreign policy can be simply

summed up. I want to be a post-Iraq prime minister. David Cameron wanted

us to intervene in Syria. We shouldn't have done. The Labour

Party and Parliament were right to stop the rush to war. But I put it

to him that over 100,000 have died in Syria and 6 million been forced

from their homes. Some say this is the defining collective failure of

this century. There are failures associated with Syria. Is it the

defining failure of the century? It is a very bad situation. You know

whose words those were? The former Labour Foreign Secretary, your

opponent in the Labour leadership contest, your brother. I was not

disagreeing that there are failures in relation to Syria, but if you are

asking me she should we intervene militarily in Syria, at the moment

the answer is no. I don't see a route to doing so which will work.

This trip has been about the personal, not the political.

Tonight, Ed Miliband's visit to Israel ended in the warm embrace of

his extended family, including Sara, his mother's cousin, who

survived internment in a Nazi concentration camp. The Labour

leader's message to voters at home - this is what makes me tick, this is

who I am. Nick Robinson, BBC News, Jerusalem.

Scientists and officials are putting the final touches to the latest

report from the United Nations on how to tackle climate change. Last

month, scientists warned that the in act is likely to be severe,

pervasive and irreversible. The recommendations are expected to

include a major push for in renewable energy. Our science editor

David Shukman is in Berlin, where the report will be published this

weekend. Yes, the report they are working on

in Berlin six to lay out the options for heading off the worst of global

warming. So no surprise that there has been a lot of wrangling over the

detail of this text all week and indeed tonight. But the key message

that will come out is of the urgent need for the world to switch from

fossil fuels to greener technology. But as we all know, that is far

easier said than done, as I have been finding out.

Each scoop is the size of a small car. Everything about this mine is

on a massive scale. It stretches for miles, and although Germany bills

itself as a leader in green technology, it produces more of this

dirty, polluting type of fuel than anywhere else in the world. What

they are digging up here is the remains of an ancient forest that

grew here 17 million years ago, and then got compacted and turned into

lignite or brown coal. You can still see remains of the old trees inside

it. This is exactly the kind of fossil fuel that the UN climate

panel says the world should be moving away from. But mines like

this are expanding. There is a lot of coal, and it is easy to get at,

which makes it relatively cheap. Demand is growing. Coal will be with

us for decades to come. Coal generates nearly half of Germany's

electricity, so could the coal industry ever imagine being phased

out? No, right now I can't, says Uwe Grosser of the company Vattenfall.

Our supply, he says, is constant, unlike wind and solar. Right next

door is a village that may be destroyed if the mine expands.

Villages have been lost before, but this place, Proschim, is a showcase

for green technology, with solar panels on the roofs and gas made

from farm waste, all at risk because of the demand for coal. We have

solar panels and biogas, and the coal is an old kind of engineering,

and the past will destroy the future in Proschim. This is terrible. This

is crazy. Germany is now the world leader in solar power. Renewable

energy in all its forms is changing traditional views of the German

landscape. But completing a shift away from fossil fuels is proving

extremely hard. It is a tough challenge, because politicians have

so far only been focusing on the phase-out of nuclear and the phasing

in of renewables. We didn't look at coal, but that is what we now need

to do. And that will be tough, because a lot of regions depend on

coal. The coal industry provides thousands of jobs, but coal itself

is linked to global warming. How this plays out in Europe's largest

economy will be watched around the world. David Shukman, BBC News, in

Germany. Pope Francis has issued his

strongest condemnation to date of the child abuse scandal which has

rocked the Catholic Church in recent years. He asked for personal

forgiveness for the evil committed by priests and said those

responsible had to face sanction is. TRANSLATION: I feel compelled to

take upon myself all the evil and ask forgiveness for the damage they

inflicted for the sexual abuse of children. We don't want to take a

step back in dealing with this problem and the sanctions that must

be imposed. On the contrary, I think we must be even stronger. You don't

play around with the lives of children.

Conservative MPs are being given a new code of conduct setting out

guidelines on how they should treat their staff. It follows allegations

of bullying and abuse made by some researchers and office staff. The

new code of conduct, which is voluntary, says that should be able

to work in an environment free from discrimination, victimisation and

harassment. Our political correspondent Vicky Young reports.

Few were willing to talk publicly about what goes on in the bars and

offices around Westminster, but privately, staff say the line

between professional and personal is often blurred.

I describe a huge power imbalance between politicians and

researchers, which discourages staff from making formal complaints about

bad behaviour. It can range from language they choose to address

staff, inappropriate touching. We have had instances where staff have

had objects thrown at them. Lucille has worked here for five years and

is a union wrapped in the Commons. She says that are usually too scared

to speak out. We have been told in several cases that MPs are

threatening their staff with ruining their career. I will ruin your

career. MPs have many connections. They are very well networked people.

Today, the Conservatives issued a code of conduct to MPs and their

staff. It says MPs must lead by example to encourage an atmosphere

of respect and tolerance, and they must not use their position to me or

abuse. But the code is voluntary. A former researcher says the MPs who

employed him treated him well, but a more professional approach is

needed. Most MPs don't know what they are doing. Most try very hard.

Some do. But ultimately, the MP is king of the castle and if you get

into problems, you are on your own. Of course, MPs see it differently.

One told me they feel vulnerable to false accusations which can ruin

their careers. Another said staff sometimes try to extract money from

MPs who might be worried about the bad publicity from an employment

tribunal. As for the code of conduct, not all Conservatives are

convinced. A voluntary code of conduct, I don't quite see what will

be said in it, that I do know that people should know how to behave

decently anyway. A confidential helpline is now being set up for

Parliamentary workers to report inappropriate behaviour. It is a

step in the right direction, say staff, but they think it will take

years to change the culture here. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

have taken part in a yacht race on the latest stage of their tour of

New Zealand. They took to the waters off the Auckland coast, racing each

other an America's Cup yachts. The Duchess won both competitions,

leaving the Duke to Job only blame sabotage. -- jokingly.

Sue Townsend, the author famous for writing The Secret Diary Of Adrian

Mole, has died after suffering a stroke at the age of 68. The diaries

of the angst ridden teenager made millions laugh out loud. The

novelist had been working on her latest Adrian Mole book, which would

have been the tent in her best summing series. Our arts correspond

David Sillito looks back at her life.

Spots on my chin for the first day of the new year. Adrian Mole's diary

of teenage angst was the biggest selling book of the '80s. 'There's a

new girl in our class. Her name is Pandora'. No one understood Adrian,

or recognised his literary genius. His creator, Sue Townsend, was

brilliant at laughing at life's struggles. And she had had many -

poverty, and she lost her sight. Adrian wasn't just a character, he

was part of her. Have you got a book called Prejudice Or Pride by a woman

called Jane Austen? All prose is a disguise for the author, I think.

Perhaps diaries, more so, yeah. In a sense, he is my worst side! If

people realised that I was so near to Mole, they would be less...well,

they wouldn't admire me. She was joking, of course, but she did feel

for the underdog. She herself had failed her 11+, left school at 15

and at 23 was working in a petrol station, bringing up three children.

Adrian transformed her life, but the books also became a satire, an

alternative history of modern Britain, from the Falklands to

Pandora becoming a Blair Babe. You're so beautiful! But if you were

going to play Adrian, she had strong views. When I auditioned to play

Adrian, I remember meeting her. She told me that Adrian couldn't be too

good-looking. She pulled out a huge magnifying glass, came right up to

my face as I was just in the last stages of going, and scanned me all

over and said that I was indeed not good-looking enough to play the

part. Her health had gradually failed. She had lost her sight, but

she kept on writing - plays, novels another Adrian diary was on its way.

Growing up can be painful. Sue Townsend made it funny.

Sue Townsend, who has died at the age of 68.

That is all from us. There is a first look at the papers on the BBC